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CNN Live Event/Special

President Trump Addresses Joint Session of Congress; Focus Group Reacts to Trump's Address. Aired 11p-12:30a ET

Aired March 04, 2025 - 23:00   ET

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

[23:00:00]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He, I believe, was saying that the president didn't have a mandate to get rid of Medicaid. Many Democrats made their displeasure with the president's speech, known by walking out or holding up signs.

The president went on an extended length talking about DOGE, the Department of Government Efficiency, and alleged waste that was found in the Social Security system, in the USAID, disbursements. I'm sure our fact-checkers are looking to all of that right now. The president talked about reclaiming power from the bureaucracy.

And he made some news, John King, talking about -- on April 2nd, that will be the day that reciprocal tariffs go into effect, that he wants to kill the CHIPS Act, one of President Biden's biggest bipartisan agreements, and also that a top terrorist, who was responsible for the Abbey Gate attack in 2021 in Afghanistan, has been apprehended, at least in partnership with the government of Pakistan and the United States. John King, what was your thought?

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was trademark Trump. It was very partisan. It was very defiant. It was very focused on him. Parts of it were simply, forgive me, a parallel universe of things that are simply not true. He said he inherited a catastrophe from Joe Biden economically. He inherited the strongest economy in the world. You know, there has potholes, but he inherited the strongest economy.

He said they've discovered hundreds of billions of dollars in fraud already. There's no proof of that. They've discovered some. They've discovered some. They've cut some spending and found some things but nowhere near the numbers he said.

He did -- interestingly, he didn't ask for patience, but he did say there would be disturbances. His number one mandate is to lower costs. Costs are not down in America. It's only 43 days in. You know, it's not time to say, aha, it's his problem. But he blamed Joe Biden for the fact that prices were still up. But he did say there would be disturbances, as tariff policies and other economic policies would go in. That you could translate into a bit of an appeal for patience, although he would never say it so ways.

Another interesting moment to me was when he told Congress essentially, he is very frustrated. He promised mass deportations in the campaign. Border crossings are down, but deportations are running about the same at the Biden level. And he told Congress, I need that money, I need money to do that, and I need it now.

The biggest challenge, he can sign executive orders every day, but if he wants to get the big things done, like extend his tax cuts and do other big structure things, he needs a Congress which has one vote to spare in the House of Representatives to start doing things. And he put more pressure on them to act more quickly to send it his way.

And he also included, again, traditionally, this was a Republican idea, although it hasn't happened since Bill Clinton, he said, I want to balance the budget. There is nothing on the table from the Republicans in Congress or the first Trump term, nothing on the table that comes anywhere close. We're landing on Mars is closer to us than balancing the budget.

TAPPER: We should also note that this is, if you include states of the union and joint addresses to Congress, it's the same thing. Joint addresses to Congress are in the president's first year, and then after that, the state of the union. This is the longest one in modern history. Before tonight, Bill Clinton for 89 minutes spoke in the year 2000. Donald Trump passed that, including the time of the disruption of Al Green with 99 minutes.

Dana Bash, what did you think of the Democratic response? He really -- I've never heard a president attack the opposition in a speech like this in such a pointed way, even going after to use a rather derisive nickname for Senator Elizabeth Warren.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Right who reacted with smiles and clapping. Basically, she wasn't going to give him that moment. Look, I mean, just watching this and being -- I came here from Capitol Hill, this was like -- more like the House of Commons than the House of Representatives except without the clever accents and the classy accents that we see in Great Britain.

And what President Trump did was set up the Democrats as foils. And the Democrats, politically-speaking and on policy, were all too happy to be foiled because that is what they're trying to find their footing on.

Having said that, just the way that there was the back and forth, back to my House of Commons analogy, the back and forth between what we heard from the president and the Democrats, I mean, it's something I don't think I ever thought we would see in a presidential address like this.

The one thing I just want to add is that when it comes to the big picture of what Donald Trump is trying to do, he is trying to say it is full speed ahead, he is not letting his foot off the gas. And all of the things he promised, all the things he has done in these early 43 days, I mean, tomorrow we could wake up and get rid of the tariffs because that maybe is the most controversial, but everything else, he's all in.

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN ANCHOR AND SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: But I think maybe this might be a bit of a misreading of what his mandate really is.

[23:05:02]

I mean I think that this is a speech that seems to me have -- has been overtaken by a popular narrative, that it's about all of these other ancillary issues, the culture war stuff and so on and so forth.

But the truth is the American public was unhappy about the state of the economy. They were anxious about what it meant for their families, about what they were able to afford, about where the country was headed, predominantly on financial issues, but also on immigration.

And I still heard this speech as being an 80-20 speech, but it's really 20% about cost of living and the economy and 80% everything else. And that works in a speech like this because it gets rousing applause in the room, it's getting people going on social media.

But I also think that at the end of the day, this is not what he is going to be judged on. The question is, what is going to touch people's actual lives? And I don't think that a lot of the stuff that he talked about today will do that. It's emotional, it works well in a speech, but people are still looking at their checkbooks and wondering when the relief is coming.

KASIE HUNT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: The bottom line here, the big picture, this one is an incredibly divisive speech. It was also an incredibly divisive moment. You saw the division on display from the Democrats as well. That reflects an incredibly divided America and one that is still, you know, very much reeling from a series of economic challenges and our own challenges with the COVID pandemic. Right?

I think there's still an element of the things that that brought to our reality, to our culture, that we are not over yet, that is driving some of the division that was on display, but also the general kind of unhappiness and feelings of, you know, morass in the American -- in the American public.

And, you know, again, these moments, and John, you've covered so many more of these than I have, but since I started doing it with George W. Bush, was president of the United States, I don't think I've ever seen something that was so pointed, so partisan, not just in what the president was saying, but in the mood in the room, the sort of aggression, the occasional cruelty, the mocking, the laughter. It had a tone.

I mean, these are usually moments for at least all of us to say, okay, I may not agree with you, Mr. President, I may have differences on that policy, but we're going to stand here at the top and we're going to say this is about our union. Right? The things that we all can get together on it. There was none of that.

KING: We should write down, do not speak the sentence. Polarization can't get worse because it keeps getting worse.

TAPPER: So, Kaitlan Collins, President Trump promised unrelenting action and said he's just getting started to his supporters. That's exciting. He's just getting started, unrelenting action. And to his detractors, that must sound rather bleak.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Jake, there were several moments that stood out, most notably on tariffs. And what has happened? You saw Republicans standing up and applauding Trump as he was talking about the reciprocal tariffs that he wants to put in place, the tariffs that he has already put in place on Mexico and Canada. That despite the unease that we have heard from the Republicans on Capitol Hill about the president's plan and about how it's going to impact a lot of them in their home states.

And Jake, I'll note, one thing that really stood out to me was the president did not sound like he is going to roll back these tariffs that he just put in place on Canada and Mexico despite the suggestions that we've heard from some of his advisors. He sounded incredibly dug in, not on the notion of this being a negotiating tactic, which certainly some Republican senators might prefer that, and instead the president seeming to say that he is in for the long haul on this. Obviously, that would be notable.

And I think one of the most striking lines from this is what he said to farmers. He said that this might be an adjustment period. He told them to have a lot of fun and that he loved them, but noted they may have to bear with him again. Jake, that's a reference to the tariffs he put in place the last time he was in office when eventually we had to see the USDA bail out farmers to the tune of $28 billion. That has been --

TAPPER: Yeah.

COLLINS: -- a big question that has been looming over this time around, Jake.

TAPPER: And Kaitlan, we're about to have the Democratic response, but just quickly, I see absolutely no evidence that President Trump intends these tariffs as a negotiating tactic or this is some sort of opening bid or gambit.

