me on twitter. we hope you have a wonderful weekend. ♪ >> martha: breaking tonight, the fight between president trump and some media now escalating over reports of top white house officials seeking cover from the fbi on the russia story. and then a press briefing that shut out specific reporters. i'm martha maccallum and it is a roller coaster of a day 36. so buckle your seat belts and we will take you through it tonight, folks. president trump setting the tone early in the day with a barn burner speech that he gave at cpac where he told the crowd you finally have a president and, of course, they were jubilant about that at cpac. and then singled out, quote, just some of the, quote, fake news media as the enemy of the people. this came as news reports based on anonymous sources

accused chief of staff reince priebus of urging top fbi officials to speak out, to clear the white house in the russia connections story. the white house denies that mr. priebus did anything improper. then hours later he had another blow-up pushing those headlines right off the front page after press secretary sean spicer invited 20 media outlets to his office for what's called off camera gaggle. mr. spicer said the room couldn't fit every member of the media. that did not sit well with those who were not specifically included. chief white house correspondent john roberts takes us through what happened. boy, busy day, john. >> i will tell you it's kind of like the weather in north dakota. if you don't like it now, wait 10 minutes because it's bound to change. the latest dust up happened this afternoon. because the president gave that big speech at cpac sean spicer decided not to have on camera briefing. he decided to have a gaggle in his office. he invited a pool in of 13

people who work on behalf of all the news outlets. they go to the very close presidential events like inside the oval office, some other things and then they disseminate the reports to have the rest of the media from there. and he invited some other media outlets among those, fox news, crabs, nbc. a couple went uninvited the white house correspondence association and five networks that make up the network pool decided they were going to profit that today. the networks got behind fox news once when we were excluded and we decided to do the same thing. we joined in with the other networks exclusion other news organization. all of this happened at the same time when the president and the white house, which looked like it might be dialing back earlier in the week on its attacks on the media doubled down at cpac today. listen to this. >> i want you all to know that we're fighting the fake news. it's fake, phony, fake. they are the enemy of the people. [cheers]

>> reporter: well, we should also point out, martha, two of the outlets that were excluded today cnn and "new york times" are outlets that the president has repeatedly called out as being, quote, fake news. >> martha: he certainly has. as we pointed out, john, this sort of pushed aside the story that was the big story this morning. >> yeah. >> martha: which had to do with reince priebus and dialogue with the fbi where he asked them, essentially, would they be willing to clear the white house of the involvement in the russia connection story, explain all this for us. >> reporter: well, what's really important here is the time line that the reports that initially came out suggested that he called over to the fbi and pressured the fbi to walk back that story. but what happened, according to white house sources and administration officials who briefed us at length this morning was that the initial contact was made with priebus by the fbi, specifically it was the deputy director andrew mccabe who was over at the white house last week for an

early morning intelligence meeting took reince priebus aside and said by the way this whole story in the "new york times" about russia and your former campaign manager being involved in communications, that's, quote, b.s., according to the sources that briefed us. so reince priebus then asked andrew mccabe well, is there something we can do about this to correct the record? mccabe, accord toght senior administrative official said give me a couple hours and call me back. priebus called mccabe back. once mccabe got over to the fbi was told no, there is nothing we can do about it what's important here is the time line. the white house insists it was mccabe who made the initial contact. there are very bright lines and fire walls between the white house and doj. the white house says they don't apply in this case because this was a report in the newspaper. this was not about an investigation. the fact the report was about an investigation, martha, may gray the lines just a little bit here. also known as why mccabe approached him in the first place and who in a very small circle of people

