hello. i'm wolf blitzer. it's noon in louisiana. 1:00 p.m. here in washington. 2:00 a.m. saturday morning. wherever you are watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us. we start wr cpac, the conservative activist conference just outside washington taking center stage once again today. president trump taking that stage just a little while ago. the first time a sitting republican president has made an appearance there in his first

year since ronald reagan. that was 37 years ago. for the conservative faithful, a president did not disappoint. hitting on his campaign highlights, trade, jobs, tax reform, deregulation, and that border wall with mexico. he started with another pointed attack on the news media. listen p to this. >> we have to fight it, folks. we have to fight it. they're very fight. they're very cunning and dishonest. just to conclude, it's a very -- they say that we can't criticize their dishonest coverage because of the first amendment. they always bring up the first amendment, and i love the first amendment. nobody loves it better than me. >> let me state this as clearly as i can. we are diagnose to keep radical islamic terrorists the hell out of our country.

[ cheering ] we will not be deterred from this course, skpgs inand in a matter of days we will be taking brand new action to protect our people and keep america safe. you will see the action. we've taken swift and strong action to secure the southern border of the united states and to begin the construction of a great, great border wall. by doing this and with the help of our great border police with the help of ice, with the help of general kelly and all of the people that are so passionate about this --

>> for too long we've traded away our jobs to other countr s countries. so terrible. we've defended other nations' borders while leaving ours wide open. anybody can come in. oh, we're going to build a wall. don't about it. we're building the wall. in fact, it's going to start soon. way ahead of schedule. way ahead of schedule. >> obama care doesn't work. i could say, i could talk. it doesn't work. and now people are starting tore develop -- the people that you are watching, they're not you. they're largely, many of them, are the side that lost. you know, they lost the election. it's like how many electrics io we have to have? by the way, i want regulation. i want to protect our environment. i want regulations for safety. i want all of the regulations

that we need, and i want them to be so strong and so tough, but we don't need 75% of the repetitive, horrible regulations that hurt companies. >> it's time for all americans to get off of welfare and get back to work. you are going to love it. you're going to love it. you are going to love it. >> phil maddingly over at the cpac conference right now outside of washington d.c. the president spoke for, what, nearly an hour. how was he received over there? >> well, it was a red meat speech for a red meat crowd. no question about it. as we talked about, wolf, these are conservative activists, grassroots part of the republican party who make very clear that they are energized on a lot of the top line points from president trump and his administration. it felt at various points during that speech, wolf, that if you blinked, you could be transported back it october or september or any point during donald trump's insurgent

campaign. the points were the same. the policy proposals were the same. the chants of "build the wall" and "usa" they were the same as well. i think what was most interesting about this speech is, one, kind of the historical context of it. as you noted, the trump administration has had a full blitz of this conservative action conference -- conservative advocacy conference. the first time a sitting president in his first year has been here since ronald reagan. if you look back at president trump's history here, chose not to show up last year about concerns of boycotts and walk-outs. also the point he made. his first appearance here at cpac back in 2011 as he described it after he was done remarks, it was kind of the first time he recognized, hey, this is a pretty good deal. maybe i should go into this further. now he is the president of the united states. he made clear that was actually what he did. some other context here as well, wolf that, i think is important. steve bannon, the chief strategist that spoke here, also noted that it was at that speech in 2011 when steve bannon, br t

breitbart news started to pay attention to donald trump. this conference means a lot over the course of the president's history, means a lot of kind of the growth of him on the political side of things, and you saw once again as his advisors made clear yesterday, everything he promised on the campaign, that's what he wants to deliver on. that's the message he feels is the winning message, wolf. >> all right, phil. thank you. phil maddingly over at the cpac conference for us. the president also spent a good amount of time at the top of his speech attacking the news media, what he called the fake news media. he tried to clarify what he meant when he called that -- the news media the enemy of the american people. >> a few days ago i called the fake news the enemy of the people, and they are. they are the enemy of the people. because they have no sources. they just make them up when there are none. they're very dishonest people. in fact, in covering my comments, the dishonest media

