they have staffs. they are adult people. they can certainly just be present, listen, and give an honest answer. and that honest answer may be a complicated one that, no, this is an issue that i am going to have trouble -- >> mary, i am so sorry. we just lost mary there for her window going down. we thank her for being with us. "inside politics" with john king starts right now. thanks, brianna. i'm john king. thanks for sharing your day with us. welcome to the trump polling paradox. the president's early job approval numbers are dismal and getting worse but americans are feeling much better about the economy. the president wants some credit. >> i'm delivering on everything that we've said. in fact, people are saying that

they've never seen so much happen in 30 days of a presidency. we've delivered on a lot. and i think mark can explain, and mark can probably say some of the things we're doing for the auto industry. we're going to be doing that for many of the industries. >> it's an important day for an already frustrated secretary of state. rex tillerson getting an earful in mexico. >> we are not going to deport ourselves out of this problem. we are not going to deport 11.4 million people. just stop that talk. you're scaring people. >> and the trump adviser who gave us the term alternative facts re-emerges after a media time-out. kellyanne conway, a long list of officials speaking at a big annual conservative meeting. >> by tomorrow, this will be tpac here. no doubt. >> no doubt. with us to share their reporting and insights, sara murray, matt

visor, olivia knox and mary katharine ham of the federalist. we'll be taking you live to mexico city where rex tillerson is trying to calm mexico's anger at president trump's new deportation push. they are set to speak to reporters after their morning meeting. we'll take you there live. also a watchful eye on the conservative action conference. betsy devos is on the stage this hour. she opposed a new white house decision to roll back obama administration protections for transgender students. let's begin with some rough early ratings of the new president and his effort to improve them. only 38% of americans look there, only 38% of americans approve of the president's job performance. 55% disapprove. that quinnipiac university poll also found as americans watch the first month unfold, their take on the president's qualifications for the job deteriorated. the percentage of americans who view the president as honni ised

level-headed held steady. but those numbers were already horrible. and note the drop in areas considered trump strengths. only 42% now view him as a good leader. that's down from 49%. and the percentage of americans who call the president intelligent dropped seven points in his first month. now the economy is usually the driving force of presidential ratings but not for this president. at least not yet. americans have a dim view of his performance, but a new cbs poll today finds 61% of americans believe the economy is in good shape. that's the highest number in ten years. no coincidence then the president's morning included another meet with busineing wit leaders. >> my administration's policies and regulatory reform, tax reform, trade policies, will return significant manufacturing jobs to our country. everything is going to be baseod bringing our jobs back. the good jobs. the real jobs.

they've left and they're coming back. they have to come back. >> this is not an unfamiliar scene. the president has done this a couple times a week. he has had other business leaders in to give the impression right out of the box that he focused on the economy which is always job one for a president. but what about the paradox. his job performance numbers are going down, even as people do feel better about the economy. >> well, right after he was elected you saw a swing very early on. people saying the economy is on the right track. and so that was -- some of this is built into some of the partisan politics of the president and the economy. >> but that's almost always the wind behind a president's sail. he's not getting any personal credit for it, at least not yet. >> part of this, too, is the benefits from obama. the unemployment rate was at its lowest point in nine years in december. gdp was up. median income was up. i think trump is benefitting a lot from that. he's a master at branding and taking credit whether he

deserves it or not. so he's smart to hold these events every day just about to try to showcase his jobs agenda. but he's not getting the president from people and the job approval because the high-profile things like the immigration ban and things like that are the things getting a lot more attention than the jobs. >> is that it? is it that the immigration issues, maybe staff turmoil, the travel ban, other things out of the gate are getting attention and the disapproval of those policies tends to be a majority or above or i guess my question is, are we locked into the election because we had such a polarizing election and people were so locked in on their views. will they not budge, even if the economy improves? >> they maybe are locked in a different way. if the economy is doing well, it might behoove him even if his numbers are so bad. i was among those who said he probably can't win the primary or general election with these bad numbers and yet he did. part of that is built into the

