tv New Day CNN February 1, 2017 4:00am-5:01am PST
4:00 am
>> our president is reckless. this administration is incompetent. >> it is not extreme. it's reasonable and necessary to protect our countries. >> it's steve bannon's words put into policy. we are already in a crisis of confidence. >> democrats are holding up both for president trump's key nominees. >> they ought to be embarrassed mr. president. >> i am honored and i am humbled. >> he's a home run. >> i only hope democrats and republicans can come together for once. >> this is new day with chris cuomo. >> all right. good morning, welcome to your new day. up first president trump's long awaited pick for the supreme court is here and now we're going to have a big capitol hill show down. the choice is neil gorsuch of
4:01 am
colorado. republicans are saying she the perfect pick praising the 49-year-old conservative judge. democrats are vowing to challenge him calling him a hostile selection. >> so the white house is trying to move on from the fall out from the president's travel ban. administration officials insist the executive order is not a ban despite the fact that the president and his press secretary keep calling it a ban. and in the white house, ahead for donald trump and cnn has every coverage. >> appointing someone to the supreme court after president trump's introduction and he gets this introduction on capitol hill today and he'll be meeting with mitch mcconnell because there's no question that democrats are vowing to block this fight but republicans seem
4:02 am
to be coming together. >> here they come. in a primetime reveal, president trump unveiling judge nei neil gorsuch as his nominee to the supreme court. >> i only hope that both democrats and republicans can come together for once for the good of the country. >> as this process now moves to the senate i look forward to speaking with members from both sides of the aisle. setting up a battle between senate republicans. >> it was an absolute home run. >> and democrats vowing a confirmation fight after president obama's judge was blocked for ten months. >> on issues like privacy rights and women's health care and roe v. wade and worker and consumer protection.
4:03 am
i will use every tool at my disposal. and growing backlash and more than state department diplomats. house speaker paul ryan admitting a roll out was unusually rough. >> the roll out was confusing but on a go forward basis i'm confident that secretary kerry is going to make sure that this was done correctly. >> john kelly is in charge of implementing the action. an action he defended despite chaotic scenes and flip flopping on green card holders. >> we implemented it. >> the white house is trying to rebrand the order. >> it's by nature not a ban. it's extreme vetting. >> yet ban is exactly how the president and his press secretary described the action. >> we're going to have a very strict ban. >> it's a 90 day ban.
4:04 am
>> the ban deals with 7 countries. >> pressed on the point spicer provided no clarity. instead taking aim at a familiar target. >> the words being used to describe it are derived from what the media is calling this. >> despite legal challenges and protests the administration is signaling it has no plans to change the order. the white house will not be rewriting it's controversial travel ban. >> there's no question that this order will also be front and center in the discussion on the confirmation hearings coming up for the supreme court nominee. you'll be learning he is a harvard law school classmate of president obama and senator obama voted for this judge to confirm him on the federal appeals bench. he's been widely confirmed already by democrats. that's one argument as democrats try to block this but this is a
4:05 am
new battle and new campaign and democrats say they're going to try to do what republicans did last year and block this but they need 8 democrats only for this. most people expect a confirmation but not an easy one. >> david gregory pointed out so did merit garland. he got another quick pass as well just as gorsuch did. thank you very much. so the democrats are also stepping up over trump's picks. actually walked out of one senate hearing which made one top republican fighting mad. >> so give you a sense of how tense the dynamics are up here you have a very noncontroversial nominee. but you have six democrats including chuck schumer voting against her and then you have
4:06 am
this boycott of two of donald trump's nominees. treasury secretary nominee and health and human services nominee tom price. democrats saying that they want more time that they feel mislead but republicans are calling foul saying they have no ability to truly stop the nominees so they're just trying to delay these nominees from going forward. very angry over this boycott in his committee. >> they ought to be embarrassed. >> anybody that would do something like that is just complete breach of decor rum. it's a breach of committee rules and just getting along around here. >> now today after numerous delays it's very likely that rex
4:07 am
tillerson will be confirmed by the full senate to be the next secretary of state and jeff sessions is pushed back yesterday himself after facing numerous delays being dragged out by the democrats. he will get kicked out of committee today meaning a full senate vote later this week. >> thank you very much. you have given us lots to discuss. >> good morning congressman. >> good morning. >> where are you on the travel ban? good idea or bad idea? >> the administration has been inconsistent in how they portrayed it but i do think the idea of properly vetting these people is the right public policy. president trump is right. it's what he campaigned on. i'm glad he's doing it we had the fbi director testify these
