Transcripts For CNNW Anderson Cooper 360 20170302

Committee have agreed on the parameters of their investigation. So the House Intelligence Committee Just Announced details regarding the investigation into any potential collusion between russia and the trump campaign. What are they going to do. Reporter they did. They are basically agreeing on the fact that there will be an investigation. This is significant for this reason. You know, for so many weeks theyve been talking about was there anything that was nefarious here. We dont know the answer to that question, but tonight the committee is saying that they will look into several questions and were just getting this from the committee tonight, but a couple questions i want to talk about is whats russias cyber activity was actually involved in this, what active measures were used against the u. S. So this is a bipartisan investigation into this that, you know, really any conversation here hearing at the white house theyre accusing democrats of pushing this, but tonight were hearing for the first time that republicans as well want to look into this. So these parameters, which are pretty vague, really, just looking into the confines of this, are, you know, signaling that they are going to investigate what could be an issue with russia here. So the beginnings of an investigation, but the problem here is for the trump administration, this could last for a long time. As president President Trump bass beinged in the glow of his big speech do congress, the hard work of turning those promises into reality was the first order of Business Today at the white house with the president sitting down for lunch with republican congressional leaders. Were just here to start the process. It begins as of now and we think were going to have tremendous success. Yes prooe tremendous success demends not only on Senate Majority leader ryan, the president delayed again today the signing of a travel ban to replace the one blocked in the courts. Cnn has learned the secretary of state, defense secretary, and National Security adviser are all pushing for a rock to ir to be removed from the list of countries to be banned. But the priz president struck a more optimistic note but it remains an open question whether it was a lasting pivot or a one90 Night Performance after a rough start to his presidency. In either case, his wish list is an expensive and complicated one even among republicans, not to mention democrats who are largely resisting the trump agenda, from healthcare. We should ensure that americans with preexisting conditions have access to coverage and that we have a stable transition for americans kurn currently enrolled in the healthcare exchanges. To tax reform. It will abe big, big cut. At the same time we will provide massive tax relief for the middle class. To infrastructure. We launch our National Rebuilding i will be asking congress to approve legislation that produces a 1 trillion investment of infrastructure of the United States. After the speech, speaker ryan offered praise but walked away when asked about the price tag. I thought he did a great job. Did he answer questions of how woe pay for things tonight . So speaker ryan obviously did not answer than question, but anderson other fiscal conservatives we talked to said the president simply left out how he would pay for all this. Now, the question is, can the president bring his supporters along in all these districts to bring their members of congress along . The answer to that probably is yes, but for now so much skepticism about how much thaufl will cost. Clearly as been talked about the president strike a different known last nights speech. Do we know how big a role he played, if any, in writing it . Well, sure. He played a bill role in writing this but im told also that ivanka trump his daughter and Jared Kushner his soninlaw played a key role in writing this as well. They viewed that this was a reset opportunity, a moment to sort of change the conversation. So this was all part of what he was intending to do here. And they viewed this as a major success. Now, but its important, i think, to take a bigger view of all of this. He didnt change policies all that much. If you look at the speech, if you listen to the speech, basically the same donald trump. The volume perhaps not as high here, so the steven bannons, the steven millers of the world who are pushing are the president toward a different world view still got their points in, but think the other side of the white house here, ivanka trump of course choz key to her fathers legacy made this softer which is why i think he got such high marks. All right. Not a fan of the speech last night, spent four towers of duty in iraq has taken strong exception to the comment not winning wars anymore. I want to get your reaction to first news to the Intelligence Committee that broke they agreed on the scope of the investigation. How confident are you in this investigation . I mean, the parameters have now been jointly agreed upon by the chairman whos a Ranking Member as a democrat. Thats right. It is very significant that the republicans are finally coming along and recognizing the threat that this poses to our democracy and to our National Security to have russia meddling in our elections. But