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Report: New Trump Order Reforms Worker Visa Program; McDonald's Drive Thru Workers Spot Facebook Killer; GOP Senator Says Trump's Florida Trips Bother Me. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired April 18, 2017 - 15:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


[15:30:00] DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Government is to progressively promote and use American-made goods and to ensure that American labor is hired to do the job. It's America first. You've got to believe it. It's time, right? It's time. First, we will fully monitor, uphold and enforce our buy American laws, which we haven't done. Buy American laws require that when the federal government buys bills or funds a project, domestic goods and products should be used. But over the years, these standards have been gutted by excessive waivers and reckless exemptions. The result has been countless jobs and countless contracts that have been lost to chief, subsidized and low-quality foreign goods. With this order, I'm directing every single agency in our government to strictly uphold our buy American laws, to minimize the use of waivers and to maximize made in America content in all federal projects. And for the first time ever, we're going to crack down on foreign bidders that used dumped steel and other subsidized goods to take contracts from workers like you.

They take them away and they've been doing it for a long time. Not going to happen anymore. We are finally standing up for our workers and companies. In short, this order declares that American projects should be made with American goods. No longer are we going to allow foreign countries to cheat our producers and our workers out of federal contracts. You will be expected to buy America provision and we are going to investigate every single trade deal that undermines these provisions. Secondly, we are going to enforce the hire American rules that are designed to protect jobs and workers in the United States. We believe jobs must be offered to American workers first. Does that make sense? Right now, widespread abuse is allowing American workers of all backgrounds to be replaced by workers brought in from other countries to fill the same job for sometimes less work. This will end the visa abuses and today their calls are being answered for the first time.

That includes taking the first steps to set in motion a long overdue reform of H-1B visas. They are granted in a lottery. That's wrong. Instead, they should be given to the most skilled and highest paid applicants and never used to replace Americans. No one can compete with American workers when they are given a fair and level playing field which has not happened for decades. We're using every tool at our disposal to restore the American dream. In fact, when it comes to job-killing regulations, we're going to use a tool you all know very well. It's called the sledgehammer. That's what we're going to use. We're also going to stand up for our dairy farmers in Wisconsin and I've been reading about it and talking about it for a long time and that really immediately fair trade with all of our trading partners and that includes Canada.

[15:35:00] Because in Canada, some very unfair things have happened to our dairy farmers and others and we're going to start working on that with Ron and Scott and Paul and with all of your representatives. What's happened to you is very, very unfair. It's another typical one-sided deal against the United States and it's not going to be happy. Scott, you and Ron and myself and Paul and everybody else, we're going to get together and we're going to get the solution, not just the answer. If you guys can't do t. Maybe we'll bring renice. Reince, you ready? We better bring renice back. We're going to work on that immediately. In fact, starting today. It's a terrible thing that happened to the farmers of Wisconsin.

The fact is, NAFTA has been a disaster for the United States. A complete and total disaster. And we're going to do some things and we have all sorts of rules and regulations that are horrendous, like we want to start to negotiate with Mexico immediately and we have these provisions where you have to wait long periods of time. You have to notify Congress and after you notify Congress, you have to get certified and then you can't speak to them for 100 days. The whole thing is ridiculous. NAFTA's been very, very bad for our country. It's been very, very bad for our companies and for our workers and we're going to make some very dig changes or we are going to get rid of NAFTA for once and for all. Cannot continue like this, believe me. We're also working with Congress on tax reform and simplification and if we get that health care approval, press every one of your Congressman. Press everybody. We want to get that approval.

And it just makes the tax reform easier and it makes it better. It's going to make it steeper. It's going to be bigger and that's what we want to do. We have the concept of the plan and announcing it very soon but health care we have to get the health care taken care of. As soon as health care takes care of it, we're going to march very quickly. We're going to surprise you. Right, Steve Mnuchin, secretary of treasury. I see seen and -- stand up, seen. Let's stand up. You know, I had no idea -- I was told a year ago -- he's been so great to me, I was told a year ago he's like a world champion climber. He climbs the trees. After that, every time I look at him, I look at him now differently. I'm very impressed with that, seen. And he's also very good on television and helpful. Thank you, man. Thank you.

