. welcome to "inside politics." i'm john king. president trump minutes away from a big speech to a labor union meeting in washington. we'll take you there live when it happens. also breaking nous oews out of white house, the white house reaction to a gas attack in syria. plus a little bit of trump style bad cop good cop on health care. the president threatens house

conservatives, but the vice president meets them with a very different message. let's make a deal. >> there is no deal in principle. there is a solid idea that was offered that as we look at we'll have to evaluate as it affects premiums, but i can tell you that the vice president did a good job of articulating that and we are certainly encouraged by the progress we seem to be making. >> in the senate poised to go nuclear meaning here in washington a dramatic rules change smcho respects can overc opposition to president trump supreme court pick. >> this is going to be very bad. let me tell you what's going to happen. the judge the will become more ideologic ideological. it's so unnecessary. >> with us to share their reporting and insights, margaret

of bloom berg politics matt and cnn dana bash. i want to start with this warning. if you have children in the room, you might want to ask them to leave. these images are quite graphic. at least ten children and dozens more men and women killed when air strikes pelted a city. human rights group say the victims did not die from shrapnel. imaging escaping that war torn country, you don't see the typical country we're used to seeing from gunfire. that's not what we see. these pictures are horrible. victims choked to death. poisoned activists say by a still unidentified tox iic gas chemical. videos show people struggling to breathe. others already laying motionless. the images are already prompting sharp criticism here at home who

was a fierce critic of the obama policy. says the new administration is also showing weakness. >> i'm sure they took note of what of our secretary of state said just the other day that the syrian people would be determining their own future themselves. one of the more incredible statements i've ever heard given the involvement of the iranians, of the russians, and of course the barrel bottoming and precision strikes by russian aircraft into hospitals in aleppo. so i'm sure they're encouraged to know that the united states is withdrawing and seeking some kind of new arrangement with the russians and it is another disgraceful chapter in american history and it was predictable. >> that's senator john mccain on cnn this morning. we have not heard from president trump on this heinous attack. we did just moments ago hear from his press secretary sean spicer. today's chemical attack in syria against innocent people including women and children is

reprehensible and cannot be ignored by the civilized world. these actions are a consequence of the past administration as weakness in irresolution. he went on to talk about president obama throwing the so-called red line. there is no question the obama administration did draw a red line and did not do much in syria. donald trump is the president now. you can look back and blake, but what does this president do? i don't think i've heard him speak the word syria since he became president. this past week his u.n. ambassador, his secretary of state has said our focus is not on getting assad out of power. what do they do? >> that's really not that this is about politics. this is a tragedy right now, but politically and in the u.s. the positioning is unfortunate for president trump because his administration's entire attack was we're focusing on isis, not on getting asad osad out. this tells why it's such a

problem. >> when the world focuses on isis and not getting assad out. >> we're seeing notes from the briefing and he's saying that the position on assad was not an issue of being comfortable with him but a reflection of the political realities on the ground. that may be true. but this is going to force at least a reexamination of the way the administration talks about it and perhaps a reexamination of what they're willing to do about it. >> the other thing is the first instinct is to point the finger somewhere else, to the obama administration which no question they were muddled over how to handle syria, but trump now has the white house and he's not talking about -- at least not yet about what his role should be for the united states. and they sort of have been soft on assad. saying that it's changing the u.s. policy on how we deal with assad and keeping him in place.