4:08 am
people aren't vetted. >> aren't green card holders properly vetted for years. >> i think to suggest that green card holders should be part of this, that was an early mistake. it was cleared up as best i can tell within hours but i do think that was not the right move. >> so it's your understanding that they are not a part of it. they are -- so green card, legal permanent residents are not a part of the travel ban. they can come back and what about the indefinite ban on syrian refugees? >> i didn't see it as an indefinite ban. i do think in a war torn country when you feel for these people, right? there is definite destruction and there has been a massive problem for years now and i have been to camps in jordan and, you know, where there's 80,000 people there but these people have to be properly vetted and i
4:09 am
don't think that's asking too much. i think that's what the country wants. >> sure but we heard from so many people in the state department and other organizations that they spent 18 months vetting them and the trump administration does say it's indefinite on syrian refugees. >> if you go in and look at how they do the vetting sometimes they're 8, 10, 12 minutes. some of them are longer but until you can actually go through and figure out exactly who they are, you know, i think you need to be very cautious. i just do and that's what president trump campaigned on and he won pretty convincingly so he's doing exactly what he said he was going to do. >> why do you think the execution was so messy or chaotic? i also think it's incumbent upon
4:10 am
the nominees in the cabinet positions. until you have a senior management team in place it's hard to be critical of the white house that needs this help in each of these departments and agencies. on one hand they're going to complain about the execution and don't also hold up their nominees. we need tom price for instance as the health and human services secretary. we needed the homeland security secretary in place probably earlier so he and his team can make sure that it was properly execut executed. but are you blaming the democrats for the chaotic execution of the travel ban. >> no, i'm highlighting the need to confirm these people to the senior level of these departments and agencies. of course it's not. it's an early mistake in terms of the execution and the public policy is right and they hopefully learned from it.
4:11 am
certainly the execution of the supreme court nominee announcement was flawless and kept it secret so they have come a long way in the first ten days or so. >> congressman you're the chairman for the committee on oversight and government reform. you do all sorts of investigations, 43 items have been listed in a proposed agenda for what you want to look into. will you be looking into any of donald trump's possible conflicts of interest? >> well, the items that we listed are broad strokes. this is the trump administration so by definition all of those 43 items are going to be about what's going on in the trump administration. now we're obviously going to have to look back if you're going to look at what the government has been doing that will be on the obama administration. i will deal with the situations one at a time. i am not going to personally target the president. i didn't do that with barrack obama. but as issues come up we'll deal with them one at a time.
4:12 am
>> well, democrats say issues have already come up and that they're not listed in your 43 proposed agenda points for instance. will you be looking into whether or not president trump or any of his businesses have received foreign funds somehow? >> well, again i'm not going to -- i know the democrats are flailing about this issue and they want to stir the pot. it's about the only thing they have to do at this point but i think the president is required to do his financial disclosure. by all accounts he has done that the president is exempt from most of all of the conflict of interest laws. >> it will be interesting to see how it goes forward on the courts. we also have been looking at the
4:13 am
gsa lease. this is the trump hotel in washington d.c. where the president is both, you know, the -- he is leasing the hotel and also now the chief executive so we did ask back in december for a copy of that contract that was provided in the last 48 hours or so. some 500 plus pages and we'll see where that goes. >> but you're comfortable with the trump hotel and even building more and foreign dignitaries coming to stay there so far from what you have seen you're comfortable with how sit working. >> well, my understanding is if there's somebody that's coming from a foreign country those profits are going to be given directly to the treasury. so i did initiate in december asking for a copy of this contract to see how it looks so we'll deal one at a time as they come up. >> congressman, thank you very much. keep us posted. >> that's a good issue, allison. the congressman talks about one
4:14 am
contract trump hymn said there were dozens that were necessary. has anybody gotten to see them? has any state gotten the filing that would be needed to change the status of his businesses? good questions. no answers yet. so democrats are doing battle against the president's cabinet nominees and now his supreme court pick but is this a losing battle? where is the high ground for democrats? next.