It seems to me that he really believes in the presidency of William McKinley and ascribes all the successes during that period of economic growth in the late 18th century or late 19th century, early 20th century to the tariffs. Although economic experts will tell you, economists will say, there were a lot of reasons, including immigration and the industrial revolution, he really seems to believe in tariffs as an achievement unto itself.

[23:10:07]

So, let us turn now to the Democratic response. Elissa Slotkin, the brand- new senator from Michigan.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. ELISSA SLOTKIN (D-MI): Hi, everyone. I'm Elissa Slotkin. I'm honored to have the opportunity to speak tonight. It's late, so I promise to be a lot shorter than what you just watched.

I won't take it personally if you've never heard of me. I'm the new senator from the great State of Michigan where I grew up. I've been in public service my entire life because I happened to be in New York City on 9/11 when the Twin Towers came down.

Before the smoke cleared, I knew I wanted to make a life in national security. I was recruited by the CIA and did three tours in Iraq alongside the military. In between, I worked at the White House under President Bush and President Obama. Two very different leaders who both believed that America is exceptional.

You can find that same sense of patriotism here in Wyandotte, Michigan, where I'm speaking from tonight. It's a working-class town just south of Detroit. President Trump and I both won here in November. It might not seem like it, but plenty of places like this still exist across the United States. Places where people believe that if you work hard and play by the rules, you should do well and your kids should do better.

It reminds me of how I grew up. My dad was a lifelong Republican, my mom a lifelong Democrat. But it was never a big deal, because we had shared values that were bigger than any one party. We just went through another fraught election season. Americans made it clear that prices are too high and that the government needs to be more responsive to their needs.

America wants change. But there's a responsible way to make change and a reckless way. And we can make that change without forgetting who we are as a country and as a democracy. So, that's what I'm going to lay out tonight. Because whether you're from Wyandotte or Wichita, most Americans share three core beliefs. That the middle class is the engine of our country. That strong national security protects us from harm. And that our democracy, no matter how messy, is unparalleled and worth fighting for.

Let's start with the economy. Michigan literally invented the middle class, the revolutionary idea that you could work at an auto plant and afford the car you were building. That's the American dream. And in order to expand and protect the middle class, we have to do a few basic things. We need to bring down the price of things we spend the most money on, groceries, housing, healthcare. We need to make more things in America with good paying union jobs and bring our supply chains back home from places like China. We need to give American businesses the certainty they need to invest and create the jobs of the future. And we need a tax system that's fair for people who don't happen to make a billion dollars.

Look, the President talked a big game on the economy, but it's always important to read the fine print. So, do his plans actually help Americans get ahead? Not even close. President Trump is trying to deliver an unprecedented giveaway to his billionaire friends. He's on the hunt to find trillions of dollars to pass along to the wealthiest in America. And to do that, he's going to make you pay in every part of your life. Grocery and home prices are going up, not down, and he hasn't laid out a credible plan to deal with either of those. His tariffs on allies like Canada will raise prices on energy, lumber, and cars, and start a trade war that will hurt manufacturing and farmers. Your premiums and prescriptions will cost more because the math on his proposals doesn't work without going after your health care.

Meanwhile, for those keeping score, the national debt is going up, not down. And if he's not careful, he could walk us right into a recession.

And one more thing, in order to pay for his plan, he could very well come after your retirement. The Social Security, Medicare, and VA benefits you worked your whole life to earn. The president claims he won't, but Elon Musk just called Social Security the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time.

While we're on the subject of Elon Musk, is there anyone in America who is comfortable with him and his gang of 20-year-olds using their own computer servers to poke through your tax returns, your health information, and your bank accounts? No oversight, no protections against cyber-attack, no guardrails on what they do with your private data.

SLOTKIN: We need a more efficient government. You want to cut waste? I'll help you do it. But change doesn't need to be chaotic or make us less safe. The mindless firing of people who work to protect our nuclear weapons, keep our planes from crashing, and conduct the research that finds the cure for cancer only to rehire them two days later. No CEO in America could do that without being summarily fired.

[23:15:06]

OK. So we've talked about economic security. How about national security? Let's start with the border. As someone who has spent my whole career protecting our homeland, every country deserves to know who and what is coming across its border, period. Democrats and Republicans should all be for that. But securing the border without actually fixing our broken immigration system is dealing with the symptom and not the disease.

America is a nation of immigrants. We need a functional system keyed to the needs of our economy that allows vetted people to come and work here legally. So I look forward to the president's plan on that. Because here's the thing, today's world is deeply interconnected. Migration, cyber threats, AI, environmental destruction, terrorism, one nation cannot face these issues alone. We need friends in all corners and our safety depends on it.

President Trump loves to say peace through strength. That's actually a line he stole from Ronald Reagan. But let me tell you, after the spectacle that just took place in the Oval Office last week, Reagan must be rolling in his grave. We all want an end to the war in Ukraine. But Reagan understood that true strength required America to combine our military and economic might with moral clarity. And that scene in the Oval Office wasn't just a bad episode of reality TV. It summed up Trump's whole approach to the world.

He believes in cozying up to dictators like Vladimir Putin and kicking our friends like the Canadians in the teeth. He sees American leadership as merely a series of real estate transactions. As a Cold War kid, I'm thankful it was Reagan and not Trump in office in the 1980s. Trump would have lost us the Cold War.

Donald Trump's actions suggest that in his heart, he doesn't believe we're an exceptional nation. He clearly doesn't think we should lead the world. Look, America is not perfect, but I stand with the majority of Americans who believe we are still exceptional, unparalleled, and I would rather have American leadership over Chinese or Russian leadership any day of the week. Because for generations, America has offered something better, our security and our prosperity, yes, but our democracy, our very system of government has been the aspiration of the world. And right now it's at risk.

It's at risk when the president decides you can pick and choose what rules you want to follow, when he ignores court orders and the Constitution itself, or when elected leaders stand by and just let it happen. But it's also at risk when the president pits Americans against each other, when he demonizes those who are different and tells certain people they shouldn't be included. Because America is not just a patch of land between two oceans. We are more than that. Generations have fought and died to secure the fundamental rights that define us. Those rights and the fight for them make us who we are. We're a nation of strivers, risk-takers, innovators, and we are never satisfied. That is America's superpower.

And look, I've lived and worked in many countries. I've seen democracies flicker out. I've seen what life is like when a government is rigged. You can't open a business without paying off a corrupt official. You can't criticize the guys in charge without getting a knock at the door in the middle of the night. So as much as we need to make our government more responsive to our lives today, don't for one moment fool yourself that democracy isn't precious and worth saving.

But how do we actually do that? I know a lot of you have been asking that question. First, don't tune out. It's easy to be exhausted, but America needs you now more than ever. If previous generations had not fought for this democracy, where would we be today?

Second, hold your elected officials, including me, accountable. Watch how they're voting. Go to town halls and demand they take action. That's as American as apple pie.

Third, organize. Pick just one issue you're passionate about and engage. And doomscrolling doesn't count. Join a group that cares about your issue and act. And if you can't find one, start one. Some of the most important movements in our history have come from the bottom up.

In closing, we all know that our country is going through something right now. We're not sure what the next day is going to hold, let alone the next decade. But this isn't the first time we've experienced significant and tumultuous change as a country. I'm a student of history, and we've gone through periods of political instability before, and ultimately we've chosen to keep changing this country for the better.

But every single time, we've only gotten through those moments because of two things: engaged citizens and principled leaders.

[23:20:07]

Engaged citizens who do a little bit more than they're used to doing, to fight for the things that they care about. And principled leaders who are ready to receive the ball and do something about it.

So thank you tonight for caring about your country. Just by watching you qualify as engaged citizens. And I promise that I and my fellow Democrats will do everything in our power to be the principled leaders that you deserve.

Good night, everyone.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: Elissa Slotkin just elected Democratic senator from Michigan. And she pointed out, David Axelrod, one the first things she said, she was in a place that both she and Trump won.

DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, FORMER OBAMA SENIOR ADVISER: Yes. And you can see why she won. Because she speaks to those middle-class economic concerns. She speaks in an idiom and in values that I think a lot of people share in this country.

Honestly, this is the most thankless speech you can give in politics. And very few people do it well. I think she did it well. And she did it at a time when Democrats are sort of searching for what the right message should be. She spoke with clarity, in ways that I think people across the political spectrum can relate to.

And by the way, her invocation of Reagan --

BURNETT: Yeah.

AXELROD: -- in the context of national security, I thought was very, very deaf. So, I think she did very well. We'll get back to the other speech, I'm sure.

BURNETT: Yeah. I mean, she was -- and that was very watchable.

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, FORMER SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO PRESIDNET TO PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: Yeah. I mean, look, I'm sure she's a very nice person. None of this will be remembered because this was a horrific night for the opposition party, regardless of how well she just spoke.

It started out with Al Green getting thrown off the House floor because he couldn't keep his emotions under control. Then they had the ridiculous paddles, which now social media is roasting.

BURNETT: That you said falls on one side and -- JENNINGS: Ridiculous. And then finally, and finally, and maybe most terribly, the Democrats, who couldn't find it in their heart to stand for objectively good things, including the 95-year-old mother of Marc Fogel, who got rescued from a Russian prison, and they couldn't even stand up for that.

I thought Democrats came into this speech lost and defeated by Donald Trump. And today, it looks to me like they're even more lost and even more defeated than when this speech started.

ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR, FORMER WHITE HOUSE DIRECTOR OF STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS: Well, there was a clear juxtaposition. So, I thought Elissa Slotkin could knock it out of the park. It makes sense that they chose her. But she laid out a winning messaging playbook for Democrats that I suspect they're going to summarily ignore.

What we saw, the theatrics tonight in the chamber, are not being well received. And as we saw recently at the DNC candidate forum, it didn't sound like that. It didn't sound like pocketbook issues. It didn't sound like saying, you know, my neighbors might support Trump, but that doesn't mean you're a bad person.

They continually elevate people who are leaning as Republicans have, but into the name calling, into the demonizing and filing articles of impeachment a few weeks in.

If Democrats talk like Elissa Slotkin, they're going to win --

ASHLEY ALLISON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Maybe they'll know.

BURNETT: Save that --

ALLISON: I don't know. I just -- I think -- I think that --

AXELROD: Certainly, people will -- so just one second. Certainly, people who don't like name-calling would have gravitated to the president's speech tonight.

ALLISON: Yeah --

(CROSSTALK)

-- that there -- what world are we living in right now? Like, Donald Trump just gave a campaign speech in the joint address. It was not a unifying speech. And I don't really think that a lot of people want that version of what Elissa Slotkin just gave. I think we're past that in our country. I don't know if I like it or not. Maybe we could. She started her -- telling her personal story, working for a Democrat and Republican, growing up in a household with a Democrat and Republican, winning a district, Democrat and Republican.

But that -- you wouldn't know that from Donald Trump's speech tonight. He's not talking Democrat and Republican. I'm not going to say what the Democrats did tonight was -- it didn't feel like a cohesive strategy, walking out, staying in paddles, whatever.

AXELROD: Yeah.

ALLISON: That -- that's not -- that was not how you land the plane. But I do think she laid out the issues that are important to people, and she told people what to do.

I don't think this problem, honestly, in the Democratic Party is going to be solved in Washington, D.C. It's going to be solved in the -- in the middle of the country, in the south where people are going to organize together and tell the party what they want and the direction they want to go.

BURNETT: Let's bring in Doug Brinkley into our conversation, presidential historian. Doug, you know, it is unprecedented. It's not just in the length of the speech that we just watched from the president. Now, we, of course, just saw the Democratic rebuttal from Senator Slotkin. But it was -- it was also the disarray among the Democratic response. And how unprecedented was this moment that we just sat through, anybody who sat through and watched the entire thing?

DOUGLAS BRINKLEY, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: I think President Trump did what he needed to do. But as Senator Slotkin just pointed out, the economic issues weren't really talked about.

I mean, the big concern right now is Medicaid and Medicare, Social Security, what Trump is going to do.

[23:25:01]

In fact, "The Wall Street" is just diving right now. If he refuses to budge on these tariffs, the chance -- matter is you're going to start losing momentum. But Trump seemed relaxed. He had, I think, a better night than the Democrats. They were like -- I guess everybody left to their own. I mean, Senator Wyden is right to stay and going to do town halls.

However, Slotkin pulled a rabbit out of her head. That was a very brilliant, relaxed response. Andy Beshear and her should be the voices, I think, coming from the heartland of America.

And I think Donald Trump left farmers on the speech a little bit, out a bit, in a way, that he needed to sort of address them as a group in a more upbeat way. Instead of saying suffer some more pain, it will be slow.

BURNETT: Well, you know, when it started out -- so anybody watching at the beginning, you know, there was that complete sort of that chaotic moment. And Al Green is stabbing his cane into the air. And then it appears to be over something with Medicaid. And it escalates. It's extremely awkward. And then he is escorted out and told to leave the chamber after the Speaker had repeatedly tried to call it to order.

Have you seen a moment like that? We talked about the "you lie" moment back in the Obama days. This almost makes that seem quaint.

BRINKLEY: Well, during Biden's presidency, you know, you had MAGA people interrupting. But this is the escorting out. The difference is, and I'm here in Houston and this is where Al Green is based, he fights for poverty and social justice. He has been sick. He has called for the impeachment of Donald Trump long ago. And it was a fiery moment for him. It reminded me of comedian Dick Gregory or Reverend Hosea Williams who used to work with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It was feisty, but it doesn't help the Democratic Party at any. It might create a university press biography about Al Green, you know, that never would have been written because it is a moment in history.

BURNETT: Yeah.

BRINKLEY: But it's not something that the Democrats can score points on.

BURNETT: All right, well, Doug, just coming back here to the group here, David, you know, when the -- we were discussing what percent. Someone can go through and parse what percent. He talked about social issues versus not. There was a lot of social issues. There was a lot of wokeness. Wokeness is dead. Wokeness is gone. Also trying to talk about the economy. There was one point where he spent a lot of time going through DOGE and talked about unelected bureaucrats and this whole kind of push towards what he calls waste, fraud and abuse.

Let me just play this one moment from the president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Meanwhile, we have hundreds of thousands of federal workers who have not been showing up to work. My administration will reclaim power from this unaccountable bureaucracy and we will restore true democracy to America again.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: And any federal bureaucrat who resists this change will be removed from office immediately because we are draining the swamp. It's very simple. And the days of rule by unelected bureaucrats are over.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AXELROD: Yeah, I didn't see Elon Musk standing and cheering for that. Listen, I think that --

(LAUGHTER)

I think that the -- I think that the president met his political -- probably many of his political imperatives. He touched all the hot buttons that he touched during the campaign and particularly on -- you know, anybody can get a cheer by saying, I want to cut government bureaucracy, I want to cut waste, fraud and abuse. It's when you get into the details of what you're cutting that it gets stickier.

And certainly, there's a strong feeling in this country about immigration and the border. And he -- I thought he leaned into that some of the social hot buttons. You know, I said earlier, you know, there's no doubt that, you know, it scores. Scott calls that common sense. And I'm sure he has scored with that.

But the biggest, single issue facing people in their lives is the economy. And what we've seen is that still 75% of people think the economy is fair or poor. Consumer confidence has taken a dive in the last few weeks. The things that he's doing with the tariffs aren't going to help. And the question is, you know, you can't -- you can't spend some of these social issues at the supermarket. You can't spend them at the gas station. You can't pay your mortgage with them or your rent.

And at some point, you got to stop blaming Joe Biden, and you're going to be accountable. And, you know, he must have met Biden a dozen times in this speech.

