Show: FOR THE RECORD Date: January 20, 2017 Guest: Asa Hutchinson, Susan Page, Chris Jansing, E.J. Dionne, Nallie Jackson, John Barrasso, David Frum
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, MSNBC HOST: I`m Greta Van Susteren. Continuing coverage of this historic day, Donald Trump inaugurated as the nation`s 45th president. Asa Hutchinson is Republican governor of Arkansas. Chris Jansing is NBC`s senior White House correspondent. Susan Page is with USA Today. And let me go first to Chris Jansing who is here with me. Chris, we have breaking news coming out of the Capital right behind us.
CHRIS JANSING, NBC NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, (INAUDIBLE) in the last hour, that James Mattis had been confirmed as the defense secretary. A lot of people are hoping on this day when they felt for half of the speech was a little dark with perhaps a little apocalyptic. That he would be a moderating voice in this administration. And it came just hours after one of his first acts as president, Donald Trump signed a waiver for Mattis. Typically you have to be out of government, or out of the military for seven years before you can serve as defense secretary. The idea is to preserve the idea of civilian oversight of those 1.9 million active duty military. That waiver was sign. He will be the next defense secretary.
VAN SUSTEREN: So we have a new secretary of defense. Governor Hutchinson, first of all, welcome back to Washington, and you get to see the parade going on. We`re going to be watching that throughout this hour. There`s our new president. What do you think about the new president-elect -- not president-elect, president?
GOV. ASA HUTCHINSON (R),ARKANSAS: He is president. And it`s a joy to be here. I`ve been on that stage as a member of congress, today I was there as a governor. And it`s really neat. Not just to have the unity of our federal government, but also the federalism that America represents for the state government there. So many governors, there was bipartisan group the was on the stage. It was great to hear President Trump sworn in. His message was something that was true to his convictions. True to his message. I, obviously, I would have like to have seen a little bit more of a global views in terms of assurance of our allies, but that will come.
VAN SUSTEREN: All right. Well, we don`t agree with him on everything. You don`t agree with him for instance on that so-called border tax or tariff. You don`t agree on him on that.
HUTCHINSON: Well, that`s why the global marketplace is very important to us in Arkansas, from agriculture to our retail industry. We have China investing in Arkansas, a billion dollar in products. So the global marketplace is important to us, and I`ll be message for that. But, you know, Donald Trump is just simply saying with have to make sure we grow manufacturing here, but we can do it in the global marketplace by competing and not by protectionism.
VAN SUSTEREN: And, of course, we just saw the -- there`s the president, but we`ve just saw that stage that they build outside the White House, so that the first family is protected, and the vice-president and all the dignitaries watching these parade that is going on right now. All right, it`s not just the border tariff that you don`t agree with them, Medicaid expansion what about that? You`re one of the Republican governors who are in favor or at least you don`t want your Medicaid expansion pulled from you.
HUTCHINSON: Well, that`s right. But I think that both the congress as well the president has agreed that we`re not going to jerk the coverage from people that have relied upon it and need it. And so we`re looking for a solution in which we could repeal the Affordable Care Act. And that`s not just when to address it, we want to repeal it because of the individual mandate, the employer mandate, these are freedoms that America really believe, took us the wrong direction. So there`s ways to get it done with flexibility of the state, in giving us more control over the healthcare systems, and that partnership I think is what America wants, and put in more responsibility, more worker requirements, those are things that you`ll see.
VAN SUSTEREN: Do you think that it would be a little-bit easier for someone like you, governor of Arkansas, having a vice-president who is former governor now himself and also served in congress, will that help at all?
HUTCHINSON: Certainly, it will. And he`s a great avenue for us to communicate with. But I also expect, you know, President Trump to -- we`re looking forward to meeting with him with governors in February. But both the congress and his administration wants the views of the governors in terms of healthcare. And we`re going to give it to him, and we`re going to have some disagreements. We have a lot of things to work through. But the American people need to have confidence that we`re going to change things, but we`re going to move us in to a direction of more decisions and more choices, and not a diminishing of responsibility and care that people are really relied upon.
VAN SUSTEREN: So you have watched a lot of these inaugurations that I have. We thought today as the new president gave his speech.
SUSAN PAGE, USA TODAY: Greta, I think that the governor is exactly right that this was true to his message. This was completely consistent with the message that won Donald Trump the Republican nomination and then the White House. But one thing that it did not do that inaugural addresses often do, is that is do more to reach out to the people who did not vote for him. I have no doubt that Trump supporters are really cheered by what he said. But you didn`t hear much that was aim at other people. I was surprise he didn`t -- for example, acknowledge anything that Barack Obama has done as president.
VAN SUSTEREN: I actually was surprise of that too. I thought -- you know what, this was the time we are supposed to be gracious, Republicans, Democrats -- even the media was supposed to be nice a little-bit today. You know, I thought like, you know, he could have said -- even agree with him, but thank you for your service for eight years, I was looking for a little more of that.
PAGE: I thought he would say you took over at a time of financial calamity, and you help to guide us through it, even if you`re disagreeing of where we are right now. You think, he oath to do more, and handle things a little differently. He didn`t do it. You know, he didn`t deliver a conservative message though. He delivered a populous message. This was not a message that every Republican in congress or every Republican governor is completely comfortable -- you know, particularly talking about trade for instance, he talked about the value of protectionism. I`m sure that was not what Paul Ryan wanted to here.
VAN SUSTEREN: What do you think, Chris?
JANSING: I just have to say that if somebody who spent a year and a half on the road and went to dozens and dozens of states, and spent a lot of time talking...
VAN SUSTEREN: How many times hotel.