fact that many voters openly said, no, i don't think he's going to be great at any of these. some things he will be okay at. but i'm still going to vote for him because i don't like the alternative. some of that is built in. the fundamentals of the economy may work in his favor even when his numbers don't look great. some of these events and one-off deal with carrier, even though i'm not a huge fan of some of them because they smack of the obama choosing winners and losers idea. those have more impact with regular voters than perhaps many here give them credit for. because they make a difference. >> they see a president making phone calls that they believe will benefit them and they haven't seen that in washington. that's why donald trump is here because they viewed hillary clinton as a career politician. one of the people going to worry about the eletites and not worr about them. if you look at the stock market. another record today. closed at a record yesterday. up 1,000 points from election day to now. and yet there's a risk for the president in that. if it looks like people with vfments, you see it up 32

points. modest day at noontime. 28,808. just over 19,800 on election day. that's great if you have a 401(k). if you are the little guy waiting outside a factory that's closed for a job in the middle of pennsylvania or ohio, you aren't worried about wall street. >> that's right. and i think if you are the white house right now and you are not president trump who we know is very interested in his own favorability numbers, you are looking at those numbers on the economy as a preview thinking, okay, the president's favorability numbers will come up because the more people feel good about the economy, the more that will eventually reflect positively on the president. we just have to give it time. action has to follow that. and we really, despite them saying they have been very active and productive, we haven't seen a whole lot from this white house. we have not seen a tax plan. we have not seen their strategy on obamacare. we have not seen other than a few of these picking winners and losers, any kind of broad-based policy that is going to bring manufacturing back to the u.s. like the president has promised. and i think that that is the real challenge.

you can't just hold roundtables and have people expect to give you credit for that. you need to put forth some policies and fight for those. we've not seen the white house do that. >> one of the reasons the business community, people coming into these meetings are happy is because they can roll back into legislation. you'll have a republican congress and republican president that will get something they've been waiting for for 25 years. a big change to the tax code. comprehensive tax reform. listen to your point about and how fast you can get it done. this is washington. even with a new president. listen to the treasury secretary steve mnuchin here saying we're going to have a big tax reform bill that's going to generate gobs of economic growth. and he says we're going to have it quickly. >> our economic agend athe number one issue is growth and the first, most important thing that will impact growth is a tax plan. so we are committed to pass tax reform. so that's really our focus. we want to get this done by the august recess. >> raise your hand -- raisior

hand and god bless them. whether you support them or not, god bless them for being ambitious. we don't want them to say, this is complicated. maybe we'll get that done by the end of the year. they have every right and reason to push the congress to get this done. anyone here that thinks that congress, meaning the house has to pass something, and you have to figure out the senate. probably need democratic votes in the senate. anyone think they can get tax reform done -- something they haven't done in 20-plus years, done by august? >> there is a strategy here where trump sort of splashy deals he makes could give you some pr cover while the building blocks of this are being done. i don't see that strategy shaping up right now. >> if you look at obamacare, that took a year and a half to do. and that was a similarly large piece of legislation with lots of conflicts and lots of interest groups involved. so to think that they can get the tax deal done by -- in that short of period is -- >> because you have republican on republican violence in that

debate right now. the club for growth, a conservative anti-tax group is testing ads on the tax writing ways and means committee. they are attacking her saying don't support this border adjustment tax which is central to the house plan because it raises a boat load of money but then allows you to cut taxes on other people. >> the president said yesterday the tax plan is essentially done. but we have to do health care first. so you're going to repeal and replace health care and pass this major tax legislation and you're going to do it all by the august recess? when i heard the august deadline this morning, i did laugh out loud to myself. i think it's, bless their hearts for being ambitious. we'll see. maybe they'll all come together to do this. what we've seen from town halls on health care and from republican on republican violence on taxes makes it seems like this is going to be a longer time frame. >> we'll get deeper into that. that's a great point. when you see what's happening out there. a lot of this is democrats showing up. we'll show you a tom cotton town hall. won a race with 56% of the vote.

i don't think he's sweating his support in arkansas. but you still learn a lesson when people come and get in your face. where we started. 38% approval rating. if the president doesn't budge that number, does he get his way on tax reform? does he get his way on health care or do republicans -- forget democrats for a minute. do republicans say, sir, you are going to take our bill. we're not going to take yours. >> that number is a percentage of his voters who still side with him and percentage of voters in important districts who still side with him. we don't have that number. also the still going to shake up washington number in there. we have good leader. all these other things but those are the two most important things. i talked to a republican who said we want donald trump at 60% or at 10%. it's the middle terrain that's complicated because you don't know if you want to line up with him. >> 35 days in, he wants to look at that 38% number and make it go that way. secretary of state rex tillerson in mexico city.

we'll take you live to that event when it happens. the foreign minister and the president later today, trying to sell trump administration immigration policies that have mexico furious. kellyanne conway's tv time-out is over. the reason why she was silenced adds a new wrinkle to the president's soap opera.