>> the obama administration failed. i don't think they would dispute that. the president drew a red line and then he looked at a menu of really bad options and he wasn't willing to do things other people -- john mccain said send in deadly weapons. help the opposition more. now we're six years later but we're 75 days into a new administration. whatever they inherited, whatever right they have to say we didn't start this or the problem's worse because of what we inherited, he's the president. what does he do? >> you said this isn't about politics and you're right. it's about possible. what is the policy? we don't have a clue what his policy is. you mentioned earlier in the green room, and i think this is a good point, the president of the united states had the microphone. he had lots and lots of cameras. >> this morning. >> this morning. talking to ceos about a different topic, but that never stopped him before. he could have used the time to

stand up and say this is wrong. children no matter where they are in the world, innocent civilians, men women and children alike should not be gassed like this. even if he said we need to figure out how to do it, just to say that would signal to every ally in the world, every foe in the world that at least he's engaged, he's interested in it. >> it's a routine practice. something happens in the country and they say i'll get to what i'm here for in a minute but i have something i need to say. he did not say that. he passed on the opportunity. we'll see the president at the bottom of the hour. we'll see if he brings it up then. but what strikes me is the president, presidents have to pick. presidency is about choices. sometimes awful bad choices. but the president has been quite public saying china must help us in north korea or else we will act alone. we have not heard him saying putin must help us in syria or else we will finish the sentence. >> we haven't at all. what we've seen is a dramatic escalation in the campaign against isis. marines waded a shore a few weeks ago in syria.

the trump administration started to keep some of that hidden. we don't know if that -- if you have american forces in the field, does that change how you respond to assad? i'm relatively okay looking backward saying hold on a second, this isn't our mask. but i am struck by the absence of any reference to assad -- >> to get back to what sean spicer said, to his credit, reprehensible. cannot be ignored by the civilized world. these actions are a consequence, then he goes on to pass the blame, president obama said in 2012 peeled establi 2012 we would establish a red line. what do we hear from the president? the choices here are all bad. there's no attitude among the american people and there's no real option if assad is in power

to send troops in. there was talk in the war about -- most of that have crumbled. so there aren't great options, but we could at least more some moral outrage from the president of the united states. >> or where do you turn as text tillerson not having -- having some diplomacy, reaching out to the allies building a coalition to go up against what's happening in syria which is when john kerry tried to do and was unsuccessful. >> let's listen, again, i don't believe the president, somebody correct me if i'm wrong, i don't believe trump has addressed this issue at all in his first 75 days. his united nations ambassador has. did an interview with martha in abc this week where she said our fougs focus is not on regime change anymore. they couldn't figure out how to effect regime change. but she did have very tough words about the syrian

president. >> he is a war criminal. he has done terrible things to his own people. he has used chemical weapons on his own people. he continues to be a hin drans to peace. we want him to pay for the crimes that he's done. we're not going to stop beating up on him. we're not going to stop saying the way he treats people is wrong. that he has actually killed his own people. >> i would love to know her conversations with the white house right now. she laid down that marker on sunday. he's a war criminal. we still want justice for him. he's a war criminal, we want justice. that's sunday. what do you say after you see these pictures? >> president trump so much of his kpcampaign posture was to s that a u.s. president can actually do a lot or not do a lot based on how tough they talk, how seriously other leaders take the threat. so his next steps will be a measure of how he puts his campaign rhetoric into action. >> if that's the reminder playing that sound bite from the weekend from nikki haley, it's

not the first time we have seen her act like a traditional republican, a traditional republican leader on such issues. >> almost get out ahead of the white house trying to pull them along with her. >> exactly. i know the first time she did this i believe it was on vladimir putin i was told from sources familiar with the conversations that she didn't just freelance. she did it and toll the white house she was going to do it. i'm sure she do the same thing. she was put out on these shows and obviously syria was going to be a question she was asked. the question is whether or not she is going to pull anybody in the white house along. >> a day after she said that, sean spicer from the podium said assad in power is the political reality and they've made the peace from the political reality. nikki haley herself had rather soft things about assad the previous week. those sunday show appearances, i don't think she's freelancing exactly, but i don't know how closely they're watching what she says from the united nations. >> she has a horrible tragedy to

help her make her case. as we go to break, this is what the president said during the campaign. assad is fighting isis. russia is fighting isis. we have to do one thing at a time. that was his emphasis during the campaign. we'll see what the president says about this tragedy. we're not going to be gratuitous with these images, but they are reprehensible. up income the spy novel playing out here in washington unfurls a few more character twists. r spo. but for both of them, the most challenging opponent was... pe blood clots in my lung. it was really scary. a dvt in my leg. i had to learn all i could to help protect myself. my doctor and i choose xarelto® xarelto®... to help keep me protected. xarelto® is a latest-generation blood thinner... ...that's proven to treat and reduce the risk of dvt and pe blood clots from happening again. in clinical studies, almost 98% of patients on xarelto® did not experience another dvt or pe.

