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Inside Politics

Trump Releases New Ad for First 100 Days; Trump: Infrastructure Bill Coming Very Soon; Trump: Senate Rules are "Archaic, Unfair"; Trump Invites Controversial Philippines President to the White House; Trump Cuts off Interview When Pushed on Wiretap Claim; Trump: I'd Meet Kim Jong-un Under "Right Circumstances". Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired May 01, 2017 - 12:30   ET

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

[12:30:02] PETER BAKER, THE NEW YORK TIMES: You know, nothing he's done at this point affecting the job market that traumatic. We have to say -- it's fair to say he did cut regulations. It's fair to say he did confirm a Supreme Court justice, but the economy takes a lot long to move.

KING: And at the end of the -- they have picture from shaking hands with his national security adviser in full uniform which violates the spirit if not the weather of Pentagon policy that wearing a uniform in political ads (inaudible) it's not a small country and absolutely nothing do with that. But what is the strategy? I was talking to a friend of the president over the weekend who said that he's really frustrated.

That he thinks he is getting a bad ride on the media. And again I said to this friend, I said, I don't get a vote on ObamaCare repeal. None of us do and none of us could get a vote on border wall funding. And he said that, you know, he's not getting enough credit for the temperamental stylistic changes in Washington. And he's mad about it and his staff is frantic to try to find things to prop him up, to keep his mood from (inaudible).

BAKER: What is so fascinating of because he said that's whole 100-day thing is phony. He said it again over the weekend, it's phony. Why are these phony? Are you - you're putting out an ad?

Why are you having multiple briefing, receptions or web page if you're buying into the 100-day thing? Of course it would then evaluate you base on 100 days and that's the way he doesn't want. They have an -- and so, you know, look, the campaign -- it's not -- we always talk about the permanent campaign. This is literally the permanent campaign. We are in fact four years away from the next president taking office almost and we're going to continue to have a campaign to talk and that's what he's most successful at.

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You can discount the importance of an approval rating in trying to get your agenda through Congress. Weakened president, who is unpopular, particularly in key districts back home, makes it much harder to sell things to members who are skittish already. KING: This is - (inaudible) the conversation, to that point, some people told the president slow down. Slow down, go one at a time. Get more involved in the details. Don't go off the rails like you did with ObamaCare repeal. But they want to push for both this week on ObamaCare repeal. We'll see if they have the votes.

Now they put out on a tax reform outline? It's not a plan, it's an outline but its fine, that sometimes why (inaudible), that's probably defensible way to do it. Especially if the people on Capitol already have a plan, you just sent your outline to say, hey, you know, massage yours towards ours a little bit. It's a perfectly defensive way to do it. And the president says within two or three weeks we're going to get infrastructure. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We are going to do infrastructure very quickly. We've got the plan largely completed and we'll be filing it over the next two or three weeks, maybe sooner.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Now, there's 535 of them. I have long been of the opinion of saying why can't they walk and chew gum? Why can't they do more than one big thing at a time? But they have proven consistently they can't.

LAURA MECKLER, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Right. And the -- and it's just interesting that he's already -- he always seems to be looking like to turn the corner to the next big thing. And when the health care was going down, he said we're going to forget this when we do taxes next.

Now, he hasn't any taxes, I guess we're done with taxes now that he's put out the, the outline of the plan, we can move on to infrastructure. I think that for Trump it's -- I mean, he's mused allowed many times now about how hard this job is, how things are more complicated than he thought they would be. And it's a lot simpler to, to have a campaign ad or to be in campaign mode. He's had several rallies, because there have been straight up campaign rallies which presidents have never done this earlier before. And I think that's because that's a mode that is much more comfortable for him and it's easier to -- even come up with an idea, put out and idea than it is to do this sort of hard work of building consensus.

KING: And he gives himself an A and when asked then why aren't these things being done, he blames the rules.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I think the rules in Congress and in particular the rules in the Senate are unbelievably archaic and slow moving and in many cases unfair. In many cases you're forced to make deals that are not the deal you'd make.

(END VIDEO CLIP) JACKIE KUCINICH, THE DAILY BEAST: Well, I mean that -- this is the job. This is the job. This is the job -- he asked for this job. No one asked him to run. This is the job that he took.

And the fact that he doesn't know how to work with the Senate and he doesn't know how to work with the House yet to get things done, that's on, that's on him. That's on the administration. But he controls -- his party controls the House and the Senate. In theory, there should be a way to work with him.

