Transcripts For CNNW CNN Newsroom With Fredricka Whitfield 20170122

Thank you, sir. It was a great weekend. Sir. So lets hes become more famous than me. [ applause ] lets take some pictures. All right some interesting moments there as you see President Donald Trump welcoming and honoring First Responders there, this coming after the swearing in earlier today of senior staff and you also saw that moment there of a friendly hand shake with fbis james comey. Our cnns White House Correspondent is there outside of the white house. This has been an incredible day of contrast today at the white house, te. Reporter you saw james comey in the blue room of the white house, and the Vice President and president were thanking the Law Enforcement and First Responders, that helped protect the inauguration, but certainly james comey, the fbi director, who had become front and center both before the elect shauion a after the election. I wouldnt quite call it a hug, but it was definitely a hand shake. James comey is a very tall man. Hes one of the tallest officials in washington. Were talking basketball player height, so he went in and leaned in to the hospital so it may have looked like a hug. He said youre becoming more famous than i am, as fbi director. He looked a little bit uncomfortable in that moment. But this is the second time we have seen the president making the rounds of these official photo type opportunities in the blue room of the white house. This followed after watching the swearing in of his team of senior advisors earlier this afternoon in the east room of the white house, where he did strike that very different tone from yesterday. Uhhuh and lets talk about what took place maybe about an hour and a half ago. Each other and the faith in god we will get the job done. We will prove worthy of this moment in history and i think it may very well be a great moment in history. So be proud. Be very proud. Jeff, earlier today, with that, yeah, swearing in taking place, of senior officials. President trump saying this is not about party ideology, this is about country and serving the American People. Reporter he did indeed and he said we, you know, will serve this moment in history here. And he was sort of giving an admonition in talking to his senior advisors there, most of whom we dont often see in front of the camera, theyre usually behind the scenes people. Thats why today those pictures were so interesting of steve bannon, the chief strategist, Reince Priebus the chief of staff, who is of course more visible. But jared kushner, the presid t president s soninlaw as senior advisor. So this is the top layer of staff people there were receiving the oath and the president , again, striking a different tone from yesterday, not talking about his election win, not talking about crowd sizes, talking about this moment in history and he urged them to go forth and seize it. Jeff, thank you so much, appreciate it. So donald trump taking the stage as an International Leader and one of the first acts of reshaping the United States relationship with israel. We know that earlier today, aside from the swearing in there, aside from the moment with the First Responders, President Trump having a phone call with israels netanyahu, and so we understand that this is a potential move to try and get the American Embassy to relocate from tel aviv to jerusalem. Press Secretary Sean Spicer replied that the white house was in the, quote, very beginning stages. That move was one of trumps key campaign promises, the president and his israeli counterpart speaking on the phone earlier this afternoon in what trump described to reporters as, quote, a very nice call. Lets discuss this now with my panel. A lot to talk about, with the demeanor of President Trump today, quite the contrast. Julian who is a historian at princeton university, and brian whos a national correspondent, and ellis, a political analyst. Good to have all of you. Lets talk about the demeanor of President Trump at the business of the white house staffing, paying respects to the First Responders, sending a message that among his top agendas is dealing with the u. S. Embassy in israel. So julian, what is this day all about . It seems as though its a press the reset button. Im not sure its press the receipt, i think were going to see a lot of back and forth between mr. Trump, yesterday it was sort of a frenzy over crowd sizes, i think today he is sending a signal that he will move to the right on tom issues and he did appoint david freeman, and hes not being subtle about this. Its not a total reset. The Obama Administration has been a supporter of israel, financially and military. And its also about the iran deal, which trump opposeds and is testing the waters if it can be undone. Syria, iran, also on the front burners when it pertains to this potential move, ryan. I think its very important what netanyahu told President Trump in that call. Theres a lot of talk in israeli politics, does netanyahu and does the israelis really want to see the American Embassy moved from tel aviv to jerusalem right now, other president s have promised that move and then promised there would be a long process and never got around to doing it. We know that our close allies in jordan