leaked this out to the media. >> martha: boy, so many layers. john thank you so much. here to give us reaction hoekstra former trump campaign national security advisor. and mark alderman, democratic strategist and former member of the obama presidential transition team. welcome, gentlemen. good to have both of you here. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> martha: with regard to this fbi priebus story, you know, with the layout and the time line that john roberts just reported, mark, how do you feel about it? >> well, martha. it's no surprise that the white house thinks that the fbi is its partner after what the fbi did in the last two weeks before the election. but, however the time line is parsed, the fact remains that the chief of staff asked the fbi to do something that the fbi denied and that is problematic. this russia situation, martha, keeps getting deeper and deeper. and they are trying to make

away but it won't. >> martha: why do you say deeper and deeper when so far and, you know, all we have is what we know about it. so far the reports are that they have not found any connection that's troublesome. so why do you say it's getting deeper and deeper? >> we have a national security advisor who was dismissed after lying about his communications with the russians. we have a chief of staff who asked the fbi to assist the white house politically by publicly down playing a pending investigation. >> martha: you just heard they claim that that went the other way. that the fbi reached out and said hey, you know that story in the "times" this morning that's b.s. that's the report. >> i also heard. >> martha: you don't believe that you are entitled to not buy that but we only know what we know. that's the time line and the course of events that we have reported on tonight, and that's to the best of our ability. pete, let me bring you in to get your thoughts on this story. >> well, martha, you won't hear me say this very often but this is actually where

it worked exactly the way that it was supposed to do, except for the initial leaks. the fbi then infors the white house that says, hey, that story is b.s. reince pee bus says is there anything we can do to set the record straight? the everybody comes back a couple hours later and says no, we can't do anything. compare that to what happened after benghazi, where the obama administration asked, you know, or congress asked for the obama administration and the cia to prepare talking points. congress should never ask for talking points. the administration should never have provided talking points. this is exactly right. priebus asked an interesting question. the fbi says nope, we can't do it, no harm, no foul. this worked out exactly the way it was supposed to. >> martha: a lot of people, mark, what happened back in 1993 with the travel gate situation and george stephanopoulos reaching out to the fbi and asking them for some cover in that story as well. you know, i think every

white house is well aware and should be of the rules with regard to investigations. and i think, you know, according to john roberts' reporting their take was because the fbi deputy director was responding to a story he read in the newspaper, it didn't cross the line. so i guess, you know, we will figure that out. i do want to get your thoughts on one other story because i think this is an important story to get to tonight as well. we have seen a lot of this where a draft comes out before the actual policy comes out. but this draft that has come out from analysts at the homeland security department says that at some there concluded that citizenship is an unlikely indicator of terrorism threat and this, of course, goes to the seven country dries and the extreme vetting issue. so, pete, let me ask you, you know, is this why a re-do has been delayed? we were supposed to originally get this extreme vetting order today. now it's going to be next week. dolls it indicate to you that there is push back in homeland security about this

seven-country ban? >> i don't really think so. i think, you know, if citizenship is one issue, you really need to take a look at a multitude of factors to decide what countries you are going to put on this list. what's the level of terrorism and violence going on in that country? what is the state of the government? the state identified as a state sponsor of terrorism. a whole menu of things you need to consider not just one, which is citizenship. and i think when you take a look at the totality, these seven countries probably come out at the top or at least they come out in the top ten. so it makes a lot of sense. you can't just take a preliminary draft and take one segment and say this is why they had to do a re-do. >> martha, it was never a citizenship ban. it was a muslim ban. there were citizens of those countries. >> martha: then why aren't they banning every muslim country. >> who were christian who were exempted from the ban. that's why they're back to the drawing board. and let's see if a

constitutional order emerges this time. >> martha: let's hope they come up with the best possible way to protect the country and a further layer and we will see what it looks like. >> agreed. >> martha: thank you very much. pete hoekstra as well. a u.s. appeals court ruling on assault weapons in maryland renews a huge debate over the second amendment in this country as gun owners say that the decision is a direct affront to their constitutional rights. plus, the white house's promise of america first gets its first real test as the administration sends mixed signals on this whole issue of whether or not we are going to get a border tax. former trump economic advisor joins us next on that. plus, does delivery matter? we are going to play you some the stilts of steve bannon against what donald trump said this morning at cpac and talk about messaging coming across in two very different ways. bill bennett helps us break it down straight ahead. ♪ >> i'm not representing the

globe. i'm representing your country. [cheers and applause]