4:15 am
safety doesn't come in a box. it's not a banner that goes on a wall. it's not something you do now and then. or when it's convenient. it's using state-of-the-art simulators to better prepare for any situation. it's giving offshore teams onshore support. and it's empowering anyone to stop a job if something doesn't seem right. at bp, safety is never being satisfied. and always working to be better. at bp, safety is never being satisfied. whether it's connecting one of or bringing wifi to 65,000 fans. campuses. businesses count on communication, and communication counts on centurylink. the market.redict but through good times and bad... ...at t. rowe price... ...we've helped our investors stay confident for over 75 years.
4:16 am
call us or your advisor. t. rowe price. invest with confidence. but when we brought our daughter home, that was it. now i have nicoderm cq. the nicoderm cq patch with unique extended release technology helps prevent your urge to smoke all day. it's the best thing that ever happened to me. every great why needs a great how.
4:18 am
the qualifications of judge gorsuch are beyond dispute. he's the man who our country really needs and needs badly to ensure the rule of law and the rule of justice. >> high praise for neil gorsuch from president trump and fellow republicans that do the vetting and preparing to do battle over the supreme court and they call it a hostile choice so what is going to happen? joining us is rhode island democrat, member of the senate judiciary committee. the republicans say gorsuch got
4:19 am
a complete pass by you guys the first time around. why a change now? >> yeah, he was voted 11 or so years ago on to the circuit court. i think two things are different first of all the supreme court and everybody is different than the circuit court which is why it's been protected by leaving the 60 vote margin in place but the second thing is that we have seen the emergence of a five member right wing block on the supreme court that is not judicially conservative so much as it is politically conservative and pursuing those politically conservative goals so the big question for judge gorsuch is is he going to be a truly judicially conservative judge or is he going to rebuild the republican majority on the court that became such a wrecking crew in favor of
4:20 am
corporate special interests. republican elections advantage and the right wing social agenda. >> you're known for doing your homework and i spent time last night and it was hard to find cases and written on that appellate panel and when i did find decisions he seemed to be existing standards not looking to strikeout new ground. what do you see. how can you predict the future. i do think they have been poorly served by what the five judges did it created lasting damage and i don't think virtually anybody in america improved our democracy. huge numbers oppose it but it's
4:21 am
been such a boom for big billionaire special interests and fossil fuel industry and picking through his record on the circuit may or may not give clues as to that but making the case that this can happen again. we cannot have a supreme court that is delivering politically conservative outcomes no matter how activists it requires the judges to be. 5 to 4, 5 to 4, 5 to 4. it's a pattern chris. it's not a coinsdense. >> well, two by your own standard that we have to be careful because we can't judge the unknown, that would mean that nobody would be acceptable to you unless it was a very activist judge that you liked their decisions and you're not going to get that so how doucetel. >> don't forget that we got hearings and a lot of time ahead to look at his record more cl e
4:22 am
closely and sometimes ray process. and i think the point now is not so much this guy is or isn't qualified but the point right now and try to protect the court from becoming the political delivery system. and that is a novelty in supreme court history. and the last example will be the judges that worked so hard to protect slavery back in the old days and since then we had a long run of judges that took being a judge seriously and called balls and strikes and since then, since roberts we've had a very activist court that delivered for big political interests and made a joke of the notion of calling balls and strikes. they're moving the strike zone around to help their favorite
4:23 am
interests. >> i get where you're coming from on it. you got a little bit more leverage here. you have a 60 vote cap that you need and you have some more leverage. on the cabinet side you don't have that leverage. you're going to have up and down votes but you're talking out of hearings and you're saying you're going to fight to what end are the democrats fighting this. what is the good fight here for you guys. >> i think the key is to make sure that the american people are aware of the extent to which huge conflicts of interest and huge failures of disclosure and as they go forward scandals will follow and it's very very important for the american people to know and continue to
4:24 am