its important to understand that these parameters refer to a classified document that the American Public wont see for another 50 or 75 years. This entire investigation that takes place on the Intelligence Committee will be classified. So this is an important step in the right direction, but it doesnt solve the problem. We all deserve answers, the American Public deserves answers, and thats only going to come from a bipartisan, independent Commission Like we had after 9 11. In terms of the presss steech last night, i know you took a lot of issue on policy positions that he outlined not saying how its going to be paid for. The fact that the criticism has been about his messaging, how its uneven, at times controversial, do you give him any credit for a measured approach last night . Look, the bar is so very low, anderson, he got up there, he was able to string several complete sentences together from tella prompter and not offend half the world and were excited and people think it was a great speech, but it was a hallow speech. He doesnt have any plan to pay for the things proez posing. It was a speech to a house of representatives i never seen more divided. Literally stligt the republicans were on one side, the democrats were on the other. That was never the case when president obama delivered his state of the union addresses, even just recently when the congress has been divided. Democrats and republicans, we always sat together. So this is a very different sation than what people are making it out to be in the news today. Its a very divided congress because of a very divisive president , and just because had he some nice rhetoric last night, doesnt mean that anythings going to change. When he said the time for trivial fights is behind us, do you think he has any idea that he himself as president has engaged in trivial fights . Hes done it from the start of his campaign. And the fact that he says something last night that sound good doesnt really mean much because we know that the president say serial liar. And the problem is we just dont even know when the president is telling the truth or when hes saying something that he actually believes. So he has to follow this up with action. If he wants to have an infrastructure plan thats supported by democrats and republicans, he has to have a plan to pay for it. If he wants to reform healthcare then he has to have a plan to replace obamacare. The only point that he made last night that really resonated with people was the idea that his new plan would take care of preexisting conditions. Well thats the hallmark of obamacare itself. So there was a lot of nice rhetoric but i have to see the plan before we can see if democrats and republicans will be able to come together and work with absolutely the most divisive president in modern history. You gave a response in youtube and in it you said that its true we face real problems in America Today but that doesnt mean america should shrink from its role as a global leader. Much of the what he said on the campaign trail talked about nato, taking iraqs oil. His cabinet secretaries are saying different things. Do you think anyone really knows what the president s Foreign Policy is going to look like at this stage . No. I was talking with nato leaders over. Communmunich security conference with mccain several weeks ago and the Vice President came and contradicted what the president said that very week. Secretary mattis the same thing. No one knows who to believe. Its all well and good secretary mattis who i deeply respect and trust go over and say the right thingds, but if his boz boss continues to say the wrong things and clearly didnt lin to the secretary of defense when it matters like in putting out this travel ban, then who are we to believe . That doesnt give anybody confidence, doesnt give me confidence as a member of congress and a member of congress whos made a real pointed of working across the aisle. I was named the advice chair of the Bipartisan Group in the house. It doesnt give me confidence and kofds to our world leaders. And the other thing is there are a lot of problems that we have to address as a country. The economic recovery in president obama was absolutely remarkable, but there were parts of the country even if my own district that were leftd out. So we should be talking about how we involve everybody in america in the future of work, in the new economy. We didnt hear anything about that from President Trump last night. I appreciate your time. Thank you. I want to quickly return to the breaking news. Errol louis, kirs sten powers, jeffrey lord is here, perhaps you havent heard hes also veteran to the reagan white house, kelly mack mean itny is a contributor to the hill. How significant is it that the House Intelligence Committee has put out these parameters . Because theyre pretty vague, broad arnd they include the idea of investigating leaks. I think thats one of the most significant aspects of it is theyre going to look at what cyber activity was directed at the usa, what were the connections between any political campaigns and russia. But the last one is what possible leaks of classified information took place in relation to the Intelligence Committee assessment. And the chairman mu necessa h very clear thats his prime