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welcome back. we're still waiting for secretary of state rex tillerson in mexico city. we'll go there live when he comes out to speak with mexico's foreign minister. more palace intrigue from the trump west wing. the national security adviser was forced to quit. the vice president often kept out of the loop. the recent tv time-out for kellyanne conway, the creator of the now infamous spin known as alternative facts. cnn's dylan beiers reports it was a deliberate decision to keep kellyanne conway away from the cameras. she's back and has an

alternative view. >> look, i -- about 5% of what i'm being asked to do in this white house counsel role is tv. and i think that's about right because we -- he's the president now. and he's his own best messenger. there are some people, i think, trying to get in my way. i've also gobbled up a lot of other people's tv opportunities. and folks just trying to use me as click bait and a headline. >> we were -- dylan was reporting facts. not trying to use click bait and headlines. to her point, let's take her at her word. she thinks somebody is trying to get in her way. so i assume that somebody works a couple offices away or across the hall. this is more evidence, this story came from the white house she was slidelined because the white house view was she said some things not helpful. what does that tell us about 35 days in how they're doing? >> i finishing you lothink if y trump's career he runs things

with various things than about fighting each other. whether that works for government in the same way that it has worked with him in times in business is a real open question. and you're seeing more of it here. she said tv is a small part of her job. that's also a hugely part to donald trump. >> he's his own best spokesman, i think, is doing a lot of work in there. that's been a problem across the administration. hard to know who speaks with any authority for president trump. other than president trump. and sean spicer from the podium, every one of us who speaks speaks on behalf of the president. that's a problem because you don't all agree. you have directly contradicting accounts of what the president wants to do, hopes to do, is thinking. >> and they often tell you those very same people sometimes on the record, sometimes on background tell you, don't pay attention to what the president says. pay attention to what we're doing. the senate majority leader the

other day with a smile said i don't like to focus on what he tweets or says. i focus on what they're doing. >> part of this is in past administrations you sort of fight for facetime inside the oval office. you want to be there to take to the president, to influence him that way. with trump, so much of the influence comes through tv. and so kellyanne conway is fight with others to get on tv as another way to influence the president because he's watching. so there's that element, too, that people are fighting over tv hits. >> in fairness, though, in the early obama administration the president signing an executive order to close guantanamo bay and within minutes senior white house officials are calling up to democrats on the hill saying no, no, no. so it's not unprecedented to see this level of public/private clashing. >> no question. especially early in a new administtion when people are trying to stake out their turf. this is my fifth transition of power. you find them in every administration. the voum of them seems to be,

maybe it's just the social media age. we hear more about them. these people weren't quite as loyal as past administration. it's not just white house palace intrigue and staff turmoil. what kind of administration, how does he want to manage the government and the agencies? we learned in the last 24 hours they've repealed obama administration executive actions on transgender students. some states have tried to say the bathroom of your sex at birth. the trump administration has reversed that and said this is a states rights issue. jeff sessions the attorney general wanted to reverse this. betsy devos the education secretary, opposed it. is that a normal policy fight between two cabinet members in an administration or proof that jeff sessions, who has been with the president the longest, that if you don't get into a cabinet duel with him because he's going to win. >> the west wing overriding what these cabinet secretaries have come to the president to try to

do which is interesting because when he was going through this hiring process, part of the reason they brought in so many candidates and had him talk to so many people because they didn't want the president to have to micromanage everything going on. they wanted him to feel like he put cabinet secretaries in he could trust and say this is the end result i want. i'm going to get us there and to deal with the day-to-day minutia and staffing and hiring. that's not what we've seen in practice. in practice we've seen the president overruling deputies, political appointees because they've been critical of him in the past or because he doesn't like them. we saw, obviously, betsy devos got overruled in this scenario. she got a part of what she wanted. this is not going to allow discrimination and allow us to stand by for bullying. they reversed these directives against the will of the cabinet secretary. given the quality of the people they put into some of these positions, the fact these people were executives who were used to building their own teams and making their own calls, this

