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New Day Saturday
Navy Strike Group Arrives Off Korean Peninsula; North Korea Defies Global Pressure With Missile Test; Kirby On Missile Test: Kim Is "Giving Us The Finger"; President Trump: "I Thought It Would Be Easier"; Protesters Heading To The White House; Trump Contract With Voters; Anti-Trump Voters on the First 100 Days; Comedy Club Hosts Trump Impersonator Contest. Aired 8-9a ET
Aired April 29, 2017 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[08:00:17]
(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: I love being a no.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The best thing I think to do is to pull this bill.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: We were very close.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I will not sugarcoat this. This is a disappointing day for us.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Nobody 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 like that.
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: Well, good morning from Washington where else would we be on President Trump's 100th day. I'm Christi Paul.
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Victor Blackwell. Good morning. A growing crisis on the Korean Peninsula greets President Trump on his 100th day in office.
PAUL: The latest after defiance from the regime, another ballistic missile launch just hours after the president warned of a, quote, "major, major conflict." This morning, a U.S. Navy strike group right now taking part in drills in the waters off the Korean Peninsula.
BLACKWELL: A live look now at the White House where we know that later this morning President Trump will speak with his CIA director, Mike Pompeo. This afternoon, the president will travel to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where he will sign an executive order aimed at trade and manufacturing policy.
And then a victory lap of sorts, instead of the dinner party, he's skipping tonight's annual White House Correspondents Dinner, instead he will join supporters with a campaign-style rally.
First, though, the latest on the North Korean missile test. Will Ripley is live inside the North Korean capital of Pyongyang. Will, good morning to you.
WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Victor. This is the most pressing national and international security concern for President Trump on his 100th day. North Korea attempting to launch for at least the ninth time a ballistic missile in the early morning hours here.
The kind of missile that we saw unveiled in that big military parade earlier this month that North Korea could potentially use to try to sink a U.S. aircraft carrier like the Carl Vinson, which has just arrived in the waters off the Korean Peninsula.
And we have confirmed it is now conducting joint naval drills with the South Korean Navy. This is extremely infuriating for Pyongyang. Officials on the ground here are telling me that the world should expect more missile tests and nuclear tests from this regime, which is defiantly pushing back against mounting international pressure.
They watched very closely that special U.N. Security Council meeting chaired by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. They found his comments at that meeting inflammatory. They think the United States is trying to get the rest of the world to gang up on this country, something that North Korea has said for quite some time.
But what's different now is the fact that Kim Jong-Un appears to be defying even his closest neighbor, China, in pushing forward with his missile development and we'll have to see what happens on the ground here. Right now, we go to the White House and Joe Johns.
JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: One thing seems clear, this administration is trying to downplay this in order to not draw too much attention to the behavior of North Korea. The president himself tweeting that by making this missile launch North Korea had essentially disrespected the wishes of the president of China, also indicating one word in his view this was bad with an exclamation mark.
From the White House press secretary a very two-sentence statement, not much at all, essentially saying that the administration was aware of the launch and that the president had been briefed.
A little bit more from the national security adviser, the National Security Council and K.T. McFarland. She said in an interview among other things that this launch was cause for concern.
But she also said the big deal here is that North Korea has always been provocative when asked about the timing of it due to the fact that it occurred just a few hours after the secretary of state had a meeting at the United Nations. Victor and Christi, back to you.
PAUL: All right. Will Ripley, Joe Johns, we appreciate it. Thank you.
BLACKWELL: All right, let's bring in Major General Spider Marks, CNN military analyst. General, good morning to you. I want to get your reaction to something we heard from CNN analyst, John Kirby, about this missile test. Let's watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[08:05:04]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: Yes, the retired rear admiral there making it plain for us. What do you make of his comments?
MAJOR GENERAL JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS, U.S. ARMY (RETIRED): I love John Kirby speaking like a sailor. He's absolutely correct. Look, this regime has been in place for over 70 years and I think what's different now is that we have run out of time over the course of many, many decades.