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no, not a tom clancy volume. just another day in russia's election meddling. three people certain to be on the witness list as the house and senate intelligence committee advanced. carter page, eric prince and susan rice. those investigations going forward. new developments here, carter paige, he was already of interest because of election year trips to russia while he was listed as an adviser to the trump campaign. now before a buzzfeed page confirms he meet with an agent in new york, that agent posing as a banker. he says he gave this russian aide his business card. the federal complaint against that agent says the russians were trying to recruit male number one, age now confirms that's him to become a russian spy. you can't make this stuff up. you just can't make this stuff up. paige says he did nothing wrong. page says he met with this guy,

it was a couple years ago and it has nothing to do with donald trump. if you read the court documents, they allege this russian agent was trying to recruit spies. it's a great spy novel. great theater. great drama. what does it have to with with these investigations now? >> the ties with trump i think are what needs to be explored a little bit. we know trump in a board meeting said paige was one of his advisers on foreign policy. so what happened after that, how close was paige with trump? this seems to solidify the ties between paige and russians. he had interactions so deep that they were recruiting him to be a spy for russia. so those ties appear deep, but what the relevance with trump and currently? >> it adds to the need to look at the campaign timing trips to russia. every time these guys come out and say i had no contacts, some contacts, i've never actually spoken. didn't actually meet with them.

well, i met with them. this is not the left you'll hear of these carter paige meetings. as officials go through the campaign timing meetings with russians, they're going to be looking at that extremely closely. >> i had a senior administration official say to me the russia story for them is death by 1,000 cuts. this is probably one of the deepest, though, because the notion that carter paige, okay, he may or may not have been really close with the campaign. we don't know. >> they used his name. >> when they didn't have anybody else that would vouch for the president. they put it on the letterhead. that happens a lot. we understand that all covering campaigns. but the notion that this guy was on the letterhead, who the president did tell "the washington post" that he is an adviser was actually recruited to potentially be a russian spy? i mean, if this was just in a vacuum, it will be wow. the fact that it's up against

all the other questions about the president's ties or alleged ties to russia -- >> it only partway matters that he may have had no idea and none of these trump officials may have had an idea how they were being used as pawns. that is added to the fact that this is an administration whose calling card was they were not government insiders, they don't have bureaucratic experience. trump's posture during the campaign was we can maybe have a different relationship with russia and the wikileaks, the hacking. when you put it all together, many of that campaign postures have put them in this position where until we go through this, these questions are going to hangover. >> and until we go through this, even if there's nothing, we're on day 75, we're still learning new things about contactins or

meetings that are of interest to investigators. it's a cloud over the president. plot twist today, "the washington post" reporting on eric prince. the ceo of blackwater, it was a private security firm. mostly exmilitary people. got in a lot of trouble with some deaths over there. he was a ce oero. he was a trump donor, the -- between him and a russian close to vladimir putin is part of an effort to establish a back channel line of communication between moscow and president-elect donald trump according to u.s., european and arab officials. this meeting took place on january 11th. nine days before the trump inauguration and a little bit of time after the first public report about the investigations into russia election meddling. >> not flagged from the state department if i remember that part of the asrticle as well.

