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President Trump's Address To Congress; Trump Touts Job Creation; Trump Pays Tribute To Fallen Navy SEAL; 22 Tornadoes Hit Missouri, Illinois. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired March 1, 2017 - 05:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:32:15] DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: A positive reception with a positive tone in President Trump's first speech before Congress. We have all the highlights, including the tearful moment you don't want to miss.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: And everyone's saying reset, reset, new shift in tone. A new phase here for the White House.

BRIGGS: Even the papers, who are often very critical, say reset. Thanks for getting an early start. I'm Dave Briggs. Even Bill Maher was complimentary of the speech on Twitter.

ROMANS: Whoa. I'm Christine Romans. It is 32 minutes past the hour. So let's talk about this speech. The White House hoping this morning that President Trump's big speech does provide a reset of sorts. In the address to a joint session of Congress, Mr. Trump cast a more presidential image than we've seen from him so far. After about an hour spent mostly sticking to the teleprompter, mostly sticking to those prepared remarks, he ran through his policy goals without a lot of answers on how to pay for them. The president offered up this challenge to lawmakers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The time for small thinking is over. The time for trivial fights is behind us. We just need the courage to share the dreams that fill our hearts, the bravery to express the hopes that stir our souls, and the confidence to turn those hopes and those dreams into action.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: There were still polarizing moments as he recapped many of the greatest hits from his campaign promises. Several times we saw all Republican lawmakers standing, all the Democrats stuck to their seats, as we do every time a president speaks.

ROMANS: Yes, no surprise there.

BRIGGS: Let's get into all of this with Salena Zito, CNN contributor, "Washington Examiner" reporter, and columnist for "The New York Post." And, Greg Valliere, political economist and chief strategist for Horizon Investments. Guys, good morning to you. Many millions of Americans had their "you had me at hello" moment when the president condemned hate almost right out of the gate. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Recent threats targeting Jewish Community Centers and vandalism of Jewish cemeteries, as well as last week's shooting in Kansas City, remind us that while we may be a nation divided on policies, we are a country that stands united in condemning hate and evil in all of its very ugly forms.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: Salena, perhaps that was long overdue but will that tone be something we see more of from the president in the weeks ahead?

SALENA ZITO, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I suspect it will. I mean, all great speeches, all great stories begin with a great lead that tells the story of what your speech or what your story is going to be about and continues to take you there. The president did himself great good with leading off condemning hate and condemning the attacks on Jewish property. And he also just, you know -- he hit each tone correctly.

[05:35:17] Yes, there were partisan moments. Yes, there were specific things that he talked about that were more important or more attractive to Republicans than Democrats, but overall he kept the speech as -- he kept coming back to unity and he kept coming back to here are some of the things that we can do together, and so I can take all of us to better place. And so the challenge is to continue that. I think that based on the reaction he has gotten since last night and he continues to get this morning in headlines, he is going to understand and enjoy that this is a good place to be and to continue this tone.

ROMANS: Yes. He also mentioned the shooting of two Indian immigrants last week near Kansas City. A third man was wounded trying to help them. That is a story that's just a tragic story that many people have been talking about, and the president addressing that case as well.

Greg, let's listen to the change in tone here. I think there's no question. You and I sat in Washington right there at that very spot the morning after the American carnage speech, and I want to compare and contrast these two -- these two speeches.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: This American carnage stops right here and stops right now.

I am here tonight to deliver a message of unity and strength, and it is a message deeply delivered from my heart.

The wealth of our middle class has been ripped from their homes and then redistributed all across the world.

A new surge of optimism is placing impossible dreams firmly within our grasp.

We will no longer accept politicians who are all talk and no action.

Solving these and so many other pressing problems will require us to work past the differences of party.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: So now, this is a president who -- the tone changes and now the time to get stuff done begins.

GREG VALLIERE, POLITICAL ECONOMIST & CHIEF STRATEGIST, HORIZON INVESTMENTS: I think that's right, and I think that what's happened between Inauguration Day and last night is the polls. He may not say that he likes the polls but every poll showed his job approval rating going down. And I think whether it was his daughter or son-in-law or Pence or Priebus, people got to him and said you've got to change your tone. And I think, so far at least, it's worked.