We've watched and we've been prepared for provocations from the North and they have routinely pushed the envelope of what we would call a form of normalcy on the peninsula. What we have now is that we've run out of time.
All estimates are that by 2020 North Korea will have an ICBM, an intercontinental ballistic missile capability with a nuclear tip capable of reaching the west coast of the United States. That's an outcome that is unacceptable.
It's unacceptable for the world. It's unacceptable in our national interest and it certainly is unacceptable when you look at the regional players, those six parties that exist in that part of the world, China, Russia, North Korea, South Korea, Japan and the United States.
That's an outcome that we cannot afford. So our ability to modify North Korean behavior over the course of these many years has not worked. So this is a linear progression of activities. North Korea has been isolated.
They love the fact that they can operate independent almost of anybody else's input and China and the United States right now are hopefully working together to try to resolve this, but a diplomatic outcome is the preferred outcome.
But the United States cannot afford to have the result that I just described which is a nuclear North Korea that's going to strike the west coast.
BLACKWELL: All right. We will have to see if these now two failed missile tests make a nuclear test more likely in the coming weeks. Major General Spider Marks, thanks so much for being with us.
MARKS: Sure.
PAUL: Let's talk more about it and much other information with Rebecca Berg, CNN political analyst, Lynn Sweet, Washington bureau chief for the "Chicago Sun Times," Symone Sanders, CNN political commentator and former national press secretary for Bernie 2016. Kevin Madden, CNN political commentator and Republican strategist, and Kayleigh McEnany, a CNN political commentator and contributor for "The Hill." We always appreciate all of you being here with us.
I wanted to start with you, Lynn, off of that note from the general. What the U.S. and many countries are really bracing for is another nuclear test. Once that happens and we all expect it to happen at some point, is that the red line for President Trump and if so how does the U.S. respond?
LYNN SWEET, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, "CHICAGO SUN TIMES": Well, you know, how Trump responded already is pretty interesting because if we look at his tweet he summed it up in one word, bad. OK. So how do you take bad and translate it into foreign policy, military power, use of our soft power and hard power? The answer is we don't know because this is totally uncharted waters for a president who thrives on being provocative now faced with a very startling reality.
PAUL: Of another leader who is very provocative in his own way.
SWEET: In his own way --
PAUL: A different way.
SWEET: You have these two unpredictable colossal personalities talking about -- imagine we are sitting here talking about nuclear tests on Trump's 100th day. So I think this is a dangerous time for the world with an untested president, who is still very new to the job.
BLACKWELL: All right, Kevin, let's expand this conversation because this test came just hours after Rex Tillerson's comments at the U.N. Beyond the rhetoric, and we will talk about the rhetoric and China's call for things to cool down, are we seeing practically major differences between the Trump administration's approach and the Obama administration's approach?
KEVIN MADDEN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Actually it depends on who you talk to inside the Trump administration. If you look at U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, they have tried to offer rather reassurance to the world community and even Secretary Tillerson talked about potential for direct talks with North Korea.
That's very similar to what we've seen in the past administrations. Our main goal is a denuclearized Korean Peninsula, but on the other hand with the president the rhetoric does matter.
Because we do have a president who his default position is what is the strongest message I can send and that is actually very provocative to a very unstable regime in North Korea. That's where, as Lynn talked about, this is a very interesting time, I shall say, as an understatement.
BLACKWELL: What credence do you give to the critics who say that the president needs to cool down this rhetoric just a couple of days ago saying that there is the potential for a major, major conflict with North Korea?
[08:10:01] KAYLEIGH MCENANY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think what we see is a president who raises the stakes, who puts out harsh words, he has the secretaries go in and down it down a little bit, be more diplomatic. He does that intentionally. He lays down the hardest line position and then from there is the negotiating point.
For instance, entertaining direct talks as we saw with Tillerson. Look, time will tell if it works. There are some mixed signals. We saw on the 101st anniversary of the founding, there were no tests on Armed Forces Day on the 25th there were no tests then there was this test.