JENNINGS: I mean, X, I love you. You guys were blaming George W. Bush in year eight.

(LAUGHTER)

AXELROD: But you know something, Scott? We learned something from that. We learned something from that.

JENNINGS: He has been in office for 40-something days. I am hearing a lot of cope. These social issues, you know why he talks about them? Because they work! They're like 80-20 issues.

[23:30:00]

And he's on the right side of them. And Democrats are on the wrong side of them. It worked in the campaign. And nobody -- oh, he's not talking about the right things. It worked in the inaugural. It's working in the executive orders. It's why he put it in the speech tonight.

And on immigration, you're exactly right. It's his number one achievement so far. The borders effectively closed. The line of the night was they kept saying, we need new legislatures to secure the border, but it turns out all we really needed was a new president. Without question in my mind, top scoring --

ALLISON: I just have to say, I felt like when we were talking about what the issues were that were winning this election, it was the economy and it was immigration. So, he is doing stuff on immigration. I still don't know how eggs are going to get cheaper. I still don't know how people are going to --

JENNINGS: Stop slaughtering the chickens.

ALLISON: Well --

(LAUGHTER)

JENNINGS: How many did Biden kill? It was a bloodbath.

ALLISON: I know. Okay, I'll tell you --

JENNINGS: Total bloodbath.

ALLISON: How about this? How about this? I still don't know how milk is getting cheaper. I still don't know how are they -- are we killing the cows? No. He's not doing stuff to bring the prices down. In fact, it feels like prices are going up.

I agree he has only been in office for 40 days, but you at least want things to stay the same, not get worse, in the economy. And it doesn't feel like that. You're not going to be able to make that claim in four months. If prices go down, say I'm wrong.

AXELROD: We should -- we should say -- just one second. He should -- we should note that -- I agree with you 40 days is 40 days. He was the one who said --

ALLISON: Day one.

AXELROD: -- I'm going to turn -- I'm going to turn --

ALLISON: He's the one who used to day one.

AXELROD: And he hasn't talked about it during these 43 days. Hardly at all. He's doing things that -- tariffs are going raise costs on people. So, there's -- the question is, what gives you reason to believe that it's going to get better? He's not focused on --

JENNINGS: Well --

GRIFFIN: So, if I could --

JENNINGS: Just to answer Ash, it was energy. I mean, he talked a lot about energy. It's not getting a ton of attention. It was smart for him to do a big section on energy. It is the -- along with making the tax cuts permanent, it is the fastest way, I think, for him to bring relief to the American people.

(CROSSTALK)

AXELROD: -- are going to raise it.

GRIFFIN: Okay, if I may, really quick --

BURNETT: Let's let Alyssa in.

(LAUGHTER)

GRIFFIN: There was a very important line on tariffs where he said there will be a little disturbance. He telegraphed that there's going to be --

BURNETT: Let me play it. Let me play it. Let's play it, and then -- okay.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: tariffs are not just about protecting American jobs, they're about protecting the soul of our country. Tariffs are about making America rich again and making America great again. And it's happening. And it will happen rather quickly.

There will be a little disturbance. But we're okay with that. It won't be much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: That was a key line because the rest of the speech was red meat to his base to say, stay with me. We caught a terrorist tonight. We got the Abbey Gate masterminds. Laken Riley, acknowledging her family, naming a nature preserve after someone who was an angel mom. This "DJ" Daniel moment. That is going to live with his base for months. This is going to energize them. And it's going to give them a little bit of patience as he figures out what he's doing with the economy.

He knows that he's not there to win Democratic votes. He is to keep the people who voted for him, on his side as he tests this whole tariff theory, which I think will be a disaster, but that's what he's trying to do.

BURNETT: David, can I just -- one other thing he said towards the end, he said -- he talked about Butler. And he talked about Marc Fogel and his mother being there, how she'd come up at the rally, and that's why he had spent this time to free her son from prison.

AXELROD: Yeah.

BURNETT: And then he said, I was saved by God, talking about being shot in Butler, to make America great again. I believe that. Now, "The New York Times" says that at that moment, Nancy Pelosi leans over to Steny Hoyer and goes, oh my God. This is -- what is a moment like that say to you?

AXELROD: I'm sure that's an emotional moment that connected with a lot of people. I just want -- 160 years ago tonight, Abraham Lincoln gave his inaugural -- second inaugural address. He said, with malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness -- firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in to bind up the nation's wounds.

What a different spirit that was. And that was after Civil War. So, it's one thing to mine our differences, it's another thing to try and heal our differences. And that is -- you know, that's the difference between real leadership and political expedience.

JENNINGS: Would it have been healing to stand for Marc Fogel? Might have been.

AXELROD: No. I agree -- look, you know, you were absolutely right --

JENNINGS: DJ Jason.

AXELROD: I will do what you will not. I will say -- I thought Democrat -- I thought that was just -- I think there were times when they should have risen. I think what Al Green did was despicable. I like Elissa Slotkin's speech. I think that's where Democrats should go. That doesn't obviate the fact that you shouldn't exploit our differences. You should try and solve problems and heal our differences. I don't see that inclination on the part of this president.

BURNETT: All right. Let's send it back to you, Jake.

TAPPER: Thanks so much, Erin. Let's start with, in a 99-minute speech, particularly one given by President Trump, there's going to be some fact-checking that needs to be done. So, let's bring in CNN's Daniel Dale, who has been very busy checking all the facts.

[23:35:00]

Daniel, I know you can't do everything in that 99-minute speech --

DANIEL DALE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Correct.

TAPPER: But give us some of the highlights.

DALE: Jake, President Trump was, believe it or not, marginally more careful with the facts tonight than he usually is. He was on script, so this was not like one of the usual ad-libbing rally speeches or debates with like 30 false claims.

But by the standard of any politician in Washington who is not Donald Trump, that was still an extremely dishonest speech. I counted at least 13 flat false claims, and that is a preliminary count that doesn't include a whole bunch of additional misleading or uncorroborated claims.

He, for example, repeated this false claim that foreign countries like China pay his tariffs, though Americans make those tariff payments. He wildly exaggerated figures on inflation and immigration under President Biden. He claimed to have terminated something called the Green New Scam, even though the Green New Deal Congressional Resolution was never actually passed. And Trump has not repealed the big environmental law that President Biden did pass. There's a lot more, as you said. You can read our full list on CNN.com.

But now I want to go into detail on an important and eye-catching claim that was highly misleading. The president talked at length about millions of people being listed as alive in a social security database even though they're obviously dead. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Three-point-five million people from ages 140 to 149, and money is being paid to many of them.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Because it just keeps getting paid and paid and nobody does -- and it really hurts Social Security and hurts our country. DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And one person is listed at 360 years of age. More than 100 years. More than 100 years older than our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DALE: I've spoken to conservative experts about this claim, and they've noted, Jake, that the president is leaving out something absolutely critical to understanding this issue.

Here's what he failed to explain: These numbers are not the numbers of dead people who are actually getting paid Social Security checks. Trump was referring to a legitimate problem with some deaths not being marked in the Social Security database, but that doesn't mean people listed as being 150, 200, 300 are actually getting money. And that's because Social Security already has a system in place to automatically cut off people who are listed as being 115 or older.

Now, two years ago, an inspector general looked into this. She found there were about 19 million people, 100 or older, who were not marked as deceased. But critically, she also found that only 44,000 of these people were actually receiving payments. And one conservative expert told me, even those 44K are likely legit payments since at the time there were about 86,000 living Americans age 100 or older.

Now, let's listen to something the president said about the war in Ukraine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Europe has sadly spent more money buying Russian oil and gas than they have spent on defending Ukraine by far. Think of that. They've spent more buying Russian oil and gas than they have defending. And we've spent perhaps $350 billion, like taking candy from a baby. That's what happened. And they've spent $100 billion.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DALE: Those are fictional numbers and this is a fictional narrative. President Trump keeps telling the story about how the U.S. has sent Ukraine way more than Europe has collectively. In fact, Europe has committed and provided more aid to Ukraine during this war than the U.S. has.