>> martha: so a closer look tonight at president trump's unique brand of straight talk which at times lies in stark contrast to the rhetoric of one of his most trusted advisors. white house chief strategist and trump's 2016 ceo steve bannon. president trump and bannon made appearances at cpac on successive days. they delivered really in many ways the same message but it came out a bit different. watch. >> i kind of break it out into three verticals or three buckets the first is kind of national security and sovereignty. that's your intelligence, the defense department, homeland security. >> and, remember, we are getting the bad ones out. these are bad dudes. we are getting the bad ones out. okay? >> the second line of work is what i refer to as economic nationalism. >> i said who makes the pipes for the pipeline? well, sir, it comes from all over the world. isn't that wonderful? i said, nope, it comes from the united states or we are not building it. [cheers and applause] american steel.

>> the third broadly line of work is what is deacon destruction of the administrative state. >> we don't need 75% of the repetitive, horrible regulations that hurt companies, hurt jobs, make us noncompetitive overseas with other companies from other countries. that, we don't need. >> i'm not representing the globe. i'm representing your country. [cheers and applause] [chanting u.s.a.] >> martha: there is a contrast there, right? joining me now quite a resume himself chairman of conservative leader for education, former education secretary under president reagan and fox news contributor mr. bill bennett. bill, good to see you tonight. welcome. >> thanks, martha. >> martha: it's funny, you know, when you listen to the contrast between bannon and

trump. they are saying the same thing but in very different and equally effective ways, right? >> yeah. i'm a student of the spoken word and these guys speak the word differently, don't they? >> martha: they sure do. >> bannon is a heavyweight intellectual, serious guy. goldman sachs background. he reads journls and off print he probably subscribes to some obscure as tree an and host of terms and he is a power house. he deals largely in abstraction. donald trump is a deal-maker. is he an american businessman. he deals with the concrete, the practical, the particular, the palpable, the specific. you heard that in their contrast. you know, it can be very exrement tri when yo exrement c. i don't think they need a translator maybe that's what reince priebus does. different styles, both effective. >> martha: it's great to

watch them up against each other saying similar things in different ways. >> yeah. >> martha: you and i spoke a while ago about the president. we saw him today at cpac. we talked about how he could expand his voter tent back at that time in august. and here is something that you said about that. >what do you think is the biggest group that he need continue to influence? who does he need to pull over? >> he does not need to speak to the never trumpers. some of my friends or maybe former friends who suffer from terrible case of moral superiority and put their own vanity and tastes above the interest of the country. >> martha: guess who came to the white house today, bill, who see president trump, john kasich who once said, you know, it's on him how he does in the country. and know if you are going to insult hispanics and turn off minorities, you are going to have a reckless on foreign policy that's not good and then here is he today at the white house. >> the man is the president of the united states. it's sort of like being on an airplane, you want to

root for the pilot if you are on the airplane with the pilot. you don't want the pilot to screw up. i also told him that i remember back when i first became governor there was some things that i was doing to the point where my wife said to me you are the father of ohio, act like it. >> martha: so what was kasich's message there, bill? >> well, his message was he didn't vote for this pilot. i don't think we should vote for pilots. he voted for some others. he was, of course, the most famous public official republican opposed to trump, governor of ohio where, as you know, martha, the convention took place. isn't it interesting that he comes to see him a little bit hat in hand saying i want to work with you. look, it's an important state. trump won it big. it's interesting to me that he does it just as we are hearing reports from the media, maybe the fake news media, that, you know, there are republicans who are considering defecting, stepping back, you know. should they criticize trump? here comes kasich.