did not explain that i called the fake news the enemy of the people. the fake news. they dropped off the word fake, and all of a sudden the story became the media is the enemy. they take the word fake out. now i'm saying, oh, no, this is no good, but that's the way they are. so i'm not against the media. i'm not against the press. i don't mind bad stories if i deserve them, and i tell you, i love good stories. >> all right. here with us right now, cnn justice correspondents pamela boun and -- pr ez and jeff zellaney and the washington correspondent for the new yorker magazine. jeff, why in recent days and maybe throughout the campaign this obsession with going after the media? >> wolf, that is part of his victory lap, and i was in the room for that speech, and that is something, of course, the crowd of conservative activists

loves. they feed off of that. this is a speech that the president was largely riffing on. this was not a carefully crafted text. he had teleprompters up, but he was going after old stand-byes from his campaign. he needs someone to run against for more than a year he was running against republicans. then, of course, for six months he was running against the democratic nominee, hillary clinton, and now he needs an opponent to run against. that opponent he has created is the media. what he didn't say in that speech was how he is going to pay for any of his plans. i assumed he would say this is a terrific speechl. how is he going to pay for this? talking about infrastructure, the wall, the build-up in the military.

>> he has a lot of goals, a lot of objectives, but so far in terms of implementing those objectives, very limited details that he has provided. >> to me he said three things about the media that i found as someone who cares a lot about the first amendment and as a journalist. frankly chilling. at one point he said that we shouldn't be allowed to use anonymous sources. now, if a journalist professor says maybe they're just talking about the press. the president of the united states says that,ing you know, i think we need to perk up and listen and see what he means, especially when in the campaign he talked about tightening libel laws. that would be unconstitutional, a ban on using anonymous sources. he also made, as we saw in the first clip, a sort of mocking reference to journalists who

cite the first amendment. he pledges an oath to swear and defend the constitution. even to see it come out of his mouth, a mocking of the first amendment, i found a little troubling, and then, finally, he said when he was talking about the media that we're going to do something about it. now, i don't know what he means do something about it, but, again, when the president attacks the press as the enemy and says this string of things, it's a little concerning. you know, a senior military official this week said trump's comments about calling the media an enemy were one of the greatest threats to democracy, and that's someone in the military. there are a lot of things to digest in that speech, but for my money, that was the part that i was concerned with. >> in his tweets, he has lumped so many mainstream news organizations as part of the so-called fake news, whether

cnn, abc, nbc, c is, the "new york times", washington post. these are serious news organizations trying to do the best to get their news, and pamela, you know, you and evan and our whole team, jim, had a powerful story that was released on how the white house tried to get the fbi to deny the story of contacts between trump campaign officials and russian officials, and that was inappropriate, and you are getting some reaction, serious blowback, if you will, from the white house. >> the white house clearly came out strong lashing out about this. >> the chief of staff knocked down reports only after the deputy director mccabe approached reince priebus. >> the director of the fbi. >> approached reince priebus at the white house after a meeting for a five-minute conversation basically telling him that the

"new york times" reporting on contacts between trump associates and russian intelligence officials was "b.s.," according to a senior administration official speaking today. it's clear. when you look at the department of justice procedures, there appears to be a violation here because it clearly limits the communication between the white house and the fbi so to prevent any unnecessary intelligence and ongoing investigation and so it is possible that andy mccabe's approach to reince priebus could be overstepping the bounds there, the interaction that he had, talking about this "new york times" article because it does touch on an ongoing investigation, and it appears that the white house also violated procedures by going to the fbi and asking them to knock down the story publicly. >> yeah. we're getting a lot of reaction to that. the president is reacting. he tweeted this this morning. let me read it. the fbi is totally unable to stop the national security leakers that have permanentated

our government for a long time. they can't even find the leakers within the fbi itself. classified information is being given to media that could have a dif stating affect on the u.s. and then in all caps, fine now. >> the greatest irony of all of this and the president's criticism of anonymous -- use of anonymous sources, of course, is if you read our story, we have a quote -- or we have comments from a white house official because we were using an anonymous white house official who would not be allowed to be quotesed on the record, and to essentially describe what their point of view was, which was in the end what they wanted was for the fbi to talk anonymously to reporters to on background knock down the "new york times" story. again, they're criticizing anonymous sources, but they're engaging in the same thing. they're, you know, talking to us on being bah ground, and they're -- what they were asking the fbi to do was to on

background knock down the "new york times" story. of course, the fbi did not want to do that because there's an ongoing investigation into these russian contacts. >> not to mention there was a background briefing today as well around the same time that the president was coming out and saying, you know -- you know there were official senior officials. it's about our story that we reported yesterday, and they asked not to be named. it's sort of curious that is a sticking point. >> the problem here is that what we see with the white house is they don't like a story. they immediately go to fake news. they immediately go to that defense. they don't -- there's no sort of in between of trying to push back on the story and trying to explain their point of view. actually engage in the conversation. their immediate go-to is fake news.

