and the 50th anniversary of robert kennedy's presidential run and death. kennerly, and former cbs and nbc news reporter marvin cowell talk about the media's role in 1968 as part of c-span's 1968, america in turmoil series. c-span'so watch washington journal, live at 7:00 eastern sunday morning. join the discussion. hour,hin the last president trump wrapped up a rally just outside of detroit. the event was happening as members of the media gathered in washington for the annual white house correspondents dinner. this is the second year in a row the president has chosen to skip the dinner and hold an event with supporters, instead. we will be covering the dinner later this evening, live at 930 eastern. first, here's a portion of the president's remarks from earlier.

>> the open border policies of the democratic party are not just wrong,k they are dangerous and deadly. they make, no sense they are deadly. their policies let some of the most vicious gangs in the world puoour into our country. in long island, you have gang members that are so tough that we send in these incredible ice agents. they are much tougher, and are grabbing them.

doctor, please. take your time. [laughter] -- [applause]

>> we love you. >> we love you, donald trump.

[applause] [applause] >> those are the people we love,

those are great people. and the doctors, thank you, dr., great job. amazing what people we have. going the way we are going. you know what -- what we did, they are calling a miracle. i do not think it was a miracle. do you remember on election day, it was really the day before but it was 12:00 in the evening. when i started speaking in grand rapids. grand rapids he says, grand rapids. it was an unexpected stop but i heard the opponent was going out with the president. and they were going out also unexpected and they had a very small crowd. when i heard that, we left where we were and we decided to go to michigan. grand rapids.

and i got there at 12:00 in the evening. remember that? and i said -- how is the crowd? we could not get near the arena. there were 32,000 people. i finished speaking at 1:00 in the morning on election day. 32,000 people. michigan had not been won in many years. and i said -- wait a minute -- we had 32,000 people. i got home at 3:00 in the morning. and i said -- tell me why are we going to lose michigan? we had 32,000 people. 1:00 in the morning. and even beyond. nobody left. everybody -- we had a great time, right?

and, i said -- so, why are we going to lose michigan? and they said because republicans lose michigan. and i said -- wait a minute -- wait a minute, i am bringing the plants that and we will win michigan and quite easily. remember that? i always said -- i made that speech, my last speech. i made that speech on election day because by the time we finished it was 1:00 and election day. this november, every american, will face a choice. now, they say if the house does not make it -- it is very important. you have great congressmen. these are great people and thank you, but we have to keep the house. if you listen to maxine waters -- >> [booing]

pres. trump: she goes around saying -- we will impeach him. but the people say -- he has not done anything wrong. oh, that does not matter, we will impeach the president. so, i do not think we are going to have a lot of people if that -- i don't think we are going to have a lot of happy people if that happens. i think it will be a little bit tough. but she goes around and some others -- we are going to impeach him. it doesn't matter if you do anything right or wrong. we have got to win the house. and you know what? we are going to win anyway. we have to win the house. we are going to win the house. now, historically, when you win the presidency, the person that wins, the party that wins, does poorly in what they call the midterms. and the reason is i guess you take it easy a little bit. right? something happens. 93% of the time.

do you know what it is? you get complacent. we cannot be complacent. right? we have got to go out. we have got to go out and fight like hell and we have to win the house and the senate and i think we are going to do great in the senate and i think we are going to do great in the house. because, the economy is so good. the economy is so good. [applause] and because if you look at us, all around the world, we are respected again. we are not pushovers anymore. we are not pushovers. you saw the president of france come in. great guy. chancellor merkel came in yesterday from germany. it will all be fine. look, again, do not blame them. blame the people that used to stand here with much smaller crowds, but that is ok.

[laughter] blame your american presidents and your american representatives. but, it is not happening anymore. we are respected again as a nation. we are not the patsies anymore. we are not the pushovers anymore. >> [cheering] pres. trump: by the way, speaking of not being a patsy or a pushover, have you ever watch corey lewandowski? >> [cheering] [applause] pres. trump: he also had very little experience. he only ran one campaign and he won so he is one for one. say a few words.

>> this is trump country. thank you for supporting donald j. trump for your next president. pres. trump: thank you. i saw them back there. they work hard. these are great people. ok, ready? we need more republicans. we have to get more republicans. they say we have a majority. we need more to get it done. we will get it done one way or another but we need more. with your help, we will elect more republicans and we will deliver even more. again, other than health care , which frankly we got rid of the individual mandate, the worst part of obamacare.