We've seen a mixed bag of results and time will tell whether the president's harsh rhetoric combined with diplomacy on the part of the secretaries is something that's going to try to work.
PAUL: As everybody tries to figure out who Donald Trump is and how he is going to lead at the end of the day, Howard Stern had this to say about him in February.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOWARD STERN, HOST, "THE HOWARD STERN SHOW": I really was sincere, I said, why would you want to be the president of the United States? You're not going to be beloved, it's going to be a (inaudible) a nightmare in your life. He stepped into a situation that's really not a win for him and it's going to be -- he is a 70-year-old guy, he's got a great life, gorgeous wife, great kids, he's got helicopters, airplanes, all the --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's got all the stuff --
STERN: So now to step into this (inaudible) mess and for what? You know, there are people who are better suited for this kind of thing and they don't need -- he didn't need this in his life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL: And remember in the last 24 hours he said this was not what I expected it to be. I didn't expect it to be this hard. So, Rebecca, what do you make of the president being very open and very, you know, candid about the fact that he thought he would be able to come into this possibly acting as he does a boss, being able to delegate and to tell people what to do and that they would do it and that's just not the way politics works.
REBECCA BERG, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Right. Well, in many ways it's no surprise because the presidency always surprises presidents by how difficult it is, the broad scope of the job and no one can really be prepared to be president of the United States. There is no entry level job that makes you prepared to be president.
That said, Donald Trump coming from a very different world it's something he liked to point out on the campaign trail, he liked to mention pretty much exactly what Howard Stern said in that monologue, that he didn't need this life, this wasn't something he needed another line on his resume, but it was something he wanted to do out of conviction.
So that's something that Donald Trump, I think, would like to hear coming from the outside, but certainly I think the office surprises people and it surprised him and for him now to be reflecting in that way I think it is partially because we are at this 100-day mark, which is very symbolic.
But partially I think it helps him politically to try to explain why he hasn't accomplished more and explain to his supporters and American voters why they are not seeing a lot of progress at this point.
PAUL: Is it humbling? SYMONE SANDERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Perhaps with his base. I think we have seen in poll after poll, "Priorities USA" just did some polling that said very few Trump voters are being buyer's remorse. They feel like they need to give him time to get what he came done to do.
You've heard people on this network being interviewed saying he can't possibly get it all done in 100 days even though this is the benchmark that the Trump administration and campaign set for themselves.
I think with the larger general public the larger population of the American people, no, I think that the Trump administration and Donald Trump specifically has to be able to deliver on something.
I think that's why we've seen this flurry of executive orders. I think that's why he's going to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, today to sign another executive order because he has been hamstrung by the process of Congress and that it is a lot harder than he thought it would be.
BLACKWELL: Let's talk quickly before we go about going to Harrisburg. Why is the president going to another campaign style rally of his supporters? Should he be going and reaching beyond the people who already support him?
MCENANY: Look, I think it's pivotal, crucial, that he keeps his base energized. That 96 percent number needs to stay there and if anything grow higher to 99 percent. So I think that's really important.
But he does need to broaden the base and that is only going to happen if he materializes on the more mainstream promises, the populous promises on free trade, on healthcare, making sure millions of those insured don't lose their healthcare.
If he can materialize on a better form of healthcare, true meaningful tax reform, people will feel it in their everyday lives and I think you will see some voters from the middle cleave away towards the president.
BLACKWELL: All right, we have to break for a moment, but we will continue this conversation a little later in the hour. Thanks everybody for being with us.
CNN is on the road to our nation's capital right now with a group of climate change activists preparing to march on Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: These folks were up before dawn in a thunderstorm ready to load busses in Harlem to make the trip to Washington. Coming up, we will tell you more about the message they want to deliver to President Trump.
(END VIDEO CLIP) [08:15:06]PAUL: Also the final stop on the tour of red, purple and blue states. We are on the west coast talking with some of the president's fiercest critics.