So, Trump said the U.S. has spent maybe 350 billion and Europe 100 billion. Well, a German think tank that closely tracks this issue found the U.S. has committed about 126 billion, actually allocated about 121 billion, so way less than 350 billion. He said Europe has spent 100 billion. While the think tank found Europe had committed 263 billion, so way more, actually allocated about 140 billion.

Now, you can get different numbers with different counting methodologies, but nobody legitimate, even the U.S. government itself, has gotten anywhere close to that 350 billion figure that President Trump keeps using, Jake. TAPPER: Very, very interesting. One thing, though, that you didn't correct there that President Trump suggested, I did see a study from a European think tank that did suggest that Europeans do buy, or at least last year, bought more Russian oil and gas in terms of the cost than they provided aid to Ukraine. That part of it --

DALE: Fair.

TAPPER: -- I think is fair, but you weren't taking issue with that. But that is an interesting thing for viewers to know. Thank you, Daniel Dale. Excellent work as always.

Our focus group of Pennsylvania voters watched President Trump's speech live. In moments, they're going to join us live with their reactions. What did the real people out there think? Vox populi from Bucks County and the great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BURNETT: And welcome back to CNN's special coverage of President Trump's first address to Congress of his second term. Let's go now to Boris Sanchez. He watched the president's speech with a group of voters in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, obviously crucial swing area that Donald Trump narrowly won in the election.

So, Boris, you were there watching it, able to see the conversations, the interactions, and then talk to everyone afterwards. How is this mixed group of Trump and Harris voters responding? What did they hear?

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A variety of opinions tonight, Erin, as you might imagine. I've been discussing with eight of my friends here in Bucks County. You mentioned it, Bucks County is a swing district, the biggest swing district in Pennsylvania. Donald Trump won it by about 300 votes. It was a huge part of him winning the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on his return to the White House.

I wanted to first start with Carolyn (ph) here, who is a military veteran, someone who served as was a law enforcement veteran. You were perhaps the most enthusiastic in the entire group for Trump's speech. On a day where he installs 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico, how did you feel about his message regarding the economy?

CAROLYN (ph), VOTER: I thought it was very positive. I think what's happening now, we used to be a country that would just let everything happen. Okay, we'll do this. You know, you guys -- Panama can have this. You know, I think now we're taking back things that should have never been given away. So, I think doing those tariffs and everything, I think it's well overdone.

[23:45:00]

I mean, it should have been done a long time ago. SANCHEZ: Sherry (ph), you were a Kamala Harris voter. Are you concerned about the speech, specifically no real mention of how tariffs might be inflationary?

SHERRY (ph), VOTER: I don't think that he understands how tariffs might be inflationary. And I think that he did not spend nearly enough time talking about what we're experiencing right now.

I work in a -- for a non-profit agency. I am seeing more people struggling with food insecurity, with a lack of ability to sustain themselves, housing, utility costs. It's worse now than ever.

Americans, middle America, that's what we're feeling right now, and I don't think his speech addressed that nearly enough.

SANCHEZ: Now, in some of the conversations we've been having, I know that a lot of you wanted to see Donald Trump strike a tone that was uniting, that brought the country together. Could you show me, raise your hands, how many of you wanted to see that sort of uniting message in his speech? Everybody, right?

UNKNOWN: Sure.

SANCHEZ: Keep your hands raised if you felt that he delivered on that promise. So, we've got two-and-a-half over there.

(LAUGHTER)

Joe (ph), tell us, why do you think it was a half?

JOE (ph), VOTER: I think that there was definitely a lot of -- a lot of unity that he was -- he was preaching there. I think that there needed to -- definitely needed to be more of a willingness by the president to maybe do some more reaching across the aisle than he might have conveyed in the speech.

SANCHEZ: I just want to let our viewers know, Joe (ph) was actually a participant in a Kamala Harris town hall that we had last year. You were undecided at the time. Ultimately, you sided with President Trump.

Jean (ph), what did you make of the speech, anything that stood out to you that may have moved you? You were a Kamala Harris voter.

JEAN (ph), VOTER: I was. Um, there wasn't very much that was positive to me about the speech. I would like to see him, as Joe (ph) said, to bring us together. And I don't think that he has that capacity. He does not ever seem to be in line with bringing people together. It's more of a divisive method that he tries to pit us against one another, whether it's racially or economically or where we live, you know, our zip codes. So, I don't see that, and I would like to see him do that.

SANCHEZ: I want to ask you, guys. We have only about a minute, so I'm going to do another show of hands. What did we think about Trump blaming Biden for the high cost of eggs? Did we like it? Raise your hands. UNKNOWN: I don't.

SANCHEZ: Nobody liked it.

(LAUGHTER)

Nobody thought --

UNKNOWN: I don't know much about it. I mean, I don't really have enough --

UNKNOWN: They killed a hundred million chickens in 2024.

SANCHEZ: That was part of the response to avian flu.

UNKNOWN: Exactly. But that also is a reason why the prices went up.

UNKNOWN: Right.

UNKNOWN: You know, it's not that Trump did anything about that. I mean, it was the bird flu that had to call the chickens. That's why the prices raised up. It wasn't Trump's fault. It wasn't because Biden had some crazy policy against, you know, eggs and chicken.

(LAUGHTER)

So, you know --

SANCHEZ: I appreciate all of your perspectives. We're going to have to put a pin on that. We'll pick up the conversation in just a bit. Erin, we'll send it back to you.

BURNETT: All right, well, I can't wait to hear more from them, Boris. And I have to say, that's the point. Nobody wanted to hear blaming Biden for eggs, but then they raised their hand and said, you know, there was bird flu. Just the fact that you can have people who feel so differently be able to sit there and have a conversation, that's a good thing. Makes us all feel good.

So how did American voters in other parts of the country feel about President Trump's address tonight? And how does it compare to his past speeches other than the fact that it is the longest? We'll have the first results from our CNN instant poll in just a couple minutes.

[23:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: As you know, we inherited from the last administration an economic catastrophe and an inflation nightmare.

AUDIENCE: Yes! TRUMP: Their policies drove up, energy prices, pushed up grocery costs and drove the necessities of life out of reach for millions and millions of Americans. They've never had anything like it. We suffered the worst inflation in 48 years. But perhaps even in the history of our country, they're not sure.

As president, I'm fighting every day to reverse this damage and make America affordable again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Welcome back to CNN special coverage of President Donald Trump's first address to Congress since returning to power. Trump blaming Biden there for current economic challenges while going on to admit that Americans could feel a little disturbance in his terms over his new tariffs and the price increases that might follow.

Let's bring in CNN's Phil Mattingly in our newsroom now. And Phil, when it comes to the economy, did Americans get a clear answer, do you think, on what that potential impact of these tariffs will look like?

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: You know, Jake, what's most interesting, when you listen to President Trump's advisors, they acknowledge that when it came to the campaign, while there were a number of issues the president loved to talk about, the economy and grocery prices in particular were absolutely critical to their success.

What we heard tonight from the president was an expansion on very clear and very expansive energy-related plans, but also a reiteration of a very clear belief President Trump holds. That is as it pertains to tariffs, an issue that has rattled Wall Street, particularly over the course of just the last 23, almost 24 hours, but also consumers as well with the president slapping 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada and an additional 10% on China. Those are the three largest U.S. trading partners.

And if you took anything at all away from President Trump's remarks tonight, it's that Wall Street traders or consumers who are looking at Trump's tariffs and thinking, maybe this is a negotiating ploy, maybe this is a tactic, maybe he doesn't mean them, they should take note of what was said.

