Transcripts For CNNW Situation Room With Wolf Blitzer 20170123

Youre in the situation room. This is cnn breaking news. Were following breaking news. President trump meeting with congressional leaders at the white house just a little while ago. He also met with business and Union Leaders today, and he signed three executive actions, including one pulling the United States out of the Transpacific Partnership trade deal, and another reinstating a rule banning federal funding for International Nongovernmental groups that provide abortions. Were also following developments up on capitol hill, where the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has just voted to confirm former exxon mobil Ceo Rex Tillerson as the secretary of state. Tonight, the full senate is expected to confirm trumps pick for cia director, congressman mike pompeo. And new tonight, deadly weather, including a series of tornadoes that slammed the southern u. S. And power. Storm s bringing wind, rain and snow to both coasts. The Severe Weather is blamed for at least 22 deaths. Tonight, were covering that. Much more this hour with our guests, including the senior democrat on the house end tell jens committee, congressman adam schiff. And former defense secretary leon panetta. And our correspondents and expert analysts, they are also standing by. Lets go to our senior White House Correspondent jim acosta. Jim, President Trump signed several executive actions today. What were his day one priorities . Reporter thats right, wolf. President trump went right to work today, chipping away at former president s obamas acti. He withdrew the u. S. From the transpacific trade deal, a key obama policy. He also banned federal funding for promoting abortions overseas, as well as ordering a freeze on hiring any federal workers, though he did add the caveat, in the oval office earlier today, wolf, that that freeze does not apply to military personnel. A company that wants to fire all of its people in the United States and build some factory some place else and then thinks that that product is going to just flow across the border into the United States, thats not going to happen. Theyre going to have a tax to pay, a border tax. Substantial border tax. Somebody says, trump is going to tax. There is no tax. I just want to tell you, all you have to do is stay. Dont fire your people in the United States. Reporter wolf, that built of sound we heard earlier this morning when he was meeting with u. S. Business leaders. That was the president , basically repeating a Campaign Promise that we heard time and again during the campaign. He warned u. S. Business leaders that they will be facing what hes calling a border tax on their products, that is if they ship their operations overseas, and then use those operations to build the very same products and import them back into the u. S. He said, hes going to crack down on that, and he made that clear today. Also today, as you know, the White House Press spicer, made appearance in the briefing room. This time, he took lots of questions from reporters. How did he defend the idea of what is being dubbed as, quote, alternative facts. Reporter he tried to steer clear of using that term. But he was doing some damage control, after he and the president railed against the news media over the weekend over their coverage of the size of the crowd at mr. Trumps inauguration on saturday, as we saw, spicer got some of his facts wrong in asserting the president s inauguration had the biggest attendance ever. Cede, spicer said it is not his intent to lie to the press. I thought that was notable. And he said sometimes he gets his facts wrong, just like anybody else. I thought this was striking, he did reveal some of the deep frustrations that exist inside this white house, inside the new trump team, as well as with the president himself, over Media Coverage of President Trump, and his campaign, and they are calling that, sean spicer called it demoralizing. It isnt often when you hear a press secretary sort of go in depth on those kind of feelings, but we indeed heard that at what was a very substancefilled briefing earlier today a lot of issues were tackled. Spent an hour and 15 minutes in the briefing room, answering a lot of reporters questions including yours, as well. Jim acosta, thank you very much. And now to capitol hill, where the senate is taking action on some trump nominees. Lets go to to the scene. The Foreign Relations Committee Just voted to approve the former exxon mobil Ceo Rex Tillerson. Reporter thats right. By the narrowest of margins, too, wool cwolf, an 1110 vote. The reason why they were able to approve this on a Party Line Vote is because of senator marco rubio, announcing today he would support this nomination. But wolf, he made very clear, he still has concerns. Tonight, President Trump is moving closer to getting his full National Security team in place. The senate, poised to confirm congressman mike pompeo to head the cia. And now, Rex Tillersons confirmation to be secretary of state is virtually assured after republican holdout marco rubio announced his support today. Rubio expressed reservations over tillerson. Im concerned that perhaps he will not be as forceful an advocate for human rights and democracy in our foreign policy. I weighed those with a number of