RAJU: Well, I think it's the really revealing moment for him too because, you know, this is a guy who's used to getting his way, running his own company for so many years. You can't get your own way in this town even in one party rule. And especially in the United States Senate when you don't have a super majority and you do have to work with the other side and you have competing factions within your own party. Legislating is really, really hard and he's learning that --

KUCINICH: And if the only process as the president --

BAKER: First, president with no experience, not one day in government or military. First president of America in history. And by the way, surrounded by people with no experience in government. Not surprising, it's a learning curve. They may get there, but it's not surprising.

KUCINICH: All though Mike Pence was in Congress. There are people around him that do know how these things work, including his budget director who is one of the Freedom Caucus members.

KING: -- secretary and project director and his vice president who were deeply involved in the ObamaCare negotiations the first time around, the three guys with experience.

BAKER: But his chief of staff, his counselor, senior adviser is --

MECKLER: And I don't know that those guys were known as people who were bringing together big bipartisan deals when they were in Congress --

[12:35:02] KING: But they were part of the no group.

MECKLER: Right exactly so they're not --

KING: They're largely part of the no group. Like I said (inaudible) didn't like it.

MECKLER: The people who did have experience governing were not doing the kind of governing that needs to be done right now.

KING: Another trademark of the first 100 days that will apparently carryover although maybe not, may we'll come to see Trump, I'm going to call it affinity. And I don't know if that's the right word for strong men. But he's invited the president of the Philippines to come to the White House. He's called smart cookie Kim Jong-un who is the dictator in North Korea.

He met with the Egyptian president, brought him into the Oval Office, he (inaudible) on him. President Obama did business with him, don't get me wrong. President Obama did business with all the people you're seeing on the screen there too. Abdel el-Sisi was invited into the Oval Office and the president, he praise on him and he is human rights (inaudible) story.

He called Erdogan after the referendum that gives Erdogan more power in Turkey and complimented him. Even since that referendum has passed, we've seen more steps towards an authoritarian regime into it. And again, I want to be fair to the president, United States presidents for years have done business with bad actors.

It's part of the job. You have to do it. But what is it about the public praise of them?

BAKER: It is interesting, right? Because -- you're right, they always -- they put the line some place, right? So, President Obama put the line no Oval Office visit for bad guys who are that far over. And we obviously don't have that line anymore.

And, you know, as you mentioned Erdogan got the congressional (inaudible) about a referendum taking away power. You don't call normally a fellow leader to say, hey, congratulations on seizing more power. You call him to say, hey, I need your help on Syria. That's fair enough.

So, what is it about him? I don't know, he does seem to like strong leaders. He's praised Putin to the skies. He has - he's gotten along well with Xi Jinping. China not a flourishing democracy exactly --

RAJU: Called him a good man.

BAKER: -- called him a good man, a widely respected man. And, you know, he has not in fact seemed to have the same kind of relationship with Theresa May, Angela Merkel, Francois Hollande who actually lead, you know, democracies that are allied to us. So, you know, I think it goes back to your theory about business. I mean, he likes people to, you know, say yes, this is done. We don't have to worry about a parliament or a Congress that gets in my way. And that's, you know, that's what these guys can do.

KING: We shall see. Keep an eye everyone. We've got more to go. Next, the president's pressed to back up his wiretapping claims against President Obama and ends the interview.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:41:14] KING: Welcome back. In just a moment the president's case that his side has been proven very strongly, his words. His side has been proven very strongly. And that everybody's talking about how President Obama wiretapped candidate Trump. First, though, a little context from Republicans who have access to the most sensitive U.S. intelligence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. PAUL RYAN (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: No such wiretapping existed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you believe the president know when he says -- do you believe the president when he says that he was wiretapped, when he says that he was wire -- when he says that President Obama ordered wiretapping at Trump tower, do you believe?

RYAN: No. That's what I said. We we've cleared that up. That we've seen no evidence of that. We have not seen evidence of any like that you just described.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you believe that Barack Obama wiretapped Trump Tower?

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R), MINORITY LEADER: There's no evidence of that.

REP. DEVIN NUNUES (R), CALIFORNIA: We know there was not a physical wiretap of Trump Tower.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Yet this weekend, John Dickerson of CBS tried to clear all this up until he got waved away.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Well, he was very nice to me but after that we've had some difficulties. So it doesn't matter. You know, words are less important to me than deeds. You saw what happened with surveillance and everybody saw what happened with surveillance.

JOHN DICKERSON, CBS NEWS ANCHOR: Difficulties how?

TRUMP: I thought that -- well, you saw what happened with surveillance. And I think that was inappropriate.

DICKERSON: What does that mean sir?

TRUMP: You can figure that out yourself.

DICKERSON: Well, the reason I ask is you said you called him sick and bad.

TRUMP: Look, you can figure it out yourself. He was very nice to me with words but -- and when I was with him, but after that there has been no relationship.

