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Trump`s Travel Ban; Trump`s Election Brings Town Hope; Fillion Denies Wrongdoing; Legal Clash Over Trump`s Travel Ban; Trump Slams Judge Who Ruled To Suspend Travel Ban; Trump Criticized For Remarks On Putin, U.S.; Russia: Comments From Fox News Host "Offensive"; Fillion: I Have Nothing To Hide; French Presidential Candidate Addresses Media; Fillion Says He Employed His For 15 Years; Reports: Fillion Family Got $1 Million For No-Show Jobs; Next: Journey To The Heart Of Trump Country; President Trump Provides Hope In One Small U.S. Town; U.S. Town Places Hope For Jobs On Trump; Living In The Heart Of Trump Country; Trump Brings Hope To Struggling Kentucky Town; Trump To Visit U.S. Central Command; Source: Infighting Among White House Staff; Source: White House Chief Of Staff Asserts Control; Source: Rivalries In Trump Circle Spark Infighting; Family Blocked By Travel Ban Gets Warm Welcome; Crowds Greet Kurdish Family Blocked By Travel Ban; Melissa McCarthy Lampoons Spicer On SNL; McCarthy Skewers Spicer On Saturday Night Live; SNL Also Spoofed Trump Relationship With Bannon. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired February 06, 2017 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The President of the United States has every right to criticize the other two branches of
government.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR: The battle over the ban, the face of U.S. President Donald Trump`s controversial travel policy now being fought in
the courts and Mr. Trump wasting no time blaming the judiciary for allowing, quote, very bad people into the country. We will get the very
latest on the fight from Washington for you up next.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Do you feel hopeful after the election?
DONNA COOMER, VOTED FOR TRUMP: Absolutely. He`s already done more in a week than Obama did in eight years.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Hope in the heart of Trump country. We`ll take you to one of America`s poorest towns and what they believe the President will do for
them. And fighting back, facing a scandal that could derail his campaign, French presidential candidate, Francois Fillon, says he has nothing to hide
and he`s staying in the race.
Hi. Hello and welcome to CONNECT THE WORLD. An extended edition for you tonight. I`m Becky Anderson in Abu Dhabi. Donald Trump just 18 days into
his presidency, but courts are already testing the limits of his authority. A panel of judges could decide shortly whether to restore his travel ban
which was suspended by a federal judge on Friday. Now, the Justice Department is asking an appeals court in the States to lift that
suspension. It`s expected to file a brief with the court soon.
Meanwhile, Mr. Trump is slamming the judge behind Friday`s ruling. Let`s look at out this case is moving through the court system with our Dan
Simon. He`s near the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. Give us a tick tock, if you will, at this, what do we know?
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, hi, Becky. Well, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has to decide whether or not to keep this suspension in
place. And the next step in this process is for both sides to file their legal briefs and we know that attorneys from the states of Washington and
Minnesota have already filed theirs and it is up to the federal government to respond and they have until this evening to come up with their briefs.
Now, in addition to all of that, you have a lot of different voices joining the chorus as it were. You have nearly a hundred technology companies, the
biggest tech companies in Silicon Valley; Apple, Google, Facebook. They have filed what`s called an amicus brief saying that this immigration ban
hurts their business and that it hurts immigrants and their families.
And you also have what seems to be an unprecedented move, a declaration from former federal government officials ranging from John Kerry, Susan
Rice, Leon Panetta, all high profile names who`ve worked in government. They have said that they have not found an example or cannot find a
specific example where this ban would really need to go into effect.
So that`s something that the court is going to have to decide. They`re going to have to look at all of this information and come up with a
decision Becky.
ANDERSON: And window closing, of course, a final word in Donald Trump`s travel ban. Thank you. Dan will likely rest with the U.S. Supreme Court.
Our Supreme Court reporter is Ariane de Vogue joining us out of Washington tonight.
[11:05:01] So where do you see this going from here on in? And just some context with this conversation that you and I are having, it is likely
around the world there are people watching who are completely confused as to what`s going on. And if they are from these seven countries listed in
this executive order, they are desperate to know what happens next.
ARIANE DE VOGUE, CNN U.S. SUPREME COURT REPORTER: Well, here`s what`s important to know right now is that no court so far has said whether or not
this executive order is legal. No Court has said, "Yes, it`s constitutional." "No, it`s unconstitutional." All that`s happened is this
one district court judge has halted it for now pending appeals and that question is before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
But we are seeing the broad arguments on either side, the opponents are saying it`s unconstitutional. It discriminates based on religion. It
favors one religion over the other. It stops people`s right to travel and on the side, the Department of Justice comes back and says, "Look, the
states don`t even have the right to be in court and the President has broad authority when it comes to immigration."