that's what add flavors. it was a real back channel. >> right. the emirates are viewed as an ally by the state department. you usually give a heads up if you're coming to the united states to have meetings. so people again say why all the hush hush? >> think about the timing of this, too. i mean, you had the controversy over russia with trump was sort of boiling. you knew the obama was taking actions to go after russia and sort of penalize them for some of those things. yet the trump administration incoming was still sort of doing this back channel stuff. trying to -- eric prince says this was business and had nothing to do with any of this trump stuff. >> okay. by the way, you forgot to mention his sister is in the trump cabinet. >> let's turn to character twist number three which is the one that republicans want to talk about. we've had a lot of conversations and we've confused all of you

watching in real america about so-called unmasking, devin nunes, the house intelligence committee going down to the white house to see documents, getting help seeing those documents, then going home to leap and coming back to brief the president. i know i've confused you. now we're hearing there was a report by bloom berg yesterday that one of the allegations that is susan rice, the national security adviser to president obama saw some intelligence reporting. in it were mentioned unnamed -- perfectly legal surveillance of foreign interests and in there were mentioned some conversations with trump transition officials and she asked the question who are these people? who are these people? first i want to show you this. this is susan rice a short time ago on the pbs news hour with judy woodruff. when asked at first the house intelligence committee chairman devin nunes says there was unmasking done by obama administration officials. >> i know nothing about this. i was surprised to see reports

from chairman nunes on that count today. i really don't know to what chairman nunes was referring, but he said that whatever he was referring to a legal, lawful surveillance and that it was potentially incidental collection on american citizens. >> remember the beginning of that. i know nothing about this. this is the same susan rice moments ago on msnbc. >> there were occasions when i would receive a report in which a u.s. person was referred to. name not provided. just u.s. person. and sometimes in that context, in order to understand the importance of the report and assess its significance, it was necessary to find out or request the information as to what that u.s. official was. >> not to be a jerk here, but

will the real susan rice please stand up. >> the second part of that is a perfectly logical explanation of how unmasking works. the problem is that the previous comment where she denies any knowledge of it. so she can't in the same breath -- >> welcome to the witness list. again, she goes on to say -- actually, let's play a little bit more of the interview where she says yes, this was my job. granted she told judy she knew nothing about this. this was my job. i was doing my job. i was trying to understand a foreign policy question. i was not being political. >> this is not anything political has been alleged. the allegation is that somehow the obama administration officials utilized intelligence for political purposes. that's absolutely false. >> she's going to get a chance to make that case now to the house and to the senate intelligence committee. i want to say this before i bring you guys into the conversation. there's an easy way to go through this and everybody's interest can be served.

she can testify before those committees. the president of the united states could declassify with the stroke of a pen all these documents we're talking about so she could explain what she did and be questioned on it and the american people could find out what's actually in the documents to see if it is anything nefarious. >> can we just take a step back and remember what was it two weeks ago that devin nunes start t ed this whole bizarre sub plot that is now becoming more of a main story line about getting information from a source, going to the white house and it turns out the white house was a source. all of that. what does it mean? it means that as crazy as that sounded, as crazy as that looked, now you have the former obama nsc director on television having to defend herself and that's what understandably we're all talking about. so that's exactly what the republicans in congress and most importantly the white house, the president on down, wanted. they wanted us to be talking about this and not what we were talking about earlier, the

carter paige questions and others about the trump administration or then campaign or then businesses ties to russia. >> but there are 24 hours in a day and there are 12 months in a year. if this is just a smoke screen -- if anybody in the obama administration did anything wrong in unmasking and didn't play politics, they should be exposed for that. back to my previous conversation, we can walk and chew gum. we can continue the investigation felt russia interest what ich is what the president is trying to -- >> the problem is the unmasking is sort of a step towards the leaks and the white house quite understandably is pointing to leaks of what we all think is classified information about michael flynn. >> let's take our time and investigate it all. we're watching the president of the united states. he's about to speak to the building and labor trades here. an important labor meeting here in washington. right now the president wants to talk about jobs in the economy. let's stick on this as we wait for the president to start his speech in the sense that okay -- he's stepping up now.