have warned trump not to do this, saying it would lead to an earthquake in the middle east. The fact that spicer says its in the very beginning stages, maybe it means theyre not going precipitously move it, its going to be a process, but its up to the israelis, whether they want this to happen right away, or they want to slow track it. Like releasing his tax returns. According to kellyanne who was on meet the press today says its not going to happen and the American People have demonstrated that it really shouldnt matter. As it pertains to donald trump, a different tone today, we even saw him referring to notes during that swearing in, offering condolences to georgia, 12 people now killed in the storms. He also talked about the letter that he received from president obama, he doesnt want to share it with the press, but he said it was very nice. So in the terms of a reset, is it a reset in the demeanor of President Trump today . Hes being the most president ial you have ever seen, right . Hes appreciating the gravity of the moment and you have to sort of understand that, when you are in the east room and maybe you were working in trump tower for the last few years and then youre standing in front of a portrait of George Washington taking an oath to uphold the constitution, if that doesnt move you and make you appreciate the gravity of what you are doing, serving the country, i dont know what will. So i think that was the president and his senior staff really, you know, getting into that sort of frame of mind, that it is not about rallies anymore. This is about governing the United States of america. Lets listen to Kellyanne Conway on meet the press this morning on the taxes. President trump will not release his tax returns, we said this all throughout the campaign. Most americans are very focused on what their tax returns will look like while President Trump is in office not what his look like, and you know full well that President Trump and his family are complying with all the ethical rules, everything they need to do to step away from his businesses and be a fulltime president. So ellis, whats going on here . Politically, i think shes probably right, until such a time that all those promises that turn out not to be true and cause some kind of political upheaval. Im more stuck on that comey trump whispering back and forth. I would have liked to have been in that bubble. Did he say thank you, where did it go . The thing might surprise you with comey, is why he was obviously hu lly hugely affecte campaign right before the election. Do not assume hes always on that side forever, he could easily bounce back and forth. Could we rerack that, actually that moment where President Trump is talking to First Responders there, this happened just moments ago. James comey is there with the fbi, lets see if we can hear a little bit more of what donald trump said. Were going to have a great eight years together as you say. And again, the inauguration was such a success and a safety success. And we want to thank you all because it was really, really a special experience. General, congratulations, i just happened to see you and your very beautiful wife and just sworn in, general kelly just sworn in by the Vice President and it going to be a great thing that happens along our borders. I campaigned very much on security and border safety and general kelly is going to do a great job. Again, i wanted to thank you, i wanted to come down personally. Theres the man. Come on, get over here. What a job. From day one, i have felt safe. Thank you, mr. President. So lets oh, and theres jeff. Hes become more famous than me. Okay, was that a better shot of being able to hear what was said . Iticabamicable. Remember that the fbi director does not serve at the pleasure of the president , he has a set term, he can stay around as long as he likes. Its a 10year term, the president could in fact fire him, but it would upend everything. I think donald trump would actually be on solid ground if he wanted to get rid of him. But rancor if he did that. Hes supposed to be isolated from politics. Its a difficult moment for most people to see after the inauguration, theres many that believe that that comey letter on october 28 subsequently cost her the election, and the stories about the other emails that didnt come out are still hot in the press, theres a humor, but i also think that doesnt sit very well after the inauguration. You think about this relationship here, comey is the person who reportedly brought trump aside and briefed him on that famous dossier of controversial, unverified material that was circulating among journalists in the intelligence committee. Comey briefed him on that, it was that briefing that was then leaked to the press that caused that relationship to be published. In trumps mind, hes suspicious of comey, because that interaction led to the public reporting of that dossier, on the democratic side, great distrust of comey, because democrats believe he interfered in the election by reporting on the investigation of email at the last minute. But a lot of democrats, i will tell you, they would rather have comey stay in that job now than whoever trump some loyalist . Some loyalist. And also trump doesnt want the