BRIGGS: Salena, who did get to the president? Someone, clearly, resulted this overhaul -- wrote this speech and the change in tone. Who do you think it was?

ZITO: I'm going to push back on that just a little bit because I believe in his inauguration speech he was speaking about how America was before he took over, before he won, and how people felt so, sort of, upset that nobody was listening to him. Now that he's president I believe that he -- he says our better days are coming and I'm taking you there. I'm sure there have been a multitude of people that have weighed in on changing tone, on pulling back on the Twitter, and to remove the sort of sense of chaos that's coming from the White House.

But, you know, yesterday in an interview on another cable news channel he honestly and bluntly said look, I think in terms of effort I'm going to give myself an A. In terms of communication, probably like C-minus.

ROMANS: Yes.

ZITO: So I think he understood also that communication was a problem, and presentation also was.

ROMANS: Greg, one of the great comments we have in our morning story -- our CNN money story -- kind of our walk-up to the market's opening story this morning is an economist who said this was politically important and economically dull, this speech. And, you know, we sort of say -- he doesn't say how he's going to pay for it. Usually, in these kind of speeches they never say how they're going to pay for it. But he ticks through all the things he wants to do. Now comes the hard work of making the sausage with Paul Ryan and with the Senate.

VALLIERE: Well, you're right, and I think that the Goldman Sachs twins, Cohn and Mnuchin, will be on top of this. I think they will talk about tax reform, they'll talk about spending cuts. A lot of very weighty issues are coming. But I agree with that assessment. I think the important thing is the overall theme, and the overall theme is that this president, who was looking a little shaky a week or so ago, I think has righted the ship. I think for international markets, they now are looking at the U.S. having a strong and perhaps better- liked president. That's a big deal when you look at the big picture.

[05:40:10] ROMANS: And, Greg, you know, there was some reporting from "Bloomberg" yesterday -- some really interesting reporting from Jennifer Jacobs, a really well-sourced reporter over there -- that maybe Steve Bannon and the Trump White House are moving in lockstep now with Paul Ryan on border tax -- border adjustability and on tax reform. That would be something that would be really good for markets, wouldn't it?

VALLIERE: Yes, we're going to get tax reform. It's going to come later rather than sooner, unfortunately, but they first have to get past Obamacare, and the big problem is Republicans. And the biggest problem they have is that this might wind up costing more than Obamacare and conservatives certainly don't like that.

BRIGGS: Greg, Salena, thank you both very much for getting up early. Greg's right about that. Obamacare is up next. They'll meet with Senate and House leaders today to try to sell that Paul Ryan plan, and that is a heavy lift. Thank you, guys.

ROMANS: It sure is. All right. Also last night -- thanks, guys -- the president taking a victory lap last night, rattling off the companies who he says are already bringing jobs back to the U.S. -- listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Since my election, Ford, Fiat Chrysler, General Motors, Sprint, SoftBank, Lockheed, Intel, Walmart, and many others have announced that they will invest billions and billions of dollars in the United States and will create tens of thousands of new American jobs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Executives have credited President Trump for his pro-business stance on tax reform and deregulation. But in many cases, the jobs the president's promoting here were part of previously announced job plans.

Let me give you an example. In February, Intel's CEO visited the White House announcing it would invest $7 billion in an Arizona factory, creating 10,000 jobs. Well, it turns out Intel announced that initially factory plan back in 2011, with President Obama on hand for the photo op. The company now says stronger demand for its products, in addition to Trump's policies, are the reasons why it is reinvesting now.

Fiat Chrysler is creating jobs in Michigan. Its CEO said he wishes he could give Trump the credit but that CEO says the plans were in place well before the election. Ford is canceling plans to build a plant in Mexico. It is investing in electric and self-driving cars here in the U.S. Ford citing the pro-business environment but says it did not cut a specific deal with President Trump.