So now what`s happening is that issue, whether or not it should remain halted is before the Ninth Circuit. Whoever loses in the Ninth Circuit
could very well go to the Supreme Court again on whether or not the program should be halted. Meanwhile, other challenges across the country will
continue and eventually the big meaty question is this thing constitutional or not will return to the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court will look at
it then. That`s where we are now.
ANDERSON: Well, Donald Trump isn`t waiting for that to happen. He unleashed more criticism of the federal judge who`s suspended his travel
ban after calling him a so called judge, of course, he tweeted this, "Just can`t believe a judge would put our country in such peril. If something
happens, blame him and the court system people pouring in, period, bad!"
We`ve got some images here of people that maybe Trump is calling bad, I don`t know. But people who have been perhaps lucky enough to get into the
states at some of these airports, who`ve met family members that perhaps they thought they weren`t going to get to see. I mean, as I said, this has
been very, very confusing for those, particularly from the seven countries who hope, some of them will hope to make a better life in the U.S. At this
stage what would your advice be to them?
DE VOGUE: Well, I can`t give them advice but I can understand the confusion looking at this latest tweet from the President. And not only is
that issue very confusing, but it`s the fact that the President wasn`t even talking broadly about judicial ruling. He wasn`t talking broadly about the
situation. He was targeting a judge specifically and that`s what`s so problematic for lawyers and his lawyers now who are going to have to appear
before judges to make this determination.
That`s why his method of sending out these outbursts on Twitter are really raising eyebrows in legal circles in Washington, not to mention people,
where you are, trying to figure out what their next moves are going to be.
ANDERSON: Ariane, thank you for that. Ariane de Vogue for you this evening. President Trump also taking a lot of heat at home for drawing a
sort of more of like equivalency, if you like, between Russia and the U.S. Have a listen to his exchange with Fox News` anchor Bill O`Reilly.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL O`REILLY, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Do you respect Putin?
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I do respect him.
O`REILLY: Do you? Why?
TRUMP: Well, I respect a lot of people. But that doesn`t mean I`m going to get along with him. He`s a leader of his country. I say it`s better to
get along with Russia than not. Will I get along with him? I have no idea. It`s very possible I won`t.
O`REILLY: But he`s a killer. Putin is a killer.
TRUMP: A lot of killers. We got a lot of killers, why, you think our country is so innocent?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: How`s this exchange going down in Moscow? Well, I want to get some perspective now. I`m bringing up Ivan Watson from CNN`s Moscow
bureau. And quite an exchange there, lots of debate about where Donald Trump was in all of this and was he drawing some moral equivalency between
a war in Iraq, for example, and the deaths that would have happened there. And for example, unconstitutional deaths in Russia, for example, murders of
journalists. How is this story playing out in Moscow?
[11:10:06] IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The Kremlin wants an apology, Becky. Unlike in the U.S., where the U.S.
President has come under criticism from some members of his own political party for apparently, as you`ve suggested this moral equivalent. Here in
Russia, the Fox News Anchor Bill O`Reilly and his allegations that the Russian President Putin is a killer, that is what some people are taking
issue with.
Notably the Kremlin Spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, who said that Bill O`Reilly`s statements were, quote, unacceptable, offensive and again requesting an
apology. So that`s not going over terribly well. Meanwhile, I would argue that the honeymoon that President Trump is getting in Russia, it continues.
His election was enthusiastically welcomed by some long standing outspoken critics of the U.S. It was really remarkable.
One of them actually toasted his election with champagne and it continues to get quite sympathetic coverage in the Kremlin media as well. And one of
the narratives that started to emerge is that Trump is this figure that wants to make deals with Russia, wants to work with Russia, but now he`s
being held back by certain elements of the American bureaucracy and some of its allies around the world.
Take a look at this tweet by a Russian lawmaker name Aleksey Pushkov, I`m going to translate it for you. It says, quote, the U.S. Congress, NATO,
Merkel, the German Chancellor, Kiev, the government in Ukraine, and others are trying to fit Trump into a hardcore set of Obama`s anti Russia
politics, tie his arms and legs. And of course, what the Trump administration has made clear multiple times, Becky, is that it sees Russia
as a potential ally in its war against the threat of international terrorism. Becky?