credit for his election going to the fbi, he doesnt want it going to the russians, he doesnt want it going to anyone, any of his people, as he describes it so pushing back against comeys influence, in addition to crowd size and hacking and everything else, is part of a strategy that president s are more effective when theyre positive. Politicians are more likely to cozy up and adopt their agenda and things like that. So pushinging back on these notions that were describing is strategically common sense. And he knows its favorable to look like things are amica e amicable, even if Public Perceptions of the relationship may have gone awry. He also wants to, i think, make the relations with the intelligence community, somewhat better, not totally better. I dont think hes going to drop the message, but i do think youre going to have more communication, because now that hes president , he needs this. There has to be this mending phase. Its going to take a while. I think it is important to point out two things about that, almost every poll shows that ov ov ov over 50 of americans want to see his tax returns. He said he would release his tax returns after the election. After the investigation was over. So if youre donald trump, i want those tax returns, but it can be after the election. And thats very specific, that after the audit it will not be. Thats the First Campaign promise broken. We have much more time in which to have more conversations on this. Also coming up President Trump starting his first full week in office with just two of his cabinet picks in place, but will some of trumps more controversial nominations be confirmed . More, next. Ompany raises your rates. Maybe you shouldve done more research on them. For drivers with accident forgiveness, Liberty Mutual wont raise your rates due to your first accident. And if you do have an accident, our claims centers are available to assist you 24 7. Call for a free quote today. Liberty stands with you™. Liberty mutual insurance. Put some manwich on the table. And give boring weeknight meals, the night off. Make tonight a manwich night im phil mickelson, pro golfer. My Psoriatic Arthritis caused joint pain. Just like my moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis. And i was worried about joint damage. My doctor said joint pain from ra. Can be a sign of existing joint damage. That could only get worse. He prescribed enbrel to help relieve pain and help stop further damage. Enbrel may lower your ability to fight infections. Serious, sometimes fatal, events including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma, other cancers, nervous system and blood disorders, and allergic reactions have occurred. Tell your doctor if youve been someplace where fungal infections are common or if youre prone to infections, have cuts or sores, have had hepatitis b, have been treated for. Heart failure, or if you have persistent. Fever, bruising, bleeding, or paleness. Dont start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu. Joint pain and damage. Can go side by side. Ask how enbrel can help relieve joint pain and help stop joint damage. Enbrel, the number one rheumatologistprescribed biologic. All right, welcome back, im Fredericka Whitfield in the Nations Capital. To donald trump kicking off his first full week in Office Without a cabinet behind him. Only two of President Trumps cabinet has been confirmed. So what are we looking for this week in comparison, obama, what, seven cabinet member at the very first few hours of his presidency. Theres a lot of work to be done this week. Democrats dont have a lot of leverage, republicans only need 51 votes to confirm any of the nominees, so you have seen democrats kind of try and pull the lever, slow things around a bit. Mike pompeo, the nominee for the cia director, so trump will get his Third National security player if you will. But the question is what happens next. There are other controversial dominations that could start tomorrow. But the big question is what happens tomorrow. If you talk to the democrats, they identify eight or nine very controversial nominees. Monday rex tillerson, the secretary of state nominee will get a committee vote. Not a full senate vote, but a committee vote. Thats because marco rubio has not decided how he will vote on rex tillerson. Mccain, Lindsey Graham have all said they will vote for him. But the question is whats the timeline were working under here. How does it stall business for President Trump . Theres no secret about the fact that the Trump Transition Team has not installed even the lower level cabinet members as we have in the past. You need to set the head to kind of fill in whos going to be beneath him. Take a look at mitch mcconnell, he was asked, do you think everyone will be confirmed . Listen. Im confident, we will, yes. Whats been unfortunate is that all i ask of my colleague senator schumer was to treat President Trump the same way we treated president obama, obviously we were not happy with any of his nominees either. He got seven of them on the first day, we got two. They even delayed the cia, delayed the cia until monday for some inexplicable reason. So you can hear some of the angst there, in the Senate Majority leader, but the first