>> there's much more for our panel. president trump also gave us a big update on that big border wall. he wants the u.s. to build it with mexico. up next, you're going to hear how it's coming along. the president says obama care, meanwhile, is a zdisaster. he is vowing to repeal and replace the affordable care act. that is despite a poll showing nearly half of americans actually like obama care. we're going to break down the numbers for you right after a quick break. where's frank? it's league night! 'saved money on motorcycle insurance with geico! goin' up the country. bowl without me. frank.' i'm going to get nachos. snack bar's closed. gah! ah, ah ah. ♪ ♪ i'm goin' up the country, baby don't you wanna go? ♪ ♪ i'm goin' up the country, baby don't you wanna go? ♪ geico motorcycle, great rates for great rides.

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speak before a crowd of supporters, president trump promised a brand new travel ban will be released within a matter of days. the president not mincing words. >> so let me say this as clearly as i can. we are going to keep radical islamic terrorists the hell out of our country.

[ cheering ] >> we will not be deterred from this course, and in a matter of days we will be taking brand new action to protect our people and keep america safe. you will see the action. >> let's get back to our panel. pamela, you and jake tapper had some exclusive reporting that the white house is trying to seek the corporation of the up their decision to ban travel for all practical purposes from seven muslim majority countries. >> they're looking for an intelligence report justifying why the seven countries should be in the travel ban, and we know the white house, the president -- from the white house the president is expected to sign that new executive order

next week, and so they wanted this before that, but what's interesting here, wolf, is that this came after the initial executive order was signed, and so it sort of raises the question among some intelligence officials about why wasn't this done before. why weren't they consulted before, and some have raised the concern that perhaps this white house charge is an attempt to political size intelligence in order to fit the policy rather than the other way around. >> yeah. that's a serious charge politicizing the intelligence from these various agencies. >> right. it goes to the heart of what the criticism was from the appeals court, which struck down this ban. basically upheld the hold on this ban simply because the court said that you didn't justify. you didn't offer any proof as to why these seven countries were selected. obviously the trump white house has tried to say, well, look, the obama white house was the one that selected the seven countries. that's not exactly true.

za that is a far different issue, and that's bigger problem that, you know, we're more likely to get a terrorist coming from one of these countries, visa waiver country, someone who is traveling to some of the -- in europe, for instance, rather than from one of these places where people are highly vetted, especially in the refugee program or someone who has to get a visa. they're highly vetted. there's stringent restrictions on people even coming here from those seven countries. >> what's actually interesting here, to avenue p evan's point, some of the people who -- the former homeland security secretary jay johnson on countries to add to the vaeza waiver program and requiring visas for people who visited those countries are the same people who are saying within dhs that these seven countries shouldot necessarily be in the travel ban because they do not believe that you can assess a threat based on nationality.

that is their key sticking point that they view this as an attempt to, you know, block these people based on nationality rather than another purpose. >> by next week we'll learn the differences between the travel ban two and travel ban one, and we'll see what changes have been incorporated. the president also gave an interview to reuters, and he spoke about military spending aor maybe he said this morning as well. >> we're alsole putting in a massive budget request for our beloved military. and we will be substantially upgrading all of our military, all of our military. offensive, defensive, everything. bigger and better and stronger than ever before. hopefully we'll never have to

use it, but nobody is going to mess with us, folks. nobody. >> he also repeated what he has said in the campaign that the wars in iraq and afghanistan, everything the u.s. has done in the middle east to try to stabilize that area and deal with terrorism has been a waste. $6 trillion he claims the u.s. wasted. he says that money could have been spent on roads and bridges and hospitals and schools in the united states. airports. this is a familiar theme for him. he hates -- he says it was a disaster those wars in the middle east. >> indeed, that's what he says. this is another example where the campaign promises and pledges and rhetoric are going to meet the realities of governing coming pretty soon. next week when he gives his speech to the joint session of congress on tuesday evening, and then follow it up on march 13th when he submits his first budget to congress. he has to square this here. it's a popular thing, particularly for republicans to call for an increase in military spending.