well, that's because he is a responsible governor. he wants things for his state. answered understands who is in charge. good for john. i have always liked john. i'm glad he came around. this is kind of the prodigal son story maybe a little bit. the prodigal governor maybe we will call it that. >> martha: you are saying that you think there are prominent republicans who sort of are having a different take right now, still, and are they the never trumpers or are they people who went down the road and have questions now? what do you think? >> yeah. some are uncertain, martha. and some are just scared. some are coming out of those town hall meetings where they have been terrified. tom cotton is not one of those. but, you know, they are seeing this. and they are wondering what's going to happen. there is uncertainty thi in this. the solution for all of this for donald trump is to get the things done that he said he was going to do. this is where bannon was crystal clear, wasn't he, at cpac. >> martha: yeah. >> he said this president is going to do what he said he is going to do. watch. if he gets it done he will

have 60, 70% of the country. >> martha: quoift the day and one why will continue to hear from steve bannon and those at the white house. >> bill: net bottom the lights back on and glad to see you tonight. >> running batteries for the lights. >> martha: whatever it takes. thank you, bill. so, coming up tonight, new developments in the ongoing battle between the president trump and press as the "new york times" is set to do something they haven't done in seven years. find out what that is when we come back. plus, this: the head of the nra pulling no punches at cpac today as the fierce debate over the second amendment goes to a whole new level now based on a decision from an appeals court on maryland's assault rifle ban. stick around. we'll be right back for more on that. ♪ >> we'll fight the violent left on the airwaves, the internet, and on tv.

we'll fight the violent left in congress and in the washington bureaucracy.

♪ >> martha: big story tonight. a decision this week from a u.s. appeals court to uphold maryland's ban on assault rifles sparking some new debate over the second

amendment and further highlighting the high stakes for the supreme court nomination of neil gorsuch. rhetoric between both sides ramping up here as the nra head wayne lappier makes clear that his organization will not go down without a fight on this. >> terror knows no more ferocious foe than freedom in the hands of we, the people. and to defend it, we'll go toe to toe with him in any arena they threaten. we will fight the violent left on the airwaves. the internet, and on tv. we will fight the violent left in congress and in the washington bureaucracy. and we'll fight the violent left in state houses and courthouses from coast to coast all over this country. >> martha: fired up today at cpac here now w. me now guy benson political editor at town hall.com and fox news contributor and michelle, vice president for legal progress at the center for american progress. guy, let me start with you

because a lot of people on the right are very up in arms, you could say, about this decision. what do you make of it. >> right. well, i think you have to go to the supreme court precedent on this in the heller decision which established very clearly that there is a fundamental right to own a firearm in this country. and what the supreme court said was that includes all common use firearms. and i don't think you can interpret that any other way as to say this protects the purchase and ownership of guns like, for example, the ar-15 which is banned by maryland. the ar-15 there are millions of these in the united states. it is the number one rifle in america. that is the definition of common use. i think this is going to the supreme court. and i think it's going to be tough for maryland to prevail. >> martha: as the harmonica strings cue behind you at cpac. michelle, let me get your thoughts on this. because it's semiautomatic

weapon discussed here. it was called a weapon of war by this court and that's what conservatives take such issue with here. >> you know, i think what's interesting with this decision, particularly, is that what we see is evidence-based models to protect communities are constitutional. that's what this decision says. you know, it's interesting that we quote heller because what i like to often point out is justice scalia who many people, including judge gorsuch often praised said there isn't unlimited right to own and possess a gun. you can't just keep a gun for whatever purpose you want or hold it or carry it for whatever purpose you want. it is a limited right. and i know. >> he did agree with heller which said that you could use it to protect yourself. >> . >> martha: he also made a point of justice scalia of saying that he thought the judicial branch in too many cases treat the second amendment as if it's a second class right it doesn't give it equal we dense with the constitution.