isn't necessarily something that's going to sit well with a lot of these cabinet secretaries for very long. >> is it also overruling a position or clarifying if you listen to candidate trump during the campaign, we can play the sound here. when this came up in the context of caitlyn jenner, listen to what he said during the campaign. >> if caitlyn jenner walked into trump tower and wanted to use the bathroom, you'd be fine with her using any bathroom she chooses? >> that is correct. >> a lot of conservatives didn't like that during the campaign. a lot of conservatives had a lot of doubts about donald trump during the campaign. is he really one of us? he's going to be the republican nominee. this is a step in culture wars. cpac in town is this an affirmation to them, those who supported trump, maybe with some reservations, that we made the right choice? >> i don't see him as a culture warrior naturally. this is one that many who have influence are interested in fighting these fights. in this case, i think some of

this from conservative side, the obama administration putting forth this guidance would be seen as an escalation of the cultural war and this is more complex and localities need to be able to deal with that. so that's the other side of this. but, yeah, clearly there are folks in the administration, neil gorsuch is a great example of the nomination there that feel better about his backing. >> and they -- for the most part, it's a conservative cabinet, even if they have some reservations about the president. we're waiting for secretary of state rex tillerson. very important diplomatic meeting in mexico city. trump's immigration policies front and center there. we'll take you there live when rex tillerson comes out. professional protesters? angry americans? a mix of both? whatever your take, republican republican members of congress back home this week are getting an earful. ♪

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welcome back. we're still watch, waiting in mexico city, an important moment for secretary of state rex tillerson on the global stage. he he's meet with the foreign minister and the president of mexico later. we're waiting to hear from rex tillerson and see if he's been able to calm those waters. back here if you've turnod the tv this week to watch the news you've likely seen a fair amount of this. >> answer the question. >> yes or no? yes or no? >> everybody here, 2020, you're

gone. >> i'm not a paid protester. >> i don't really care if anybody here is paid or not. you all are arkansans and i'm glad to hear from you. >> responding to a frustrated constituent. lawmakers like cotton have shown up home to find the welcome mats, well, missing and even would-be photo ops turned into trying questions. >> donald trump makes mexicans not important to people who are in arkansas who like mexicans like me, my grandma and all my people. he's deleting all the parts in pbs kids just to make a wall. >> how old are you? >> i'm almost 8, but i'm 7. >> i know how that almost 8 part

goes. almost 8, but he's 7. again, i said this yesterday but i'll say it again. not taking partisan sides. good for those who go out there and take it. a lot of them canceling their town halls. democrats did the same thing in their tea party years. as they glean out in this in your face moment, democrats had a little -- in them a few years ago. democrats are fired up. they're mad about this presidency and showing up in red states even like arkansas. you are all arkansans, i'm happy to have you here. is it just frustration or the seeds of something? >> i thought tom cotton's answer was a good one. doesn't matter who these people are. you know, or if they -- or how organized they purpose they are there n challenging their elected officials which is a core aspect of democracy. the aspect of whether this turns into something is so early to tell but there's this 23 seats

that republicans won that hillary clinton also won. those are the seats where something could happen. where this activism could turn into electoral victories. and that's i think where some of that energy is starting to be directed. >> we're going to watch this. we'll get an early test. tom price is now health and human services secretary. his district. if democrats have a chance to prove this energy is about something that's actually changing minds and bending districts that would be one early test of it. >> one other thing is what happens when the policy front. one of the reasons people are turning out like this, frustrated, worried is because health care is something that's pivotal to people's day-to-day lives. trying to remove a benefit as flawed as it may be but that they currently have and replacing it with something unknown is scarey to people, especially to people who are older, sick, do pay a lot of money in health care costs. so what we see in this

replacement plan might be a big driver of just how big this movement grows and how much trouble people have ahead of them in some of these re-election fights. >> one of the interesting things senator cotton hit it just right. whether they are organized or not. when you went home six months ago, they weren't there. if they're there now, if somebody was able to organize them, that means they were able to tap into some mood that's out there. senator cotton's view, mitch mcconnell has said things very similar, very different from sean spicer. >> i think there's a hybrid there. i think some people are clearly upset but there is a bit of professional protester, manufactured base in there. but there are obviously people that are upset, but i also think that when you look at some of these districts and some of these things, it is not a representation of a member's district or an incident. it's a loud group, small group of people disrupting things for media attention.