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BLACKWELL: It's 19 minutes after the hour now. And tens of thousands of climate change advocates are marking President Trump's 100th day with a protest on Washington called the People's Climate March. Protesters are busing in from as far out as the Midwest to rally right in front of the White House.
[08:20:03]PAUL: The march today comes on heels of a massive nationwide science march last weekend. CNN correspondent, Kaylee Hartung, is on one of those buses heading to D.C. from New York. So what are people there on the bus saying? Getting to know each other, getting to know you?
KAYLEE HARTUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Victor, Christi, we are about halfway through that trip to Washington just outside of Philadelphia and right now, I'll tell you the bus is a little quiet after an early morning wake-up call in the rain to board these buses around 6:00 a.m. in Harlem.
The youngest marcher on this bus just 8 years old. Others like this fellow over here saving their energy up for the march on Washington. Juan Rosa is wide awake. Juan, why is it important to you to be part of today's march?
JUAN ROSA, PROTESTER: We're going to Washington today because front line communities, Washington Heights, Harlem, the Bronx, we are communities where people don't have resources to escape if we have flooding or other issues caused by climate change.
And we have an administration that is hostile to the science behind global warming, climate change and hostile to the regulations put in place to protect us from those effects. We are going today to send a message that we are under threat and we need action from our policymakers and our elected officials.
HARTUNG: Thank you, Juan. Folks quiet now, Victor and Christi, but ready with passion to bring it to Washington.
PAUL: No doubt about it. All righty, Kaylee Hartung, thank you so much.
BLACKWELL: I feel bad for the guy who was just on international television sleeping on the bus. He had one shot to be on camera and he was --
PAUL: I was thinking the same thing.
BLACKWELL: All right, well, maybe --
PAUL: You know not to sleep on the bus if there's a camera on the bus. BLACKWELL: All right, moving on here, President Trump promised his supporters he would secure the border and put America first. One hundred days into his administration, we're taking a look at the promises kept and those at least not yet kept.
PAUL: And the president declaring to the NRA the assault on gun rights is over. For a president who says he likes being flexible, could his position change?
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[08:26:36]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPRESENTATIVE PAUL RYAN (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: We're going to go when we have the votes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Once again, Republicans have fallen short.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Nobody knew that healthcare could be so complicated -- we will build a great wall.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is no way that Mexico can pay a wall like that.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: The wall is going to get built, folks.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL: It's 26 minutes past the hour. We always appreciate you spending some time with us. I'm Christi Paul.
BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. Good morning to you. We are live in Washington for President Trump's 100th day in office.
PAUL: In fact, the president made a series of promises to his voters, remember, in the form of a list of things that he would accomplish in the first 100 days. He called it a series of actions to, quote, "restore security and the constitutional rule of law." So as we mark 100 days in office, how many of those promises have been fulfilled?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAUL (voice-over): President Trump's contract with the American voter, it's the 100 day action plan the campaign promised to pursue from day one. On the to-do list, five pledges intended to restore security and the constitutional of law. First --
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Cancel every unconstitutional executive action, memorandum and order issued by President Obama.
PAUL: The president has reversed several Obama executive actions but whether something is constitutional would be a question for the courts.
Second, fulfill a vacancy left by the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.
JUSTICE NEIL M. GORSUCH: I, Neil M. Gorsuch, do solemnly swear.
PAUL: Earlier this month, the Senate confirmed Justice Neil Gorsuch. Promise three --
PRESIDENT TRUMP: We will cancel all federal funding of sanctuary cities.
PAUL: This week part of the president's executive order to cut off money for cities not cooperating with immigration enforcement was blocked by a federal judge.
Number four --
PRESIDENT TRUMP: We will begin removing the more than 2 million criminal illegal immigrants from the country and cancel visas to foreign countries that won't take them back.
PAUL: Days after his inauguration, President Trump signed an executive order to hire thousands more immigration officers, but it's too soon to know whether the deportations have quickened.
Promise five --
PRESIDENT TRUMP: To suspend immigration from terror-prone regions where vetting cannot safely occur.