directive. He said he made no connections between the trump political people and russia. And so, but like we just heard, this isnt going to be a public. Right. A public process anyway, so i think that it will probably behoove all of us to have a more public process so that people could feel that these questions were answered satisfactorily. It doesnt give me a lot of comfort to know it will be done in the political process. It will be interesting to see if the president can resist commenting on this, whether he decides to comment on it or not. Obviously today theyre sort of trying to bask in the glow kf last nights speech. If they can stay focused and stay away comforttemptation to comment on this, they may be able to let the process proceed without sort of rielg things up. Youre using the royal they, you mean the president . If he can resist. When i say they, i dont mean just him because its not just the president and his twitter account. I think hes got advisors that are nudging him to say different things, we know that. There were other Staff Members that tried to sort of nudge the fbi and push them out there and have them try to finn spin the story a little bit. Thats going to backfire because youve got a competition going on. Youve got a senate Intelligence Committee, youve got the media who are looking at this. Youve got people who appear ready to leak and talk to the media. Theres going to be a lot of different eyes on this and trying to keep each other honest and he can only harm himself by leaping into the middle of that. Were going to bring the full panel in, a closer look at everything he left out of his speech and later what he said last night, what he now says and these are his words, the trump, quote, virus has mutated. And also the top of the hour you see the preparations there seen in town hall with two republican skeptics of the president , senator john mccain and Lindsey Graham. Americans 83 try to eat healthy. Yet up 90 fall short in getting key nutrients from food alone. Lets do more. Add one a day womens complete with key nutrients we may need. Plus it supports bone health with calcium and vitamin d. One a day womens in gummies and tablets. Today, unlimited gets the network it deserves. Verizon. mic thuds uh, sorry. Its unlimited without compromising reliability, on the largest, most advanced 4g lte network in america. thud uh. Sorry, last thing. Its just 45 per line. Forty. Five. cheering and applause and that is all the microphones that i have. vo unlimited on verizon. 4 lines, just 45 per line. Sfx engine revving silence with e trades powerful trading tools, right at your fingertips, you have access to indepth analysis, level 2 data, and a team of experienced traders ready to help you if you need it. Its like having the power of a trading floor, wherever you are. Its your trade. E trade two words it heals. E different . How . With heat. Unlike creams and rubs that mask the pain, thermacare has patented heat cells that penetrate deep to increase circulation and accelerate healing. Lets review heat, plus relief, plus healing, equals thermacare. The proof that it heals is you. Weve been talking about President Trumps speech to congress if the one of the reporters seemed to accept the ferters of the office and he adopted a far different tone than we expected. Familiar mannerisms were not there that we come to associate with the President Trump before that, the candidate. Watch. A few days ago i called the fake news the enemy of the people and they are, they are the enemy of the people i made a speech, i looked out, the field was it looked like a million, million and a half people. They showed a field where there were practically nobody standing there. Russia is a ruse. I have nothing to do with russia. Havent made a phone call to russia in years. North korea is a big, big problem and we will deal with that will very strongly. It would be great if we could get along with russia, just so you understand that. I think it was disgraceful, disgraceful that the intelligence agencies allowed any information that turned out to be so false and fake out. And back with the panel. Its so interesting today they were supposed to release the new executive order on, you know, what states they were going to ban immigrants from temporarily. And i guess they delayed that because they wanted to bask in the glow of last nights speech. Whats weird to me about that i get it from a political standpoint but the original executive order was sold on that it had to be done then and there because this was a National Security priority because so many bad terrorists were coming in, were sneaking in with these people that have visas and now theyre like oh we can hold it for a couple days. I suspect that the courts will note that as well. Because the courts should give the president deference on National Security measures but now theyve injected politics into this. They said the timing is being manipulated for political gain. My old mentor former client was governor george and senator, he used to say a single rose does not a summer make. So a single good speech does not a pressy make. And he went an entire hour they tell me without saying anything racist. He didnt insult anybodys sensibility, mock a pow or, grab a congresswoman by her privates. High