guy? >> yeah. the a.r.-15 is not a weapon of war that is a fallacious argument by the fourth circuit, which by the way, barack obama stacked after harry reid blew up the filibuster. if you look at the ar 15, it is a semiautomatic rifle. weapons of war are fully automatic. these are not the same thing. it looks like a weapon of war. that does not make it a weapon of war. and i think this was really shoddy legal reasoning from the fourth circuit and, again, this shines a spotlight on the gorsuch confirmation. >> martha: yeah. >> because i wouldn't be surprised if this goes to scot tuesday anscotus another st decision 5 to 4. >> martha: had you some that didn't like candidate donald trump but they because of scotus. they felt they he wanted a conservative on the court. what's the impact on the court decision here? >> listen, when we think about newtown, when we think

about san bernardino, we have to ask ourselves are weapons of war what we in the our community? and, again, this decision found that evidence-based policies to protect our community are constitutional. and i know people may not want to hear that or agree with that but that's what this decision found. and i think it is profound for the country and it's a step forward in the right direction. justice scalia himself said there isn't an unlimited right to own and carry and keep a weapon. and so when you think about that, reasonable, evidence-based policies matter. and that's what the legislature in maryland decided. when you think about the concurrence opinion from judge wilkerson it was powerful. it said this is very -- >> martha: we have to leave it there. >> it is our safety. >> martha: we're going to get cut off. thank you so much. michelle and guy great to see both of you tonight. we take stock of another wild week when our panel of experts join us charlie hurt

and jessica tarlov will join us straight ahead. plus, america first runs into a wall, whoa, where are we on this whole border tax thing? what does it mean for you? hi. i'm dave nemeth.

television talk-show host and, until recently, a hair loss sufferer. that's right -- i used to have a bald spot right here on the back of my head. and being seen by millions on tv, it was embarrassing. that's when i turned to hair club, the number-one customized hair loss solution provider in north america. today, my bald spot is gone, and i feel 100% more confident. i'm 52, and i look better now that i did when i was in my 40s i love it. i really do. it has changed my outlook on life. [ nemeth ] with over 900 experts across north america and backed by 40 years of amazing results, hair club provides exclusive technologies

and proven solutions for every stage of hair loss. at hair club, we understand what it's like to lose your hair, and we understand what it's like to get it back, and we would like you to have that experience. based on my need for immediate results, hair club customized the right solution for me. it's called xtrands. it's new and only available through hair club. i walked in with a bald spot, and that same day, walked out with a full head of hair. just call or go online now to receive your free information kit and dvd at no obligation. you'll hear more about our full range of solutions, including exclusive non-surgical xtrands and xtrands plus. now i look in the mirror and i just can't believe that's me. this is my hair, and it feels great. it feels natural. it's growing. it's strong. i leave my house. i'm not thinking, "oh, how does my hair look? i know it looks good. [ nemeth ] this was me before going to hair club, and this was me by the end of my visit. the moment you see yourself with hair again,

you'll wish you'd done it sooner. call and set up your free hair analysis at a hair club near you. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> martha: so a busy 24 hours for an obscure part of the federal tax code, the border adjustment tax. right? you have heard people talking about this, arguing about it, creating a little bit of heart burn for the president and congress as they look to keep the promise of america first motto, right? this all began yesterday when the president told reuters i certainly support a form of tax on the border. what is going to happen is companies are going to come back here. they are going to create a lot of jobs. and then there is no tax. then there was this exchange at the white house press briefing today. try to follow this. >> how does the president respond to critics that are saying this border

adjustment tax will be passed on to lower income and middle class families in the form of higher prices for goods and higher privacies for gas? >> actually benefit consumers. benefit workers and benefit our economy. and that's, when you really think about the economic impact about that, that benefits our economy. it helps our american workers. it grows more jobs. >> martha: we didn't quite get the answer to whether or not the president is completely on board with the border tax adjustment idea. this morning reporters suggesting that gary cohen the chief economic advisor to president trump says the president does not support this tax. the white house is now pushing back. they say no, there is no daylight between gary cohen and the president on their. let's sort it out anthony scare moochy iscorescarmucciis . border stacks do we want it. >> bmw sells a car here, they get like 22% adjustment from the german government to sell that car. it makes that car more affordable in the united states. and it weakens our