pursue them even as these people are in office. over and over again they have bowed down to the special interests and have these terrible conflicts of interest and it's easy to forsee that and any swamp cabinet ever. >> we only know what you show so when you come one the goods on people that embolden your case. how much are the democrats going to play to especially after what we lived through with the republicans that did exactly that by decree and the democrats said it was so wrong for so long. what do you think the future holds. >> let's look at the nominee for the epa. here's a guy that ran a dark money operation and won't disclose anything in the dark money operation and millions of
4:25 am
dollars changed hands and clearly there's a basis for potential conflict of interest there and he hasn't crossed up 3,000 e-mails between himself and his office and big fossil fuel special interests and it's wrong to come in and not have that kind of disclosure. until very recently it's the republicans that were insistent on the e-mails between the nominee and the fossil fuel interests they so adore then suddenly they lost interest completely but i think the american people understand that if you have 3,000 e-mails going back and forth with the interest you're supposed to regulate we want to have a look at them to see if that signals a conflict of interest. >> the challenge is to make things accessible to the public in a way they can overwhelm your political minority right now. >> bring the facts to life chris. >> that's what we do every day. senator, thanks for joining us on new day.
4:26 am
we'll see you again. >> thank you. >> you sound like you're tired of it chris. >> we are not yet two weeks in. and there's already a flurry of activity. what do voters think of his performance so far? we ask them, next. 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. ♪
4:27 am
won't 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 won't have to worry about replacing your car because you'll get the full value back including depreciation. and if you have more than one liberty mutual policy, you qualify for a multi-policy discount, saving you money on your car and home coverage. call for a free quote today. liberty stands with you™. liberty mutual insurance.
4:28 am
...another anti-wrinkle cream in no hurry to make anything happen. neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair works... ...in one week. with the... fastest retinol formula available. it's clinically proven to work on fine lines and... ...even deep wrinkles. "one week? that definitely works!" rapid wrinkle repair. and for dark spots, rapid tone repair. neutrogena®. "see what's possible."
4:30 am
it seems there has not been a dull moment. he has taken numerous executive actions but just last night he made his pick for the u.s. supreme court. let's ask some voters how they think he is doing. we have former national deputy director of students for trump. we have former chairman of the trump campaign. alex great to see you again. for the trump campaign and the wife of ohio state representative andrew brenner, sarah marie brenner and someone no stranger to our voter panels. great to see all of you. >> perhaps i'll start with you. how do you think mr. trump is doing. >> it's like christmas every single day.
4:31 am
everybody talks about this is an unprecedented administration and it's the speed he is delivering on every single thing and he promised he was. >> you love the travel ban. you love starting to roll back obamacare. >> the travel ban, the travel ban with 57% of americans believed to do this. it's very common sense. >> did it not go as well as you thought it would. >> i think we're at a point where we're at the democrat party and we have all of hollywood that established themselves as the opposition party. they're going to fight trump no matter what he does. that's really unfortunate but in six months, i think in a year a lot of people are going to look back once the economies starts
4:32 am
easing up and people are going to look back and say maybe we overreacted. >> alex, what did you think of the travel ban? >> personally i think it was necessary and in all honesty it was not handled as well as it could have. in the long run as reagan said trust but verify. so even though some of the immigrant hearsay green cards i think it's good to reevaluate our entire immigration system and then once we come up with a clear solution on how we can better fill trait those coming into this nation i think -- >> as long as you think that we're not doing a good job of vetting people that come into the country. it's an 18 month long process and it's a score of different agencies and no refugee has been
4:33 am
invol involv involved. >> studies say that you're more likely to become more of a radical and to become radicalized after the second generation and be a first generation immigrant and that's cause to be concern and look at what's happening in europe for example and second generation, third generation. >> and we do much different vetting in europe but before i move on to what she really likes best and does it trouble you that this plays right into isis's hands. it gives the impression to refugees we told you, america doesn't want you. >> no, i don't think it does because we have been playing this narrative that hasn't worked of accepting and being the great appeaser.