[23:55:02]

In particular, four words. President Trump talking about his forthcoming reciprocal terrorist proposal, saying -- quote -- "Now, it's our turn," really underscoring a very clear belief the president has often talked about, advisers have often tried to keep him from pursuing, but now very clearly is on the books and on its way over the course of the coming weeks and months.

Now, what's most fascinating about this, Jake, is over the course of just the last 15 hours, markets have whipsawed both in day trading but also in trading after markets closed later in the afternoon when one of Trump's top advisors seemed to allude to the possibility of a deal with Canada and Mexico that would perhaps pull off those 25% tariffs.

If you listen to Trump tonight, I think the reality is, and this is something underscored by advisors, his belief in the validity of tariffs as not just a strategic tool or a way to negotiate, but as a very real economic concept, dismissing large-scale views by economists that they don't work, that they do raise prices, that they could harm consumers, that was underscored tonight.

Trump at one point saying that he believes tariffs are -- quote -- "protecting the soul of our country." Jake, it's not just these tariffs that we saw over the course of the last 24 hours, the largest, most unprecedented in terms of scale that we've seen in decades, it's tariffs that are coming on April 2nd. The president making clear those reciprocal tariffs, they're coming and they will be worldwide, Jake.

TAPPER: Yeah. Newt Gingrich, the former speaker of the House and an admirer of the president, if not an advisor, said very clearly that he thinks that these tariffs, this is how President Trump views the economy going forward, instituting these tariffs. It's not a gambit. It's not a ploy. It's his economic principle. Phil Mattingly, thanks so much.

President Trump laid out aggressive plans for his second term agenda tonight. How will he actually get it passed? One of his Cabinet secretaries, who is inside the chamber for Trump's speech, joins us live ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:01:08]

ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: You are watching our special coverage of President Trump's first Joint Address to Congress since returning to power. Far-reaching partisan speech went on for nearly 100 minutes, and that was enough to make it the longest annual address in modern history. The president going through and touting his efforts to dramatically reshape the federal government over the first 43 days in office.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: DOGE. Perhaps you've heard of it. Perhaps. Which is headed by Elon Musk.

We appreciate it. Everybody here, even this side appreciates it, I believe. They just don't want to admit that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: President Trump also defending the trade war that he started with Canada and Mexico. But he did acknowledge, and this was an important moment, that Americans could feel a, quote, "disturbance" because of the tariffs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TRUMP: Tariffs are not just about protecting American jobs. They're about protecting the soul of our country. Tariffs are about making America rich again and making America great again. And it's happening. And it will happen rather quickly. There will be a little disturbance. But we're OK with that. It won't be much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: A little disturbance. Well, Democrats, for their part in that room, expressed their disagreements in different ways. It wasn't really a cohesive Democratic response. I mean, some were holding up signs. Several left the chamber early. Democratic Congressman Al Green of Texas at the beginning of the speech interrupted the president just a few minutes into his speech in a sort of chaotic way.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SHOUTING)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): The chair now directs the sergeant-at-arms to restore order.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

JOHNSON: Remove this gentleman from the chamber.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Great leadership.

(CROSSTALK)

JOHNSON: Members are directed to uphold and maintain decorum in the House.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: And that was the most dramatic moment there for the Democrats.

So how did all of this play? How did the entire hundred minutes play with American voters who watched, or who saw parts and snippets that caught on social media? We'll have the first results from our CNN instant poll in just a couple of moments.

First, though, let's go to the White House and Kaitlan Collins.

Kaitlan, I know you've got a special guest who was there inside the chamber for the speech.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, we have, of course, a member of President Trump's Cabinet, the Interior Secretary, Doug Burgum, here joining me.

What was that moment like when Congressman Al Green of Texas was kicked out of the chamber by House Speaker Mike Johnson?

DOUG BURGUM, INTERIOR SECRETARY: Well, I think Speaker Johnson handled it well. A few gavel gave him a chance to sit down again, gave him a second chance to sit down again, kept on yelling and said, hey, time to go. I mean, America was here to hear the president, and it was handled quickly and swiftly.

COLLINS: And the president delivered his remarks and he really doubled down on tariffs and talking about why he is choosing this. It sounded a lot more than a negotiating tactic, as some Senate Republicans may be hopeful that it is. Is that how the president is viewing this? And should we expect him to continue to move forward with this and not just use it as a negotiating tool?

BURGUM: Well, I think the fact that he's been very clear that these are reciprocal tariffs, that that is a negotiating tool, because we'll have some countries and many have, I mean, in aggregate across the world, the other countries tariff America more than we tariff them. Our market has been more open than they have been to us, both in a sense of a tariff and also in non-monetary restrictions, which he mentioned in his remarks. So if our markets open and theirs aren't, he just wants reciprocity. So if they say, hey, we're going to lower our tariff on America, we'll lower ours.

[00:05:03]

I mean, it could also be a path where some countries may just choose we don't want to have tariffs either way on goods coming to or from America. So it's really up to other countries. They can choose.

COLLINS: Some aides have been suggesting that maybe these tariffs on Canada and Mexico, which obviously you know well, you are from very close just over the border, that those could be rolled back to a degree as soon as tomorrow. Should we be expecting an announcement and what could that look like?

BURGUM: Well, I don't want to get ahead of anything, but I think it's been clear, and I've had an opportunity to be in some of those discussions regarding Canada and Mexico. And we should be clear, that began really about the border. It was about immigration, and it was about fentanyl. And of course, with fentanyl killing hundreds of thousands of Americans, President Trump understood, hey, if I just put tariffs on Mexico, these cartels that are so well-funded, they're rich and they're well-organized, they're just going to start driving more fentanyl coming across the northern border.

COLLINS: But Mexico sent some of those cartel alleged leaders to the United States and still the president put those tariffs in place on Mexico. They were obviously hoping to stave that off. But in terms of what the farmers --

BURGUM: And that was a great start. I mean, they sent 19 of their worst cartel members, which they've never done before. And so again, in that sense it's positive.

COLLINS: But what does it say that that wasn't enough to stave off the tariffs?

BURGUM: Well, I think the real thing that President Trump wants to stop Americans dying. We've had the mass invasion from the open borders, but we also had mass casualties because of all the fentanyl deaths and fentanyl deaths have not dropped in the last couple of months since he started talking about this.

COLLINS: Can I ask you about what he did say about -- because obviously that has been an important issue. But the pain that he says farmers in the United States could feel. He said that they had to bear with him the last time. They may have to do so again. As you well know, the last time they had to -- the USDA had to bail farmers out to the tune of $28 billion here in the United States. Do you think we could see that happen again?

BURGUM: We could. But what the -- what we earn from China was more than the payments to farmers. So on a net basis, America won. At that time I was governor. We're a huge ag state in North Dakota. We were shipping a lot of products like soybeans unprocessed to China. Since that time when China said we're going to buy our raw soybeans from Brazil, places like North Dakota, we've got two soybean crush plants that have been created. We're doing more value added processing, turning those into biofuels.

So there's more opportunities for us to do value added with ag. We don't have to be dependent just selling our raw crops to our competitors. And that's why President Trump tonight said to the farmers, I love you, too. And, you know, get ready to make some money because this is an opportunity for us to expand agriculture here in the U.S.

COLLINS: So they do respond to those tariffs.

Secretary Burgum, thank you for hustling over from Capitol Hill to joining us here.

BURGUM: Yes, great to be here. It was an inspirational night tonight. And President Trump was electric. And I think the one thing that really stood out for people in the room was the empathy. Every single person that he introduced, whether it was a mom of a soldier that was died or injured in Afghanistan withdrawal, whether it's the, you know, the mother and sister of Lincoln Riley, he's talked all those people.

You know, if a police officer has been killed, he was at the funeral. The mother of the hostage from Russia, he had given her the promise.

COLLINS: Yes.

BURGUM: And I think the fact that he's called all those people, he's talked to them and he knows them is part of the reason why Americans respect him because he's really in touch with the American people.