let's listen. >> i know them too well. they cost me a lot of money. i spent a lot of money, but i love them and they're great and their people are fantastic. nobody does it like you people, right? nobody. we talked about that. incredible. incredible people. so it's great to be back with america's builders. so did you ever think you'd see a president who knows how much concrete and rebar you can lay down in a single day? believe me, i know. i know. we're a nation of builders. and it was about time we had a bill builder in the white house, right? we have a builder. i want to thank sean mcgarvey

and the entire governing board of presidents for honoring me with this great invitation. i love that it's in washington. because i don't have to travel very far. it worked out pretty well i have to tell you. five minutes. sean took part in one of our very first meetings at the white house. he mentioned it. i promise you that america's labor leaders will always find an open door with donald trump. [ cheers and applause ] >> always. [ cheers and applause ] >> just look at the amazing talent assembled here. we have iron workers, insulators. never changes, does it with the ironworkers? let's hear it. laborers. [ cheers and applause ] >> painters. [ cheers and applause ] >> fitters. [ cheers and applause ]

. >> plumbers. operators. they're operators all right. i'll tell you that. electricians. not that good. where it's my local three? where's local three. that wasn't that good. they became so rich, they don't have to -- let's do that again. electricians. [ cheers and applause ] >> that's better. break layers. [ cheers and applause ] >> boilermakers. elevator construct ors [ cheers and applause ] >> good job. sheet metal workers. [ cheers and applause ] >> roofers. [ cheers and applause ] >> plasterers. well, yeah, that's -- not using as much plaster as we used to no matter how you cut it. sorry about that. i'm not sure i can do much. we brought back the coal miners. i'm not so sure about the plasters, we'll do the best we

can, okay? how about the cement masons? [ cheers and applause ] >> and of course our wonderful teamsters. [ cheers and applause ] . >> that wasn't very good. but really you're the backbone of america with the talent in this room, we can build any city at any time and we can build it better than anyone. [ cheers and applause ] . but we're going to do even better than that. together we are going to rebuild our nation. [ cheers and applause ] >> you're the keepers of the great trades and traditions that built our country. from the new york skyline to the golden ga golden gate bridge, you represent the workers, whose hands, skills and dreams will build the great landmarks of our future. every day your members live out

what i call the american creed. they're on the job before dawn and after dusk and they never quit until that job is done. you know that. [ cheers and applause ] >> we saw this grit on display when the construction trades helped rebuild new york city after 9/11. [ cheers and applause ] >> that was a terrible time. we were all there. that was a terrible time in this country's history. worst attack in the history of our country. worse than pearl harbor. pearl harbor they were attacking military. here they were attacking civilians. worst attack. i saw what happened within a very short period of time we were back rebuilding. and rebuild you did. and i really congratulate. that took a lot of courage and a lot of strength.

thank you. [ cheers and applau [ cheers and applause ] >> the fact is you take pride in every part of your work, every joist, bolt, and rivet. you're not only builders, but you're artisans. very talented people. a lot of people don't understand. you're very talented people. enriching our cities and landscapes with works of great beauty and just as you take pride in your work, our nation takes great, great pride in you, believe me. and it's time that we give you the level playing field you deserve. [ cheers and applause ] >> thank you. thank you, folks. washington and wall street have done very, very well for

themselves. now it's your turn and you're going to be also sharing the wealth. [ cheers and applause ] >> and you know for many years we've been taken advantage of by other countries. all over the world they took advantage of us. we had leaders that didn't have a clue or worse. that's not going to happen anymore, folks. that's not going to happen anymore. you see what's going on right now. in fact, the trade deficit went way down just announced before i got on stage. and i will tell you we're going to have a whole different set of values when it comes to representing our country. that i can tell you yright now. this election was all about returning power to the people. i've spent my life working side by side with american builders and now you have a builder as