ANDERSON: Ivan Watson, is in Moscow. Thank you, Ivan. Only embattled French presidential candidate c is battling back against the political
scandal involving family members and vowing to go forward with his campaign. CNN Paris Correspondent Melissa Bell. Joining me now with more
of what he had to say.
Well, just in the past hour or so, he held a press conference. It went on for some time and he was absolutely adamant in his narrative. What exactly
did he tell those and the rest of the world who were listening in as well?
MELISSA BELL, CNN PARIS CORRESPONDENT: Well, we were listening in very closely. What he announced was that this was the start of the new
campaign, Becky. He believes that with what he told, the gathered journalists today, he`s going to be able to get back into this race because
his campaign has been at a standstill really for the last couple of weeks.
Ever since these allegations emerged about the unpaid work that his wife and children has said to have carried out, initially carried by newspapers.
But now allegations that are Becky the subject of an ongoing official investigation. Francois Fillon really going on the attack and saying that
Penelope Fillion had worked legitimately. She had earned the money, government money, taxpayers` money, Becky, that was to be paid to
parliamentary assistance and that he would be cleared by this inquiry.
This is a new form of communication. So far Francois Fillon has handled this whole thing remarkably badly, really going on the defensive and being
fairly quiet and protective about what had actually gone on. So a change of attack, a change of communication, would it be enough to convince not
just the wider electorate, but those from within his own camp who`ve been calling for him to go.
That`s not entirely clear particularly since the actual investigation has yet to come up with its findings if it finds that in fact he was wrong to
pay that money to his wife into his children, that in fact the work was for no show jobs, then that will mean the end of his campaign.
So he has something of a hostage fortune now, but this is Francois Fillon really trying to get back into a race in which he`s lost so much ground.
He was leading it just a couple of weeks ago. He`s now third behind the far-rights` Marine Le Pen in the opinion polls. And behind Emmanuel
Macron, the centrist who`s probably got the most to gain from a possible collapse of the Republican candidature.
ANDERSON: So I guess the bottom line he`s not out for the count, but an awful lot more to do at this point, correct?
BELL: He`s got an awful lot more to do and assuming that he is cleared by this inquiry, Becky, he`s still going to have to make up for all of this
lost time, because at this stage, and we`re less than three months away from the first round of the French presidential election, with this sort of
wide open incredibly fragmented field with these various populist candidates, Marine Le Pen on the far right, Emmanuel Macron arguably a
populist from the center.
[11:15:03] The man who`s been chosen by the Socialist Party, Becky, BenoOt Hamon is really to the left of the party and something of a populist
himself. All of these variables that make this election so very difficult to call in that context, Francois Fillon, is going to have to fight this
uphill struggle to get back into the race and to get some of that lost momentum and campaigns like these and so close to election day momentum is
so terribly important. And all eyes will be on him in the coming days to see whether he can get that back.
ANDERSON: Melissa is in Paris, the bureau there, just above [00:15:37], thank you for that. A small American town looking to President Trump with
hope still to come. We take a journey into the heart of Trump country. We are back in the States, why most of the people in this poor community voted
for a billionaire to save them.
Plus, signs of infighting at the White House for what sources are telling us about President Trump`s inner circle.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:18:23] ANDERSON: U.S. President Donald Trump may be controversial around the world, but in one small American town he`s a source of hope for
the first time in a very, very long time. President Trump won more than 80% the vote in Beattyville, Kentucky, considered one of the poorest
communities in America.
Most voters said they were desperate for jobs and a way out of poverty. Well, CNN Correspondent Poppy Harlow takes you to the heart of what is
Trump country.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m very hopeful that the jobs will come back because of Trump.
MAYOR JOHN SMITH, BEATTYVILLE, KENTUCKY: I guess I`m most hopeful for opportunity and job growth within our area.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m hopeful that we will have jobs in Kentucky.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just to keep our young people here, give them a future.
DONNA COOMER, MANAGER, VALERO GAS STATION: We have fresh meat in the White House.
HARLOW (voice-over): It`s hard to find more natural beauty than the rolling hills surrounding Beattyville,Kentucky.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just love this area.
PATRICIA COLE, VOTED FOR HILLARY CLINTON: It`s beautiful here.
HARLOW(voice-over): To say folks here are proud of their town is an understatement and they`re no fan of the recent headlines about it.