DICKERSON: But you stand by that claim about him?

TRUMP: I don't stand by anything. I just say, you can take it the way you want. I think our side's been proven very strongly and everybody's talking about it. And frankly it should be discuss. I think that is a very big surveillance of our citizens. I think that's a very big topic. And it's a topic that should be number one and we should find out what the hell is going on.

DICKERSON: I just wanted to find out -- you're the president of the United States. You said he was sick and bad because he tapped --

TRUMP: And you can think, you can take it any way you want.

DICKERSON: But I'm asking you because you don't want it to be fake news. I want to hear from President Trump.

TRUMP: You don't have to ask me.

DICJERSON: Why not?

TRUMP: Because I have my own opinions. You can have your own opinions.

DICKERSON: But I want to know your opinions. You're the president of the United States.

TRUMP: That's enough. Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: That's enough. Thank you. Now props, props out of the gate to John Dickerson. That's hard to do, to just keep your tone steady, keep asking questions, you're the president of the United States, explain your views, please sir, you're the president of the United States. It was a nice try. What was that?

MECKLER: It was -- what it was, was he wants to continue to have the idea out there that President Obama wiretapped him. He obviously believes that. But he doesn't want to actually say it again because nobody's backed him up.

I mean, I think that's probably what's going on. He doesn't want to let it go. He doesn't want to admit that he was wrong. But the odd part about that whole interview is that he's the one who brought it up in the first place.

He said -- they were talking about their relationship with President Obama. He said that there's a difference between words and deeds. So what are the deeds? The deeds obviously what he was talking about was him wiretapping him. So, you know, he seems to be trying to have it both ways here.

RAJU: And this was -- look, we talk about the past first 100 days, this was one of the worst moments for the White House clearly because he made a statement that there was no backing whatsoever. His White House was on the defensive for weeks and weeks. They tried to come up with all sorts of reasons why the president may have been right.

They tried to muddy the waters. It eventually led to the recusal of Devin Nunes from leading the White House investigation into Russian meddling. It was a huge problem. So when he -- you know, he brought it up himself as sort of point out. He knows how problematic this is which is why he tried to cut off the interview when he was pressed on this.

[12:45:04] KING: He knows how important -- this gets back to something we discussed earlier in a very different context. He knows how problematic it is in Washington. But does he understand how cat nip it is for his base out in the country? And is he playing inside, outside?

BAKER: Yes, before -- he yes, he obviously -- he can't let go. That's the thing you learn from this again. And so there's no controversy, no slight that he's ever been subjected to. No offense he's ever taken that he ever lets go. And he's going to keep going on and on about --

KING: Even in an offense that's unproven.

BAKER: Even if this is not true as far as anybody can sell, it doesn't matter. Because, you know, he'll find ways of saying it was true. And we've so rarely heard him admit that he's wrong.

KING: And this is part of another conversation. It's in part of the Russia election meddling investigation that continue with the FBI, that continue in four or five committees up on Capitol Hill. The president has been told and every senior member of his national security team has publicly said, yes, Russia meddled in our election. They leave no doubt that they trust the intelligence that Russia did this. Now, the big debate was there collusion or coordination with Trump campaign associates, that's the subject of the investigation.

But on the threshold question, did Russia do this? Was there an orchestrated Kremlin back effort to meddle in our elections? His own national security team, very respected people all say yes. Listen to the president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: If you don't catch a hacker, OK, in the act, it's very hard to say who did the hacking. With that being said, I'll go along with Russia. It could have been China. It could have been a lot of different groups.

DICKERSON: So President Donald Trump is ambivalent about -- or not ambivalent, you're just not sure?

TRUMP: No, I'm not -- no. We have to find out what happened. I'd love to find out what happened.

DICKERSON: But you don't think it's the Russians necessarily?

TRUMP: I can tell you one thing, it had nothing to do with us. It had nothing to do with this. And everyone knows it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KUCINICH: This is about his credibility. This is about his standing as the president of the United States. And that he's never really been able to get pass that. KING: All right.

KUCINICH: That this is an affront -- these accusations came from Democrats and it was affront and affront to his legitimacy as president. Part -- I mean, but -- and it's a (inaudible) not the entire time. But that's -- it seems like he still, after, you know, all these months --

KING: Could have been China, could have been a lot of different groups.

KUCINICH: Right.

(CROSSTALK)

BAKER: -- back in January, we got briefed.

KING: Yes.

BAKER: And say look, I believe it was Russia.

KING: All right.

BAKER: So he's now retracting his own previous statement including it's not the former guy -- (inaudible) guy in the basement or China or something.