>> translation, not to worry from the new republican white house press secretary, which sounds like a former new democratic white house press secretary. >> the white house contention that the aunger that some members of congress are experiencing at town hall meetings over health care reform is manufactured? >> i think some of it is. yes. i think you've had groups today, conservatives for patients rights that have bragged about organizing and manufacturing that anger. >> now democrats learned first in 2010 and then in 2014 that organized or not, it matters if you can turn that energy into what the two tea party elections. and the tea party push back. they say this is nothing like it. how do they even know? do we know the answer to that question? >> i don't think we know the answer. these are always a mix of organic anger and organizing on top of it. and that's fine.

that doesn't delegitimize what's going on. the huge question for liberal activists and democrats is what to learn from the tea party and what not to learn from them. what to copy and what not. when it comes to the policy on this, as the replace and -- repeal and replace possibly moves through, do they obstruct, obstruct on every possibility? there is some polling in battleground states done that shows there is danger in that obstruction part, too, as well as danger in the repeal part. that's one thing to look out for. and the other thing is electorally, how many districts are going to end up being mismatched to their representative who are more liberal than their representative because of redistricting and because of many republican wins over many years, those mismatches are not as common as they were during the tea party years for the right. that's a question, too. how many of you can actually flip? >> democrats have set their sights on recapturing as many governorships ahead of the next census. see how they retain this passion through that process.

democrats famously don't do that well in midterms. you wonder whether they can sustain this through the gubernatorial elections. >> we work in washington so we focus on these house and senate seats which do matter, but for the democrats in a deep ditch, the most important thing is those governors races and state legislative races. we're waiting for the secretary of state rex tillerson. his meeting is in mexico city, the first version of them, about to break. we'll hear from him on his view, how it goes trying to sell president trump's immigration policies to our normally frie friendly neighbor. we'll be right back. is knowing. he's the one. (vo)...it was meant to be. and love always keeps you safe. we're fine. (vo) love is why we built a car you can trust. now and for a long time to come. the all-new subaru impreza sedan and five-door. a car you can love no matter what road you're on. the subaru impreza. more than a car, it's a subaru.

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welcome back. we're just moments away from the very important appearance by the secretary of state rex tillerson. he's in mexico city meet with his mexican counter part and later with the mexican president trying to sell trump administration immigration policy. they were saying no way to president trump's proposal that it pay for a new border wall.

now those guidelines released yesterday on a new deportation policy, mexico upset about those as well. we'll hear from the secretary of state in a few minutes. he has to define and defend these policies to the mexican government. the mexican government is obj t objecting. the president just said at the white house, i don't understand what all the fuss is about. >> we're getting ready bad dudes out of this country and at a rate that nobody has ever seen before. and they are the bad ones. and it's a military operation because what has been allowed to come into our country. when you see gang violence that you've read about like never before, much of that is people here illegally. and they are rough and tough but they're not tough like our people. >> a lot to unpack there. number one, you can fact check that and might have some issues. it's not a military issue. it's a border patrol and i.c.e. getting the bad dudes out like never before. the guidelines were just released yesterday.

i doint thin't think we have a the numbers yet. but the tone of that as he tries to keep a signature campaign promise. we wait for secretary tillerson. will this be mass deportations or just be people who have criminal records or suspected of gang involvement? we don't know the answers to that. from the mexico perspective, they are already mad about being told they were going to pay for the wall which they say no. the administration guidelines if you round up somebody on this side of the border and they are from guatemala or somewhere else, they'll still dump them back into mexico which mexico says you cannot unilaterally do that. >> the polls that we talked about at the top of the show, 60% of the people -- people say that they support the courts over trump on the travel ban. and 60% said they oppose the wall. so i think trump, there is some selling to the public. winning over not his hard-core supporters but a broader swath of the public for some of these

executive orders, something he wants to do on immigration. >> he's focused on his voters and not much effort into selling it. maybe that's what the speech to congress next tuesday night will be. but as we await secretary tillerson, this is a big test for a secretary of state who we're told is already a little frustrated with his boss. >> one of the awkward conversations is mexican officials explaining, look at all these people we turned down from south america and send them back so they don't make their way to the u.s. we're doing part of this enforcement for you and so if all you're doing is trying to stick us with a bill for the wall, dump people back into our country not from our country, we don't have to be helping you out the way we are. doesn't seem like they're going into this meeting on great footing to begin with. >> a couple things going on here. i'm looking out for tillerson's style when he comes to the podium and whether this idea that certain things are just negotiating positions he might