per low berly. On the executive order, why now is it okay to delie lei it because of last nights speech and, not only that, once theyve actually now had some, you know, the secretary of state and the National Security adviser and secretary of defense weigh in on it theyre not going ban people from iraq after all. I think thats the answer to your first question. I think there was back and forth internally within the administration. You dont think it was delayed as we were talking last night. Sure. This is washington, d. C. And horrors, theres politics in washington. Doesnt it put the lie to the negotiation that this was such a priority. Not if youre dealing with cabinet members, serious cabinet members who are saying we need to change the policy. There are serious terrorists coming in with current visa holders. They havent been making that point consistently anyway because the whole thing is on ice with the courts and donald trump has made one or two statements accusing the that independent branch of government of maybe putting the United States security at risk. But largely thats not part of their messaging anymore. And it strikes me more as a decision made because the administration wasnt ready, it sounds like theres enough internal dissent to kick the can down the road. They do have a National Security adviser, he has too weigh in his opinion matters and by the way hes a guy with a strong opinion. And speaking to the urgency of this, i think that logic still makes sense because say they put this out today before they excluded iraq from the list of countries if they didnt make it perfect this time and it got struck down by a court yet again then we would be look at a third executive order. We have to get this right and if iraq needs to be excluded, they need to be excluded. But why not show the executive order the first time to the secretary of state. Yeah. Or to the, you know, department of defense. It should have been done that way and i think this time they have to be perfect, they have to get it exactly right because they cant have a second executive order struck down. And it would have helped to have Jeff Sessions in place, which he was not at that moment, i dont believe. How much of a honeymoon does a or do you want to i just think that because of the way that theyve handled it and because of also all of the things that donald trump has already said, theyre already in the Public Record about muslims, it doesnt matter how many times they rewrite it. I dont know how a court is going to ignore the intent coming from the words about the muslim ban. So, you know, its good that theyre taking time to try to get it right, but i think his rhetoric has caught up with him and its going to be hard to overcome that because the intent was to keep muslims out of the units. Except 90 of the muslim world is not included. You can make the argument thats the effect and that argument was made the last time around, but the point is they look at the intent. If youre talking about what the establishment clause and did you process clause and they will look at the intent and his intent was zbleer but the ninth circuit didnt rule on intent. They say well leave that aside and theres an argument to be made miz his intent dwooz just as obama did, target the same seven countries obamas Homeland Security targeted. Do you think President Trump takes is the nice reviews he got, reads, you know, whatever he reads, a positive praise on it and takes that as a reason to be kind of move forward with kind of that version of President Trump last night or not . Do you think this actually last . Do you think well see this president again . I think theres a mistake being made here in assuming that president of the United States is not that personality of a president. Theres no way in the world looking at my friend paul that bill clinton was not going to be bill clinton in the white house or Ronald Reagan or barack obama. Donald trump is going to be donald trump. And in these clips youve seen the whole toelt totality of it. Some people like some of it, some people hate some of it others love it. And youre going to see this in and out throughout his entire term. Hes not going to change being donald trump, nor should he. I think thats right. The presidency doesnt usually change the occupant but it magnifies. Both for good and for real. And so i think last night he did a very good job. I dont think thats what youre going to see for the next 1,420 days. But to andersons point, the poll numbers will affect him. The cnn jurship said 78 viewed it as positive, i think that gets through to him. Ive got to point out the irony ef them embracing cnn poll numbers. Sean spicer tweeted out cnn poll numbers. What a difference. But, i mean, still, for, you know you know. For fake news. Yeah. I mean all of a sudden when the polls are good, they love that poll. He did so much to shore up, i mean the major victory here i think was shore up his right flank. Youre going to see Lindsey Graham and tonight and john mccain tonight and what are they going to do . Be a lot more tempered than they would have been had he not had that will be one thing to watch for tonight that starts in 35 minutes. A lot more to talk about. A grieving widow brought to tears by President Trumps tribute to her husband. Well talk about how she ended up in the spotlight last night. Well be right back. 