RAJU: And John, there's no debate within the intelligence community. They came out with their assessments which are -- there are varieties of views within the intelligence committee but the assessment that they put out earlier this year, there was consensus within the intelligence committee that Russia did try to help Donald Trump win the election. I mean, orders of Vladimir Putin.

KING: And these are his guys telling this now, it's not the last administration. They're his guys saying that his best testifying publicly about the step when he say giant hump, that's OK.

We're getting some breaking news and President Trump just asked in a new interview about whether he'd ever meet with the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. His answer, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:52:13] KING: Important breaking news for you all. One of the most important political challenges, global political challenge facing the new President Donald Trump. The president just told Bloomberg News in an interview just moments ago, that he is willing to sit down under the right circumstances with the North Korean dictator Kim Jong- un. The president said this quote, if it would be appropriate for me to meet with him, I would absolutely, I would be honored to do it. If it's under, again, the right circumstances. But I would do that.

The president going on in that interview saying most political people would never say that. But I'm telling you under the right circumstances I would meet with him and then the president himself adding to the interview, we have breaking news.

This would be breaking news. And I want to clarify the president says under the right circumstances. His secretary of state has said that the United States is willing to negotiate with North Korea but only if it is very crystal clear that those negotiations are not about food aide, not about stalling, not about delaying, but about dismantling the nuclear program. But for the president of the United States who was causing a lot of buzz the other day by saying, we absolutely might be in a major military conflict pretty soon to now say this, what does it tell us?

BAKER: Well for me it's another similarity between Donald Trump and Barack Obama. He's picked up Barack Obama's policy which he's articulate during the campaign saying he would be willing to meet with rogue leaders. Now, President Obama didn't do it very often. He did meet with Castro. He did meet with -- he did have a phone conversation with the Iranian leader. I mean, there were moments when he did pick up on this. But no American president has met with a North Korean leader in a long time.

(CROSSTALK)

RAJU: It's a shift -- I mean, they -- Pence was even a couple weeks ago I believe he told Dana Bash that, you know, they were not going to be engaging in these direct negotiations. I mean, so Tillerson's comments over the weekend suggesting that they would. And also, interesting language that the president when you said that he'd be honored to meet with Kim.

KING: He called him a smart cookie and then (inaudible) if he jumped in. Part of this is the China play. The president has asked President Xi to lean on Kim Jong-un. President Xi has said, I don't have a lot of leverage here. Yes, I can do some things economically but he's going to say, what do I get out of the deal.

And what -- that what my understanding is that they have told the Chinese, you can tell him we're willing to talk, we're willing to negotiate, but first he has to come public and say he's willing to give up the nuclear program. That's we were coming in the air those on North Korean state T.V. announcement say, they're going to accelerate their nuclear program.

[12:55:03] MECKLER: I think they're -- all of these seems -- if you look at it, we're talking about it earlier in the show his conversations with other dictators, other strong men around the world that he has a lot of confidence in his ability to develop a one-on-one relationship with somebody and then make it better. And that he doesn't seem to put his comments into the broader context of sort of global relations about the history that the U.S. has with them, what the consequences might be, what these leaders are doing to their own people. And -- but he believes that and maybe perhaps it comes from business again. The idea that you develop a relationship with someone you make a deal, you find a way to get to yes. And so, sure, he'll sit down with him on the right circumstances.

KING: That could be remarkable in history. If you go back to Reagan- Gorbachev -- sorry Mr. Putin. If you go back to Reagan-Gorbachev that could work but you also then have a team that can implement whatever the two leaders work out is there a price to that? As we continue the conversation, and by the (inaudible), I just want to put it back up on the screen. It's the president of the United States. "If it would be appropriate for me to meet with him, I would absolutely, I would be honored to do it. If it's under the, again, the right circumstances, but I would do that." President Trump saying he would meet with Kim Jong-un under the right circumstances.

KUCINICH: I wonder if he's trying to do what you would see other leaders do with Donald Trump. And so that he -- they say nice things about him.

KING: All right.

KUCINICH: He is more -- he's more generous toward them. And I wonder if he's trying to do that perhaps with Kim Jong-un. And --

KING: I think you're rational, smart cookie --

KUCINICH: Yes.

KING: -- some circumstances, you inherited this job (inaudible) your father --

KUCINICH: But he's saying that this what -- maybe that will improve their relationship because this work with Donald Trump himself.

KING: That's interesting. It's fascinating to watch this. That's it for "Inside Politics", we'll see you back here tomorrow.

The White House briefing expected to start in just a few minutes. My colleague Wolf Blitzer will pick that up. Also, there's breaking news, President Trump saying he's willing to meet with leader of North Korea under the right circumstances.

Wolf will be with you after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer. It's 1:00 p.m. here in Washington.