HARLOW(on camera): This is Beattyville, Kentucky, one of the poorest, predominantly white towns in the country. More than half of the people
here live in poverty and rely on food stamps. Less than a hundred miles from here is where President Lyndon Johnson declared the war on poverty
just over 50 years ago.
[11:20:00] LYNDON JOHNSON, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT(voice-over): This administration today, here and now, declares unconditional war on poverty
in America.
HARLOW(voice-over): But for decades, people here have struggled, more and more as their factories have shuttered and their coal mines have closed.
Now, though, there is a sense of hope that you can feel across this town, something many here have not felt for a long time.
CHUCK CAUDILL, GENERAL MANAGER, BEATTYVILLE ENTERPRISE NEWSPAPER: A lot of people are happy. I mean some even ecstatic that we now can say,
"President Trump."
HARLOW(voice-over): President Trump won more than 80 percent of the vote here.
COOMER: Everybody was excited. Someone told me this morning that in eastern Kentucky that the coal trucks are already out and about.
HARLOW: Donna Coomer has been running this gas station for a decade and knows just about everyone in town.
COOMER: Hello, Howard.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey.
HARLOW(on camera): Do you feel hopeful after the election?
COOMER: Absolutely. He`s already done more in a week than Obama did in eight years.
HARLOW: President Trump?
COOMER: For the American people.
HARLOW: I`m fascinated by what gives people so much hope. What do you think it is?
COOMER: The change. The fact that, I believe, he wants to take care of us, the little people. And he understands us better. I think he`s going
to quit giving money to all these other countries and take care of America.
HARLOW(voice-over): But for Melissa Allen, hope is hard to find.
HARLOW(on camera): Do you make enough to get by?
MELISSA ALLEN, SINGLE MOTHER LIVING ON MINIMUM WAGE: Not without working seven days a week, no. I`ve lived here my entire life. I`ve lived in
poverty my entire life. So there`s really no hope.
HARLOW: You`re young, Melissa.
ALLEN: I know.
HARLOW: None?
ALLEN: Every week you`ve got to rob Peter to pay Paul. I had my electric shut off. I`ve had my water shut off.
HARLOW: Do you get a sense that people here are more hopeful now because of the new president?
ALLEN: It seems like people are. But it`s kind of almost like wishing on lost hope because it`s been this way for so long.
HARLOW(voice-over): Her livelihood crumbled when one of the town`s biggest employers shuttered six years ago.
ALLEN: I worked at Lion Apparel. We had a sewing factory.
HARLOW(on camera): The big factory.
ALLEN: Yes. As a matter of fact, I worked there for almost 10 years.
HARLOW: Were you making a pretty good income there?
ALLEN: I`ve done decent there. One of the only decent paying jobs left. And I was actually the highest paid employee on the sewing floor.
HARLOW: Wow.
ALLEN: Yes.
HARLOW: But when that factory shuttered?
ALLEN: I did too. I mean, honestly.
HARLOW(voice-over): Now, taking care of her five-year-old son Hayden (ph) means two minimum wage jobs working up to 60 hours a week and still relying
on about $100 in food stamps each month.
ALLEN: I don`t understand why minimum wage here can`t be raised. I don`t get that.
HARLOW(voice-over): More than 43 million Americans are living at or below the poverty line. In Beattyville, the economic decline didn`t come
quickly. It`s been a slow, painful drip of job losses for decades.
HARLOW(on camera): So what happened?
CAUDILL: Our industry went away. We were slow to realize that. We were the number one oil producing county east of the Mississippi at one time.
Yes.
HARLOW: Plenty of money here at one time.
CAUDILL: At one time we were the gem of eastern Kentucky. I don`t blame either party. I blame a system that creates a situation where everybody
says everything is wonderful and it`s not.
HARLOW(voice-over): Chuck Caudill runs the local paper here.
HARLOW(on camera): The hope seems palpable.
CAUDILL: Well, it is, simply because back here for the last few generations, we`ve been getting lots of promises and there`s been a lot of
money thrown at the issues.
HARLOW: Help me understand why so much hope is being placed in President Trump.
CAUDILL: His bluntness, which is very disquieting to people is refreshing.
HARLOW: But bluntness may be refreshing. It doesn`t always equal jobs.
CAUDILL: It does not always equal jobs, but he out and out said, "I`m going to give you jobs." There`s desperation back here.