4:34 am
and the greatest war of immigration in the world in the country and we have to put america first and that's something that they'll come to support. >> thanks for having me this morning. i have been very happy. it's what they normally have as far as their normal pace goes. we never had a president like this before who has come from the business background and for someone like myself that is a small business owner, things like the manufacturing plant and that's some of the things trump is focussing on right now. trying to make sure that we get rid of it and when we do you'll start to see a few years from now and you'll start to see
4:35 am
things change. >> you're super enthusiastic. is there anything that mr. trump could do that would turn you off or are you so that he wouldn't disappoint you. >> i'm saying it's exactly what i voted for and like you said, he's coming from a business world. that's what we want. that's what we sent to washington. we wanted somebody that was not part of washington and was not part of the problem to go in and start looking at things from the point of view of an entrepreneur and business man and that's what we're doing. i think once his cabinet picks get confirmed we're going to see his administration unfold and we're going to see unbelievable changes. one of the most important things that i saw and the gentleman touched on this and right now we have 56% of black african american men under the edge of
4:36 am
30 that are unemployed and not in school. >> i want to talk about that. there are people. that number had been i believe inflated. your point was that's too high. >> my point is that yes we compassionate to refugees and mayor deblasio and these majors defending illegal immigrants in this country, what trump went in saying was that we can't spend our resources on these people while we have sections of the american population who are being under represented. who are disenfranchised. those are the people that need our intention first. >> what are you keeping an eye on? what are you waiting to see if mr. trump will fulfill? >> first off, as the gentleman said i'm waiting to see how he turns the inner cities around with crime and helping the
4:37 am
african american community as a black man myself. i'm concerned about the african american community in education regards and violence and things like that. and then also i'm looking to see how the economy is going to voice his administration and as a rising college freshman next year i will expect after four years to have a job. >> college freshman, we'll all be voting for you for president. way to overachieve. sarah and what are you waiting to see. >> i'm excited about bettysy devos. the whole scope is the civil rights issue of our time. we have so many inner cities to
4:38 am
reflect on what the other two gentlemen have said. we have so many inner cities where we have people not currently getting the education that they need and they're not able to get out of that situation and i don't think that we should force them to wait generation after generation after generation until somebody can afford to move. we can make the money follow the student, create competition and school districts are terribly underperforming. a lot of states give the unions what they want and you still don't see the improvements. >> just because we're running out of time you're okay with the fact that she doesn't have any public school experience. >> that's fine. it's not a problem. i don't think you need something like that when you're looking at a position like she is doing it's about management and leadership and not about spending time in the classroom. that's what our teachers do and
4:39 am
principles. a person who is in that secretary needs to understand the bigger picture and be able to roll out policies, manage well, lead well, organize well and her history really shows that she is able to accomplish that, no question. >> great to see you all again. thank you so much for coming in and giving us your latest thoughts on president trump. we'll talk to you again. chris. >> thank you. >> so it's not unusual that someone campaigns for president by saying look i can bring people together. president trump said i'm a business man. i can get people to make deals. well that ain't happening. we're seeing the show down now about the supreme court and the cabinet picks. what is behind this intensifying political fight? is there any room for working together? next.