COLLINS: And of course, the moment with the young boy, brain cancer, was also incredibly touching.

BURGUM: Yes. Very touching.

COLLINS: Secretary Burgum, thank you very much.

BURGUM: That will be a moment everyone will remember.

COLLINS: Thank you very much for your time tonight.

Erin, back to you.

BURNETT: All right, Kaitlan, thank you.

And now let's talk about, well, Ukraine and what happened there. What he really said. The international reaction to President Trump's speech tonight.

President Trump referenced a letter. He said that he got a letter from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy today in his address. Let me just play exactly what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Earlier today, I received an important letter from President Zelenskyy of Ukraine. The letter reads, Ukraine is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer. Nobody wants peace more than the Ukrainians, he said.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: All right. Nick Paton Walsh is live in Kyiv. Matthew Chance standing by in Moscow. And of course, where you are, it is morning, so everyone is now listening to what happened, realizing what happened.

So, Nick, the president of the United States says he got a letter from Zelenskyy hours ago. What more are you learning about this letter that Trump says he received?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Ultimately, we only have what he said was in the letter, but it seems to echo the language we saw in a social media post from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy earlier today.

In that post, he said he found the Oval Office incident regrettable. Remember, a sort of apology was one that it seems the demands from Trump's circle about his response to that particular incident to get the relationship back on track.

[00:10:02]

Also too, they wanted the rare earth minerals deal signed. Well, Ukraine is pretty much always been willing to do that. And they also, after they paused U.S. aid to Ukraine just yesterday evening, they wanted a commitment for Ukraine to be ready for peace talks. Zelenskyy has delivered that in this particular letter. They sound very much like they want to heal the relationship. And Trump's tone does sound favorable again towards Kyiv.

We don't get an indication as to when the deal will be signed, or if military aid will be unpaused. That's utterly key for Ukrainians here, but you can hear in the tone from both Zelenskyy and Trump in that key speech that things appear to be better than they were 24 hours ago. Not hard to do that.

BURNETT: Well, that's true. I suppose the bar is extremely low, but Trump made a point of saying that.

And Matthew, in Moscow, I suppose the big question is then, how will all of this be received there? Trump did reference, after he mentioned the letter from Zelenskyy, he said that while he's simultaneously having conversations with the Russians, but he didn't give any more detail about that.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No, it was very scant on detail. And in fact, given the sort of seismic shift that's been underway in American foreign policy over the course of the past six weeks since President Trump was inaugurated, it was quite striking to me that more emphasis wasn't put on sort of justifying that. But, you know, President Trump obviously chose not to. He kind of skated over it, said that, look, we're in serious discussions, not just with the Ukrainians, but with the Russians as well.

He's got the impression, he said, and I'm paraphrasing him slightly, that they're serious about coming to the negotiating table, serious about peace. But again, you're right, no actual, you know, detail on what those concessions might be from the Russians, what the terms of this deal that he's talking to them about behind closed doors actually is, and, you know, so no more clarity on that from this address to Congress.

BURNETT: All right. Nick, Matthew, thank you very much, in Kyiv and Moscow, now here on this morning, this Wednesday morning.

I want to go to Jim Sciutto, because, Jim, obviously we talked about Ukraine and Russia, but then he made a very significant announcement about Abbey Gate and the terror attack on American soldiers in Afghanistan. What exactly did he say there? And as you look at that, something you know so important, what was -- what was surprising about it?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, one of the newsiest moments, right, was the announcement of the significant arrest. Pakistan acting on intelligence provided by the CIA arrested a man named Mohammad Sharifullah, who is being described as a mastermind, or at least someone who provided training to the suicide bomber who attacked Abbey Gate, August, 2021, in those waning days of the chaotic U.S. withdrawal, when 13 U.S. service members were killed in that suicide bombing, as well as close to 200 Afghans who were gathered at that gate there, as U.S. forces were leaving.

Trump's CIA director, John Ratcliffe, says that he raised that issue with his Pakistani counterpart in the very first few days on the job, and now this suspect is on his way to the U.S., to arrive in the U.S. tomorrow morning, where he will face charges with providing and conspiring to provide material support to terrorists.

We should note this that he was released from a prison in Afghanistan. This is important, Erin. Just two weeks before the Abbey Gate attack. And that's notable because it shows the results of the chaos of that withdrawal. Right? You had many hundreds, thousands of prisoners being released during that time as the government was collapsing. Here is one of them. And he contributed to that attack that killed so many on that day, including 13 U.S. service members.

BURNETT: Yes, and obviously, so much we don't know is, you know, exactly why they're bringing him back as opposed to whether they, you know, would have killed him in the field. I mean, there's a lot of questions about this that I know we're going to be finding out over these next few hours.

SCIUTTO: No question.

BURNETT: All right, Jim, thank you very much.

And we've been talking about that CNN instant poll. And now we do have some results coming in about how American voters responded to the address they just saw from the president. We're going to bring you that in just a couple of minutes. Plus, what does come next for Democrats who, while they were unhappy with Trump's speech and certainly disdain his agenda, are in the minority in both the House and the Senate?

Democratic Congressman Maxwell Frost, the first Gen Z member of Congress, will join us live in a couple of minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:18:19]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to CNN's special coverage of Donald Trump's first address to Congress of his second term. The first results of CNN's instant poll are in. Let's get right to CNN's bureau chief and political director, David Chalian.

David, how did the voters that you snap-polled feel about the speech?

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Well, first, I just want to mention, Jake, this is a poll of speech watchers, not a poll that is representative of the country overall, or what an electorate, an election looks like. And what we know is that people who tend to be fans or partisans with the president no matter which party the president is in, tend to tune in more on speeches like this.

And that's the case in tonight's survey as well because 21 percent Democrat, 44 percent Republican in this sample. 35 percent independent. That's about 14 points more Republican than the overall general population. So keep that in mind when you see these results of speech watchers.

To the results. What was your reaction to Trump's speech? 44 percent of speech watchers in our instant poll tonight say they had a very positive reaction to Trump's speech, 25 percent somewhat positive, 31 percent negative. How does that stack up against Donald Trump's previous addresses to Joint Sessions of Congress or State of the Union addresses? Look here, for all the years we have data for, 44 percent very positive reaction is actually his low watermark in all our instant polls after his previous addresses.

You see, in 2019, '18 and '17, he was higher in terms of very positive speech reaction. And what about to his modern-day predecessors? How does this 44 percent very positive stack up?

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Again, it's the bottom of the barrel here. 51 percent in 2021, when Joe Biden gave his first joint address, were very positive. Donald Trump himself was at 57 percent in 2017. And you see that Bush and Obama even higher than that. So this was not Donald Trump's best speech, but obviously still the plurality of speech watchers had a very positive reaction to it, Jake.

TAPPER: All right. David Chalian, thanks so much.

John King, you've been around the block a few times. What do you make?

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The country is still very grumpy. The Democrats lost the election, and Donald Trump won because the country wanted lower costs. The country is still dealing with a COVID hangover. I think we underestimate all the time about its impact on the country's mood.

TAPPER: Yes.

KING: Still, even now still, and Donald Trump, it's 43 days in. So it is not fair to say Donald Trump has failed to lower costs, but costs have not gone down. And he's the president right now. And so the country is still in a grumpy mood. And we see from our own polling, Republicans are happy with him. Democrats are unhappy with him. And a lot of voters in the middle are like, Mr. President, we want to lower costs, fix the border.

This other stuff -- you seem to be doing a whole bunch of other things. Could you stay over here? So I would just put it at that. We're 43 days in. Let's see where we are at 100 days and then 200 days. But the country is cranky, just like it was in November.

TAPPER: Kasie, what do you think?

KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. I mean, look, I think it's really a statement about, I mean, I think the most interesting number that we put up there was the difference between where Trump was in 2017, when Democrats were obviously very fired up. The resistance was kind of really rolling through Washington. And those calls to resist were there. And now where he's actually, you know, getting less approval. Right?