JANSING: Enough that I can actually take a vacation. Having said that, there was one line that for me may not be the one that`s quoted, but to summarize what connected with many of the voters that I`ve talked to, politicians prosper but the jobs left and the factories closed. And I think so much of this message sounded like a message that he took on the road and that was successful. And he has been a man who was wanted to stick with what has gotten to him to the dance, you know, you do that. But having said that, I do think it was a missed opportunity to reach out to President Obama, who he has acknowledge that they had great phone calls, they`ve been almost, weekly, of not more contact with missed opportunity not to say something to Hillary Clinton in that speech. To wait for one in which fewer people are watching
VAN SUSTEREN: E.J. Dionne, joins us. E.J. I was at least happy, this is something that sticks with me as -- he mentioned the inner city, and it`s a little-bit of rub of mine that I thought that Democrats drive by every four years and wave and ask for the votes, and Republicans don`t even go there. And he at least -- he made at least some -- he tipped his hat to the issue of the inner city and helping them.
E.J. DIONNE, THE WASHINGTON POST: He did. But what was really striking to me, and this goes to what other people have been talking about, the incredibly bleak tone of this speech. He went back to something he did during the campaign which was to describe all these communities as being in sort of horrific shape. He said the American carnage will stop now. Carnage is extraordinary word to use and precisely because he didn`t reach out to President Obama or to others. I`m not sure that people in the inner city really felt that, you know, small moment in the speech in the same way.
VAN SUSTEREN: But one thing he change that he didn`t do he`s made awful lot of promises, including the inner cities, I mean, we can go to the whole list, I`m sure we will hear in the panel. I mean, he said a huge bar from stuff with promises things he`s going to deliver.
DIONNE: No, I absolutely agree with that. And I think that he is promising in a way -- particularly to that constituency that as Chris Jansing said he was talking to today. And he`s going to have difficult time of it because ironically he`s inheriting a good economy, not all of the growth had spread as widely as I would want or anybody would want, but he`s taken over at a good time. So he`s going to have to both maintain the growth that we`ve had, and direct more of it to these communities, and it`s just not clear that he will. I think the other, sort of, striking disconnects, and Susan mentioned this, it wasn`t conservative speech, it was a populist speech. But he has also named this cabinet of billionaires and multi-millionaires, and seems to be in favor of the Republican congress`s policy, which are not necessarily the policy of this speech. So I think that`s another circle he is going to have to square.
VAN SUSTEREN: Governor, he promised to free us -- rid us of radical Islam.
HUTCHINSON: That`s exactly what he should have said...
VAN SUSTEREN: How is he going to do that?
HUTCHINSON: Well, first of all, a speech is aspirational. A speech is telling America that we can address these problems together. For example...
VAN SUSTEREN: I thought he sort of promise us though a little bit. And maybe even a little bit further I thought in that speech.
HUTCHINSON: You know, he did a good job addressing things that have been neglected in time past. The crime problem in America giving kudos for raising the issue of crime in our inner cities, kudos for addressing in his campaign and to this speech the issue of losing jobs in terms of production and factories, and looking at the blue collar workers. So that I think (INAUDIBLE) on target.
VAN SUSTEREN: Maybe it`s just me, maybe it`s just the populist in me. But, Susan, I sort of thought, you know, I heard so many promises from so many politics over the year that we all want to do these things, but I sort to what to know how you`re going to do it. And I realized this is just an aspirational speech, but prove it.
PAGE: You know, usually, I think, in a speech like this -- politicians say we`re going to work together to try to address these problems. He was pretty flat. We`re going to invest in infrastructure, we`re going to rebuild the military. We`re going to bring back well-paying manufacturing jobs.
VAN SUSTEREN: What`s surprise, he didn`t say anything about the Affordable Care Act.
PAGE: He said nothing about healthcare I don`t believe. And even though that has been one of the main things he talked about, and one of the things we think they`re going to tackle first, I thought that was a bit of surprise. But another thing, ending Islamic terrorism, he made a big point of using that phrase because that`s the phrase that Barack Obama declined to use. I think he promised to eradicate. I think eradicate was the word he used. That is a big promise. And setting up a standard for himself.
VAN SUSTEREN: Well, that`s why -- where I`m thinking -- Ok, you promise that and want to get rid of this terrorism, but how are you going to do it? You know, that still sort of the missing element, I realize that this is just inaugural speech, but, you know, it`s such an important issue that I want a little more. NBC`s, Hallie Jackson is covering the inaugural ball tonight. Hallie, there are several balls, so tell us where you are.
HALLIE JACKSON, NBC NEWS: Yes, three official ones, Greta. We are at the military inaugural ball. This is the one that is -- I think of all the most formal. There are two others, the liberty and freedom ball that you will see. But the president and first lady are at tonight. And don`t forget, there`s a handful of those unofficial balls as well, including the -- a little bit of play of words, the deploraball, right, remember? There were Trump supporters, Donald Trump`s supporters during the campaign who sort of seized on the mantle of deplorables. They have come in to Washington, and they have their own unofficial ball for them tonight. Normally, you might see more official balls for the president on a night like tonight. I think back to 2009, 2013, when Barack Obama had a number of balls. In this instance, you heard again and again from Donald Trump`s team that they want to keep the number of ball small because this weekend was all about trying to get to work, trying to make Monday an official workday, get through the weekend, and kind of hit the ground running from the West Wing. So, sort of the big moments tonight, of course, that first dance between the president and the first lady, a lot of folks wondering what Melania Trump wear tonight, as they wondered about Michelle Obama in 2009 and 2013, and other first ladies in years past. So the first dance is going to happen here on the stage behind me. And already this place is starting to fill up. It`s an exciting scene, people are excited to be here. You kind of feel the energy in the ballroom, even though it`s only - - I don`t know, a quarter full is that, Greta.