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One of the most memorable moments of President Trumps speechl to congress came near the end when he addressed Corrine Owens the widow of ryan owens who was killed in a raid. Ryans leg gase sky is etched into eternity. Thank you. Thank you. Than standing ovation lasted for two minutes, the longest applause of the evening. Until that moment, Corrine Owens stayed out of the spotlike light unlike her fatherinlaw said he refused to meet with President Trump and wants an gefgs in which his son was killed. Reporter navy s. E. A. L. Ryan williams and fiancee corrine wye began married in 2004 near her hometown of fair fax, virginia, she was doing intelligence work and he was serving as a navy s. E. A. L. Both based in san diego. Four years prior corrine was captain of the soccer teem as uva where she earned a degree in education. The couple would go on to have three children and eventually move to illinois near where he grew up and graduated high school. Owens had wanted to become a navy s. E. A. L. Since his freshman year in high school. In 2003, he got his wish. But on january 29th, 14 years later, he would go on his last mission. Deployed to yemen in the First Military operation under President Trump, he was killed in a mission targeting an alqaeda compound. The next day trump called his widow. The president also had a very somber and lengthy conversation with the family of chief petty officer william, ryan owens. The president offered i had sincere rest condolences to offer owens wife, his father, and their three children. We know now that on that same call President Trump invited corrine to be his guest at last nights speech, according to white house. Two days after the call President Trump and ivanka met corrine for the first time when her husbands body was flown to the air force base. But she refused to meet the president that day questioning the decision that launched the controversial tlad killed his son telling the mooichl herald i told them i didnt want to make a scene about it but my conscience wouldnt let me talk to him. President trump responded to his absence this way. I was at the airport when the casket came in, the body came in and it was very sad with the family and its a great family, incredible wife and children. I met most of the family. And i can understand people saying that id feel, you know, id feel whats worse . Theres nothing worse. With clear differences in the owens family and the details emerging of how a young widow came into the spotlight only heightening the drama of this fitting trip tribute to an american hero. As we said at the moment prifrp paid tribute to navy s. E. A. L. Ryan owens and the emotional response was extraordinary from last nights speech, probably the most extraordinary moment. Heres what cnn political commentator said last night. Reporter he became president of the United States in that moment, period. There are a lot of people who have a lot of reason to be frustrated with him, to be fearful of him, to be mad at him, but that was one of the most extraordinary moments you have ever seen in american politics, period. I wanted to talk more with van jones about what he said last night and what he thinks tonight. Obviously that was a very strong statement you made last night had you some time to think about it. Do you still believe what you said . Yeah, absolutely. Listen, you have before you had two different trumps. Had you twitter trump who was terrible, and then you had tella prompter trump which was kind of embarrassing bad but not always terrible. You now have a third trump in performance and that was an actual, passable president ial trump. The speech was not the carnage and whatever, it was uplifting. He did it well. He did things you havent seen him do. Things that president s do, like using american stories to advance a narrative. Ovl obviously his referencing could rin owens and the sacrifice of her husband, i mean, thats something many president s have done before. Yes. But for instance having more than one emotion, like raw terror and anger being your only emotion and suddenly he had a different emotional response. So heres the thing. As a democrat, when you see a sudden improvement, you have to take that seriously. I think dem i think the virus has mutated. I think that he the virus being the president. The trump virus, yes. What i would call the trump vooigs virus has mutated and i think that he liberals have been counting on him to every time he presents himself to be some version of a clown or a cartoon villain and suddenly last night he didnt do it and he looked like a president. Now, thats a low bar, weve had 40 plus president s some of them were terrible, but he suddenly looked like a president. He knows how do something he did not know how to do before and the liberals have to take that very, very seriously and they dont want to. Its interesting steve bannon made a lot of news when he said in some interviewer that the med media should shut up or close area mouths, whatever it was, stop talking, that got a lot of attention. The other thing he said which didnt get a lot of attention was so many people got it wrong during the