But the opposition is struggling and in many ways is more muted. And you saw that kind of on display tonight where there were really two ways on display to deal with it. One inside the chamber, people walking out, protesting, holding up signs, things we haven't seen before. And another in Elissa Slotkin who was standing in one of the places in America where she said, hey, these people voted for me and they voted for Donald Trump. Believe it or not, those places do still exist in America. It's really hard to reconcile those two visions.

TAPPER: Yes. Interesting. Let's turn now to one of those Democrats who walked out, Democratic Congressman Maxwell Frost of Florida, who joins us here in studio.

You walked out of the speech. You were wearing a T-shirt that said, "No Kings Live Here." Obviously, you're not referring to John King, who does indeed live here.

REP. MAXWELL FROST (D-FL): Yes, he does live here.

TAPPER: What statement did Democrats want to make tonight? And do you feel like your party succeeded?

FROST: Well, the statement I wanted to make and a lot of us that walked out is that this isn't a normal dress. And this, these first 40 some days of this presidency, it's not normal. And I think we want people, especially Democrats, to understand that we get that. And I do think we communicated that in the walkout and in a lot of the different actions.

TAPPER: What did you make of Al Green, Congressman Al Green, he's been in Congress -- I think he's 77. He's been in Congress for 20 years. Democrat from the Dallas, Texas, area who stood up and waved his cane and had to be actually taken out. It really was.

There have been a lot of disruptions in the past primarily by Republicans against Democratic presidents.

FROST: Yes.

TAPPER: Nothing like this. This was the biggest disruption of the modern age. What did you make?

FROST: I think it was a microcosm of how a lot of people in the nation are feeling. I mean, number one, Representative Al Green is someone who he's been around. The things he's seen in this country, where we've gone, I can't even imagine. And I'm sure he's reliving a lot of things that he lived before when he was fighting for rights that he feels like and he knows are at risk right now. And so I think he vocalized what a lot of Americans are feeling.

TAPPER: But do you think that that kind of behavior is acceptable? I mean, is that a good precedent to be setting?

FROST: It's not for me to say what a man who has seen what he's seen, what's acceptable, what's not acceptable in this moment. What I'll say is, I do think he vocalized what a lot of people are feeling. They see our democracy being torn apart in front of us. They see a billionaire being given the keys to programs like Medicaid, Social Security and Medicare, going in there, proposing these cuts so he can give himself a tax cut. And people are angry and they have a reason to be angry.

DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR: Congressman, obviously, so much of what we see in all of the addresses that we've seen in modern times is a lot of theater. We saw much more of that theater on display tonight, both from President Trump and from the reaction that you were just talking about, that you wanted to show Democrats that you get it. But what happens next? Because there certainly is no consensus on how to really form the resistance in a way that can make an impact that's lasting beyond a moment.

FROST: I think the consensus is building, and what's next is the most important thing. More important than tonight is the bills that they want to get passed and the fact that Democrats have to stick together in opposition. I've been saying we have the choice. Are we going to act like and be the minority, or are we going to act like and be the opposition in this moment?

And when you have a leader like this who wants to be and acts like an authoritarian leader, who wants to be a king and has said he's a king, when you're a minority, that's how authoritarians come to power.

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But when you have a strong opposition, we can push that off. And we saw that during the budget resolution vote. All the Democrats stick together. And now every single Republican and those that won those Kamala Harris districts, those very purple districts, they have to go back home and face their constituents. And they have been. We've seen these town halls, and now you have the leadership of the Republican Party saying, cancel your town halls.

If you're telling someone to cancel their town halls because you're afraid to face the people, there's a problem with what's going on.

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN ANCHOR: I hear you talking, Congressman, about bills, but I didn't hear Trump talking a lot about bills.

FROST: Nope.

PHILLIP: Because he seems to want to just bypass Congress altogether. And what you're seeing is him doing a kind of shock and awe strategy that is pushing a particular narrative to the American public.

As a Democrat, do you feel like your party is adequately addressing that part of it, not legislation, because that's not really happening, but a narrative that he's pushing, which is basically, I'm getting a ton done and nobody can stop me.

FROST: I think we are, especially when we talk about the fact that we need to call out the lies. He will go up there and say a bunch of things. He'll go up there and say, I'm doing everything. I'm working hard. But number one, a lot of what he's set out to do has been struck down by courts. A lot of what he's set out to do, he's had to reverse.

Look at the federal funding freeze. He came out and within 48 hours they had to reverse it. Why? Because of litigation and what a judge said, but also because of the fact that the American people rose up and said, we don't want cuts to Medicaid. We don't want to see the programs that our people depend on locally cut and taken away.

And so I think you are seeing this huge public backlash against Donald Trump and the administration on a lot of these cuts they want to make to programs that people have earned, like Medicaid and Social Security.

TAPPER: Congressman, thanks so much for coming by. We really appreciate it. Erin?

BURNETT: All right, Jake, and let's go back to David Chalian because he's got some more results from our instant poll.

Like what, David? Tell us.

CHALIAN: Well, one of the questions we asked, and again, this is a poll of speech watchers, and on a Trump speech, it's more Republican than the general population. But we asked folks, do you think Trump's policies will move the United States in the right direction or wrong direction? Two thirds of speech watchers, Erin, 66 percent, say that Trump's policies, as they observed tonight in the speech, will move the country in the right direction.

And that is pretty much in line with what speech watchers said in all of Trump's previous speeches that we have data for. If you look here, 66 percent say so this time, 71 percent in 2019, 62 percent in 2018, 69 percent in 2017. He roughly usually has about two-thirds of the speech watching audience says his policies move the U.S. in the right direction like he did tonight.

And then, Erin, we quickly inserted a question into this instant poll during the course of the event, which is wanting to get reaction on Congressman Al Green's antics and being ejected. 80 percent of speech watchers said that the Democratic congressman interrupting of Trump's speech was inappropriate. Only 20 percent of speech watchers thought what Green did was appropriate -- Erin.

BURNETT: All right. David, thank you very much.

And, Van, I mean, I guess that's what you would expect. That's good. You want people to want decorum.

VAN JONES, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes. Well, look, I -- still trying to make sense of what I saw. Trump is the master showman. If you just want to see a good show. I thought he used his time well, all two hours of it, like "Lord of the Rings." And, you know, God bless him.

BURNETT: It's like "Wicked," man. It's long.

JONES: It's long. But the problem is, like, "Wicked," he goes like a fantasy. And then you come back home and you got to deal with reality. In the speech, he loves the military. In reality, he's cutting VA and throwing veterans out of work. In the speech, he loves cops. In reality, he's pardoning everybody from January 6th who beat the hell out of cops.

In the speech, he holds up this cancer kid who everybody fell in love with. In reality, he's cutting cancer research. In the speech, he talks about a strong economy. In reality, it's tariffs and the stock markets in freefall. In the speech, he's got to MAHA, make America healthy again and my good buddy Bobby Kennedy, Jr. But in reality there's measles ripping through Texas. There's more measle cases in Texas than there are transgender athletes in the country.

So there's this speech which is fantastic, you know, fantasy. And then there's a reality that's getting worse and worse. And Democrats have to figure out some way to close the gap in public perception.

BURNETT: OK. You just said something there. More transgender -- I mean, sorry, more measles cases in Texas than transgender athletes in the entire country. And yet he went back to the transgender issue again and again and again.

DAVID URBAN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I mean, because it clearly resonates, right? It resonates across parties, across lots of lines. Right? I mean, it just -- in fact it sells. I mean, I've spent a great deal of time with, you know, women who campaigned for Title IX their whole lives. Right? They made their lives on Title IX and, and getting women to where they were and they feel like patently --

BURNETT: Equal funding for women in sports.

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