other issues. It was a close call. But i believe the choice i made was the right one. Reporter this, after rubios Contentious Exchange with tillerson about russia at his confirmation hearings earlier this month. Based on all this information, whats in the record about whats happened in aleppo and the russian military, you are not prepared to say that vladimir putin, his military, have violated the rules of war and have conducted war crimes in aleppo . Those are very, very serious charges to make, and i would want to have much more information been reaching that conclusion. It should not be hard to say that putins military has conducted war crimes in aleppo. I find it discouraging, your inability to cite that. Reporter behind the scenes, Trump Officials launched a fullcourt press on rubio, including what a source tells cnn was a, quote, blunt, 90minute meeting last week with tillerson. White house chief of staff Reince Priebus and Vice President mike pence. Tillerson has also won over russia hardliners, after private talks with gop senators Lindsey Graham and john mccain. But democrats are unmoved. Questioning tillersons commitment to crack down on human rights abuses around the globe. I will not be supporting his confirmation for secretary of state. Reporter on tap tomorrow, more fireworks, as two controversial nominees face tough confirmation hearings, including a second round of questions for congressman tom price, picked to lead health and human services. Democrats say prices record is ripe with problems. We certainly feel that we have to bring to the American People how different this cabinet is, how hard right, how many conflicts of interest, billionaires. Reporter on tuesday, trumps nominee to serve as his budget director also will face sharp questions, including over his admission of failing to pay taxes on a babysitter for his triplets. Even some republicans are raising concerns. Could create problems, but ive had problems with former cabinet people, both republicans and democrats, where thats either been straightened out or if it wasnt, justification for it, then oppose it. Reporter and betsy devos, picked to run trumps education department. Facing an additional week of scrutiny after republicans delayed a committee vote. To give senators more time to review her paperwork from the office of government ethics. I think the delay was appropriate. Reporter and wolf, republicans had wanted to vote tomorrow in the Senate Judiciary committee to approve jeff sessions, his nomination, to be attorney general, but democrats under the rules, are allowed to delay that vote for a week and they plan to do that. So, wolf, republicans and donald trump are going have to kwat a fairly long time to get the rest of his nominations confirmed, and that could even be further upended when that Supreme Court pick comes, sean spicer saying today, within the next couple of weeks, a Supreme Court pick could come, and that could take all of the oxygen out of the room. Wolf . Thank you very much, manu, for that report. Lets get more on all of this. Adam schiff from california is joining us. The senior democrat, the top democrat on the house intelligence committee. Congressman, thank you for joining us. You bet. Good to be with you. We heard from the White House Press secretary today that President Trump wont put a stop to any investigation into his National Security adviser, Michael Flynns possible ties to russia. Are you encouraged by that . Well, i dont know. As much as you can be encouraged, i guess, by anything he says, because hell Say Something in the morning and then contradict it later that day. But we intend to hold him to it and hold the intelligence agencies and Law Enforcement to it. Well be conducting our own investigation, just as the senate will, and were determined to follow the facts where they lead. Are there any facts youve come up with so far that indicate any wrongdoing on the part of the National Security adviser, general flynn . I cant go into the progress of the investigation yet. We have been essentially trying to begin the first step, which is gathering documents to look at what was underpinning the public assessment and the classified assessment of russias active measures comp s campaign. That doesnt go into potential contacts with the Trump Campaign or Trump Officials, but i think all of that will be part of the investigation. Sean spicer, the White House Press secretary, indicated today, congressman, that the Trump Administration would work more with russia, as much as possible, to fight isis. He didnt even rule out finding common ground, potentially, with the syrian president , bashar al assad. Do you believe in Rex Tillerson is confirmed for secretary of state, and it looks like he will be, that he would consider those options . Well, i have deep concerns about this candidate for secretary of state. I think his prorussian views, and this is somebody who received the order of friendship from putin himself, caused me great consternation. I also have severe questions about whether he can put the business interests aside of the company that he long ran. He did not, i think, give very convincing answers as to whether he would be tough on sanctions on russia, so, there are a lot of profound questions, you know, i think he will do his best to implement President