VAN SUSTEREN: Hallie, thank you. Chris, you know, we want to get rid of the terrorism and President Trump is now promised that. And today, I thought what I really appreciated is that the former first lady, Hillary Clinton, and his opponent was there in our peaceful transfer. It was amazing having her there, wasn`t it?
JANSING: I think this is the sixth inauguration I`ve been to. And what always gets me is seeing that moment when you see the Supreme Court justices and you see the members of congress. But there was something -- I was on the East Lawn when Hillary Clinton came in and got out of the car, and she waived to us the few of us that were there, as members of the press. And, by the way, Ralph Lauren had a very good day today, because not only did he dressed Melania Trump, he dressed Hillary Clinton. Having said that, I think it was important, it was incredibly important the way that President Obama and his wife have conducted themselves in spite of the fact there are a lot of lingering feelings not just about the attacks that were made about the birther, and I think that the way Hillary Clinton decided to come. If you`re a former president you`ve got to come, right? But she didn`t have to come. A former opponent doesn`t have to come. She sat on the stage, she went to the line, and she was gracious.
VAN SUSTEREN: You know, I hate government waste. It just makes me crazy, government waste. And I know it was expensive. And I know we have lots of planes in our fleet. But for some reason, I was happy that our most expensive plane, the 747 flew the Obama`s out of there. I wanted the American people to do that -- sort of tipping of the hat. But we can pull off a cheaper plane, but they went off on the big 747.
JANSING: And you know why presidents do that? Because when they retire they want to get on plane when they fly off.
VAN SUSTEREN: It`s very expensive, but it made me proud of the American people.
JANSING: But you know he has to pay his way back.
VAN SUSTEREN: Oh, no, I understand that. We could have sent him on 757, another air force plane.
JANSING: But you know what else is great?
VAN SUSTEREN: What?
JANSING: Biden getting on...
(CROSSTALK)
VAN SUSTEREN: We didn`t love Biden on Amtrak, right?
HUTCHINSON: I remember when I was in congress he was always taking the Amtrak back to Delaware. Great Americans. And I want to salute also Hillary Clinton, Bill, former governor of Arkansas, and the way they have been there and participated in this transfer of power. President Obama, it was tough today to see during the speech, you look at his face and that`s very tough on him I`m sure, but he handled it with dignity. And there was nothing more exhilarating than to be there and to participate in this occasion. I`m with you, Greta, that this is some of the ceremony and circumstance that is so important to America and that`s why, you know, we`ll have disagreement down the road, it`s not going to be smooth sailing, but this is a day, let`s give Donald Trump a chance, and I think America wants to see him succeed. He needs to.
VAN SUSTEREN: Well, he laid out what he promises to do. So he`s given us his whole blueprint. He was very blunt about it today. I mean, it may have been tough on the former president because in some ways sort of chips away at his own legacy.
HUTCHINSON: There`s always a reflection back, but he understands, President Obama understands that he won because he ran against the Obama legacy, so he`s got to articulate that today. That`s politics. We`re grown-ups up here. We salute the flag. We come together, and we cheer all America. And I`m excited about the challenge that we face, it is going to be difficult. When I look yesterday at congress, and they talk about healthcare, they won. The senators there taking notes from the governors saying we need to get this right. And secondly, I think there`s recognition that there`s a lot of work to do that we don`t even have total agreement on. As governor we`re going to be presenting idea to them. We`re ready to go, but we`ve got to get it right.
VAN SUSTEREN: Well, you`re in charge. I mean, Republicans pretty much own Washington. You`ve got Republican governors, so, you know, you`ve got big test ahead of yourself. But thank you, governor, for joining us.
HUTCHINSON: Great to be with you, thank you.
VAN SUSTEREN: Susan, you know, I also think it`s worth noting is that -- good for former first lady, Michelle Obama, I mean, you know, it`s one thing if you`re candidate of the person that`s getting hit, but to be the spouse, and she sat -- she was there with nothing but great dignity today, as our other politician.
PAGE: you know, that`s certainly true, and she was very gracious to Melania Trump, and Donald Trump had said how much they appreciate what she -- that said, when Donald Trump inaugural address was over, and she was coming off that -- I thought she looked --
VAN SUSTEREN: But it was harsh on the record of her husband.
PAGE: And former President Obama had a game face on. And I thought she was having more trouble not betraying how she`s actually feeling what the new president said.
JANSING: Didn`t we see that in the speech that she gave in the aftermath of Donald Trump`s comment with the -- intimate video. I mean, her speech was so powerful. She talked about that those comments shook her to her core. She feels this stuff in a more visceral physical way than the president does, and she`s it more.
VAN SUSTEREN: I think that we`re really tough on the first families. I think for the spouse, and she`s been a wife up to this point. As the wife has to sit and listens while the rest of us finds fault with their husband, you know, it`s not easy.
JANSING: No, agree. But one of the things first ladies has done traditionally, and I`ve heard it from people like Laura Bush, they have helped each other with the children. And when you look at the children who have come out of the White House, I mean, it`s pretty remarkable what great kids they really are. And when the president in his final press conference bragged by about Sasha and Malia, they`re really great young women, just as the Bush girls are great young women. And Chelsea Clinton, you know, is a very accomplished young -- they`re all are, and they helped each other.
VAN SUSTEREN: And I try to tip our hat at least to the media because we do leave them alone as we should, as pretty much as we should. Senator John Barrasso from the great state of Wyoming joins us. Nice to see you, sir.
SEN. JOHN BARRASSO (R), WYOMING: Great to be with you, thanks for having me.
VAN SUSTEREN: So what do you think today? Your new president -- our new president has laid out a map of what`s he`s going to do.