thing he said was really important, will we get all the nominees through . Thats the big question. Now the question is how long is it going to take. And the democrats say theres conflicts of interest that have made the confirmation of these nominees complicated. Elaine chao has been down this road before. Democrats arent necessarily stalling, theres politics at play here, but the realty ael e that theres a lot of conflicts, and they have been late to a person on filing the disclosure forms to move along their nominations. Thats why the democrats, even though they dont have a lot of leverage, they feel like they have. All right, well have much more from the newsroom after this. You drink ensure. With 9 grams of protein and 26 vitamins and minerals. For the strength and energy to get back to doing. What you love. Ensure. Always be you. With sleep number, theres an adjustment for that. Tilt your tormentor and put those snores to sleep. Does your bed do that . Come into a sleep number store where the queen c4 mattress is now 1199. Its a no brainer. jessica i love beneful healthy weight because the first ingredient is chicken. riley man, this chicken is spectacular jessica i had to start hiding the bag because he would try to put his face in it all day. Yeah you love it, dont you . You love it so much i feel like when he eats beneful, he kinda turns into a puppy again. Its protein. Its vegetables. Its grains. I mean, like that sounds like a dinner id make for myself, right . riley hey its a big bag. Just have some of mine. vo try beneful healthy weight with chicken. With real chicken as the number one ingredient. Healthful. Flavorful. Beneful. Hunches welcome back welcome back. Long time supporters were drawn to trumps message. I spoke to many of them before, during and after the swearing in about what they want to see from our new commander in chief. So what are you hoping this day forward from this administration . I think we heard mr. President , President Trump say an awful lot of things about how he wants to change the county troy. From this day forward, a new vision will govern our land. Hes got some business savvy, but as you said, talk is cheap, its time to put some words to action, so im anxious to see what he can actually do to fulfill his problem, the economy as well as infrastructure as well. Reporter how do you describe the mood, the emotions we have been feeling this inaugural weekend . I had never been to an inaugur inaugur inaugural, but impressed with the mood and everybody has been friendly and i have been very moved by the experience, its been awesome. Reporter what do you hope will happen in this new administration . I hope we can try to Work Together and move forward and i think donald trump and his business sense and his negotiation skills, i think hes proved a lot in his own life and business and his family and i respect that and i think our country needs to be run like a business so im looking forward to positive things in the future. Reporter whats the message you heard this inaugural weekend about the days Going Forward . I think President Trump summed it up in his speech, everything about the speech was fantastic and it just expresses how everyone in america is feeling right now. And he hit every point that i expected of him and what i really hope is that he just follows through with it. I think he will, i think hes that kind of guy, he does what he says and he says what he does. Reporter one of his messages, togethhe forgotten pe of our country will be forgotten no longer. The forgotten people of our country will be forgotten no longer. Everyone is listening to you now. Reporter do you think a lot is going to happen in this first 100 days . I think its reflected in his Business Life that hes a man of his word. Finally we must think big and dream even bigger, in america, we understand that a nation is only living as long as it is striving. Reporter what are your impressions this inaugural weekend . Its fancy and theres so many people, its huge. I think its really cool that we are one of the only countries that has such a peaceful transition of power. Reporter what are your thoughts on inaugural weekend . Its just invigorating, its a privilege to live in a democracy. Reporter is there something in particular that you heard from President Trump in his inauguration speech that really resonated with you . I think turning back to the people the rights back to the people was inspiring to me. This is your day, this is your celebration, and this, the United States of america is your country. What truly matters is not which Party Controls our government, but whether our government is controlled by the people. Reporter mr. Trumps message. Mr. Trumps message from day one is inclusion, thats something that surprises me, i think from the beginning, his message has been inclusive, that hes wanting to make our society better, no matter which strata youre living in right now, just think, every four years, go back five and six election cycles, people come and ask for your vote and whose policies have furthered your community . I just find that hes been consistent. So from the day he started campaigning, until this morning, his message is the same. We will make America Great again. Thank