Trumps policies, but the russian interests are not aligned with ours, and the president , when he was a candidate, talked about how the russians were attacking isis in syria, in fact, the russians have been attacking the opposition, been doing very little about isis, as, in fact, the president s own nominee for cia director has said, so, a lot of profound questions about what the trump policy will really be here and i would put no trust in russia whatsoever. So, you would say its not wise for the u. S. To allow russia to have this increased influence in the middle east . Certainly not. Their interest really is propping up the assad regime, maintaining russian influence in the region. And that is not our interest, at all. There may be small areas of overlapping interest, certainly, there are some areas in the fight against terror, where we Share Interests with russia, but the russians have a very different game plan than us, i think they will use us, and, in fact, we already saw the russians claiming that were doing joint bombing runs, joint air operations, which is a complete fiction, and just shows how little trust we can put in them. Are you okay with the administration, the Trump Administration, now walking back some of the statements made by the thencandidate and now the president , that he would quickly move the u. S. Embassy in israel from tel aviv to jerusalem, now, they seem to be walking that back, sean spicer saying that they got to make a decision, they got to study it. Is a delay okay with you . Yes. I think that they ought to really understand the full consequences of this. I imagine what is causing them to delay is, theyre getting feedback from all over the region in terms of what this would do, and the pressure it would put on some of our allies in the region, as well as how it could enflame things and move the parties potentially further away from the peace process. So, i imagine theyre getting a full measure of feedback on this. Its probably the reason why past president s have made this same campaign commitment, but found it very difficult to deliver. So, just want to be precise. So, you do not think the United States should move its embassy from tel aviv to jerusalem, is that right . I think it ought to be part of the negotiated solution by the israelis and palestinians, part of the negotiated outcome. I dont think that we should jump ahead of the parties in this, and i would hate to see it have the impact of enflaming things in the region. I think this ought to be the subject of negotiation between the parties. At the White House Press briefing today, sean spicer said his intention is never to lie, but that sometimes, he said, we can disagree with the facts. Do you think President Trump and his administration are committed to telling the truth, based on what youve seen so far . Based on what ive seen so far, regrettably, no. I think we have seen some very flagrant examples of the president simply making up his own facts to suit himself. There have been a couple where when he invented millions of Illegal Immigrants voting. That was his way of explaining why he lost the popular vote. Thats a complete fiction. If hes willing to say things like that, if hes willing to make claims about the intelligence agencies, compare them to nazi germany when they confront him with facts he doesnt like, if hes willing to misrespect whats in the intelligence committees reports on russian active measures, all of these things bode very ill for how he will be as commander in chief. We need to be able to believe our president , but some of the things he has said and done since he won the election, and been sworn in, call that very much into question. Stand by, congressman. Im going to bring in the former cia director, the former defense secretary, leon panetta. Theres a lot to talk with him about, well take a quick break, well resume this right after this break. With this level of engineering. Its a performance machine. With this degree of intelligence. Its a supercomputer. With this grade of protection. Its a fortress. And with this standard of luxury. Its an oasis. The 2017 eclass. Its everything you need it to be. And more. Lease the e300 for 549 a month at your local mercedesbenz dealer. Mercedesbenz. The best or nothing. And her new mobile wedding business. Tte at first, getting paid was tough. Until she got quickbooks. Now she sends invoices, sees when theyve been viewed and tada, paid twice as fast see how at quickbooksdotcom. Wont replace the full value of your totaled new car. The guy says you picked the wrong insurance plan. No, i picked the wrong insurance company. With Liberty Mutual new car replacement™, you wont have to worry about replacing your car because youll get the full value back including depreciation. And if you have more than one Liberty Mutual policy, you qualify for a multipolicy discount, saving you money on your car and home coverage. Call for a free quote today. Liberty stands with you™. Liberty mutual insurance. Nice shorts dad. Keep his wheels spinning. This is what the pros wear. Thats why he starts his day with those two scoops in heart healthy kelloggs raisin bran ready to eat my dust . Too bad i already filled up on raisins. Kelloggs raisin bran. Deliciously heart healthy and for just 15. 