Other companies, like Carrier, did cut deals with the president and he does deserve credit for creating an environment where companies want to promote their U.S. workforces. That is what has really changed here, Dave. What has really changed here is these companies want to go out and say yes, we are creating jobs in the U.S.

BRIGGS: Right.

ROMANS: Maybe they were creating those jobs already and they didn't think it was necessary to promote it. But now, the environment is such that you want the president, you want the White House, you want people to know we are expanding in the U.S.

BRIGGS: But even at that, we're talking about the fringes. We're talking about tens of thousands of manufacturing jobs, not enough to make a dent in the overall workforce.

ROMANS: And that's where tax reform -- we were just talking about border adjustability. There's this feeling among some that if you change the way imports and exports are taxed that you will really incentivize companies to build a lot of jobs -- create a lot of jobs here in the U.S., especially manufacturers.

BRIGGS: Now the hard work starts, right?

ROMANS: That's right, that's right.

BRIGGS: Legislate -- and the big emotional moment of the night that had everyone in the House chamber tearing up during the president's speech is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:47:50] BRIGGS: President Trump paying tribute last night to the Navy SEAL who died in January during a raid on al Qaeda in Yemen. Carryn Owens, the widow of William Ryan Owens, openly sobbing as the president honored her husband's sacrifice. It was, by far, the most emotional moment of the evening.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Ryan died as he lived, a warrior and a hero battling against terrorism and securing our nation. Ryan's legacy is etched into eternity. Thank you. (Applause)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: I just can't imagine what her family is going through. What an amazing moment. Two -- two long ovations totaled two minutes and 11 seconds. Owens was the first member of the U.S. military to die in combat under President Trump. He, once again, called the deadly mission a success during last night's address. The president citing the important intelligence it generated.

BRIGGS: Hard to fathom her pain. ROMANS: Remarkable.

BRIGGS: CNN analyst, Trump critic Van Jones called it one of the most extraordinary moments you've ever seen in American politics.

ROMANS: Wow.

BRIGGS: True.

ROMANS: Again, our thoughts are with their families. They're just beginning this process.

Time for a look at what's coming up on "NEW DAY." I'm sure, Chris Cuomo, that moment got you, didn't it?

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR, "NEW DAY": Look, of course, and it always does. And, you know, the concern of politicizing these kinds of moments is that yes, it's good to give attention to the loss. It's good to give the dignity to his family. You feel for his wife trying to battle it through. You could see her looking up to draw strength from on high and talking to her husband. But there are potential pitfalls in a move like this. That investigation of that operation isn't done yet --

[05:50:10] ROMANS: Yes.

CUOMO: -- and you have to make sure that the desire to give it attention isn't to distract from figuring out what happened there. That's how you honor the legacy, by making sure you know the facts and we'll do that.

There were big pluses last night, my friends, but also, as I'm saying, some potential pitfalls. This tone was different. This was a modulated man. People keep using the word presidential. You don't hear that in connection to President Trump very often. He stuck to the script. So he's going to have some policy challenges and political challenges going forward. The big one, Christine Romans, will help you out this something and us out all morning long with can he deliver on infrastructure and all these other expensive price tag items with a tax cut when his own party, such deficit hawks --

On the pitfall side, you know, it's going to be tough to play politics here. He's got to show wins. But that speech last night for him was a win.

ROMANS: Oh, yes, absolutely.

BRIGGS: Yes. Reading a teleprompter -- even a knucklehead like me can do that.

ROMANS: Yes.

BRIGGS: Legislating --

ROMANS: I heard we pay you to read a teleprompter. Is that true?

BRIGGS: A little bit. They give me free coffee.

ROMANS: There you go. Chris Cuomo -- thanks, Chris.

BRIGGS: Thanks, Chris.

ROMANS: The Dow -- knucklehead. You're not a knucklehead.

BRIGGS: I call them asI see them.