your president. [ cheers and applau [ cheers and applause ] >> one of my first acts as president was to stop one of the great sellouts of the american worker. i immediately withdrew the united states from the disaster, this would have been a disaster, this would have been another nafta which by the way is a disaster. i took you out of the trans pacific partnership. [ cheers and applause ] >> thank you. that one wasn't even close. you know it. i know it. everybody knows it. next i cleared the way for the construction of the keystone

exc exc excel and dakota access pipeline. [ cheers and applause ] >> and it's looking like that's going to have about 42,000 jobs involved, those two jobs. that's some number of great people. that's a big, big beautiful -- a lot of people. and sean actually and a whole group joined me in the oval office when we approved the keystone permit. and i joke and i joked that day. i said can you imagine the head of this big canadian company in this case. they build pipelines and they failed. didn't work. they paid millions and millions and hundreds of millions of dollars to consultants and lawyers and they failed. and it was over. and then one day trump wins and a few days later they get a

knock on the door, sir, the keystone pipeline was just approved. can you imagine? i want to see the expression on his face. he's a nice guy. they came to the office. because you know, i did say you have to use american steel. you have to fabricate it here. they had already bought 60%, 70% of it, so you can't be too wild, right? but i was signing the order and i said where did they buy this steel? i didn't like the answer. i said who fabricated the steel? i didn't like the answer. i said from now on we're going to put a clause. it's got to be made in america. we want american steel made in america. [ cheers and applause ] >> 100%. and you'll be hearing more about this in the very near future,

but as time goes by, let's say over the next 7 3/4 years, meaning eight years, buy american and hire american. that's what it's going to be. [ cheers and applause ] >> and that's not just a slogan. it's a promise. believe me. that's a promise. [ cheers and applause ] >> the era of economic surrender has come to an end. it's come to an end. we have surrendered as a country to outside interest. the era of economic victory for our country has just begun. you will see. no longer will we listen to those failed consultants who have made one wrong prediction after another, delivering soaring trade deficits and a big

fat shrinking work force. for decades we've watched as our factories have shuddered, almost 70,000 factories, our jobs have been stolen and blue collar wages have declined. we've seen the economic pain inflicted on our fellow americans. we didn't just offshore our jobs. we offshored a big part of the american dream. we enriched foreign countries at the expense of our own country, the great united states of america. but those days are over. [ cheers and applause ] >> i'm not, and i don't want to be the president of the world. i'm the president of the united states. and from now on, it's going to be america first. [ cheers and applause ]

>> we're going to bring back our jobs and yes, we're going to bring back the american dream. as i travel the nation, i heard the pleas of the forgotten men and women of our country. the people who work hard and play by the rules, but who don't have a voice. together we are their voice and they will never, ever be forgotten again. that i can tell you. i don't know if you saw, but if you watch the democrats now, the anger, the anger, the hatred and they're trying to figure out where did all these people came that voted for donald trump? remember they said, because the electoral college is very, very hard. they say almost impossible for a republican to win. the odds are stacked. and they would say there's no way to 270. you need 270.

there's no way to 270. i heard that so much. for a year i kept saying maybe i shouldn't be running. you know, sean, maybe i shouldn't run, because there's no way. the people are telling me. the same people that say all of the bad stuff, they're saying there's no way to 270. but there was a way to 306. but wasn't that an exciting one? you know, places that nobody -- donald trump has won the state of michigan. they go what? donald trump has won the state of wisconsin. they came out of the blue. we didn't even need them. and we love those two states. because we won the state of pennsylvania and we won ohio and iowa and north carolina and south carolina and florida and so many others. we ran the coast. and if you don't run it, you can't win. huge disadvantage, the electo l college. they say almost impossible for a republican to win.