99big festival of shrimp you can pick 2 of 6 new and classic creations on one plate new flavors like sweet bourbonbrown sugar grilled shrimp and bold firecracker red shrimp are too big to last so hurry in. People confuse but theyre different. Nice tells you what you want to hear. But kind is honest. This bar is made with cranberries and almonds. So, guess what . We call it cranberry almond. Give kind a try. May not always be clear. But at t. Rowe price, we can help guide your retirement savings. So wherever your Retirement Journey takes you, we can help you reach your goals. Call us or your advisor t. Rowe price. Invest with confidence. Tonight, cnn is learning details into an investigation of phone calls between a top adviser to President Trump and the Russian Ambassador to the United States. Want to talk about that with the former cia director and former defense secretary leon panetta. Hes standing by live, but first, lets get some background. Jim sciutto has the details. Jim, what are you hearing from your sources . Reporter wolf, two key points here. One, that this probe into these phone calls is continuing. It is still under way. Second, that it relates not just to the fact that these phone calls took place, but also the content of those phone calls. What was said on the phone. Again, that investigation continuing. Tonight, u. S. Counter intelligence investigators are scrutinizing phone calls between President Trumps National Security adviser, general michael flynn, and the Russian Ambassador to the u. S. Law enforcement and intelligence officials tell cnn. Some of the calls in question were made on december 29th. The very same day the Obama Administration announced retaliation for russias unprecedented cyberattack of the 2016 president ial election. Retaliation, which included further sanctions on russia and the expulsion of some 35 Russian Diplomats. The content of those calls, captured through routine eavesdropping on Russian Diplomats, raised concern amid a broader investigation aimed at russian activities here in the u. S. This according to Law Enforcement and intelligence officials. Michael flynn. Reporter the wall street journal was first to report the scrutiny. Officials stressed that so far, no determination of wrongdoing on flynns part has been made. Fbi and intelligence officials briefed members of the Obama White House on those calls before president Obama Left Office last week. In a statement sunday night, a spokesman for President Trump said that his administration has, quote, absolutely no knowledge of any investigation or even a basis for such an investigation. I talked to general flynn about this again last night. Reporter asked about flynns phone calls today, white house Spokesman Sean Spicer says that general flynn told him the conversations were focused on topics other than the new sanctions on russia. During the transition, i asked general flynn whether or not there were any other conversations beyond the ambassador and he said no. Reporter general flynn had other connections to russia, prior to joining the Trump Campaign the next president of the United States. Reporter and now the Trump Administration. He had a paid speaking engagement with kremlinbacked Television Network russia today. In 2015, he was seated right next to president putin at a media gala for the network. Now, sean spicer also said today that on those calls, general flynn only discussed these topics, christmas greetings, condolences for a russian plane crash that involved its military, and arranging a phone call between president putin and President Trump. That call has not been arranged. And this is key, as well. Sean spicer said there were two calls. One on december 29th, the day the sanctions were imposed, and another, three, four days ago. Its our information that there is more than one phone call, there are others and other communication that continue to be investigated. Lrment, jim sciutto reporting for us. Jim, thank you very much. Lets get more on this, and other key issues, the former cia director, the former defense secretary, leon panetta is joining us. Mr. Secretary, thank you for joining us. Thanks, wolf. Nice to be with you. So, what is your initial reaction to this report we just heard from jim sciutto . Well, i think its in line with the fbi investigation into the contacts between the various people in the Trump Campaign and the russians. This is part of, obviously, trying to determine what it was that got the russians to play such a large role in the election and try to influence our election here in this country. So, i think its appropriate for the fbi to be able to look at all possible evidence to determine exactly what happened here. You believe its appropriate, its the that general flynn could effectively do his job as the president s National Security adviser, even if hes under this kind of investigation . Well, i think we ought to, obviously, give him the opportunity to do his job while this investigation is going on. Nothing definitive has been determined here. Im sure the fbi is also talking to other members within the trump operation, so, thats part of the investigation, thats what theyve got to look into. I do think the one thing that concerns me is the i think its suspect that he made a call to the Russian Ambassador on the same day as the president was implementing the sanctions against