BARRASSO: Very optimistic. I`m looking forward to it. The people of Wyoming are delighted. They`re focus on jobs and the economy. And, you know, working class men and women and their paychecks, their take home pay, people that feel that they have been left behind for the last eight years or forgotten feel empowered today. And it`s not Washington that has the powers, the people back home which is where it belongs.
VAN SUSTEREN: Well, Donald Trump, the new president claim he`ll put America first, or his terms make America great again, whatever his branding is. But what do you think that they`re thinking tonight in France, Germany, the U.K., what do they think as they`re listening to that?
BARRASSO: Well, there`s a strong president in the Oval Office. And they would have to deal with him and treat the American people and the government with the respect that this country deserved. We will clearly be the most powerful and respected nation on the face of the earth again. Our friends as well as the enemy will see it. And I`m very excited, very optimistic, and now we are still on the floor of the senate, we`ve just confirmed General Mattis to be secretary of defense, are currently voting on General Kelly. And we will be talking about the CIA director later this evening...
(CROSSTALK)
VAN SUSTEREN: We`re not going to have it tonight, are we?
BARRASSO: No. There would be an affirmation. The vote will be -- the final vote will be Monday. But it would be clear, the message will be clear that Mike Pompeo will be CIA director.
VAN SUSTEREN: What do you think Kim Jong-un of North Korea is thinking tonight?
BARRASSO: He`s thinking, you know, there`s a new sheriff in town, somebody that will actually not be push around. Somebody that -- he`s drawn a red line, the red line will stick it, it won`t be a green light.
VAN SUSTEREN: And Vladimir Putin -- there`s been question whether he and Donald Trump have a bromance or not.
BARRASSO: I think Vladimir Putin knows that Donald Trump believes energy is called the master resource for a reason. It is an instrument of power. It is a force. And Donald Trump is committed to using American energy just in a way that Vladimir Putin has used Russia energy. And Putin has been using that to hold others hostage. Donald Trump knows the value of energy. America is an energy superpower and we`re going to start acting that way.
VAN SUSTEREN: Senator, nice to see you. And the new president certainly laid out an aggressive agenda. For the Republicans you own the house, the senate, and the White House, so it`s all up to you.
BARRASSO: And now people want results.
VAN SUSTEREN: And are you going to get them?
BARRASSO: I am committed to results, to lasting results, not quick fixes, and you`re going to get it.
VAN SUSTEREN: Quick question, are you in favor -- I know you`re in favor of repealing Obamacare, Affordable Care Act, are you willing to have replacement right on the spot.
BARRASSO: Look, again, you don`t want quick fix instead of a lasting solution. I want to make sure we get it right. And that`s going to take a little bit of...
VAN SUSTEREN: So why not wait until you have the replacement to do the repealing, rather having that gap because if you repeal and you make the American people wait for the promise. It would make them nervous.
BARRASSO: Well, the healthcare system under Barack Obama is absolutely collapsing, very few people have choices, prices are up, choices are down. We want to make sure people have affordable insurance and care. The president focus on...
VAN SUSTEREN: I got that.
BARRASSO: ... coverage but not care.
VAN SUSTEREN: Why not wait until you have a replacement before you repeal it, sort of shake everybody up. They`ve already been shaken up.
BARRASSO: We want to make sure that we have a long term solution in place where all Americans -- and it is going to work much better than what they suffered under Obamacare.
VAN SUSTEREN: Thank you, senator -- I should say doctor. You also treat patients.
BARRASSO: And you too.
VAN SUSTEREN: It is in fact that I have a problem with my thumb.
(LAUGHTER)
VAN SUSTEREN: Now they all know. Anyway, you`re not coming back. Nice to see you, sir.
BARRASSO: Thanks for having me.
VAN SUSTEREN: A lot more ahead of this historic day. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAN SUSTEREN: We are back with the panel. Also joining us, David Frum, senior editor at The Atlantic, and former speech writer for George W. Bush, nice to see you, and -- all right, your turn, what do you think of today?
DAVID FRUM, THE ATLANTIC: Well, it`s not the emotional cathartic of 2009 was. The city feels empty. Traffic is light. The disturbances that people saw in TV were confined to a small part of the city. It is astonishing that Donald Trump is president of the United States. I don`t think I`ll ever stop to be astonished by that. It does feel like we step off the mainline of history and into the alternate history. The speech was -- you talk earlier about how the speech could have been more gracious. One of the things that is true about Donald Trump is while he tells a lot of lies about external reality, he`s never dishonest about who he is. He`s not a gracious person, so why should he pretend to be gracious today.
VAN SUSTEREN: All right. Obviously, the city is empty today. Can you subtract that in the districts of Columbia, probably, where most of the people who would likely attend inaugural speech, 94 percent voted for the other person.
FRUM: In 2009 they`re coming by bus...
VAN SUSTEREN: Everybody in D.C. turned out last time. So do you think in 2009?
FRUM: In 2009, I think there was something like 2 million people at the inauguration. The districts of Columbia has a population of 500,000...
VAN SUSTEREN: We got the counties.
FRUM: It was a more spectacular kind of event.
VAN SUSTEREN: Without any doubt it was more spectacular. I`ll give that to you. I`m just saying that the people are talking about the crowd and that didn`t surprise me so much.
FRUM: I think the magnitude of it. But on the statement today of the new president, I think as Governor Hutchinson said a few minutes ago, this was a speech that was not designed to reassure, didn`t designed to reassure opponents at home, and more troubling it did not assure allies abroad. Donald Trump campaigned on some of those violent changes, the American system of global leadership, since the end of the cold war, really since the end of World War II. He`s got very close relationships with some traditional American adversaries, like Vladimir Putin`s Russia. He made nervous many of our friends. There was not a word of comfort for any of them.