election that people in the media need to listen more. Yes. I think thats very true. I think its something youve been doing a lot going out on the road listening to people with your towns hall, is that something that that seems like an echo of that message to liberals youre saying they need to listen more to whats actually going on out there. Listen, because of the messy truth ive been able to go out there, ive been in all the swing states, i was just out in arizona and im starting to hear a little bit more of what the people who like trump get. I think the liberals are doing this thing of saying, we are going to put him on trial about protocol and politeness. Theres a poet toe coloneltor talking to o to journalists and hes not doing it, for judges and spies and were going to put him on protocol about politeness. He is run a Movement Based on pride and prosperity. Its a completely different appeal. And so that i think creates this you know, this mess where the liberals are out there protesting and the independents are moving his way. And then guess what . Its even worse than that. He may take the protocol card away pet may actually start following the protocol. So then the liberals are going to get beaten not just because we cant compete with him on pride and prosperity, but we cant demonize him on protocol. Ive been screaming about trump for two years. I dont think the liberals can stand him and once again i think liberals are in grave danger of missing the whole plot until its too late. Thanks very much. Cnn is hosting a town hall with john mccain and Lindsey Graham. There appear to be in ties on a range of issues. Dana bash is monitoring the town hall. She joins me now. Either of these senators is afraid to say what they think even if it angers members of their own party. What do you expect to hear tonight. Youre exactly right. He was according to john mccain and the people around him he was the original maverick back in the day and that is certainly still the case. I would say es essentially with donald trump in the white house. The fact of the matter is as youve been talking about all night, the president laid out a very specific agenda last night but one that really does de verge from the conservative ideals that weve heard for so many years particularly to what john mccain and Lindsey Graham see. When youre talking about the world and the global perspective and policies, they could not be more different. So when President Trump talks about nationalism, talks about turning inward, not spending so much time, money, and american blood overseas, that is not something necessarily that republicans like Lindsey Graham and john mccain and frankly led by john mccain and Lindsey Graham agree with. So were going to be talking a lot about americas place in the world, on the world staining and many other topics to discuss at this town hall tonight. Thats starting in about 22 minutes from now. After des krags a close look at the messages from coming from the president and those who know are you kidding me . 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Dont drive or use machinery until you know how lyrica affects you. Those who have had a drug or alcohol problem may be more likely to misuse lyrica. With less pain, i can be more active. Ask your doctor about lyrica. Over the past several weeks there have been a hundred bomb Threats Targeting Jewish Community Centers and skoolds. Tonight were looking for a response from the president and one of his supporters. Its not yet clear who the jcc offenders are. Dont forget the democrats willing to incite violence at trump rallies. Im not suggesting that democrats were behind it, what i was suggesting in that tweet is that we actually dont know whos behind it and so what youre finding theres a lot of allegations being made and i think people are suggesting potentially that it can be Trump Supporters behind it or people that are affiliated with the president or his administration. I think thats categorically very unfair. We invited him to be on the program, he accepted, then he ka cancelled. The president met with state attorneys general, one of them asked about bomb threats about jewish schools and a cemetery in his home state. Shapiro told him that you have to be careful because the reverse can be true which is e the president said this in his speech to congress. Recent Threats Targeting Jewish Community Centers and vandalism of jewish sem tears as well as last weeks 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 forums. Back with the panel and joining the conversation is jonathan greenblatt. Jonathan, let me start with you. Theres two things i want to ask you about. President s very clear Statement Last night in his speech and then the comments he apparently made to attorneys generals from various states earlier in the day in which he talked about the reverse possibly being true. Who do you reconcile the two . The comments were alleged. Its not clear exactly what he said. Its completely unclear what he meant, but i think we should focus on how he opened his speech last night to the first joint session of congress. He could have sent signals about many things but he chose toe focus on antisemitism and hate. It was incredibly meaningful. Now how he will pivot from words to action. During