russia. That in and of itself i think is something that does need to be looked into. Why is that suspect . Its suspect because it occurs on the very same day, when the president announces not only taking action against dip l diplomats that russia has here, that were perhaps involved in the intelligence operations here in this country, but also imposing additional sanctions. And so, you would wonder whether or not any of those issues became part of the conversation. Obviously, well find out what the fbi is able to determine here. Because that was the day that not only new sanctions were imposed by the Obama Administration, but 35 Russian Diplomats for told, they had a few hours to get out of washington and elsewhere. The White House Press secretary, sean spicer today, said that the president , in his words, has not made any indication he would stop this kind of investigation. Do you take them at their word . I would have to take them at their word. This is this is a new presidency, theyve just come into office, the president himself has said through his spokesman that they will not interfere in this investigation and i think that we have to operate on the basis that that is the case. Until we find out something different. The president , as you know, on saturday, he spoke at the cia headquarters in langley, virginia, spoke in front of that wall, memorializing fallen officers of the cia, those who have been killed, some of their names still secret. I want you to listen to some of what the president had to say. I can only say that i am with you 1,000 , and the reason youre my first stop is that, as you know, i have a running war with the media they are among the most dishonest human beings on earth. I get up this morning, i turn on one of the networks and they show an empty field. I said, wait a minute. I made a speech. I looked out, the field was it looked like a million, a million and a half people. They showed a field where there were practically nobody standing there. Spoke for about 15 minutes, thats obviously just a little piece of that. What did you think of his remarks . I i was concerned about the remarks that he made at the cia in front of that wall. That wall contains the stars of cia officers who have given their life for this country. Thats about as close as you can get to Hallowed Ground at the cia, its the its the equivalent of speaking at arlington cemetery. And i think that, you know, initially, his comments about supporting the cia were appropriate and should have been said, but i think to go off and Start Talking about the press, talking about how many people were at the inauguration, i just think that, frankly, that was not appropriate and i i just think that the president needs to understand that he is president of the United States now. Hes not just a candidate. He doesnt have to spend time embellishing himself or what he did. Hes president of the United States. And when you go to the cia, you have to go there with some degree of respect for where youre standing and the people that youre talking to. John brennan, like you, now a former cia director, threw a spo through a spokesman, said that former director brennan is deeply saddened and angered at his despicable display of selfaggrandizement. Brennan says that trump should be ashamed of himself. Would you go that far . Well, i certainly would express some of the same concerns about what he did at that particular place at the cia. You know, wolf, as former chief of staff to president s, ive seen them walk into that office, the oval office, and suddenly be aware of the awesome responsibility that you have as president of the United States. And, you know, sometimes its tough for any individual to get out of the Campaign Mode and suddenly realize that its over. Youre now youre now the 45th president of the United States. And i just got the impression when he was speaking there that somehow, he forgot that he was president of the United States. And was speaking to the Intelligence Officers that spend their lives trying to serve this country. That was not the appropriate place to start whining about what was happening in terms of numbers at the inauguration and what have you. I hope i hope that he has learned from that experience, that when you go and visit these agencies and departments, do it with a great deal of respect for the people that serve this country. Because the 117 names memorialized on that wall, and ive been there at cia headquarters to see that, for you, this is very personal, because you knew some of those individuals, and we cant even mention their names because their operations were so secretive. For you, its personal, when you say this is Hallowed Ground. Absolutely. You cant be director of the cia and be involved with people who, every day, put their lives on the line. When i was cria draeirector, i seven Intelligence Officers because of a suicide bombing. Their stars are now on that wall. I just think that Everyone Needs to recognize, that is Hallowed Ground, and that, whether youre president or if you are anybody else, it demands that we respect that location and the service of those whose stars appear on that wall. Remember when those cia officers were killed in afghanistan, it was an awful, awful event. Mr. Secretary, thanks so much for joining us. Thank you, wolf. Just