VAN SUSTEREN: E.J., Donald Trump, the new president was -- I supposed intellectually honest, he said what he believes he`s going to do. It`s not much different than what we have heard before. But, in some ways, and maybe it`s just me, I think inaugural speech should be a time to reach out to the people who didn`t vote for you, and sort to be persuasive why he`ll be a good president, am I wrong?
DIONNE: No. I agree with you completely. I look back at President George W. Bush`s first inaugural speech. And the country was very divided there. A lot of people, and I was one of them, very upset about what happen in Florida. And that was a speech of real outreach. Everybody felt it. I went back and looked, and I surprised myself by how positively I responded to the speech. In print, there was none of that today. And I want to underscore something David Frum said, which is he did nothing, this is really substantive about America standing in the world. Not only did he do nothing to reassure our allies around the world. I think he -- they are a lot more nerving now than they were before he gave that speech. Not only the slogan of America first, but his message about foreign policy being only basically about national interest. And the United States is depended on a whole series of international systems and agreements and alliances that have kept us strong for a long time. And he came away from the speech asking is this guy going to blow all of that up. And I think he could have used some grace notes at least on those questions even if it was on honest statement of what he said Steve Bannon thinks.
FRUM: That`s very important point. You know, maybe not everyone is aware of this, but right now, I mean, this week, an American armor brigade is taking up position in Poland. At the same time as British and French troops are being deployed in Estonia. We are in the middle of the biggest arms build-up on the European continent by western powers since the end of the Cold War.
And they are at the end of the supply lines that run through Germany with whom Donald Trump has smashed up relations and know that they have not been smashed up since 1945.
And one of the things that is really dangerous is what are the signals that he sending to the people behind those troops in Germany, the people that support them in Poland and other ally places, across the line in Russia who are looking at that army brigade and saying is this a real commitment or is this a phony commitment by someone who`s got who we have some power over.
VAN SUSTEREN: Chris, with the exception of his statement that he is going to eradicate radical Islamism, there really wasn`t a whole lot of foreign policy except for as he talks on issues of trade which has of course an impact on foreign policy, and not this oblige to talk about foreign policy but he didn`t have a lot.
JANSING: And yet, we know how this discomfort in so much Europe, so much of the rest of the world is, he has talk about the NATO, you have the meeting at Davos, you have the secretary of general of NATO expressing his concerns about a lot of people, talking about the simple fact in World War I and World War II in NATO.
We haven`t seen that kind of destructive war again. So, I do think the other aspect of this is that for people who already were against Donald Trump, who were uncomfortable with Donald Trump many of them decided not to watch today, right?
And yet, at least based on my anecdotal experience since they were following social media, one sentence one line that could have been repeated to either comfort the allies or comfort people who had voted for Hillary Clinton may have had a much broader impact than I think he would have even imagined so somebody who has master frankly, using social media to his own benefit.
That`s another reason for me I was surprised he didn`t make that outreach either to our allies or to the people who voted for him.
PAGE: You know what`s reassuring to our allies that happened today it was not his speech, it was the move toward confirmation of General Mattis for sure.
JANSING: Yes. It has the Defense Department.
PAGE: Because during his confirmation hearings he said the -- he took more traditional republican in American positions when it comes to the value of the NATO alliance and the protection of U.S. force, so I think that allies who are looking for something--
FRUM: Yes.
PAGE: .. to cling to give them hope, that`s one--
(CROSSTALK)
VAN SUSTEREN: I would like the democrats have voted for Mattis.
FRUM: The way the Americans listen does not work. If he is not true that if the president and the secretary of defense have disagreement the president must resign. That is not how to works.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: David is absolutely right about that. But I also think Susan is right. I think democrats were very eager to confirm Mattis both to send the message that she talked about but also to get somebody in that Trump inner circle who might push back against some of the very policies he seem to be describing in this speech.
VAN SUSTEREN: Chris Jansing and David Frum, thank you both very much. E.J. and Susan Page, stay with me. A lot more ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAN SUSTEREN: Back with Susan and E.J. And joining the conversation, Congresswoman Jackie Speier she`s democrat from California, and Nancy Northup, is the present CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights. They`ll be at the women`s march at Washington tomorrow.
And you are looking at the President of the United States and first lady, they are leaving the parade. They have a big night ahead of them, they`ve got to hit the balls that are sort of scattered around town. So, they`ve to leave and their day is not over.
So, let`s go first to you, Congresswoman Speier. Tomorrow that`s day number two of this but we have a women`s march. What is women`s march?
JACKIE SPEIER, (D) UNITED STATES REPRESENTATIVE: Well, you know, it created organically from a woman in Hawaii who a grandmother who just said we should march and it just kind of took off. And I came back yesterday in a pane --in a plane that was packed with marchers, men and women that are coming back here for this.
So, we are going to see something very organic and very exciting tomorrow. Because women and men are going to speak up about women`s rights.
VAN SUSTEREN: So, Nancy, this isn`t necessary an anti-Trump protest, this is pro-women march. Is that fair to say and how big do we expect it to be and is it just here in Washington?
NANCY NORTHUP, PRESIDENT, THE CENTER FOR REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS: Well, let me start by saying it is a protests about the policies that President Trump has put out.
VAN SUSTEREN: So that extent it would be anti-Trump in your mind?
NORTHUP: That`s right.
VAN SUSTEREN: OK.
NORTHUP: The women and men coming out tomorrow and there are going to be hundreds of thousands of them not just here in Washington but in every state in the United States. So, for your viewers who they -- it`s not too late. They can go to the women`s march web site, they can sign up and they can go tomorrow in their own state.
And it`s to say we`re not going backwards. You know, President Trump today talked about some mythical American past. But women do not want to go back to a time when they couldn`t make choices about their health and their future. Do not want to see Roe versus Wade reverse.