PAUL: The president has twice tried to ban travel from several countries, but those bans have been blocked by the courts.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLACKWELL: President Trump has delivered on one campaign promise for certain, rolling back Obamacare era gun regulations, something he was quick to taut to friendly crowds at the NRA's annual meeting yesterday. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRESIDENT TRUMP: The eight-year assault on your Second Amendment freedoms has come to a crashing end.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: All right. Let's welcome back our panel. Rebecca, I want to start with you. Most of that speech, though, was -- well, not most, but a prominent portion of the speech was the president recounting election night. Taking everybody back to November 8th. That's 100 days into the administration why are we still hearing this?
[08:30:00] BERG: Well, those are the glory days. I mean, that's when Trump was at his best. He hasn't had a bunch of successes as president yet. He's still learning how the office works, leaning how to work with Congress, obviously he hasn't passed any major legislation. So you look at a guy who likes to talk about how much he wins and how successful he is. He would obviously go back to the last time he won big and that was on election night. So it does have -- I said yesterday on the "SITUATION ROOM" as well it kind of has the aura of a high school quarterback talking about all the great touchdowns he's scored after he graduated.
BLACKWELL: Five yards left, 15 seconds.
(CROSSTALK)
PAUL: Seconds to go, I was there. Yes. Exactly.
I want to read something from "Art of the Deal" because a lot of the reason obviously a big crux of the reason that people voted for him was because they believe he is going to fix the economy and whatnot. And here's what he said about the "Art of the Deal." "You can con people at least not for long. You can create excitement, you can do wonderful promotion and get all kinds of press and you can throw in a little hyperbole but if you don't deliver the goods people will eventually catch on."
Kayleigh, what goods at this point do you think are most important for him to tackle and can he do it?
MCENANY: Well, there is a few. Tax reform, indispensable. There are certain issues and promises that cannot be -- you cannot go back on. I think protecting gun rights, Second Amendment, absolutely, the wall, these are fundamental things that he promised on the campaign trail, he cannot switch them out. Labeling China a currency manipulator, you can let that go in an effort to engage in diplomacy. You don't want to anger the Chinese because North Korea is more important.
Those are certain issues on the margin that you can kind of flip on or change on at least for the moment but his fundamentals, building the wall, tax reform, the economy, those have to be deliverables.
BLACKWELL: Yes. We heard from someone who was at an event with President Obama yesterday where he was speaking of things that have to be delivered. The repeal of Obamacare, the president making a joke reportedly that Obamacare now more popular than the president himself.
SANDERS: Which is absolutely true. I think the attack and the efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare have bolstered the popularity of this legislation. Look, more people now in America really feel as though that it is a right, healthcare is a right, and all of these things that Obamacare has afforded them, covering preexisting conditions, being able to go to the emergency room and have that covered, making birth control free, these are things that they should have. Young people being on their insurance until 26.
And so it's not -- repealing is not popular. If you look at, again, all of the polls the majority of the American people, actually majority of Trump supporters, are folks who benefit from Obamacare. And so I think this administration is coming up against reality here which is why we have not seen a bill that has actually been brought to the floor now. I was reading just now that the president said that in an interview
and I don't know who it was but they said what about healthcare and he's like next week. And I know -- I know Donald Trump wants to get a win, OK, but this is not as easy as it seems. As he wrote in the "Art of the Deal" you can only play someone for so long until they catch on that you're really not there for what you're doing.
PAUL: OK --
SANDERS: And I think that's where we are right now.
PAUL: OK. So, Kevin, she's saying she heard next week but in all reality do they go for a third charm, so to speak, with health care, repeal of Obamacare?
(CROSSTALK)
BLACKWELL: Sit down and repeal Obamacare?
MADDEN: I think to Kayleigh's point, it's a major, major promise that Republicans have made. And it wasn't just in 2016 where they made this promise, this has been a promise for the last seven years about repealing Obamacare. So it is something that they have to deal on.