ahead, deadly tornadoes in the south, and tonight, storms are pummeling both u. S. Coasts. Were tracking Severe Weather. At godaddy, our goal is to lets chat in football terms. This is the goal post. The end zone. The goal of every team. We know you have goals. Like getting exposure for your idea or business. With godaddy Website Builder, you can easily create an awesome mobilefriendly, get you more exposure website. We call that. A Website Builder touchdown. Get your free trial of Website Builder now. President trump has signed a series of executive actions, but what about some of his other key Campaign Promises . Brian todd is working the story for us. Brian, candidate trump made a lot of pledges. What are we hearing . Reporter wolf, on the campaign trail, donald trump made so many pledges of what he would do on his first day in office, its really hard to keep track of them all. Tonight, as he enears the end o his first full working day. We talk about how hes keeping up with his promises. We start day one. Reporter its what helped donald trump get elected. Bold, brash projections that hed shake washington to its core. Its going be a very busy first day. Reporter today, donald trump delivered on at least one of those Campaign Promises. Im going to issue a notification of intent to withdraw from the Transpacific Partnership, a potential disaster for our country. Reporter promising more new jobs, the president today signed an executive action to withdraw from the sweeping asia trade deal. Great thing for the american worker, what we just did. Reporter he seems hyper focused on trade deals. Day one, were going to announce our plans to totally renegotiate nafta. Reporter within his first 72 hours, the president has announced meetings scheduled with leaders in mexico and canada to begin renegotiating nafta. But he also promised throughout his campaign hed move on day one to undo obamacare. My first day in office, im going to ask congress to put a bill on my desk, getting rid of this disastrous law. Reporter so far, hes issued an executive lorder aimed at losening the Affordable Care act, but Donald Trumps own bill to repeal isnt ready yet. The really big ones, things like replacing the Affordable Care ability, that is goict, th prolonged and painful prospect. Reporter what about the president s most famous promise . On day one, we will begin working on an impenetrable, physical, tall, powerful, beautiful, southern border wall. Reporter the white house today said the process is under way. Hes already started to work with congress on the prop rations avenue on that. Reporter but on another key first day promise on immigration on day one, im going to begin swiftly removing criminal Illegal Immigrants from this country. Reporter the white house says President Trump places a priority on that, but so far tonight, no indication that his administrations accelerating the process of removing undocumented immigrants with criminal records. A process that had been going on for years. Another day one promise on trade, so far, hasnt been kept. On the first day of my term of office, i will direct my secretary of the treasury to label china a currency ma n manipulat manipulator. Reporter could those promises not kept hurt the president . If Donald Trumps voters see him heading in the right direction with energy, on all of these issues, on attacking the health care law, trying to replace it, on progrowth policies, canceling or renegotiating trade agreements, i think theyre going to be satisfied with what they see. Reporter but his backers will not be happy if the president and his team get distract and go off on tangents like they did on saturday, fighting with the media and d discussing inauguration crowd size. Wool snf. Today, sean spicer did address the day one promises not being kept, flight. Reporter he did. Spicer said they want to address the promises as quickly as they can, but they dont want it to come out like a fire hose. He said, if the president actually did aggress all of those promises on the first full day, they would get lost in the ether. I think they are getting a sense of how difficult some of this is to do in one day. Very difficult indeed. Brian, thank you. We want to talk about this and a lot more with our political experts, in fact, all of you, stand by, well take a quick break and be right back. Tiki barber running hambone a barber shop . T hut yes surprising. Yes whats not surprising . How much money david saved by switching to geico. Fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. Whos next . Standing by for a vote, the cia director nominee, congressman mike pompeo. His vote is coming up. We expect he will be confirmed. Well get to that in a moment. But in the meantime, i want to discuss what we just heard from a former cia director, leon panetta. Gloria, leon panetta, former defense secretary, former cia director, he said that when donald trump was over at the the cia headquarters on saturday, he may have forgotten that he was president of the United States. Yeah, and he seemed pretty emotional in talking about it, wolf. Look, hes a former cia director who lost seven people, as he pointed out to you. He understands the meaning of that wall. He compared it to Arlington National cemetery. And he, you know, you cant forget where you are. And that he