competitive standing against them. what the border adjustment stacks effectively does sets up equalization mechanism things coming in get taxed to make them more equal to american goods and what sean was basically saying to the press is that if we set up a border adjustment tax appropriately then more american jobs will be created. more things will be made inside the united states. our trade deficit will become lower. >> martha: a lot of people think it will make goods more expensive for american consumers that. >> question was related now we are bringing imports into the country from china, let's say, and that manufacturing supply chain would make the prices higher if you be going to tax those goods at the border. so there would have to be some kind of adjustment. that's what the attention is in the white house between paul ryan. >> martha: paul ryan wants it and senate republicans don't want it, right? >> i would put it to you this way. what everybody wants is a much simpler system that's more coast effective for american corporations we have the highest corporate tax rates in the world.

let's come up with a system that brings that down to what the president really wants let's create more manufacturing and more jobs in the united states and how can we put that into the tax code? how can we incentivize people, even international companies to bringing manufacturing jobs that help the working class families and the middle class. that's the tension right now. and i would say that gary cohen is a great team player and my guess is he is on side with the president. andth good news is a lot of good intentions in the building and on capitol hill. i think we will get it right. i think the american people will be very happy. >> martha: i want to play for you a little sound from president trump earlier today about welfare. >> it's time for all americans to get off of welfare and get back to work. you're going to love it. you're going to love it you're going to love it. >> yeah. well, the perceptions of this president seem to be distorted and rooted in stereotype of many orders. i think, look, obviously people who have been -- and i've been on welfare myself a recipient of that most people use welfare as

temporary means until they can ultimately make ends meet. >> martha: what's your reaction? >> i have think the president basically trying to say that the labor participation rate is at the lowest it has been in 45 years. unfortunately live if you look at thee transfer payments, they are up. >> martha: welfare payments? >> yes. and what we would prefer to happen is having really good aspirational working type jobs. i'm not blaming anybody but we have 8 million more americans, martha have dropped below the poverty line. he wants to fix that he is sending a message to people very great value in self-determination and in our culture of getting back to work and earning your keep. i don't think he is trying to be offensive to anybody. i think he is saying it's going to be great because he is going to come up with the right policies for these people to work for themselves and feel better about themselves. it's a community thing and i love him for it i think his jobs program is going to be fabulous. >> martha: thank you, anthony scar moochy. still ahead, class is still in session and hurt, tarlov

here to give grade for trump presidency in week five, folks. the trump presidency set to do something they haven't done in seven years on oscar night. what is it? carlie hemmingway is here to talking about that next.t.t.t.t.

♪ >> martha: media conflict tonight. earlier today president trump attempted to clarify his ongoing clash with the media when he was at cpac. here's what he said. [applause] >> a few days ago i called the fake news the enemy of the people. and they are. they are the enemy of the people. [applause] 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. >> martha: just hours after those remarks the white house excluded certain outlets from an on-the-record gaggle in the white house press secretary's office sean spicer's office among the outlets that was excluded was the "new york times" the paper set to air this ad during the academy awards this sunday. it is their first tv ad in

seven years. >> investigation of any typ type. [chatter] >> martha: the truth is more important now than ever. when wasn't it? here to break it down is mollie hemingway senior editor at the federalist. good to see you tonight. welcome to you. first your thoughts on this brouhaha that happened at the white house this evening. how serious a matter was that do you believe? >> i think it is serious and it was a petty move by the white house to exclude these organizations. at the same time the media reaction is a bit over the top. and this is not unprecedented. there have been things that we saw like this during the obama administration. so, it helps that the media just kind of keep an even-keel about themselves and don't flip out over every little thing donald trump says or does.