But I think, you know, Christi, to your question, this process now is actually more reflective of a normal legislative process. The idea that you can repeal and replace a major entitlement in the space of about 20 days, Rebecca and Lynn are nodding their heads because they both worked with me up on Capitol Hill, that was -- that was, I think, unrealistic expectation.
Now going out and trying one vote after another, the president using his ability to persuade and grow that vote until you get to 216 or 218 or whatever it is that they need nowadays, that process, that's part of what he's been learning in Washington, how difficult that is, but now it's actually more reflective of a normal legislative process.
BLACKWELL: And reverting to that normal process, it gets harder to do when you get closer to 2018. I mean, you had those first 100 days, it didn't happen. Didn't happen a second time. It's going to be tougher as you get closer to the end of the year.
SWEET: I just counsel everyone. I think that we shouldn't be using -- we're still looking this through conventional lenses in our conversation. I think what we have seen in President Trump when you quoted him, you know, if you don't deliver people will see it, he'll just declare that the package is at your door, Kevin, open it up and take it in.
(LAUGHTER)
SWEET: Right? What aren't you seeing, sir? OK? So we're dealing with a very different kind of score keeper here. So just think, everything is going to be scored a win. Let's just go into this conversation saying it. [08:35:04] Is it the weather good or bad today? It's the best weather
we've ever had by the way today. OK. So when you deal with that, the way you keep score in Washington is not the way President Trump wants to keep score. OK, give him that, but if people think progress is being made that's what I think we should be looking for and that's scored on did you get something done because we all know it often can take years -- years to get some of these things done and just on the issue of tax reform, cuts or change, this is where I think President Trump is comfortable, it's in his wheelhouse. This is where I think these realizations of policy will come.
On military matters he's highly reliant on the generals.
BLACKWELL: Yes.
SWEET: OK. I think he will think he could -- well, I could do tax, I know taxes, and that's where these overlapping issues that is a tax cut for everybody is not necessarily tax policy that you can write into legislation language and get it passed.
PAUL: And that was heavily criticized. A lot of people came out and said, look, this is tax -- this is about tax cuts, this isn't a detailed tax policy.
BLACKWELL: Yes. It's a single sheet. I mean, this could be my script or the entire tax plan from the Trump administration.
PAUL: Right. So the question is, how long will it be -- Kayleigh, I know that you want to jump on this, how long will it be before we see something tangible, workable, actionable?
MCENANY: Well, it needs to be this year. You have to pass tax reform this year. And one thing I want to point out just in response to Lynn is what matters is not how Trump keeps score, not how Washington keeps score, but how the American people keep score. And one thing we've seen in a CNN poll, so interesting, is voters think the economy is heading in the right direction. Voters think America is heading in the right direction but they don't approve of Trump at the moment.
So if the economy in right direction numbers catch up with the president, then that is when the American people will ultimately have the verdict not on the 100 days but on the Trump presidency.
MADDEN: So real quick to that point.
PAUL: Go ahead.
MADDEN: His supporters are very patient right now.
BLACKWELL: Yes.
SANDERS: Extremely. Extremely.
PAUL: Will they be patient if tax reform doesn't come through?
BERG: Well, you know, it depends. I mean, the way that people usually vote is do they personally feel like they are in a good place, especially with job security and the economy. And so if the status quo holds but they still feel that they are economically secure you could see them continue to support Donald Trump.
PAUL: All right.
BLACKWELL: All right.
PAUL: Thank you so much for being here. We appreciate your voices.
BLACKWELL: Glad to be with you. Thank you, guys..
PAUL: Your thoughts, your perspective. Appreciate it.
All right. Red, white, deep blue. CNN takes a closer look at the communities that are still in opposition to President Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MELISSA BAGLEY, NON-TRUMP VOTER: He spoke about being a president for all. I said, wow, but he's failed. He's failed according to what he promised, he has failed at this point.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:42:14] BLACKWELL: Well, as part of our special series "Red, Purple, Blue, The First 100 Days," CNN talked to voters across the country to hear their feelings about the Trump administration.