the press conference i cant remember if it was last week or two weeks ago, a reporter from a jewish publication asked the president about antisemitism and the president clearly took it as some sort of personal slight or suggestion that he was somehow not doing enough and said, you know, hes going to the least antisemitic person youve ever met. Yeah. It is odd how personally he seems to view these questions, even, as an assault on himself. Well, i mean, i guess you can understand it. Anybody would not want to be accused of being antisemitic and he certainly has been accused of at least having supporters who are antisemitic having retweeted a white separateists and so on. So he has been associated with anti sexism. Id be defensive if someone accused me of that. That personal wasnt accusing him of that so thats whats strange but it shows its gotten to him and beerjz him. And i would be interested to know in what conversation easy had about that in how he treated that reporter because it was shameful in how he treated him because he was intentionally asked an unnice question. But even what was said in his clean up, still is like, the idea that, you know, he just said it because people are making accusations so then just made some false accusation against democrats, he was suggesting you dont need two separate ideas unless you are actually making comparison between those ideas. And we should note for the record it was a response to nonexistent democrats to have violence in the campaign season. Had this is the kind of messaging if they want the glow from last night to last theyre going to have to get a hold of, rein people in and stop with the twitter back and forth and have conspiracy theories and have a consistent message. It was wonderful that they led this speech off with the call that everybody said the president was overdue to make. It felt like it was pasted on at the last minute. He stent early on, it sent a clear message. If they want that to be the final message theyre going to have to quiet everybody else down. Why not have had that message earlier and repeatedly because clearly i think its i think what the president said last night is a reflection of how he i think it goes to what hes saying. I think he is offended at the notion that people would consider him to be antisemitic. I think hes really offended by it. And so when that reporter stood up and asked what was from his point of view an innocent question thats where the president jumped to the conclusion thats where he was going and he wasnt going to having any of that. I think you saw this in the beginning of his speech and the state of the union because he wanted to put this to rest once and for all and do something about it. And his response to that reporter by the way bears mentioning came 24 hours after another reporter in a separate incident, separate question basically said, you know, there are people in israel who view you as racist and then you had people stand beside him and say this man is none of those things. So it came 24 hours after that question was asked and to jeffs point his head immediately went to the similar question that i was asked yesterday. I can say i appreciate again when he said last night, but the people who should be defensive here is not the president. There have been over 100 bomb threats to jewish institutions in the past two months. Were talking about preschool age children being pulled out of communities. One in my hometown over the weekend. My office got a bomb threat last week. So the real issue here is how does the president pivot from words to actions . What do you want to see him doing . Wed like to see number one the department of justice launch a fully resourced civil rights investigation so the culprits are brought to justice. Number two we want to see the president convene a Interagency Task force. But i think theres a need to get all the agencies together on you who you fight hate. Number three Homeland Security should clarify that its not going to be reduced to radical islam. Its a problem but let me be clear. Neonazis and White Supremacists thats a big problem as well. Number four its crucial that the fbi get state and local Law Enforcement trained up on how to deal with hate crimes and finally i think education is the best preventative medicine. So bets decide devos sho should emfa sies the bias of anti hate. Since she brings out the idea of not just focusing on radical islam and the threat, Terror Threat to the u. S. From White Supremacists which we have seen time and time again over the decades, thats something this white house is planning to do to refocus the office which has dealt with all extremism on radical irks. I think we do need to be clear about words. Words have meaning. Terrorism has a dufgs and it is not attacks by muslims against nonmuslims. The against civilians to pursue a political aim. Those things happen at every one of those Jewish Community centers. And our president who spoke wonderfully about it last night should act on this. Hes setting up a new office in the Justice Department to focus on victims of crime committed by undocumented immigrants. Even though immigrants have a lower crime rate than the native population. Why not expand that focus to this incredible sad new epidemic. Weve seen this