take from trump into this meeting and fig are oure out if step them back. also recent polling shows immigration is a top issue as the economy falls. and getting rid of the bad dudes is quite popular. it's just a question of whether that's what's going on. >> what's a bad dude under their definition of the trump administration? >> we've also seen in the last 24 hours whether talking about the immigration guidelines or transgender rollback from the obama administration, you can pop up the map of red and blue america. he's playing to the red area. democrats are saying, how can he do this? he's won the election. that's what he's trying to do. the administration sometimes accuses the media of being part of fake news. describing the climate for secretary tillerson's trip, listen to sean spicer yesterday. i'll call this fake spin. >> we have a very healthy and robust relationship with the mexican government and mexican officials. and i think they'd echo that same sentiment.

president pena nieto has echoed that as well. the relationship with mexico is phenomenal right now. there's an unbelievable and robust dialogue between our two nations. >> forgive me but am i wrong the dialogue from that side has been no to the wall, no to these new guidelines. where is the robust happy part? >> there's a long history of u.s./mexico tensions. they didn't suddenly become bad under donald trump. the president of mexico is widely unpopular and won't make himself more unpopular if he bows to everything donald trump says. his popularity rating may be inside the margin of error in the polls meaning that he might be at 0%. the relationship is enormously complicated. things that work are massive flows of trade and the mexicans rely on remittances from mexicans who are here back to their families back home. a big chunk of their economy. they are defending their southern bofd rder. it's an extremely complicated relationship. what struck me, the deal making.

let's see can the mexican government maybe salvage a win by negotiating some things away? can rex tillerson come away with a successful forray abroad? i would be a little surprised and we get back to whether donald trump would maybe roll that back with a tweet or comment. >> we will have -- the trump style is to make you mad but make you a little unnerved and then cut a deal. that's if you read "art of the deal." whether it's nato, he says obsolete. he wants them to contribute more on the nato alliance, whether it's this relationship here or renegotiating nafta which he said he'd rip up on day one. now he says let's modernize it. if trump is the bad cop and tillerson is the good cop. >> you are talking about the wall, talking about deporting imgrants from any country back to mexico.

renegotiating nafta. maybe they can find wins on some of those issues and things that would essentially be sacrifices elsewhere and trump can walk away saying, look, we asked for six things and got four of them. that's how i do business. >> you talk about the importance of the economic relationship. it gets lost because it's an emotional debate in this country. donald trump is on pretty good standing. and this is the -- he was more specific on this issue than any other. that's fair to say during the campaign. so in his view he's delivering on his campaign promises even though some conservatives are upset when it comes to the young and the d.r.e.a.m.ers. >> actually talk to the mexican government and talked to mexican congressmen and senators. i read our mexican newspapers and if you watch any spanish media, you know that's quite the opposite. they are threatening to do

boycotts of u.s. goods and corn and other farm products. some senators are threatening to -- going to cut off other types of relationships, especially with the united states. you know, i think sean spicer is very loose with the truth n fan facts. >> obviously a democrat from a border state. the important part is something we were touching on is this is a test of the president in that if you're having such tensions with mexico to the point that they could involve a trade war or economic retaliation, what do you put first? your primary goal to create jobs, put the american economy on a good path on a great path or this issue of immigration if it disrupts the relationship. >> and part of this is interest with tillerson, too. this is a big moment for him. we haven't even really heard him speak at all. having him come out and not only walking into a difficult diplomatic situation but how he addresses cameras and how he talks and what his style is and

how he navigates this publicly because we've read and seen how he's been cast aside by the trump administration. he doesn't seem to have a lot of autonomy in how he negotiates. >> perhaps a chance to reassert himself. >> we're watching south of the border for this news conference to play out, these statements to play out. on the u.s. side of the border, speaker paul ryan led a delegation down there. there were ariel photos of them going over the border. but a big question for the president when it comes to policy is, what is the congress willing to do? a lot of republicans think you don't need as big of a wall. how we are going to pay if it's $12 billion, $15 billion, $20 billion? speaker ryan on horseback going across the border. >> most important moment of that. >> do you take horseback over the helicopter? >> do we have any intel on what he's prepared to tell the president when it comes to the spending that would be required to carry out the president's plan? >> that's the most friction