4:40 am
4:41 am
4:43 am
>> president trump in a primetime special naming ni nil gorsuch as a supreme court nominee. the democrats are saying not so fast. this was a hostile choice and they're also delaying some of the cabinet confirmations. this is creating big questions about what's the right thing to do when you're in the opposition. rick santorum and christine quinn. so christine, put at your feet is the argument of hypocrisy. you just live through 8 years of saying the republicans are the worst people in the world in opposing for opposition sake and now you seem to be putting yourselves in the same position. true? >> no not at all. look, people are talking about this nominee and about wanting to have hearings to explore his
4:44 am
record. >> very different than judge garland who never even got a hearing. there's a difference between opposing and saying we won't talk and saying i have concerns. this nominee has a record i disagree with significantly on lgbt issues, abortion issues, corporate regulations, the environment and gun control and the senator is saying we need to passionately but in a dig any identified way have those conversations. i think there's a difference between standing by your views and values and opposing for the sake of opposition and as it relates to no, ma'am niece. >> let's talk about that. >> they are definitely going to have hearings. they are going to have meetings. let's be honest. this is an incredibly qualified judge. we got the same vote that
4:45 am
gorsuch did. >> you're comparing apples and oranges. >> one of this talk of filibuster or slowing things down. he came forward at the end of it and you can't convince me that the democrats couldn't have done the same thing attend of an 8 year republican administration. >> although cruz said if hillary wins don't let the scalia seat come out. >> the president has the right to nominate his cabinet. they have a right to nominate the election. he should nominate his people. what donald trump did in this nomination and this guy is right in the middle of mainstream conservative thought. maybe some people agreed on his opinions and justice by both sides.
4:46 am
and one particular point and her hearings were anything but a breeze. if you remember back to those confirmation hearings the question of what she had and hadn't said, she was very aggressively treated. >> i think she will be aggressively treated too but there's nothing about that. they allow the process to move quickly. >> we're dealing with a low bar for decency right now. let's talk about the confirmation process in forms of this last discussion. opposition for opposition sake. not showing up in hearings. you don't have the votes and if you can't find something that is worth pursuing legally against one of these people they're probably going to get a vote and get through. why stall? >> i think it's not stalling. it's people raising their issues and we're seeing repeated nominees come in unprepared and not having filed or submitted so
4:47 am
to speak all the paperwork. >> technicalities. >> you're going through the process to be a member of the united states cabinet. this isn't whether you know, you check the right box ordering something. this is one of the most important positions in the country you should be prepared before you go to the united states senate and have all of your information. and remember i think it's fair for the senators and enter this process skeptical and we never saw full transparency and many areas relating for all of this information and particularly for many of these no, ma'am niece come from the corporate world and don't have particular experience. >> they have complex backgrounds in terms of finances. >> that should be out there and they should care about the process. i also want to be clear, that doesn't mean we're going to rollover and forget our values and our positions.
4:48 am
those democratic sen tors were elected as democratic sen tors and they have an obligation to keep bipartisan issues -- >> this isn't about values. this is about issues. they're blocking these people on technicalities. >> in some cases. >> most of them. >> you're just talking about paperwork. you just talked about not answering questions. the bottom line is they answered thousands of questions. there's been more longer vetting than obama's nominees for the same positions four years ago. the reality is this is pure obstructionism. and our secretary is important but who really runs the government. the cabinet secretaries are there following through and they're only there for a short period of time. the bottom line is i was in the senate. and my job is to let him set it
4:49 am
up. >> i want to ask you one thing, do you think the president. i remember when this was going on the last time. there was fair criticism put at the feet of the president that you need to be the biggest man in the room and find a way to bridge this better. don't leave it up to the democrats and the republicans it will never happen. and is that on president trump but he should be doing more to try to get people to work together. he's being disrupted by design. >> he's trying to follow through by his campaign pledges but would argue this. one of the cam page pledges was to unite. bernie sanders loves that. there's things this republican is doing that democrats now agree to. barrack obama never had one thing. >> he promised to bring us together in every choice he's made and the way he has done it using twitter as his platform and just look at what's happening. we had an epa whose life work in
4:50 am
part has been getting rid of the epa. that's not a technicality. i think that's dangerous. >> okay. >> well . >> steve bannon has worked in hollywood, goldman sachs and breitbart. who is steve bannon? we talked to someone who worked we talked to someone who worked with him for 20 years next. because going around is rarely ever as enjoyable... ...as going right through. ♪ ♪ ♪
4:52 am
won't 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 won't have to worry about replacing your car because you'll get the full value back including depreciation. and if you have more than one liberty mutual policy, you qualify for a multi-policy discount, saving you money on your car and home coverage. call for a free quote today.