HARLOW(voice-over): Susan Lutes isn`t convinced, though, President Trump will bring Beattyville what it needs.
SUSAN LUTES, VOTED FOR HILLARY CLINTON: He makes a lot of promises. He says a lot of things that sound great to some people who may not have as
much insight into as they could have or they should have.
HARLOW(voice-over): Her concern? Cutbacks in social programs here.
LUTES: Those are resources that we need more of. We don`t need to lose what we have.
[11:25:01] COLE: I don`t think that Trump has a clue about the little man. When you`re born wealthy and everything has been handed to you and you have
everything in your world that`s gold-plated, come to our world. Come and see how we live.
HARLOW: Regardless of party, one constant you hear, something must be done so Beattyville doesn`t lose the next generation.
STEVE MAYS, LEE COUNTY, KENTUCKY, JUDGE/EXECUTIVE: We`re losing our young people. They`re having having to leave after they graduate high school or
graduate college. They`re having to leave here. And we need good paying jobs to keep them here.
They don`t expect to make a million dollars or something. This is my American dream. This is my American dream, just to raise my family in a
safe environment in a small town. And I think that`s what a lot of people here want. There`s not opportunity for my children here, no, and that`s
what I worry about.
SMITH: When jobs leave, I said before, it`s just difficult to bring them back in with the infrastructure we have, roads, internet connections.
HARLOW: How much do you guys trust Donald Trump?
SMITH: Yes, I don`t know yet. I mean, really. I have faith that he`s going to work for the people. I have faith in that.
HARLOW(voice-over): Married 22 years and parents to three daughters, Harold and Leighandra Shouse share a modest home in the hills with seven
dogs and a lot of love all around.
LEIGHANDRA SHOUSE, VOTED FOR PRESIDENT TRUMP: We were the ones that kind of fell in the crack. In our world, you don`t pay your bills this week.
You pay a bill. You learn to live humbly.
HARLOW: Leighandra`s an artist. Harold is a mason. He drives two hours each way to and from work because the best paying job he could find close
to home only paid $11 an hour.
HARLOW: Do you think most of America really understands ...
HAROLD SHOUSE, VOTED FOR PRESIDENT TRUMP: No.
HARLOW: ... what you live through?
L. SHOUSE: I think most of America is where we are and that`s why the election went the way it did.
HARLOW: Can Donald Trump help you?
H. SHOUSE: If he can bring some jobs in here. Like the prison up here is shut down.
HARLOW: Yes, the private prison.
H. SHOUSE: They open it back up. Look at how many people they laid off and had to let go. There was a lot of jobs people lost right there.
HARLOW: What`s Trump`s promise to you? What can he do for you?
L. SHOUSE: Any change from what we`ve had and you know what I understand that Obama has done great for some people. And I`ll give him that. It
didn`t help us. It didn`t help us at all.
HARLOW: Do you feel forgotten?
L. SHOUSE: Sure. Sure. I don`t know why my kids have to work two jobs each. We don`t want free college. We don`t want everything free. We want
to keep our sense of pride that we take care of ourselves.
HARLOW(voice-over): One day they`d like their American dream and their first vacation in a decade.
H. SHOUSE: Grand Canyon.
L. SHOUSE: Yes. He has said that since we`ve been married. We will go to the Grand Canyons one day.
HARLOW: The day we landed in Beattyville, the stock market hit a record high. But Dow 20,000 doesn`t help many folks here.
CAUDILL: For the majority of the people here, the stock market is something interesting to look at.
HARLOW: It`s factories like this one where Melissa and hundreds more made a decent living, that President Trump has promised to resurrect. It`s a
promise so many here are holding on to tightly.
HARLOW(off-camera): What gets you by everyday?
ALLEN: Hayden (ph).
HARLOW(off-camera): Do you believe Hayden (ph) can have a different life?
ALLEN: I hope he does. I really do. Like I said, I don`t want him to struggle like I do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW(off-camera): It`s factories like this one, where Melissa and hundreds more made a decent living that President Trump has promised to
resurrect. It`s a promise so many here are holding on too, tightly.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: Hayden.
HARLOW(off-camera): Do you believe Hayden can have a different life?
ALLEN: I hope he does. I really do. I don`t want him - like I said, I don`t want him to struggle like I do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: It was Poppy Harlow reporting for you. Ahead on CONNECT THE WORLD. There`s a power struggle playing out among White House staff who
stall who sources tell us is at the center of the infighting. That is coming up after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:31:56] ANDERSON: All right. Well, you`re looking at live pictures of Tampa, Florida where President Donald Trump has just landed on Air Force
One. He`s at MacDill Air Force Base where he`ll visit U.S. Central Command. He`ll be briefed by military officials and have lunch with troops
who are stationed there.