[applause] we are doing association health care theory soon. -- we are doing association health care very soon. it is coming out over the next couple of weeks which will be incredible where you can buy great health care, highly competitive. i used to talk during the debates -- get rid of the state lines. you will be able to go out and buy great health care at a very low and competitive price. and a essentially, we are getting rid of obamacare. some people would say that we have essentially gotten rid of it. but, you no longer have the individual mandate. you remember what that is. that is when you had the privilege of going out and spending a lot of money so that you had the second privilege of not having to buy health care. so, you paid for the privilege of not buying health care. we got rid of it in the tax cut plan. big things. big things.

that was so unconstitutional. that was the worst part of obamacare. we got rid of that and you see what is going on and we are really producing. and except for one vote, remember the one vote? 3:00 in the morning, thumbs down. what a vote that was. what a vote that was. that was some vote. but, despite that, it is going to come out great. we have gotten rid of a lot of obamacare. we will get rid of the rest. we got you the tax cuts. we want every american to know the dignity of work, the pride of a paycheck, and the satisfaction of a job well done. there is nothing like it. together, we can lift millions of americans from welfare to work, from dependence to independence, and from poverty to prosperity.

we are supporting job training and we are supporting vocational schools, right? vocations. i said to the guys -- i said -- these community colleges are wonderful but no one really knows what a community college is. when i was growing up, we had things called vocational schools . i would go to a school and i would be sitting next to a guy -- i never looked at his papers because he did not do well. and on the other side, i would have someone, not too good. but you know what? they could take an engine apart blindfolded and fix it. they could build a brick wall better than all of the guys in the class together. they could do things that nobody else could do. and nobody knows what a community college is.

we are going to start using -- and we had this -- vocational schools where you learn trades and you will do it, and you will love it, and you will make it -- make much more money than anything else you can do. right? and those are the people we need in our country right now. we need skilled people and when people come across the border, we want to take them in but we want to take them in based on merit and not based on a lottery. lottery. lottery. we want them to come in based on skill and merit so they can love our country, they can help our country, they can do things for our country. not come in based on some random lottery system. and that will happen. it is all happening. we are going to build new bridges, airports, and highways and waterways all across this magnificent land.

and you know what we are doing with your locks? we will do that as soon as i get back. i told your congressman -- write that name down for me. the army corps of engineers. we will be calling them. it could be tonight. it might be tomorrow even though it is a sunday. can i call them on a sunday? your lock is not working too well. it has not been fixed in 50 years, in all fairness. it would be nice to fix it. after spending all of that money in the middle east and we cannot fix a lock. we will get it fixed. we will put new steel into the spine of our country, and breathe new life and hope into our beautiful communities. in everything we do in every decision that we make, we will stand up and be proud. we will be proud of america again.

we are going to stand up for america. and we are not going to apologize anymore for america. you know, i told you before that we have done a lot, more than anyone in a year. and honestly, it just feels like we have been here a long time together because the fight has been a long fight. but, did you ever think we would have accomplished what we have accomplished in this short period of time? part of the problem the country had, and why we are doing so well in wages are going up is because we had regulations which were staggering. it would take 20 years to get a highway or a roadway of approved environmentally. it would take years and years to get the simplest permits. i got rid of those rules and regulations.

by the way, we will have crystal clean water. we will have beautiful, clean air. we will be great. we will reject people if they do not have the right project. but projects are not going to take 18 years to get approved. and then in many cases, it is thumbs down after working 18 years. no, we are going to get it done. we are going to stand up for places like detroit that need help. we are going to stand up. and we're going to stand up for great states like michigan and we have done that. this is the state where henry ford invented the assembly line. this is it. this is the state that gave us motown, the mustang, and the might of the american midwest. it is a great state. it is where generations of proud

workers at general motors and chrysler, and kellogs transformed our nation and changed the entire world. we were the leader and we are the leader again and everyone is being it. -- seeing it. and we have increased the values over the last 16 months tremendously. we are almost twice the size of the next largest economy. remember that. don't forget that. don't forget that. and we are going to be growing very fast. it is time to look past the old divisions, the tired thinking, the stale debates of the past and come together as one nation under god. one nation under god. [applause] pres. trump: we are one people with one home and one great

american destiny. remember what i said. they are looking at us all over the world. when chancellor merkel came in to see me, she said -- congratulations, mr. president. what you have done is incredible with your economy. when the president of france came in to see me, president macron, wonderful guy. we like to shake each other's hand. he is a great guy. and she is terrific. but, you know what? she is from germany. he is from france. i am from the usa. >> [chanting, "usa"] pres. trump: but when emmanuel came in and when angela came in they said -- amazing.

congratulations. what we have done in a short period of time is incredible. regulations. we have cut more regulations in these 15-16 months than any other president has cut in four years, eight years, or as you know, fdr, in one case 16 years and it is not even close. we inherit the legacy of the great americans who constructed the railroads, tamed the frontiers, else the highways, carved out the panama canal, and put a man on the face of the moon. and by the way, excuse me, do you see how our space program is going?