you, god bless you and god bless america. Ask he really going to fulfill these promises, give him a chance. And im really more optimistic than i have been in my whole adult life. Talking to folks who came from all over the country to be witness to the inauguration of donald trump this weekend. Still to come, an invitation to washington, President Trump and israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could sit down for a meeting next month. Details on that next. Nosy neighbor with a glad bag, full of trash. What happens next . Nothing. Only glad has febreze to neutralize odors for 5 days. Guaranteed. Even the most perceptive noses wont notice the trash. Be happy. Its glad. snap achoo snap achoo achoo snap snap achoo achoo feel a cold coming on . Zicam cold remedy nasal swabs shorten colds with a snap, and reduce symptom severity by 45 . Shorten your cold with a snap, with zicam. I discovered a woman my family tree, named marianne gaspard. I became curious where in africa she was from. So i took the ancestry dna test to find out more about my african roots. Ancestry really helped me fill in a lot of details. Hello, again, everyone. Were in the Nations Capital this inaugural weekend. So President Donald Trump and his israeli counterpart may soon meet face to face. After their phone call this afternoon, Prime Minister netanyahu said that mr. Trump invited him to washington, and that could come next month. Oren is live in jerusalem. What do you know . Reporter were learning more about this conversation, President Donald Trump characterized it as a nice call, and president putin described it as a very warm conversation. They discussed the Peace Process with the palestinians and other issues. Mr. Trump invited Prime Minister netanyahu to the u. S. In february. He said top on his mind is the iran deal. He was the most vocal critic, even traveling to washington to lobby against the deal before congress. So now we know why he was quiet in the final months of the Obama Administration, he sees trump as a new opportunity in some ways to roll back the deal. He said he also wants to talk about the u. N. Security Council Resolutions and other ways that these two leaders can Work Together. We know that president putin is excited to work with president obama. Well find out just how soon that meeting is happening for netanyahu to travel to washington to meet trump. All right, Oren Lieberman from jerusalem, appreciate that. Also coming up, the president versus the press. On his first full day in office, trump blasted the media, calling the media dishonest, and its not just the president , the message is also coming from trumps team, thats next. Mountains, and racetracks. Quere, and now much of that same advanced technology is found in the audi a4. With one notable difference. The highly advanced audi a4, with available traffic jam assist. Welcome back. Team trump has entered into a war of words. Now that he has taken on the presidency, he has nat ante. As you know, i have a running war with the media, they are among the most dishonest human beings out there. Right . And they sort of made it sound like i had a feud with the intelligence community. And i just want to let you know, the reason youre the number one stop is exactly opposite. Reporte. The president is focused on uniting the country and that was stated in the inaugural address. Theres been a lot of talk in the media about the responsibility to hold donald trump accountable and im here to tell you that it go s two ways, were going to hold the press accountable as well. Im saying theres an obsession by the media to delegitimize this president. And were not going to sit around and let it happen. Were going to fight back every day and twice on sunday. So lets discuss this tense relationship and what the medias role is in covering a trump presidency. Joining me now is frank sesno whos director of school and Political Affairs at george mason university. And George Connor who is the president of the White House Correspondent association and Brian Stelter who is cnns senior media correspondent and host of reliable sources welcome all of you gentlemen. You spent a good portion of your show this morning reliable sources looking ahead at those who are covering this white house, and everybody is in agreement that its going to be a tough road ahead and it means working even harder to be diligent and to be dogged as a journalist. Its rough, but obviously were covering the worlds biggest story right now, even in the second day of this administration. Tomorrow sean spicer is expected to take questions from the press, well learn a lot tomorrow about his tone, his approach and his accuracy. You said that President Trump and his team is wasting precious time, and the press secretary, especially when they come out throwing punches like we saw yesterday, but today was a decidedly different tone from the president. Its remarkable from the coverage i have done of white houses from all different angles. They want the message of the day, they talk about the story, the news theyre trying to make. Does the administration really want us talking about this and the controversy on the second day . Maybe they do. They say they want to push back. Fair enough, they