PAUL: CNN's Kyung Lah traveled to three deep blue states, spoke with voters who are anxious, some who are agitated about the president's policies.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KYUNG LAH, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Across California's fields --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm nervous.
LAH: And its cities --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A hundred days of "I can't believe this is happening."
LAH: To the East Coast states of Maryland. And Massachusetts.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At this point, staying out of World War III seems to be the number one priority.
LAH: The blue states where Donald Trump overwhelmingly lost, 100 days into his presidency, fear that they're losing their country, but promising a fight.
The state of California, the largest, bluest state in the union, leading the fiercest opposition.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think he can be impeached soon enough.
LAH: At Millie's coffee shop in the heart of liberal L.A., I meet Alex Martini.
ALEX MARTINI, PHOTOGRAPHER: He frightens me, Trump frightens me.
LAH: For the first time in this millennial's life she's afraid the president will hurt her. She is on Obamacare.
MARTINI: With type 1 diabetes specifically, I cannot physically survive without insulin, and without health insurance, this device is almost $4,000. It is almost embarrassing to be an American.
LAH: I head 400 miles north to California's Central Valley. Trump's immigration policies sowing fear in the fields that feed America.
(On camera): How many people have their papers?
ERIC ROMAN, FARM WORKER: Nobody. Just me. They're scared to go out, scared to go to the store because they think immigration is sprawling around.
LAH (voice-over): Farmer Joe Del Bosque, the son of Mexican migrants, couldn't get enough workers this year, problems that escalated after the election.
JOE DEL BOSQUE, FARMER: When he talks about mass deportations, that makes me nervous. Putting a wall up on the border, that makes me nervous.
LAH (on camera): And that affects your bottom line?
DEL BOSQUE: It does, because we can grow the crops but then we can't pick them.
LAH (voice-over): 3,000 miles away lies Baltimore, Maryland, a majority black city where only 12 percent voted for Trump. On a stormy morning, I meet Melissa Bagley, Baltimore born and raised.
(On camera): Do you think the President has any insight into your life?
[08:45:04] BAGLEY: Absolutely not, and I don't think that he cares to.
LAH (voice-over): Baltimore's challenges, unemployment, crime and budget short falls. Bagley has lived three all of them.
BAGLEY: The fact that young black boys are falling like flies and I've given birth to five of them, my city is screaming out for help. He spoke about being a president for all. I said wow. But he's failed. He's failed according to what he promised. He has failed at this point. LAH: On the other side of Baltimore works Dr. Crystal Watkins-
Johansson, neuropsychiatrist at Johns Hopkins University. An economic world away, but she too feels shut out.
CRYSTAL WATKINS JOHANSSON, JOHN HOPKINS UNIVERSITY NEUROPSYCHIATRIST: From what I hear and what I see I don't think that I'm represented at the table.
LAH (on camera): You don't see yourself at the table? What happens to you in four years?
JOHANSSON: I think that's where the anxiety comes from, is because we don't know.
LAH (voice-over): Anxiety felt from urban Baltimore to idyllic Massachusetts. Every single congressional district in this state voted for Hillary Clinton, a liberal unity awakening activism.
Greenfield, it's Sunday and Reverend Corey Sanderson is calling on his progressive Christians to be the country's conscience.
REV. COREY SANDERSON, SECOND CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH: The truth is out there.
LAH (on camera): Do you see the church as a force of resistance?
SANDERSON: Yes, I do. I do. He may be underestimating the power in the people and in the - in the sense of resistance against what he's been doing.
LAH (voice-over): After the service, as church members share pastries and coffee, I meet Kendra Davis, age 21, a music student, whose personal crisis collided with Trump's election.
KENDRA DAVIS, NON-TRUMP VOTER: I actually had an abortion in January this year. I don't want that to be taken away from other women in the future throughout his presidency.
LAH: Just days after her abortion, she joined the Women's March in her town square to defend choice.