4:54 am
steve bannon. you know the name, but probably not much about the man. as plchltd trump's chief strategist, he's emerging as a controversial figure. telling the press to, quote, shut their mouths and being elevated to the national security council. who is steve bannon? let's discuss with julia jones, steve bannon's writing partner in hollywood for nearly 20 years. and michael wolf who interviewed bannon before and after the election. great to have both of you here. you will help us paint a much better picture of who steve bannon is. let me start with you. you wrorkd with him for almost 20 years in hollywood. what is he like? >> okay. thank you. what is steve like? he's a very different person now than he was then, 20 years ago.
4:55 am
i don't really know the steve bannon that you have today. >> let me read to you -- let me quote to you something i heard you say about him, and that was -- you said he loves war. what does that mean? >> steve and i were both very interested in the ancient philosophers, that was the thing that drew us together. but steve always tended to focus on military battles, kind of his bible is "the art of war," the chinese book -- i'm not sure when it was written. >> what did he love about war? he loves strategy, warfare? why does he love war? >> you'd have to ask him. he's a man, i'm not.
4:56 am
i think that steve liked the strategy. he liked the -- i'm going to ask -- >> think about it. let yourself get absorbed in the conversation. michael, help us out here. bannon has a lot of bad things ascribed to him now as he's coming into this controversial mode of this. how much of it in your own reckoning of him is worthy of criticism? what's the fact and the fiction? >> let me do it this way. i probably don't agree with anything that steve bannon agrees with. we're on die metric opiniposite sides of most issues. i spent a fair amount of time with him during the campaign, after and now going into taking power. i find him smart, considerate,
4:57 am
interesting, someone who has given a lot of thought to everything he's now saying. so this is not a situation in which we have someone who has some -- some dark force has blundered through the door and we don't know how this guy got here and what he's doing here. he is someone who you would find, if you sat across the table from him, recognizable, interesting and a compelling figure. this is not -- what i'm saying is this is not a mistake. >> then, michael, that's fascinating to hear your depiction. here is a radio show from breitbart news daily in 2015 when he was talking about refugees. it doesn't sound particularly compassionate. let's listen to this. >> the only vet, if you're going to let them in, why even let them in? can't that money be used in the
4:58 am
united states? i think the issue is should we take a pause and hiatus for a number of years on any, any influx from that area of the world? >> as you point out, he's been thinking about this issue -- >> exactly what donald trump ran on. that's what he said was going to happen. that's the basis partly on which he won, and that's what they've done. >> that's why he's relevant, right? otherwise he'd be as marginal as most of what comes out of breitbart. but he is now next to the seat of power, and he seems to be the heaviest hand in the first few moves out of the white house. the executive order, this guy's name is all over it, sheltering russia has his name all over it. >> in every way. i think the news here is that steve bannon is the central -- he's the visionary of this administration. he's the go-to person for the
4:59 am
president and for many other people there. it's his ideas that are first and foremost, that are paramount at this point in time, absolutely. >> some trump critics have begun calling him president bannon because they think he is pulling the strings. >> i'm not sure what that means. he's not the president. we have a president who is -- i think we can say, very forceful. whatever is going to happen is going to happen because donald trump wants it to happen. donald trump, i think we've seen, is not an absentee president. but i do think during the bush administration karl rove was called bush's brain. and i think that probably works here, too. bannon is trump's brain. >> an interesting look at an
5:00 am
interesting man. michael wolff, we're going to need to have you back on. as situations develop, and they have the bannon signature on them -- >> since i've become the bannon whisperer. >> hey, just for this moment. you have made a career of deconstructing important people, and you're doing it once again. >> our thanks to julia jones as well. michael, thank you for being here. we're following a lot of news this morning. let's get right to it? >> he's made it very clear this is not a muslim ban. >> we're going to have a very, very strict ban. >> 900 diplomats sent him a letter saying you're making us less safe. >> the roll-out was confusing. >> the white house has been untruthful and at times un-american. >> the only chaos we have is because of senate democrats. >> democrats delaying confirmation votes for president donald trump's cabinet. >> they are idiots. >> the qualifications of judge gorsuch are beyond dispute. >> he may be coming
131 Views
Uploaded by TV Archive on