under the Obama Administration as well. And what we know is when the president of the United States comes out and speaks strongly about something, it helps change the tone, right . So thats why it was so important that he started this speech last night. Thats why, to say actions also, not only terrible things said against the Jewish Community but the muslim community. There have been four attacks on mosques in the last two weeks as well. A president and a leader needs to speak strongly about securing the safety of all americans, including muslim americans. And there were indians. That was mentioned last night. Killed because one of them was killed, one of them was injured because somebody thought they were muslims. These are really serious, scary crimes that need to be addressed. I agree about the importance of speaking out violence 100 . Theres no place in society for it. But a lot of the democratic arguments made now, republicans were making just a year ago, two years ago when they said president obama, please speak out about the number of Police Officers killed in the line of duty, how that number is going up continually. So the same logic was used by republican commentators a year ago. Thats not political violence. Thats crime. Unless theres a group, and there might be, purposefully targeti targeting cops, and that is terrorism. Dylann roof is a terrorist. We tend to not use that word against people who are not muslims. Coming up, america uncovered. After winning in iowa, more people disapprove than approve of the job the president s doing. Well hear what voters in iowa thought. And at the top of the hour, john mccain and Lindsey Graham. Well be right back. 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Gary tuckman spoke to voters to find out what they think. Reporter here in iowa, opinions about Donald Trumps performance last night are piling up like these mountains of corncobs. Jeff martin was keenly interested in the president s speech last night. I feel like he was president ial. I feel like, you know, obviously, he did read from the teleprompter and used notes, which i think is fine. President s do that when they do those speeches, and i think sticking to that is a good thing. Reporter do you think hes capable of continuing to stick to it . I think he is. Reporter we watched the speech last night in nearby marshaltown. While trump voters in the bar were mostly optimistic about the trump presidency. I think hes tried to do what he said he was going to do, and i approve of that. Reporter there were also concerns about how his term has started. Some of his decisions, i guess, have been a little shake eye, i would say. Reporter does that trouble you . Slightly, yes. Reporter what do you think of the job donald trump has done in his first month . Hes struggling. Reporter has anything in the early part of his presidency concerned you about his behavior, the way hes dealt with certain issues . Well, a little bit of, you know, some of his communication with the twitter. I think he needs to develop some kind of relationship with the media, so its not such a difficult thing between the two. Reporter at the Central Iowa Farm store in marshal town, all the employees we spoke to said they voted for President Trump. One of them is the coowner. Has there been any point since hes been president where you said to yourself, im a little concerned with all the controversy, with all the arguing . Just about every time he gets on twitter. I just really wish as president of the United States that he wasnt on twitter. But that would be about my only concern. I feel like his communication should not be managed through social media. Reporter looking over the new corn planter is her husband tom who agrees with his wife but wanted to emphasize this. I think donald trump has done a tremendous job. Hes had a lot of promises through his campaign that hes holding up, and hes getting the job done. Reporter most of the trump voters weve talked to in this part of iowa say that the president has made mistakes but believe the criticism has been overblown, that people are making a mountain out of a molehill. Are you disappointed with him at all as president . Not yet. Not yet. Reporter do you think you could be . Is that why you say not yet . Well, i think it remains to be seen. I think we need to give him some time and see where it goes. Reporter we talked to quite a few iowans who voted for hillary clinton. And many of them said donald trump did make a good speech. But precisely none of them said it was significant. One said all president s gave good speeches and thats what you would expect from a president. Time now to hand it over to dana bash. We have a town hall. Senator john mccain and lindsey grah grah graham. Captions by vitac www. Vitac. Com [ applause ] live from the George Washington university in the nations capital, this is a cnn town hall with senator john mccain and Lindsey Graham. We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. Im dana bash. 24 hours ago, President Trump stood before congress and made the case for his president ial priorities. Now two leading senators will take this stage and take audience questions on issues facing the question. We have reviewed these questions to make sure that we cover a variety of issues