>> i think wuchtd other things we expect to hear his plan for isis. he said this morning at the cpac speech he will obliterate isis. we don't know what that means. does that mean put more troops on the ground, potentially in syria? more troops in iraq? the spending will come later, sklater,, and i think specifically we need to focus on his policies as opposed to moving beyond the campaign sort of the rhetoric. >> he may got a new plan to try to destroy isis, but he is also saying i'm not going to tell isis what we're doing. they're going to have to anticipate the worst. >> it's very interesting the line about saying the money in iraq and afghanistan was a waste of money, which used to be an argument you heard on the left. he has some military officials who are going to press him to stay longer in iraq, so stay longer in afghanistan who think that they can convince him of that. he will have to make a big decision there.

he has an omb director who was willing to cut the military funding when he was a member of congress, and so it's going to be interesting to see how they put this budget together when they get all the campaign promises together. >> tax cuts. >> tax cuts, repeal obama care. you can be as specific or as vague in these budgets, but it's the first opportunity for trump to actually put everything in one place with some price tags on. >> how are they reacting at the white house to the former speaker john boehner saying, you know what, repealing and replacing obama care. not going to happen. they probably could fix it and improve it a bit, but they're not going to get it through. >> a bit of truth serum. sometimes when you leave office, you have a more realistic perspective. the smartest thing to do is leave it alone. the reality is more people if

you talk to them and really sort of get what they're really thinking, they believe john boehner is closer to right. he knows how difficult it was to write this bill in the first place. writing a whole new bill, very difficult. >> all right, guys. everybody, stand by. there's more developments happening. town halls turning tense as republican lawmakers face very angry crowds. we're going to go live to louisiana to hear the complaints, the concerns of constituen constituents. ves megared omega-3s... but did you know your eyes, your brain, and your joints really love them too? introducing megared advanced 4in1... just one softgel delivers the omega-3 power of two regular fish oil pills... so give your body mega support with megared advanced 4in1.

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from questions and answers to complaints in confrontations. town halls being held by republican lawmakers. you are looking at live pictures from fort pierce, florida, right now. congressman brian holding his town hall. we're monitoring that. a whole bunch of others as well. so far there have been cheers

and jeers, and we'll continue to watch it. cnn nick valencia joining us live from louisiana where senator bill cassidy just wrapped up a town hall. nick, what were the people's biggest concerns? >> well, there's a huge focus on the environment here in -- it's considered to be the capital of the crawfish industry in louisiana. there is a proposed pipeline that people anticipate to be built here in this area that could affect that industry. others more concerned about the affordable care act and what wee peeling it would mean to thousands of residents here in this area. some others took exception with senator bill cassidy's support or endorsement of the secretary of education, betsy devos. there was a lot of people that came to voice their concerns and challenge the senator. however, wolf, it was a much different scene from what the senator focused on and felt earlier this week. that was a very tense environment. the senator interrupted multiple times. today it was moderately tense at times, but the senator did get a chance to talk to some of those

in the crowd. even those that were here to challenge him. earlier i spoke to his staff before the event who said that they had anticipated people coming from outside of the area. not from this perish. not even from local city lafayette, but from the surrounding state, and even outside of the state. different parts of the country. however, the majority of the people that we spoke to in line were from this area. felt that they needed to come here to challenge senator cassidy and his support for current president donald trump. i did speak to one of the local chapter presidents for indivisible. it's a group that -- they didn't think that senator cassidy did a good job at all today. >> i wasn't politically active until the election, and i won't deny watching a man who i consider completely unethical get elected has influenced my desire to be politically active. my representation is senator cassidy, and so i'm here to ask about what he is doing legislatively that will affect

my lives -- >> the you crowd that is thinned out, and they will continue to put the pressure on senator cassidy and hold him accountable for his support for president donald trump. >> nick, thank you. still ahead, president trump reiterating his campaign promises repeating his complaints about the news media and revelling in the bask of the crowd. >> we all salute with pride the same american flag, and we all are equal, totally equal, in the eyes of all mighty god. we're equal. for lower back pain sufferers,