but i had the support of i would say almost everybody in this room. we had tremendous -- we had tremendous support. we did. we had tremendous support. we had tremendous support. and i'll tell you, we really had the support of the workers. we had tremendous support of the workers. would you like to make a change, folks? would you like to make a change? because if anybody wants to make a change, you won't be having so many jobs. that i can tell you. your jobs will be a whole different story. because in the last decade you lost over 750 -- think of this. 750,000 construction jobs. real wages in the construction sector have fallen more than 15% since the 1970s. we ranked 39th in the world for construction permitting. and approvals for infrastructure projects can take up to ten years. since taking office, i've signed

one action after another to eliminate job killing regulations that stand in the way. i had a chart. is that chart around here someplace? did you have that? i have to show this chart to you because it's amazing actually. this is -- if you want to build a highway in the united states, these are some of the permits that you need. it's a process that can take way over ten years and it just never happens. ten at the end of the period they vote against it. we're getting rid of many of these regulations. you have to go through 17 agencies. many permits in each agency. in february alone we added almost 60,000 new construction jobs to the country.

i ordered expedited environmental ro environment environmental reviews for infrastructure. no longer will you have to wait year after year for approvals that never come. i also took historic action to lift the restrictions on american energy production and to put our miners who have been treated horribly back to work. consumer confidence -- [ cheers and applause ] >> they're great people. consumer confidence is at the  highest level in more than a decade. you've seen all of the charts. all of the studies. the national association of manufacturers just the other day reported the most apoptimism in the entire history of its survey, which is an old survey, 93% of manufacturers are optimistic about the future. so almost 27% lower than that

just a few months ago. the home builders confidence index is at its highest level in 12 years. and now in breaking news, it was just reported today the monthly u.s. trade deficit declined by 10% for a reason. not by accident. believe me. it's for a reason. we're also going to protect your jobs by protecting our borders. my administration is just a matter of weeks, literally a short period of time, has brought record reductions to illegal immigration. record reductions. down 61% since inauguration. general kelly is doing a fantastic job. and we'll crack do you know on visa abusers that undermine the american worker and we're doing that right now. [ cheers and applause ] >> these and so many other

achievements have defined our first ten weeks in office. we've done so much for the worker. we've done so much for the military. we've done so much for the police officers. our men in blue and women in blue who are not treated fairly. we're fighting for workers of all backgrounds and from all walks of life. but to achieve true progress, we must remember our legacy. we're the nation that built the tallest skyscrapers on what was once the hudson river and putneyi put neon lights of las vegas in the middle of the desert. but if they continue to punish american builders, then we will not be that nation any longer. i'm calling on all americans, democrat, republican, independent, to come together and take part in the great rebuilding of our country. that is why --

[ cheers and applause ] that is why in my address to congress i called on lawmakers to pass legislation that produces a $1 trillion investment in the infrastructure of our country, and we need it. [ cheers and applause ] >> with your help, we can rebuild our country's bridges, airports, seaports and water systems. we will streamline the process to get approvals quickly so that long delayed projects can finally move ahead. and with lower taxes on america's middle class and business, we will see a new surge of economic growth and development. all of you have come to the nation's capital to call members of the house and senate to action. you've also called your president to action.

when you see them, you tell congress that america's building trades and its president are very much united. [ cheers and applause ] >> together we are ready to break new ground. we will build in the spirit of one of the great projects in our nation's history, an enduring symbol of american strength. the empire state building was forged in the great depression. and provided jobs for more than 3,000 workers. we've all seen the pictures. rugged workers perched dozens and dozens of stories up in the air. workers like these moved almost

60,000 tons of steel, installed 200,000 cubic feet of stone and laid 10 million bricks to build that american icon. and they did the job in a record time. 13 months. hard to believe. think of that for a state building. built in 13 months during the depression. nowadays you couldn't even get a building permit or approval in that amount of time. when the workers had secured the last piece of steel in that a phasing and beautiful structure, they marked the moem ment as we still do today with what is called a topping out ceremony. 1,050 feet above the streets of new york city they hoisted a beautiful and great american flag. [ cheers and applause ]