>> martha: have you to wonder because there were certain specific people not included cnn among them, the "new york times." if it was just that the room was too crowded it wouldn't have necessarily targeted those individual outlets which led them to, you know, feel hurt and left out and to lash out. but, at the same time, it also pushed the other story that was our top story about the fbi and russia story sort of all the map. do you think it was intentional? >> i do think everyone should be on guard whenever something like this happens to think what is it that they don't want us covering and make sure you are covering that at the same time, this saul the more reason to have these media outlets to hear this briefing because they were talking about. so problems with these stories and it is true that there have been problems with anonymous sources and just an overreliance on them in the media at "the washington post" has had many stories fall apart based on anonymous sourcing whether it was that russia hacked the vermont power grid or that russia po propagated fox news or

meeting between kelly and bannon. the white house has a good point it failed to make that good point when it overreacts and acts petty about these other news organizations. >> martha: let's play a moment from president obama way back when. >> if you watch fox news on a regular basis it is a constant minute venue they will find like folks who make me mad. we're going to have to change how our body politics thinks which means we have to change how the media reports on these issues mayor march spent a fair amount of time going after the media and this institution as well. i think people don't remember that part of the story. >> i don't know how they can forget because it this was the main theme of the obama administration not just fox news or conservative talk radio that he they were definitely fighting and it need to be remembered. also when the white house tried to freeze out fox news, other news organizations let them know that is not an appropriate thing to do. so you are seeing that again

now. but, yes, even worse than that would be what the obama administration did in terms of spying on reporters. indicting them as co-conspirators, not doing a good job with foia requests freedom of information acts requests those are press freedom and that's what you want to guard against in this administration and all administrations. >> martha: great to see you tonight. >> thank you. >> martha: straight ahead the report card for president trump's week number 5 and the moments that everybody is talking about from this week as you head out for friday night. stick around for this coming up next.

test. test. test. test. test.

♪ >> i just wanted to announce, we have been working all weekend very diligently, very hard, that general h.r. mcmaster will become the national security advisor. >> we have been working very closely with the department of state, department of homeland security, department of justice and the team here at the white house to make sure that the

next step achieves the president's goal of protecting the country. >> we're getting really bad dudes out of this country. and at a rate that nobody has ever seen before. and they are the bad ones. and it's a military operation. >> no use of military force in immigration operations. >> actually, we cherish his friendship. >> you know, i can run a little hot on occasions. [laughter] >> and reince is -- >> i believe president trump has given voice to the aspirations and frustrations of the american people like no leader since reagan. >> there is no dream too large, no task too great. we are americans. and the future belongs to us. >> martha: quick snapshot of another packed week in the trump presidency. herhow is he doing charles hurt, fox news contributor and political columnest at the "washington times" and jessica tarlov, democratic

pollster and senior director of research at buckle.com. welcome all. good to have you here. henry mcmasters seems like a long time agonize moment on presidents' day on the couch. chris, what do you think? >> well, that was a big, big deal and huge smashing success for the new administration. democrats, republican hawks, doug, everybody agreed this guy is a serious thinker, put a lot of anxieties to rest. trump moved decisively with a huge win. and i had him graded very strong this week but he gave a little back because we got stuck back on the media stuff at the end of the week. >> martha: did you think he spent too much time on that in the speech this morning, chris? >> it's so boring. i know his base loves it and they eat it up and it's great for them. it's imobl impossibly boring. time is running out they have to move the ball.