(On camera): Does he factor into some of this thinking?
DAVIS: He factored in definitely because I was scared that once he became president he would make abortions illegal. It was disappointing to me he was part of my decision.
GLORIA DIFULVIO, VALLEY ACTION GROUP: Some of us have been here since November.
LAH (voice-over): Gloria DiFulvio started this grassroots opposition group in Hadley.
DIFULVIO: I don't know if it's because we have this moment where we almost had our first woman president, and so now we're kind of pissed off. LAH: Angry but also realizing she'd become complacent, even on her
most personal issue, gay marriage.
DIFULVIO: The Supreme Court decision came out and that was really special.
LAH (on camera): How are you today different than before November 8th?
DIFULVIO: I'm way more involved. I am not falling asleep again.
LAH (voice-over): A repeated refrain of determination across three blue states to derail a presidency.
Kyung Lah, CNN in California, Maryland and Massachusetts.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLACKWELL: Turns out that Alec Baldwin is not the only President Trump impersonator. The all call has gone out and Jeannie Moos shows us some of the best presidential portrayals. That's coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:53:04] PAUL: President Trump celebrating his 100-day in office with a campaign style rally in Pennsylvania tonight. At the same time of course as the White House Correspondents' Dinner is happening.
BLACKWELL: Now you remember the last one that Trump attended, that was in 2015 where then President Obama made him the butt of a few jokes. Now this is the first time since Ronald Reagan that a president will not be in attendance. And let's remember here that Reagan couldn't make it because he had just been shot. He still called in, though.
PAUL: Hey, you know, if the president isn't going to be there our Jeannie Moos knows some guy who can fill in.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Gentlemen and lady, start your impersonations.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I look extra orange.
MOOS: Eleven Trump imitators competed at the Los Angeles Comedy Club, The Laugh Factory.
GLEN GRIFFIN, TRUMP IMPERSONATOR: And I want to assure everyone here I have no Russian ties. They're all made in China.
MOOS: Riffing on the president's words --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The media has been so unfair.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Believe me. MOOS: Aping his gestures, clapping, pointing, pouting, even breathing
like him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But, I mean, you know.
MOOS: Among the judges, former "SNL" star Daryl Hammond.
DARYL HAMMOND, COMEDIAN: Love thy neighbor as thyself and like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.
MOOS: Hammond noted that instead of laughing, President Trump does --
HAMMOND: The sort of reverse meow laugh like a --
MOOS: Most of the jokes were in the groaner category.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was very reluctant to drop the bomb on Syria. After all, she's been such a tremendous help on my iPhone.
MOOS: It's the delivery that counts.
JOHN DI DOMENICO, TRUMP IMPERSONATOR: And I love signing, tweeting and saluting. No one salutes better than me. Nobody.
MOOS: The impersonators tend to break Trump down into body parts.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And a lot of it is the squint and the lips. Those are the two big tease.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, he does a weird kind of side eye thing.
DI DOMENICO: But the good thing is everything is within the same lexicon, you know. Everything is tremendous, fantastic, incredible or a total disaster, lightweight, loser.
[08:55:08] MOOS: John Di Domenico is no loser. He won with his jokes about replacing Obamacare.
DI DOMENICO: And it is going to be Trump first-aid kits.
MOOS: One impersonator not in the contest was Anthony Atamanuik.
ANTHONY ATAMANUIK, COMEDIAN: And then bring in the arms. This is the key. The arms.
MOOS: His fake Trump now hosting an entire show on Comedy Central. For impersonators, it's not the wig, it's what's under it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I like the way he starts big, like he's going to come up with something, you know, and then all of a sudden he says, terrific.
MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN.
TRUMP: Terrific, terrific.
DI DOMENICO: Tremendous.
MOOS: New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLACKWELL: All right. Well, that's it for us. Thanks for joining us here in D.C. for our special coverage of the president's first 100 days in office.
PAUL: Yes. Make some great memories today but don't go anywhere, "SMERCONISH" is with you next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