a little different. and we are letting those rich guys that like rockets -- go ahead, pay us some rent. you can use cape canaveral. just pay us rent and spend that money. pretty amazing, right? how about when the engines come down, they come down and they land so they can use them again. that looks like a futuristic, beautiful stuff. we have reinvigorated our space program to a level that nobody thought possible in this short period of time. nasa is back. nasa is back. and mars is waiting for us. you know that. great. you know what it is? it is great. it is science. it is important. very important militarily.

we have the best military. we have the best military in the world. we are going to have a military likes of which no one has ever had. the best we have ever had by far and these are the times when you want to have a very powerful military. you do not want to have to use it but you have to have it. we stand on the shoulders of patriots who poured out their sweat and blood and tears for our country, for our flag, and for our god. as long as we are proud of who we are, and what we are fighting for, there is nothing beyond our reach. there is nothing. look at what happened to us. here we are. look at what happened to us. you know, a poll came out the other day. i was at 51%. and then they said -- you don't read about that.

you don't hear them talking. the fake cnn. have you ever noticed cnn -- well, you know, he is not very popular. they were saying that before the last election victory and now we are higher. they said 51%. and then some genius analyst said -- but he has at least 10% of the people that don't want to say they are voting for him. do you know what i say to that? we will take them anyway. whatever it takes. i do not know if it is an insult or not but you know -- we love those people because those people came out in the last election. and they said -- don't talk to us. we want to know -- how are you voting? don't talk to as. remember the exit polls? the exit polls. they come out and say --who did you vote for? none of your business.

100% were for trump. we love those people. we love those people. you know, there was a mayor of a certain city -- by the way. by the way. is this better than that phony washington white house correspondent dinner? is this more fun? i could be up there tonight smiling like i love when they are hitting you shot after shot. they hate your guts. and i am supposed to -- and you know, you have got to smile and if you don't smile, they will say you are terrible and if you do smile, they will wonder what you are smiling at. there is no win.

we are proud to be american. and the future belongs to us. the future belongs -- remember that -- the future belongs to us. the future belongs to all of you. this is our moment. we have never had a moment like this. the economy is raging. our military is strong and getting stronger every single day. we are ordering the greatest equipment in the world. we make the greatest military equipment in the world. look at what happened in syria. boom. boom. bing. >> [cheering] pres. trump: after the attack, we had to do that. people cannot use gas. frankly, they should not use anything but they cannot drop the gas and it was gas.

but you know, when we did it, it came out that they had 23 of our missiles. and then it came out -- 43 missiles. we shot about 110. do you know how many they hit? none. zero. none. do you know how many of our missiles hit their targets? 100%. 100%. and the british and the french were great. great team. a great team. but, this is our chance. we have never had a chance like this. we are taking our country back. you just have no idea. so many people come up to me and say -- thank you, sir. and i say -- for what? and they say you are taking our country back. so many people say -- thank you, sir. and i always say -- for what? and they say -- sir, you are taking our country back.

and it is true. we are all taking our country back. you know, the great state of tennessee, a wonderful congressman -- he came up to me. they have very early voting. he came up to me and the voting had just started. and i was in pennsylvania making a speech. he is the friend of a pennsylvania congressman and they were together in pennsylvania. and he comes up to me and goes -- i was not president. i was just campaigning. with the early voting he says to me -- you know, mr. trump he called me -- i don't know what is happening in the rest of the country. but, tennessee, early voting. i have been doing this stuff for 25 years and i have never seen anything like it. people that are great americans but they never voted before because they never had anyone

that they wanted to vote for. they work hard. they pay taxes. they are coming out of the hills and the valley. they have the red caps on. they have the "make america great" on. i don't know what is happening. but if every place is like tennessee, you are going to win this election, mr. trump. it is true. so true. he said -- i have never seen anything like it. you know what? we are higher now than we were on election day. we are higher now. because now, people are seeing the results. it is actually easier because people are seeing the results. before, i said -- i am going to do this. i am going to do this. we will have a tax cut and get rid of the individual mandate. judges. regulations. now, i have done it. [applause]

pres. trump: someone from the news said trump is one of the only people ever that actually accomplished more than he promised. and it is true. i accomplished. i am a politician, i guess. but i a accomplished more than i promised and i am doing it for you. our great journey together is just beginning. so, with love in our hearts and a hope in our sole i say these words again -- you have heard them before. you have liked them before. we cannot say them too much. because together, we will make america strong again. together, we will make america wealthy again. together, we will make america proud again. we will make america safe again.