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sfliencht we will cut waigsful spending. we will promote our values. we will rebuild our inner cities. we will bring back our jobs and our dreams, and america is coming about, and it's coming back, and it's roaring, and you can hear it. it's going to be bigger and better. it is going to be. it is going to be. remember, and it's roaring. it's going to be bigger and better and stronger than ever before. >> vice president trump just a little while ago speaking at the cpac conference here in washington. conservative political action group. here to talk about the president's appearance, pledges, two guests, jack kingston, former congressman in georgia, michael eric dyson, former sociology professor, and author

of a brand new book entitled "tears we cannot stop" a sermon to white america. it's a "new york times" best seller. thanks so both of you for joining us. michael, the president speaks a lot about problems in inner cities. he tweeted this on thursday. he said seven people shot and killed yesterday in chicago. what is going on? totally out of control. chicago needs help. second time the president has tweeted about chicago, but he often speaks about the killings that have been going on in chicago. what can he do? what should he do? >> i think his attempt to federalize the -- by sending in the troops would be a great problem because it would criminalize vulnerable populations and those that are already nbt who have already had problems with police there. one of the things we must remember is that the laquan mcdonald case underscored the degree to which local principles and political figures have not paid sufficient attention to what's going on there. having said that, i think that

he should work with people who have already proved to be successful in terms of anti-violence programs on the ground there and partnering with those kinds of -- those kind of organizations to make sure that he addresses the needs of the people there without exacerbating the problem. >> there's a lot of killings, congressman, going on in chicago last year. this year may even be worse this year. what do you think the president can or should do? >>le with, i think by bringing it up as an issue, i think it's very important. you know, the president kbent e went to detroit. he went to milwaukee. he spoke to the inner city. he said i want to help with education. i want to help with jobs and opportunities. also, you know, there has been a federal role in terms of the inner city and the law enforcement. there's the grant started by bill clinton. there's the local law enforcement grant started by newt gingrich. there's the burn grant program in which the federal government gives local law enforcement grant money for radios, for additional police officers and so forth, so i think the president is saying let's engage and do something, and i think

there's a lot of opportunity. >> michael, listen to what the president said this morning about getting americans back to work. >> it's time for all americans to get off of welfare and get back to work. you're going to love it. you are going to love it. >> the perceptions of this president seem to be distorted and rooted in stereotype of many orders. i think, look -- as a temporary means so they can ultimately make ends meet, but the federal government has to play its role and, of course, offering jobs and worthy opportunities for employment is something that those people who are presently on welfare seek to have. if the president is capable of forging the connection again between the employment sectors and the private sector and in the public sector to make sure

that there's a relief of the burdens of those people who are presently receiving some kind of welfare, that would be great. to reinforce the notion of some people on the dole not wanting to work and not seeking useful and gainful employment i think only reinforces the problem. >> what do you think the -- will get those deels? a lot of members of congress, the former republican colleagues. they're worried about spending, spending, spending. where is all this money going to come? >> he did mention the national debt, and he did talk about the -- being $20 trillion, and he did taurk about -- >> he wants to spend a lot more too. at least in the short-term. >> he wasn't completely ignoring it is my point. i think it's a work in progress as -- he mentioned tom price taking over hhs, and coming out with a repeal and replace health care program. he talked about building the wall. he talked about investing in military. there is a spending element to

it. part of the economy created new jobs is getting more team to work, and i thought that was one of the greatest tag lines when he said the republican party is becoming the party of the working person in the united states of america. to me if i had the title, the speech that would be the great title, but more people work and more people pay taxes, more money going in, less money going out for social assistance. that's a good thing, and that does help balance the budget. >> sounds good. if you can do it. you know, michael, the president said he believes in equal rights for everyone. listen to this. we all salute with pride the same american flag, and we all are equal. totally equal in the eyes of all mighty god. we're equal. >> i want your reaction. his critics are saying proposed travel ban, the second version, the administration's decision to

rescind obama rules on transgender bathrooms don't necessarily reflect that. your thought? >> oh, absolutely right. i agree with that criticism. he is speaking about a quality theoretically and rhetorically, but he is subverting it with his own practices. denying transgender bathrooms in north carolina. people who have identified in a particular way now have to have that identity attacked or at least not supported by their government and the way that the obama administration did. and to speak about equality without speaking about the building of walls, to keep mexicans out or to talk about a travel ban that has targeted specific places where we have not experienced inordinate amounts of terror from those particular citizens. i don't see where the equality comes in except an equality of his attempt to try to propose what american identity and citizenship are. >> let me get your reaction, congressman where. >> number one, the transgender