It`s President Trump`s first visit to the base but the trip has been overshadowed by backlash from his policy decisions. Well, now we are
hearing from multiple people in the White House, there`s no shortage of infighting within the President`s circle. White House Correspondent Sara
Murray joining us now.
The President, Sara, landed in the last few minutes back at base as it were at the White House. Reports that all might not be well, what`s going on?
What are we hearing?
SARA MURRAY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, it is interesting because Donald Trump has done really a lot of what he said he would do on
the campaign trail. He withdrew from TPP. He started to get the ball rolling on building this wall. He imposed his travel ban, but the backdrop
for all of this has been the fact that there still competing power centers within the White House.
His chief of staff, Reince Priebus, his Chief Strategist, Steve Bannon, are not always on the same page. We saw a very rocky sloppy rollout for this
travel ban that angered a lot of Donald Trump`s Republican allies on the Hill. It angered a lot of government agencies who weren`t sure that this
was coming and didn`t know how to implement it.
And now what we`re seeing is a White House that`s trying to downplay this sort of internal strife that`s trying to ensure a more orderly process
going forward. But one thing I will tell you is that Trump himself doesn`t seem to care that much about the chaos. He has sort of always operated
this way in business on the campaign trail and now in the White House.
And in talking to a bunch of Republicans in Washington and out in some of these states that Donald Trump won, they say that there`s little indication
that Donald Trump is suddenly going to change his style and all of a sudden, we`re going to start seeing a White House that is very buttoned up
or very much on message day-to-day.
ANDERSON: Sara, should these reports of sort of fairly chaotic situation at the White House be true? It wouldn`t be unprecedented, would it, for
there to be some sense of confusion for a new administration. The point though with this one is that there are so few people around the President
at this state and I think it`s also fair to add that even if there were chaos and clearly there`s been much confusion, as to much of what`s been
rolled out, the point as you rightly make is this rollout has happened as promised by this president on the campaign.
MURRAY: Right. And I think the question is are these just growing pains. We have a new president with a very small staff and a staff of people who
have not done this before, who have not worked in an administration before, and many who didn`t really even work in politics before Donald Trump, so
that`s one side of it. Maybe these are just growing pains and these wrinkles will be worked out. But I think the other side of it is people
outside of Washington.
[11:35:00] If you`re living in Ohio, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, if you`re in one of these states and you backs Trump, do you look at the President and
say, "This is a guy who did exactly what I thought he would do, exactly what he campaigned on." And are you sort of immune to some of the chaos
around it?
Remember, a lot of people when Donald Trump was campaigning said they liked his blunt style, they liked his approach that he would just come in and
break things and disrupt things. Obviously, that`s come with a little bit of public outcry, but maybe that`s perfectly acceptable to the people who
voted for Donald Trump and got him elected and sent to this White House.
ANDERSON: Sara is outside the White House, our correspondent there for you this evening. Thank you. Will Donald Trump`s ban on travel which has
caused such confusion halted one family in their tracks, but a court reversal and local officials helped pull them back. Matthew Torres of CNN
affiliate WTVF reports on a warm Tennessee welcome for one Kurdish family.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATTHEW TORRES: It took more than a week but [00:36:08] and his wife and three kids have finally arrived Nashville International Airport, to mighty
outpouring of support from local leaders to strangers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They`re coming here for new life and that`s what people have always come here for and they deserve it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just welcome. We`re glad you`re here and we hope you enjoy your new life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TORRES: Despite having a special visa to enter the U.S., the family was asked to go back to Iraq after the President`s travel ban last week.
Solomon, a former interpreter for the U.S. government in Iraq had undergone two years of vetting and already sold his house, unable to get in only
spark outrage.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You don`t punish everybody for what somebody did.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TORRES: After a federal judge reversed the executive action and advocacy groups and government officials speaking up, Solomon and his family were
given the permission to come to Nashville. Mayor Megan Barry, Congressman Jim Cooper and actress Connie Britton joined large crowd in welcoming them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FUAD SULEMAN, KURDISH IMMIGRANT & FORMER U.S. INTERPRETER: The amount of support that you have showed and your open arms make this day very, very exceptional day for me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TORRES: Suleman says it`s been a long process, but they`re just ready to settle down in a city that`s so far welcomes them with open arms.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SULEMAN: Please allow me to thank all the people of America, all of those who help me supported me, especially my fellow Nashvillians ...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: A reporting for you from Matthew Torres in Nashville live from Abu Dhabi. This is CONNECT THE WORLD. I`m Becky Anderson. Coming up,
actress Melissa McCarthy channel`s White House spokesman Sean Spicer on a spoof on Saturday Night Live is being described as nothing more than epic.