ROMANS: The Dow finally snapping that ridiculously long streak of record highs, but the gains for the month of February were pretty strong. We're going to get a check on CNN Money Stream, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:55:55] BRIGGS: Breaking overnight, a rare wintertime rash of deadly tornados in the lower Midwest. Twenty-two twisters now being reported, tearing across Illinois, Missouri, Tennessee, Indiana, and Iowa. At least three people were killed in Missouri and Illinois. Cleanup won't be easy. Severe thunderstorms expected to spread across the Midwest throughout the day impacting close to 100 million people.

ROMANS: Wow. All right, let's get a check on CNN Money Stream this morning. The Dow's streak of record highs is over. The average fell slightly at Tuesday's close, but what a month. The Dow rose five percent in February. The S&P 500 up four percent in February. March looks to be off to a pretty good start. Futures are higher right now. Stock markets in Europe, they have opened. They are solidly higher.

You know, investors there -- the key is the president's speech last night. All that infrastructure spending idea, all those ideas of spend a lot of money. Basic materials stocks doing really well. Shares in Asia higher as well. Now, despite the Dow snapping its record, the Trump stock market rally is far from over. It's up 2,500 points since the election -- the Dow is. One of America's most powerful policymakers is paying close attention.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAM DUDLEY, PRESIDENT, NEW YORK FEDERAL RESERVE: There's no question that animal spirits have been unleashed a bit, post the election. The stock market's up a lot, household and business confidence is increased significantly. There's a survey of small businesses that showed a very large increase in December and it sustained that increase in January. So there's no question that sentiment has improved quite markedly post the election.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Yes, so many of the indicators say so. But, Bill Dudley warns if the government increases spending on the military and cuts other programs, the economy may not get a boost. The Fed meets in a coupleof weeks. The economy might be strong enough that it can start raising interest rates again.

Penguin Random House signing a deal for a pair of books by Barack and Michelle Obama. The "Financial Times" reports bidding between several prominent book publishers has surpassed the $60 million mark -- $60 million. Penguin Random House declined to comment on dollar figures. The books will likely be released in 2018. The Obamas plan to donate a significant portion of their author proceeds to charity, including the Obama Foundation. Former President Obama's previous books were published by the same company.

So wow, $60 million bucks. Can you imagine? That is a big, big payout. They must think they're going to have some bestsellers on their hands.

BRIGGS: George W. Bush was given, I think, $10 million --

ROMANS: That's right.

BRIGGS: -- for his memoirs --

ROMANS: That's right.

BRIGGS: -- so this is raising the bar significantly. They better sell some serious books.

ROMANS: Thanks for joining us. I'm Christine Romans.

BRIGGS: I'm Dave Briggs. "NEW DAY" starts right now. Make it a good one.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: A new chapter is now beginning.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He walked into that room as the winner of a (INAUDIBLE). He walked out as the President of the United States.

TRUMP: We are a country that stands united in condemning hate in all of its very ugly forms.

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY), MINORITY LEADER: His speeches and the realities are very far apart.

TRUMP: I believe that real and positive immigration reform is possible.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The policies that he's doing don't add up.

TRUMP: Repeal and replace Obamacare.

REP. PAUL RYAN (R-WI), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: I thought it was a home run. I think he did a fantastic job.

TRUMP: Believe in yourselves, believe in your future, and believe once more in America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota. CUOMO: All right. We want to welcome our viewers in the United

States and around the world. This is NEW DAY. It is Wednesday, March 1st, 6:00 here in New York.

And it is a NEW DAY, indeed, for America's president. In a big speech to Congress, there was a big plea for unity and optimism. Trump stuck to the script, avoided the petty sniping that has gotten in trouble. Instead, laying out an ambitious fiscal policy filled with tax cuts and also more money for infrastructure and the military.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: So, the president spoke about overhauling health care and, as Chris said, rebuilding infrastructure. He also said the time is now to compromise on immigration reform. President Trump also gave an emotional tribute to the fallen Navy SEAL, Ryan Owens.

It is day 41 of the Trump presidency. Let's begin our coverage with senior Washington correspondent Joe Johns, live at the White House -- Joe.

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alisyn.