forgot he was president. And i think that one thing we have to remember about leon panetta is that not only was he cia director and secretary of defense, but he served as a white house chief of staff. And he talked to you about the transformation that occurs when somebody walks into that oval office and stops campaigning and actually becomes president. And i think his clear message to donald trump, through you, was that the campaign is over, you won, youre president , you need to act like a president and dont forget that you are. Act deal with the big issues. You have aides who can deal with the little, the politics. Understand where you are. Remember, coming from the private sector, not the public sector, in making that transformation, which is even an added burden to Donald Trumps, you know, to the foreign nature of whats around him right now. Its a burden to his staff, because its up to the staff to say to him, youre in front of this wall. Let me tell you a little bit about this wall. You make a good point, because the Vice President , mike pence, he spoke at that wall on saturday, introducing the president , and he did not deviate from what he was supposed to say, he was strictly speaking about the enormity of those 117 stars on that memorial. Exactly. What does it say to you about what he did today, signing the executive actions, on abortion, on trade, on other issues . I think the trade one is really significant, because i think it is exactly what brought him here. I think it is that issue that animated the electorate. And remember, not just his, bernie sander, even Hillary Clinton had to move on this issue. This was a cross current running through the 2016 campaign. And what we see in terms of the American People looking forward of what they expect from the trump presidency, it is this kind of economic delivery. So, that is that is putting down a marker, saying, i know what brought me here, and im going to deliver. The mexico city rule on abortion is a bit more of a quick gift to the base, conservative base of the republican party, more than some huge philosophical component of Donald Trumps presidency. Sean spicer got off to a very rocky start on saturday, when he went in the briefing room, delivered an angry statement, refused to answer questions. Today, spent an hour and 15 minutes answering reporters questions, and he was a lot more confident and a lot more at ease. Yeah, a lot more at ease. Answered the questions, took questions from some of the lesser known outlets first, but got around to the bigger outlets. Did answer questions, sort of in a full throated manner. Several times he asked about the move of the u. S. Embassy in israel from tel aviv to jerusalem and made it clear that that was not a done deal yet, at least from his point of view. Yeah, it was more of the type of comfortable press conference that we are used to seeing, a sharp contrast from the saturday, which, by all accounts, was did not go well for him or for the administration. E lise, youve done a lot of reporting on this potential move of the embassy. Sean spicer said, were just beginning the process of studying it, followed a kon verve sha conversation that the president had today with the president of egy egypt. Clearly, not in favor of moving that embassy. Thats right. If you look back, wolf, several weeks ago, about a month ago, when president elect trump called president el ceci about that vote at the United Nations and said, i need you to put that vote on hold, so, now the president of egypt is calling, saying, look, you need to look at this and be more carefully considered about what youre going to do, you know, President Trump has said all along the campaign, you know, day one, im going to move the embassy, but the more, our understanding is, the more they talk to diplomats, the more they talk to allies, and even israel, they would like to see this happen, not their First Priority right now. Everyone is telling the administration, listen, if you want to look at this, lets talk about it, lets lay the groundwork as part of a grander strategy for middle east peace, but you cant just do that and let the chips fall where they may, because it could cause a very dangerous situation. And i think the administration is starting to recognize the enormity of what they would do, so, i think at first their going to take some baby steps, you might see ambassador david friedman, once he is confirmed, living and working in jerusalem, a nod to fulfilling the president s pledge, while being a little bit more measured about the timeline and the process, wolf. Abby, this other issue, the socalled dreamers, its now very clear that the new Trump Administration this is not a priority, having these kids who grew up here in the United States, who are now working, their parents are undocumented immigrants, they are not a priority in deportation, as far as the more administration is going on. Something that is a little harder to do, in reality, than it is in theory. Even for republicans, who really oppose this action, because they dont believe that the executive branch should be doing immigration action, they believe that that should come from the legislature, but rolling it b k back, bringing those people out of the shadows and exposing them, these are students, many most of them were brought all of them