>> they did a good job. they did -- those iron workers. you better believe it. it was an american flag that represented american projects. the big, bold and daring dream of one man and then one city and then finally one people. that banner marked our nation's proud climb to the top of the world. our people endured through the hardships of depression. and the battles of world war ii and they emerged from these trials stronger and more united than ever before. now we must again summon that same national greatness to meet the challenges of our time. only miles from the halls of congress and the newsrooms of washington, you will find once thriving cities marred by empty lots and once booming industrial towns that have become rusted and are in total disrepair. standing before me today in this

very hall are the men and women who have given the chance can transform these communities. you are the citizens who can rebuild our cities, revive our industries, and renew our beloved country and i know you will stop at nothing to get the job done. [ cheers and applause ] >> for the rest of their lives, everyone who worked on the empire state building knew when they looked up at that great new york skyline that they had lifted the stars and sprietripe top the tallest flag pole on earth and that somewhere high a above the city streets their place in history was carved into beams of steel. we are trials of on ur times.

we too will maenemerge stronger more united than ever before t.'s happening. when we rise above the scynics and critics, then we too will construct a lasting monument to national greatness. in this future our nation's workers and craftsmen will look way out and they will build new dr bridges and new schools and new landmarks and they will raise up for all to see a bright and beautiful american flag. and when we see that flag, we will remember that we all share one american home, one american heart, and one american destiny. may god bless our nation's builders. may god bless our nation's workers. and may god bless the united

states of america. thank you very much. [ cheers and applause ] >> the president of the united states donald trump speaking there to the national association of building trade unions here in washington, d.c. his prior life as a biller in the construction industry, in real estate coming forward there as he mentioned the electricians, the plasterers, the brick layers. interesting as we unpack this from the president. he said the era of economic surrender has ended. an optimistic message when it came to the economy. he also said at one point in this speech and this was probably written a couple days ago, but he did say he didn't want to be the president of the world, a line that jumps out because we're looking at images out of syria. the president has had two public events in which he has not mention ds mentioned a tragedy that is being commented on around the

world. syrian government has denied being behind it, but an attack where you can see children writhing in pain, some sort of gas attack. we don't read minds here, but it's a conscious choice by a white house not to comment on something. >> rex tillerson was also asked a state department and ignored questions, so it does seem an administrative wide lack of response. if you are someone who wants america to have moral outrage at an event like this, then it's lacking. >> american exceptionalism is a line often used by people who support this president. if nothing else, we must have a standing world as a moral force. >> none of our business threat, and there are some conflicting notions here. we need to get involved to wipe out isis, but we don't need to get involved to take out assad. there are some conflicting -- >> american exceptionalism is what we have become used to from

republicans, not this republican. >> within his party -- >> no question. and look, this was a very specific speech about labor. you could see he was very much in his comfort zone. these are the people that he's worked with his whole career. but i really want to underscore what you said. the fact that he revived a line from his inaugural address about we're about america first in the context of what the horrific attack that we're watching in syria, it just felt -- >> it seems like a choice t. . y it may not have been a choice. the white house may want to take care to have the nsd coordinate with the intelligence committee and know as best they can what happened before they make an affirmative statement. >> why not say that? >> easy to say we're gathering information. what i saw today was horrific. he could say that. infrastructure spending, labor unions, tell your congressman to

appropriate the money for the infrastructure bill which is coming. >> great words for chuck schumer. it was also striking, it's five months from when he was elected and he still devotes two or three minutes of almost every appearance before a group to talking about the election and talking about his election victory. he's still reliving that moment. >> he probably got a lot of votes from people in that room. my first job was a labor writer and they're among the most republican. we're out of time. wolf blitzer up after a quick break. you won't want to miss it. see you tomorrow.

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hello, i'll wolf blitz ser. wherever you're watching from around the world, thafrpnks ver much for joining us. president trump says he's revving up the economy by slashing red tape in washington. the president spoke to a round table of business leaders just a little while ago. he wrapped up a speech to building trade union leaders just a few minutes ago as well. >> i don't want to be the president of the world. i'm the president of the