here. the idea was, well, mexico is going to pay for this. very unclear how that was going to come about and mexico seems not terribly interested in playing ball on that. and i do think ryan, of course, will have reservations of this but about such spend, but the argument from conservatives or republicans will be -- its infrastructure, national security are things the constitution says we can spend on. whether it's going to be bang for your buck, i'm not real sure. going to sneak in a quick break. waiting for rex tillerson in mexico city. also a conservative conference here in washington that soon, next hour, will feature prince priebus, the white house chief of staff and steve bannon, the senior adviser with whom he's often at odds, they say that's not the case.

welcome back. we're keeping an eye on the room in mexico city there. the secretary of state rex tillerson meet with the foreign minister. all of that about controversial trump administration new immigration policies. we'll take you to mexico city when the foreign minister and secretary of state come out to speak to reporters. back in washington, reince priebus and steve bannon want you to see there's nothing to see.

priebus is the white house chief of staff. and steve bannon is a trump adviser. the first month of the trump administration has featured almost daily accounts of friction between the two. accounts that priebus blames bannon for the rocky roll-out of the trump travel ban. and for pushing too many old guard establishment figures through jobs. they've called reports of tension a crock. next hour on that stage on the right of your screen, that dark hallway, they'll make that case together at the conservative political action conference. the question for the table is, if they feel the need to go public at this conservative conference to make the case, we are kumbaya, all is good, does that mean all is good? >> maverick and goose. going up together. look. i think it's interesting that they're doing this at cpac. my prediction is that reince priebus would be anodine and nice and who knows what would

come out of the bannon part of this. it's an optics thing papers over what are actual policy concerns in addition to management concerns. and that's sort of a symbol for all of cpac. what are we actually here believing? that's a bit of an open question when it comes to trade and immigration issues and even social issues. >> it's a great point. it's a different administration. but it's also a different movement. this is not cpac of 25 years. this is not ronald reagan cpac or george w. bush era cpac. the movement itself has changed in part because of the trump effect. when these guys sit next to each other on a stage, they are at the white house together every day. how much of it is creative tension this president likes and two guys who are incredibly different trying to stake out their turf? >> i think they're probably going to skip in together holding hands and then hug which is to prove that everything is fine. >> music for that? >> yeah, reince priebus and

steve bannon have very different world views. they've stood for very different things, had different beliefs about the direction the republican party should go before trump. that doesn't go away. this is not a cohesive team that worked together for the last two years. i've been covering trump longer than these people have been working for donald trump. so that's part of what you're getting at. i think the fact they are trying to be so public in this united front tells you something has shifted with the president. the guy who likes his advisers fighting. got a little bit exhausted with staff infighting stories every single day. that is the reason we are now seeing them go on the record to say lovely, fawning things about each other but also people in this west wing that have been under fire. they want to calm this down for at least a little bit. the question is, is a little bit three hours? is it a week? two weeks or just until they try to do their next big policy thing and they find themselves on opposite sides of the issue. >> it's a great point. within the course of 72 hours,

within the same week, steve bannon on the cover of "time." the great manipulator they called him. that's an insult to the president. and a breitbart news story just trashing reince priebus. a long story just trashing him. and everyone said that's bannon and his old haunt. he told cnn he was disgusted by that story and it was horrible. but there it was. >> your story about cpac and this being a different environment. reince priebus represents the old cpac and bannon staged his own counter event in past years. so those two guys represent two different parts of the party and two different areas that are showcased at this cpac in general. >> we're going to carry that live. also waiting to hear from rex tillerson. "inside politics" will be back here at noontime tomorrow. hope you come see us sunday morning, too. wolf will be in the chair after a quick break.

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hello. i'm wolf blitzer. noon in mexico city. 1:00 p.m. in washington where we're watching from around the world. thanks for joining us. got some live pictures coming in from the conservative conference here in washington, cpac as it's called, where we're expecting to hear momentarily from president trump's chief strategist steve bannon and his -- and the white house chief of staff reince priebus. we're also expecting remarks from trump's secretary of state rex tillerson who is in mexico city meeting with leaders there. for the republican leaders, it's all about cpac for the next few days with thousands