were brought here as children, many of them as young children. They have no, you know, connections to where their parents were from, where they were born. Trump has been very clear that he doesnt actually think that this is something that hes willing to do, and trump is one of those people who is very concerned about how things look. It would look very bad to drag these people out and as he said, who have done nothing of their own accord, and make them a political pawn in this. Everybody stick around. Stay with us. Theres more breaking news here in the situation room. The Senate Holding critical votes on some of President Trumps key nominees. Were going to go live to capitol hill. Justice is spelled box. Say hello to a powerful tool that gives you options to fit your budget. Oh, im tied to this chair dundundaaaa i dont know that an insurancethemed comic book is what were looking for. Did i mention he can save people nearly 600 . You havent even heard my catchphrase. Im all done with this guy. Box him up. Thats terrible. 90 of the Worlds Largest supercomputers run on intel . That means you can take a universe of data in your case literally and turn it into medical discoveries, diagnostic breakthroughs. Proof that black holes collapse into one singularity. I dont know what that is. But yes. Innovation runs on supercomputers. And supercomputers run on intel. Theres more breaking news here and super busy. Ooh ufo false alarm, eyelash [he has a new business teaching lessons. Rodney wanted to know how his business was doing. So he got quickbooks. It organizes all his accounts, so he knows where he stands. Ahhh. Thats a profit. Way to grow, rodney visit quickbooks. Com. The market. Redict but through good times and bad. At t. Rowe price. Weve helped our investors stay confident for over 75 years. Call us or your advisor. T. Rowe price. Invest with confidence. Hey were doing the wave all taking off with me baby. For 42 minutes hes been trying to bring an entire stadium to its feet. You missed it buddy. rich why does he do it . For glory . Notoriety . We dont know. Waaaaave frankly, we dont need to know. But much like this hero, courtyard is all about the game. Taking off with me one, two, three waaaaave theres my guy yes. Snacks . Yeah, man, eat it up and were gonna burn it off doing the wave its about moving forward not back. Its looking up not down. Its feeling up thinking up living up. Its being in motion. In body in spirit in the now. Boost. Its not just nutrition. Its intelligent nutrition. With 26 vitamins and minerals and 10 grams of protein. All in 3 delicious flavors. Its choosing to go in one direction. Up. Boost. Be up for it. The death toll from a series of violent storms across the United States is climbing tonight. Our meteorologist Jennifer Gray is tracking the weather for us. Whats the latest on the tornadoes fishgs tornadoes, first of all, that tore through the south . Reporter thats right, wolf. We had more tornado deaths this month than we had the entire year of 2016. 41 tornadoes reported over the weekend. We should have only 36 nationwide in january. We had 94 since january 1st. The storms also right now making their way up the east coast. How is that impacting the northeast and midwest . Reporter well, this is going to morph into a noreaster, wolf, and we are going to feel the brunt of it between now and midnight for some of our major cities across the northeast. Philadelphia, new york, already getting pounded with rain. If we zoom in, you can get a closer look. Also, freeze precipitation across northern portions of that area. Upstate new york, northern portions of pennsylvania. The wind is going to be a huge concern with this. We could see hurricaneforce winds just offshore, places like long island, and were talking about any time between now and say the wee hours of the morning, 40 and 45mileperhour winds with gusts up to 60, 70 miles per hour, and once you get into new york, with that funneling effect, we could feel winds even stronger. So, this one is going to be a big one. The good news is, its mainly going to be rain along the coast, so, the big cities will just have to deal with the rain, but its going to be snow in those northern sections. So, theres that area of Hurricane Force winds possible. And then, our wind threat, the warnings, watches and advisories all in place. Theres a look at your rain totals, anywhere from two to four inches across places like new york, boston, and then all of this snow, especially in those higher elevations, to the north. Wolf . Jennifer, well watch it together with you. Jennifer gray, our meteorologist, reporting. Thats it for me. Thanks very much for watching. Im wolf blitzer in the situation room. Erin Burnett Outfront starts right now. Breaking news. The senate about to vote on Donald Trumps pick to head the cia. This is the president meets with congressional leaders. Tonight, a top democrat in that meeting is my guest this evening. Plus, a revealing moment in the White House Briefing room. Press Secretary Sean Spicer telling reporters the media has been too tough on trump. And live from the u. S. mexico border, rare access and exclusive footage outfront of where the president would build the wall. Our special series beginning tonight. Lets go outfront. Good evening. Im erin burnett. The breaking news. The