Seven in in 10 American are really clear access to abortion should be safe and legal. We don`t want to go back on the equality in the workplace and otherwise. And so, tomorrow it`s for men and women coming together to say we`re standing strong for women, we`re standing strong for progress forward.
VAN SUSTEREN: How many cities do you estimate they are going to be this marches in. I saw one number that was quite high that`s why I`m asking you what are your estimate?
NORTHUP: Well, I think they are in every state, so I think we`re talking about over a hundred cities. It`s going to be really, really major. And everybody can be a part of it. You know, I actually, it was daughter who is 24 who reached out to me and said, "Mom, are we going to the march in Washington?" before I even had time to think about it. So, I think you`re going to see all ages, all generations of men and women saying we`re not going backwards.
VAN SUSTEREN: Congresswoman, do you think you can work with Donald Trump, the president.
SPEIER: I honestly don`t.
VAN SUSTEREN: Not at all. You will give him a chance?
SPEIER: I will give him a chance.
VAN SUSTEREN: OK. So, what does he have to do so sort of mean like, give me an idea.
SPEIER: Well, he can`t row back Roe versus Wade, the office of Civil Right, the family planning opportunities for women in this country, the repeal of the Planned Parenthood funding for non-abortion services.
VAN SUSTEREN: So, that sort of integrated into the Obamacare, those issues. It`s Obamacare.
SPEIER: Well, no. Actually, the funding for the Planned Parenthood is actually Medicaid funding.
(CROSSTALK)
VAN SUSTEREN: Separate.
SPEIER: Much to that is for poor women and it`s all about its screening. Its cancer screening, its STD`s, it`s all of the other services that are provided to low income women who can`t access health care anywhere else.
VAN SUSTEREN: With the exception of that I`m not -- I`m not denying that those are important issues. Are there other areas where you can work with the president?
SPEIER: Well, I`m looking for opportunities to work with him. But I am not going to a road the benefits that women have received in this country and that we fought so hard for literally a centuries. It`s not -- it`s not time to go back. It is time to make sure we hold the line and move forward.
VAN SUSTEREN: For the life of employee I cannot understand this dispute, is that, you know, equal pay for equal work. I am for the life. How about you, Susan--
(CROSSTALK)
PAGE: I`m entirely in favor for equal pay for equal work.
VAN SUSTEREN: I mean, it`s like that`s what they`re saying. That to me, I don`t even know why we`re talking about that.
PAGE: You know, there`s one other area where it seems to me democrats may be able to come together with President Trump and that`s on an infrastructure bill. That`s one of the things he talked in his speech today, desire to invest in bridges and road. That`s something democrats have been in favor.
In fact, that might that might be an issue where President Trump is closure to democrats in Congress than he is to republican in Congress who might more concerned about what it would costs.
SPEIR: As long as we`re not talking about privatizing all of that, so that we`re not building toll roads. That`s not going to be good for America either.
VAN SUSTEREN: E.J., I can see of the other disputes of people who have deep faith. And when it comes to certain issues especially like Roe versus Wade, but for the like of me I can`t get figure out how anyone could object to equal pay for equal work. I just don`t get that one.
E.J. DIONNE, WASHINGTON POST COLUMNIST: Well, I don`t get that one either. By the way, I salute the congresswoman normally when either of you are asked can I work with him they find some way around, and she just gave a straight up no.
So, score one for honesty. And I think there is a lot of that.
(CROSSTALK)
VAN SUSTEREN: I think -- I think it would behoove us to try to for whatever reason at least to get the democrats and republicans to work together. I applaud her for honesty but you know, if we can start trying to get everything moving and be helpful.
DIONNE: Right. I totally agree on equal pay for equal work. I think the infrastructure issue depends a lot as the congresswoman said, whether it`s a real infrastructure bill. In which case I think the politics become very complicated or something that he propose in the campaign, which doesn`t look like a real infrastructure bill.
But on this march, I think it`s a very important day because what is and started out as a women`s march has become almost an omnibus march for all the people who didn`t support Trump, who oppose Trump, and they are just trying to say I think there is whole other view in the country than the one you heard yesterday.
And we want to remind the country, the people at the march are saying that we`re here. And it will be inevitable that that crowd would be compared to Trumps.
And you are right, Greta, we were in an area that is not pro-republican and pro-Trump. And that clearly cut his crowd. But I think it would be a measure of the fact that passion may have moved in politics today from the republican side to the democratic side. Because the republicans could always throw stop at Barack Obama. He`s gone. Trump now has the authority and I think it will be a measure of a new kind of passion on the other side of politics.
VAN SUSTEREN: Here`s -- I mean, I want our infrastructure fixed. I fact, I`ve got two flat tires in one drive at home one night in our nation`s capital about two years ago. But you know, but the problem we had the infusion of money right when President Barack Obama took office. And it was supposed to be all this shovel-ready projects. So, you know, so how do we know this -- that was supposed an infrastructure fix. We didn`t get of them.
PAGE: You know, you can argue about, actually most democrats think they didn`t put enough money into that vote. And you can argue how that was executed. But I think you can`t argue that there`s a need for some infrastructure--
(CROSSTALK)
VAN SUSTEREN: I agree totally. I got the flat tires to prove it.
PAGE: And you know, you asked about where the demonstrations were being held, at USA Today.com we did a map that shows not only demonstrations in all 50 states but across the world, in London, and in Asia, and in South America and elsewhere. Because this has gotten to be--
NORTHUP: Right.
PAGE: -- and this has gotten to be a pretty big thing and not because of some big institutional non-profit decided to generate it. It really has been one of the interesting things that is generated from the grassroots.
VAN SUSTEREN: We had peaceful protestors today and we had some not so peaceful protestors. Any thoughts tomorrow.
NORTHUP: Tomorrow is going to be a peaceful march.