carping about the media, step back. >> martha: charlie? >> i think chris is right, he does need to move on some of these other things. people never get tired of listening to donald trump beat up the media you might find it boring but people love listening to donald trump beat up the media you know, it is a bit. >> martha: you don't think it becomes inside baseball after a while, charlie? >> no, i don't think it is. and i think it goes to the heart of what americans are. americans actually -- we are a creed nation we are bound by the belief in principles. and so when you have the media and they make things up or they say things that aren't true or distort things, americans get very angry at a very, very gut level about that sort of thing. and this guy taps into that. and they like it. and they love watching him beat these people up. >> martha: look at the approval numbers fort mead yanchts they are lower than congress i hear. >> martha: exactly and

lawyers and all those horrible, horrible people. jessica, what do you think. >> i actually think this is the best week donald trump has had since he was elected president. there are obviously things i didn't enjoy. the media attack has gone too far and new tpp poll out today shows that the american public doesn't like it. i think that mcmaster was a great choice. i think we saw transgender rights being rolled back this week. that's a significant issue for people on both sides of the aisle. attacks on media as i mentioned and attacks on people showing up at these town halls. these are americans. these are your constituents. and they are concerned about keeping their health care and making sure that the country smoothly operates. but i would like to say so kind of for trump himself i was in the c range but i thought that mike pence did such a wonderful job this week in moon unique and also in st. louis at the jewish cemetery that was unfortunately, desecrated. i thought the trump administration of all b minus.

>> b minus, too. >> martha: charlie, do you have a grade? >> i would give it like, you know, i would give an a, a minus, somewhere in. >> there charlie. [laughter] >> be a little less partisan. >> martha: easy grader in this one. >> he beats up republicans just as much. there is nothing partisan about that. i think it's terrific when he beats up everybody. is he a equal opportunity offender. >> you know, one of the things that stood out, chris, that is sort of bubbling around the surface is these aappointments to all of these different agencies, the state department and you look at rex tillerson and the trip he took to mexico and all these stories about him sort of not being in the loop or not being able to pick the people that he wants to pick. what do you see going on beneath the surface here? >> let's take another news story this week, refer, administration weighing against pot smokers. have you so much have you to do holy crokono you have

hundreds of confirmed positions that still need to be filled. obamacare needs to be done. name of the game for this administration only thing holding it back right now is a alaska focus, focus, focus. have you got to fill these slots, craft the legislation, move the ball. >> martha: yeah, so, charlie, who should be the main driver of that. >> i think trump needs to be and i think that trump is one of the nice things that i have enjoyed about watching trump operate as president. he goes after the media he goes after refer or whatever. he is not afraid to have a lot of chaos going on. but he does have people who are focused on things and maybe they don't get everything perfect the first time what we have seen with mcmasters this week and some of these executive orders is he is willing to stop and admit -- maybe not admit that things didn't go well but reissue things and redo things in a better way. and i think that's a very positive development. >> martha: i think often, you know, we have to dig below that shiny surface and talk about what happened. one of the things that i

thought was significant today was this task force. you hate to even say task force because it sounds like the graveyard of a good idea sometimes. to roll back regulations and find them in agencies. that is something that business owners sat up and took notice of today, jessica. >> no. i think when he does focus on issues that relate in any way to the economy, is he going to do better. right now, that's the only area that americans actually approve of what he is doing when you look at the polling. so, yes, it's a good thing. i like regulations, personally but you knew i was going to say that. >> martha: feel warm and fuzzy about regulations, don't they? cellular up with some regulations. thanks, guys. you all have a's my book. >> have a go good weekend. >> martha: quote keep coming back from yesterday quote ferrari chief strategist steve bannon. >> if you think they are going to give your country back without a fight, you are sadly mistaken. every day it is going to be fight. >> martha: that right there may well become the trump bumper sticker for the first 100 days and beyond. one we will no doubt revisit

as this battle continues. let me know what you think send me at tweet at martha maccallum #first 100. see you back here monday. o'reilly is next. ♪ ♪ >> tom: welcome to "redeye." i'm tom shillue. let's check in with tvs angelo v let's check in with tvs andy levy. anyone of my life.en more plus, a double board draws them as a liar for suggesting that real men provide, stick around to hear tom shillue explain gmac mansplain why they are wrong.