How he is responding after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:39:45] ANDERSON: They say imitation is the highest form of flattery, don`t they. Well, we are not sure that`s what actress Melissa McCarthy was
going for in a surprise Saturday Night Live`s send-up of often combative White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer. Have a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MELISSA MCCARTHY AS SEAN SPICER: Go. Glenn Thrush, New York Times. Boo. Go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I wanted to ask about travel ban on Muslims.
MCCARTHY: Yes, it`s not a ban.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m sorry.
MCCARTHY: It`s not ban. The travel ban is not a ban which makes it not a ban.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But you just called it a ban.
MCCARTHY: Because I`m using your words. You said ban. You said ban. I`m saying it back.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The president tweeted and I quote, "If the ban were announced with a one week notice"
MCCARTHY: Yes, exactly. You just said that. He`s quoting you. It`s your words. He`s using your words when you used the words and he uses them
back, it`s circular using of the word and that`s from you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Joining me now from New York is CNNMoney Senior Media Correspondent, Brian Stelter, whichever side of the fence you`re on. This
was very funny. Some are calling it epic, brilliant, political satire. I`m wondering what Sean Spicer himself thought of it, Brian.
BRIAN STELTER, CNN MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: I asked him yesterday. He told me instead to go cover a Washington Post screw-up on one of their stories.
But he did speak to a report from Extra about this. He says he thought it was exaggerated that maybe McCarthy should dial it down a bit. Of course,
that`s the point of satire they purposefully exaggerate.
But, you`re right this is one of the best political sketches in SNL history and it`s because McCarthy really became Sean Spicer. This White House has
had credibility problems, basically since day one since January 20th and this sketch really Illustrated why. It expressed, I think, a lot of the
experiences that the White House press corps have had so far with Sean Spicer. Yes, in a heightened way, but it got to a kind of deeper truth
about this White House`s credibility challenges.
ANDERSON: Look, the show itself has been in President Donald Trump`s crosshairs for some time, not least ...
STELTER: Yes.
ANDERSON: ... Alec Baldwin`s impersonation of the President as candidate and now as president. And it does seem, there`s a sketch last night, I
want our viewers just to see a little bit of this. But it seems that the sketch last night by Baldwin about Trump and Steve Bannon seem to urk Sean
Spicer more than the skit about him. Let`s have watch and then I`ll get you to come back on this.
STELTER: Yes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALEC BALDWIN, ACTOR, "SNL": Hi, Steve. You look rested.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.
BALDWIN: But not me. I`ve had a long day. I`m tired and cranky and I feel like I could just freak out on somebody.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Then maybe you should call Australia.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Mr. Trump, thank you for still accepting our refugees.
BALDWIN: Say what?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: President Obama said America would accept 1,200 refugees. Your country`s compassion will not be forgotten.
BALDWIN: No, no, no, no refugees. America first. Australia sucks. Your reef is failing. Prepare to go to war.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Briefly, Brian, that was a short clip. It went on and on.
STELTER: Oh, yes.
ANDERSON: And described as, what, mean or mean-spirited by Sean Spicer.
STELTER: Certainly, SNL going for broke here and we see it with this cold- open of the program. At the end of it you`ve got the Steve Bannon character sitting down at the desk, the real desk, and then President Trump
sitting at a kid`s desk implying that Bannon is the real president.
This has been a liberal talking point for days. It`s been fueled by news coverage saying Bannon is the most powerful person in the White House right
now. I think some liberals are trying to get under Trump`s skin by saying it and is now took to a whole new level. Maybe that`s why Trump is now
beating up on the media again today on Twitter.
ANDERSON: Fascinating. All right. Thank you, Brian. And that does it ...
STELTER: Thank you.
ANDERSON: ... for us, viewers, here at CONNECT THE WORLD. I`m Becky Anderson. Don`t go anywhere though, WORLD SPORT with Don Rydell is up
next.
END