should push back, they should hold the media accountable just as everyone else should. But their conversation today is their war with the media and whether theyre making up facts about the size of the inaugural crowd. Only two cabinet members have been confirmed. Could this be a distraction . They want the crowd size coverage because they dont want the protests covered. The executive orders that donald trump has signed, hes already taking the lead on certain things, theres a tone to his administration, theyre talking about taking apart obama care, theyre delivering on their propsmises, why wouldnt u want the focus on delivering the promises on which you campaigned rather than a food fight with a bunch of spitballs in washington. You know about that battle that will always be endured when covering any administration and george, you have been doing it for a very long time too. You have seen now 20 press secretaries as a White House Correspondent, so are you taking note of a different demeanor, is the stage s the ground work being a little different, the battleground, are you seeing it unfolding quite differently from previous administrations . Well, i mean, its important to keep it in perspective and not go crazy based on one day. I mean it was a very rocky start for this press secretary. And they didnt do enough better on tv. Meaning what we saw yesterday unfold, the statement . Yes. You dont want to do that to your credibility on the first day. But lets not act like this is the first time we have run into this. The first day of the Clinton Administration, they locked us out of upper press. And it was an absolute war and george stephanopouluss first briefing was an unmitigated disaster, trying to defend zoe baird and he didnt have any facts and he said things he shouldnt have said. Fdr ordered reporters to stand in the corner wearing a dunce cap. He presented one reporter with an iron cross, suggesting he was a traitor. No president loves us, no administration loves us. But over time, there was a sense of respect that was built and a standard set between the White House Press corps and the white house, press secretaries, the staff. Are you seeing an erosion of that . There was definitely more professionalism in the past. But, again, im going to be a little cautious and wait because they clearly were not ready to get this government up. They clearly isnt sure what theyre doing, they clearly havent thought about a lot of these things, they didnt even appoint their Deputy Press Secretaries until the day before the inauguration. Theyre going to make a lot of mistakes, and we cant overreact to every single one. We have to still just do our job. Theres an important word, as you said, fred and that is respect. And the relationship between these two sides should be respect but adversarial. Were not friends. Were inquiring. Were not going to barbecues together and they can push back and should and do because they want to get their message out. And thats expected of both sides. And if the press gets it wrong, they should pound on everybody if they get it wrong. But the job is to get it right. If the president does flips and flops and that goes with the territory. I think theyll get it. No one has repealed the laws of politics, donald trump is going to need allies and hes going to need to build alliances as everybody else did and hes going to need the main stream media to do it because its how he gets his message out. Youre pretty optimist tic. He can use the power of the press, he can do audits. The Obama Administration wanted to throw people in jail. But they still needed the main stream media, and the main stream media still reported to work every day and filed. Theres one other thing that always happens, after you win the campaign, first off you dont want to listen to anybody elses advice, and secondly, they really are slow learners that theres a difference between campaigning and governance. Should there be . When you outline a program, we want to know how Many Americans is it going to affect, how are you going to pass it . And politicians are usually frustrated by that. And american also watch and they will judge based on what you do. When youre campaigning, you say what youre going to do. When youre the president of the United States or the governor, youre judged on what you do do. And people will watch and listen and judge from their own perspective and experience. And you and i both spoke with White House Press Association President jeff mason, who said theres been continuous conversations about whether the White House Press corps will remain in the white house, as is. Its really a day by day thing. He didnt reveal all of the conversations taking place with a trump administration. But its still not clear that the White House Press corps may be forced to move. Spicer is looking at that new location or space. And there was anonymous trump sport saying that the media was the opposition party, i want them out of the building. I dont know who was quoted as saying that, clearly one trump source said that, clearly, donald trump does not want media living in the east wing of the white house. A lot of white house continues are very anxious right now. No idea whats to come in the weeks to come. And