VAN SUSTEREN: OK, good.
NORTHUP: For folks that I just to say we do not want to like the divisiveness going on and we do not like the policies that he has suggested. And we want to make sure that we can have progress for all Americans and that includes women and people of color who want to be part of the future of this country.
VAN SUSTEREN: And of women there will be some women whose name we know tomorrow. Gloria Steinem is coming.
NORTHUP: That`s right. That`s right. But lots and lots and lots to your point of just men and women across the country who are showing up and are going to keep on showing up. And I think that`s going to be important.
Because while as a lawyer, the Center for Productive Rights will hold the president accountable. It`s really the people who need to be holding him accountable every day.
VAN SUSTEREN: Thank--
NORTHUP: To our constitutional values.
VAN SUSTEREN: Thank you, Nancy, and Congresswoman Speier, thank you very much. And I hope -- I hope you come back.
SPEIER: I will.
VAN SUSTEREN: Historic day. We`ll be right back.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I will fight for you with every breathe in my body and I will never ever let you down.
(APPLAUSE)
America will start winning again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TRUMP: I was very honored, very, very honored when I heard that President Bill Clinton and Secretary Hillary Clinton was coming today, and I think it`s appropriate to say and I`d like to you stand up, I would like you to stand up.
(APPLAUSE)
And honestly, there`s nothing more I can say because I have a lot of respect for those two people. So, thank you all for being here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAN SUSTEREN: Doug Wead is a presidential historian. He served as special assistant to the president in the George H.W. Bush White House. Nice to see you.
DOUG WEAD, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Good to see you, Greta.
VAN SUSTEREN: I mean, calling out to Secretary Clinton, you know, what a good sport she was to show up.
WEAD: That`s right. That`s true.
VAN SUSTEREN: You know, with some people you have wanted in the speech but we can prove that somebody ceases it any way.
WEAD: Yes, great moment. Great moment.
VAN SUSTEREN: You know what I like most about the speech today is when he said, I thought this -- I actually think this sort of a represented one of the reasons why he won. He said "American wants great schools for their children, safe neighborhood for their families and good jobs for themselves. These are the just and reasonable demand of a righteous public."
WEAD: I thought that was great. And you know, there`s a real hypocrisy here because all through history the presidents have gone to private schools and sends their kids to private schools.
And we finally had a president in Jimmy Carter who said no, we`re going to send my daughter to a public school. But he change real quick. And the Obamas were unashamed about it. We are going to send our kids to the best school we can send them to. And isn`t that ashamed that a lot of kids won`t get a good education.
VAN SUSTEREN: No, but what are parents, you mean, presidents what do they to do to send their -- I mean, send them which is where the Obama children went. I mean, that`s a good school, what parent wouldn`t want his or her child have the best chance?
WEAD: Yes. But if you believe in public education and you believe that its working, and that you can just feed it more money and it will work better then you ought to support it some would say. I like the fact that Obama send his kids to the best school he could. I think they were great parents.
VAN SUSTEREN: What did you think of today`s speech?
WEAD: I thought today`s speech was him and that`s part of the charm. People don`t like it. But it wasn`t written by somebody else. It was written by him. And that`s why they elected him. They are so tired of the phony, and you know, I`ve been watching on television as people say, he`s so divisive and even hateful. And someone who loves history and reads history I always -- I`m always amused how they say this has never happened before.
But you know, when John Kennedy was elected President there were many who hated Kennedy. And Truman gave a press conference on television and said "I`m not coming to the Democratic national Convention in Los Angeles." They were upset about Joe Kennedy, they were upset over the Mafia. They didn`t like him because he was Catholic.
There were sermons on the Sunday, he was inaugurated on Friday. There were sermons on Sunday in Southern Baptist Churches saying Kennedy is the antichrist. Nixon his daughters Julie was spit, she was liked across campus at Smith College and they spit on her.
And LBJ "hey, hey, LBJ, how many kids did you kill today?"
VAN SUSTEREN: Right.
WEAD: There`s always been -- you could call it hatred. But Jack Ford, the son of Gerald Ford once said to me, half of the country hates my dad, half of the country loves my dad. He says it will always be like that with the president.
VAN SUSTEREN: In listening to President Trump today, he gave essentially the specific list of things he is going to accomplish. And these are the things that he has been saying on the campaign trail. And this is why people voted for him.
And I think it`s a little backlash against the elitist. Some of them. He said he is going to make America great again. And people serving like they wanted a chance. But the things that he proposing is very difficult. And so what happens -- what happens if he doesn`t do these things. I mean, these things that he has promised, I mean, they are going to be deeply disappointed. And it`s a tough -- this is a tough city.
WEAD: That`s true. That`s true. And I thought the same exact things going through my mind. But he is a businessman. He is a -- you know, his favorite preacher was Norman Vincent Peale. And he went to that church on Fifth Avenue.
He is positive. And that`s how businessmen have to think. Different from politicians. They don`t think ahead how is it going to work. They think we got to think positive. We got to make this work and I guess that`s him.
But the same cross my mind, hey, lower the expectations, that`s what W would tell him. You can win if you get them low enough.
VAN SUSTEREN: E.J., one thing that I sort of like, which I think is sort of consistent with the populist approach that Donald Trump spoke about today and has in the campaign trail, is that we`re not going to have as many huge inaugural balls here in Washington tonight.
It does seem like he has trimmed his whole -- this whole day. And it seem like a little more in conservative -- I don`t mean politcally but at least i terms of his approach maybe a little bit of a signal that it`s not going to be all flashy and a big deal here in Washington.
DIONNE: Yes, I kind of like that, too. I think we don`t need a million balls and a lot of glitter. It`s ironic because Trump he is a guy of glitter and he`s got his hotel down the street to prove it.