bathroom issue is better handled by the states. i think frankly, it has been blown out of proportion. >> what do you think about recreational marijuana being better helds by states? that's what the president is now significanting. >> i think it is, and -- >> why is recreation l a -- so you don't want the federal government to get involved in banning recreation marijuana? >> i would say this. ten years ago it was more the federal government was outraged that the states were taking initiative, but as we see what's happened in california and colorado and some of these other states as they wade in the water, it looks like the states are better leaders on this sort of thing. >> you disagree with the white house on that? >> i do. i also want to say this, medical marijuana, they're the -- >> medical marijuana is different than recreational marijuana? >> but it has been the entree for this discussion. , and i think states have to take the lead, and, you know, it's a two-step, particularly among conservatives. on one hand we think states should have as much local control over laws as possible. on the other hand, we want law and order, and sometimes the two clash. you know, that's just part of the challenge of the evolving

discourse in america. >> congressman jack kingston, want to welcome you to the cnn family. you are now a cnn political commentator. good to have you on our team. >> thank you, wolf. >> always good to have michael eric dyson with us. the book, here it is "tears we cannot stop, a sermon to white america." it's a "new york times" best seller. michael, always good to have you here with us as well. thank you. >> it sounds like a plot for a murder mystery blockbuster. the half brother of the north korean dictator attacked by a woman in an airport. he is poisoned, dies just a short time later. after the break, we're going to tell you how the plot gets thicker. when you have something you love, you want to protect it. at legalzoom, our network of attorneys can help you every step of the way. with an estate plan

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. it's classified as a weapon of mass destruction and authorities believe it was used in the killing of kim jong-nam. he died after two women accosted him at the airport. malaysi malaysi malaysian police claim the women wiped his face with some sort of liquid. alexanddra tell us about the substance that was found on kim's face. >> reporter: hey, wolf, they're now saying thit is the most pott nerve substance. it is a highly lethal substance. it can kill people within minutes. just a couple of dabs a swab of

a liquid or vapor to kill somebody or stop them from breathing. you saw this video, it shows kim jong-nam, it shows the woman approaching him, appears to be the moment of attack, shortly after that he goes to seek medical attention. reports feeling dizzy and dies in the balance. now we have officials saying this vx agent was is cause of death. it was developed back in the 1950s, also a chemical weapon that experts tell us can be easily developed by countries that have chemical weapons programs, but what is alarming is that such a small amount is needed, it is an odorless substance. officials say they do not know

how it got into the country and reached the airport but they say they do believe that the women were given the substance by four north korean men but believe all four of those men are now back in pong yang, wolf. >> they have that substance, deadly substance on their own hands, yet they're okay, they're in custody, right? >> reporter: that's right, they're in custody along with another north koreans, they have been before critical, and insisted there was no poisoning of kim jong-nam, and insisting that this man died of a quote heart stroke, and these two women suspected of poisoning him would have been exposed an didn't suffer any consequences, investigators are looking at possibilities whether or not

these women were equipped with gloves or barrier, and say that the women were trains how to properly deploy this nerve agent. and these kind of chemical weapons can exist in binary forms, they have two components that need to be combined to become lethal. all this wild investigation that continue to happen here, wolf. >> his body is still there. have they done a full autopsy, do you know? >> reporter: it is the center f diplomatic tensions, you have a fight over north korea for the body. the malaysian officials have really dug in saying they will not release the body without next-of-kin coming to identify them, right now north koreans

refusing to help provide that, wolf. >> thanks very much. that's it for me. thanks very much for watching-. i'll be back 5:00 p.m. in the situation room. for our viewers in north america and newsroom continues with brooke baldwin right after the break.

this is cnn breaking news. breaking news here on cnn i'm brooke baldwin. the breaking news is the fact that we have just learned here at cnn that cnn has been blocked from a white house gaggle. a gaggle essentially informal gathering of print radio, television to be briefed in this case by the white house. the white house daily briefing not happening today. and traditionally h