youre formerly president of the White House Correspondents association. I have been through that very fight, because the Clinton Administration very much wanted to throw us out of the west wing. They were looking at spots to move us to. And we had to deal with that and we did it quietly. And there have been other battles, three weeks ago, we were fighting whether or not the pool system would survive, where a small group of reporters there is a pool system, we will be on air force one, he will not leave the campus without the pool. Appreciate it, gentlemen. All right, coming up next, the governor of georgia has issued a state of emergency in seven county after 12 people were killed in strong storms, a look at the major damage left behind, next. Ts the phillips theres a more enjoyable way to get your fiber. Try these delicious phillips fiber gogummies , a good source of fiber to help support regularity. Mmm. These are great my work here is done. Phillips, the tasty side of fiber. By simply enjoying it. Boost® simply complete. Its intelligent nutrition made with only 9 ingredients, plus 25 vitamins and minerals and 10 grams of protein. And look where life can take you boost®. Be up for it. ™ oh, look weve got fees ew, really . Oh, its our verizon bill look at them. Line access fee, administrative fees, there are even taxes on top of them. Decent people shouldnt have to live like this did i get it . Tmobile ends surprise fees and taxes thats right, with tmobile one, taxes and fees are now included 4 lines, 40 bucks each. All unlimited, all in. Reporter josey handler organized the womens march. Men, women and children marched in what led to a rally. One of the men who participated in the march said he felt compelled to speak out. Sometimes you get complacent and you dont think you can lose an election and that progress can be rolled back. And now its clear that progress can be rolled back. All these things that we thought were settled issues, theyre back in play again. And everybody realizes it now and they realize they cant sit on the sidelines and let it happen. Many in hollywood have not shied away from talking about trump, that has continued here at the sundance film festival. More than 40 Million People are at risk for Severe Weather today as a deadly storm sweeps across the southeast. The georgia governor has declared a state of emergency for seven counties, the same storm system battered that area overnight leveling homes and killing 12 people. President donald trump says he has spoken to state officials about the destruction. I just spoke with governor nathan deal, the governor of the great state of mississippi, and expressed our sincere con dole lepss for the lives tak condolences, those tornadoes were vicious and strong so well be helping out the state of georgia. Cwhat are you seeing there . Reporter we were trying to get a lot closer to the center of the devastation here, which is about three miles outside of this small city of adele. However, at one point emergency officials telling us to seek shelter, so we had to drive into town as a large cell moved through the area, but the bulk of the devastation is in a Mobile Home Park outside of this region, about seven people confirmed dead and that number is likely to rise, according to one emergency official that i spoke to. Whats interesting, is we begin to hear from some of the people who actually made it through that storm, including one individual that we met at a shelter here, dee williams, you in this Mobile Home Park yesterday, when everything you described, the weather just started getting worse. Its a nightmare on elm street. Its like youre waking up from a dream that really came true. Now that we understand that about about seven people in that Mobile Home Park that you were unfortunately died overnight, does that bring it home for you . How close you were to the devastation . It was scary, i mean i wish i could help everybody, but i mean you can only help yourself, but it happened within seconds. Finally, what did you see when you looked out the window, what did you see when the storm was going through your home . Pitch black and no trailer park. It was just demolished. Reporter where will you spend tonight . I will spend tonight at the shelter at the First Baptist church. Reporter dee williams who will spend the night at that shelter. And people are still very wary about the weather outside, just about 30 minutes ago, the skies were dark and now the skies are blue, its clearing, but there is a state of uncertainty as the death toll possibly rises here in southern georgia. Definitely have to heed those warnings, we wish the best to everyone there. Thanks for remaining here with me today, the Nations Capital, the next hour of the cnn newsroom continues right after this. 9 grams of protein and 26 vitamins and minerals. For the strength and energy to get back to doing. What you love. Ensure. Always be you. I won this 55 inch tv for less than 30 on dealdash. Com. Visit dealdash. Com for great deals. And start bidding today you are seeing a new face, President Trump wrapping up an event in the blue room of the white house. He met with direct james comey at an event honoring the First Responders. This morning he swore in his top advise