But I`m sympathetic with that point. On Doug`s point about history and we were talking about trump`s speech versus his other speech -- speeches. As Doug was talking I was thinking of JFK in 1960, and the first line in his inaugural address was, we observe today not victory of party but a celebration of freedom.
And Senator Blunt quoted Jefferson`s famous first inaugural after a very bitter time when we didn`t even know that we were going to have party succession in the country. And Jefferson got up and said, "We have all republicans, we are all federalists."
You saw some of that spirit in the toast in the way that Trump gave to Hillary Clinton. Well, I would like to see a little bit of that in the speech. Others presidents have done it in, as Doug said very difficult times.
PAGE: You know, it`s true that elections by definition are divisive, right. And governing is divisive. But what is unprecedented in modern times this year, is that Americans did not really come behind this president during the transition period. You go recollect even to the election in 2008--
(CROSSTALK)
VAN SUSTEREN: But are we at the point of sort of like prove it. We`ve heard so many promises over the past decades. And if he does follow through on these promise, and if he does, I mean, if he improves all of these things, you know, I just think the American people are more or like they don`t want any promises any more. They want prove it.
PAGE: I don`t know. I think -- I think that it reflects now of more pluralize time, but also his failure to reach out in the last couple of months since he won the election actually. I think you could do things as he did on election night.
On election night, Donald Trump gave a pre-conciliatory address but he hasn`t repeated that. And as consequence, even though George W. Bush ended up with pretty good approval ratings at the time of his inauguration, not that it lasted through his presidency.
This president is not going to have the advantage of that. There are only a few moments I think where president are able to really reach voters who didn`t vote for them. This is one of them. And I feel like there`s been a bit of missed opportunity here on the part of President Trump.
VAN SUSTEREN: NBC -- NBC`s Peter Alexander is outside of the White House, with the Trumps inside. Peter?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
VAN SUSTEREN: No, we don`t have him. All right. Susan, let me ask you about this. We don`t have -- we have a vacancy to the Supreme Court. When we get -- when are we getting the nomination?
PAGE: In two weeks.
VAN SUSTEREN: Two weeks.
PAGE: He said last week or two weeks ago that he was going to make that announcement in the first two weeks of his agenda. He put out a list of prospects during the campaign. He said he is going to choose from that list of 21 names, so I think we`re going to get that pretty quick.
VAN SUSTEREN: How important is first 100 days. We make a big deal about it, but how important?
WEAD: I think he is going to -- I think his first 100 hours are going to be really important.
VAN SUSTEREN: It`s 100 hours not 100 days are too?
WEAD: And Ivanka Trump that`s what I`m going to be watching. Because FDR brought Anna Roosevelt his last year in office and she ran the White House that last year. Eleanor had to beg her to get on the manifest to go to Yalta and she didn`t make it. I think Ivanka is going to be that kind of person eventually.
VAN SUSTEREN: E.J., the first 100 days or in Doug`s case the first 100 hours.
DIONNE: Soon we maybe reduce to the first 100 seconds and decide it all then. I think it`s a going to be a heck of a ride with a lot of tension in it. I think there will be an enormous opposition to whoever he names to the court on the part of democrats not because of the identity of the person but because of the reason that seat is open.
The refusal to take up Merrick Garland I think you are going to see the republican Congress start passing a lot of stuff fast. And they are counting on Trump to sign it. That`s going to be very controversial. The budget stuff, in particular, the tax cuts, I think we`re going to see a lot of stuff happen and a lot of fighting.
VAN SUSTEREN: You know, E.J. you bring up that Merrick Garland, you know, that bothered me. You know, President Obama and one of the Constitution had a right to appoint someone. And look, when you don`t give a person a hearing. You know, give them a hearing vote no. But they didn`t give him a hearing. And it`s almost like I don`t like politics when it does that. I don`t like that gaming in the system.
DIONNE: Well, I the republicans have always talks about borking people and you`re going to hear people turn Merrick into a verb.
VAN SUSTEREN: E.J., but that`s the problem. That`s the problem because the republicans say that democrats did it to us once before so we`re doing it now. That`s the ugly cycle in Washington.
(CROSSTALK)
DIONNE: But Merrick didn`t even get a hearing. Merrick Garland didn`t get a hearing.
VAN SUSTEREN: That`s the ugly cycle. No, no, no, but I`m just saying is that you know, what happened in Washington is that when one group gets in power, they say the other group did it, instead of stopping some of the behavior.
DIOONE: Right. No, and in fact, it`s gets worst. Because Bork remember, as you remember got a hearing. People didn`t like the way the hearing went, but he got a hearing. And Merrick Garland didn`t even get a hearing. And so there`s still a lot of pins up anger about that.
VAN SUSTEREN: And the POTUS Twitter account immediately turned over Donald Trump. Almost at the strike of a clock.
PAGE: And Barack Obama sent a note saying, hey, I have gotten back to this my old Twitter account. Barack Obama has anything happened lately.
VAN SUSTEREN: It`s a Twitter -- I mean, it`s amazing he is the -- that the media is now get a little bypassed with this Twitter.
PAGE: It`s definitely the way we communicate with each other these days.
VAN SUSTEREN: Yes. But it`s got a little bit (Inaudible) So, we want more than 140 character for information but we`re not getting that. Like we`re going to get 140 characters.
Anyway, thank you all for joining us. And to the viewers at home, thank you very much for watching.
But I got an assignment for you. Something special for you. Tomorrow, Saturday, 6 p.m. a special edition For the Record. Tomorrow at 6 p.m. Eastern. If you can`t watch it live set your DVR. I know you know how to do that. And follow me on Twitter @greta. Check out my Facebook page for behind the scenes videos and more.
Hardball with Chris Matthews starts in about 10 seconds. Here we go.
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