We'll be making big investments in our military and repairing our badly depleted infrastructure and that will happen soon, also. Infrastructure. Big infrastructure bill. Probably use it with something else. It's harder to get approved in order to get that approved. Infrastructure is coming and it's coming fast. New ships, bridges, tunnels, airplanes will be constructed with American hands, American steel and, yes, American tools. As we work to restore the American dream at home, we're also working to restore America's standing abroad. That means strengthening our partnerships and ensuring that our friends and allies pay their fair share and that very much includes, as

I've already said in my statement to Paul, it also includes the NATO companies and countries. They are really sort of letting us down in that one respect and we don't want people taken advantage of the United States and that's not going to happen for very much longer. I'm going over there very soon and we're going to have it and everybody's going to be paying and we're going to be a much happier country and a much happier world no matter the circumstances everyone will know, we act from this core conviction that America's strength must be unmatched and its first priority unquestioned. The safety and security of our citizens. This is the surest path to a more peaceful and prosperous world for us all. Together we can build a better future in the spirit of these companies' earliest days.

[15:40:00] Great company. Great history. I recently learned that decades ago in the 1920s when your salesmen entered a dusty repair shop or a stained garage floor, which I've seen many of, he would find a spot to lay out a beautiful green-felt map. The people of the company know what that means. He would place a gleaming set of new Snap-on tools. The founders of this company wanted their customers to know that the tools of the mechanic were just as important as the tools of the doctor, the dentist, the politician or the business leader and that his craft was a noble, noble craft. As noble as any. This is a wonderful story about your company and its Wisconsin heritage. And Wisconsin has a great heritage led by incredible people.

But it's also a story that tells us a lot about the American spirit. In America, we honor work. We honor grit. We honor craftsmanship and the men and women who turn dreams into reality with their own two hands. In America, we honor all of you. We are a nation of builders. We are the country that dug out the Panama Canal, that put a man on the face of the mean and we are the country that is always on the cusp of the next invention. But we can only get there with all of you. We can only restore this nation we love so much by working and building with all of you. We can only get there together. We are the one people sharing one destiny saluting one great, beautiful American flag. I'm thrilled to be here today to celebrate our great American heritage and to proudly embrace our great American future. I want to thank the people of Wisconsin for doing so much for me. That's why I came back here, not just for the company, frankly, for the people of Wisconsin. You have been so incredible to me and my administration and we will never, ever let you down. God, bless you. God bless the American worker. God bless the American dream and god bless the United States of America. Thank you all very much. Thank you. Thank you very much.

BALDWIN: President Trump there at Snap-on shaking some hands of some workers there, standing in front of an American flag made of wrenches. Let's see if he signs. Here we go. The executive orders to essentially review the H1-B visa program. Or just to require agencies to buy more goods. Let's listen to what he's saying.

TRUMP: Come on up. Come on up.

Who should I give the pen to? I think one of them should get it.

BALDWIN: As we watch sign this executive order, Nia-Malika Henderson, CNN political reporter, as we stay on these pictures, exactly what he is signing, why is this all -- after a couple of vehicles of foreign policy centric, international centric, issues that he's been dealing with, he's back to his mantra from the campaign, America first. Go ahead.

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Yes. And this is, you know, obviously in Wisconsin, a state he won by 23,000 votes, a state that Republicans hadn't been able to win for many, many years. So, he's going there to really focus on that brand, America first, bringing jobs back in that state where blue collar, white voters really made the difference. For him, what struck me about this speech, though, is how it really embodied how little Donald Trump has been able to do in this first 100 days. It was all looking forward to things that he was going to be able to do at some point and that was harkening back to his rhetoric from the campaign so he talked about we are going to do tax reform but wait, wait, wait, we're going to do health care first.

He talked about something big coming from NAFTA. These NAFTA negotiations. And from everything we've seen so far out of what they might do around NAFTA, it seems fairly modest. I thought that was really striking to me. We've seen this white house really have a lot of action but not much movement forward in terms of what they are able to do and I think this event there, he's out there in the heartland and in a situation where he likes to be with people and likes to hear the roar of the crowd there but again, I thought this was a testament to the fact that they don't have any w's in terms of legislation on the board in his first 100 days.

[15:45:00] BALDWIN: Of course, they want the wins and they see maybe Justice Gorsuch as a win but we're coming off 100 days and I take your point. Matt Viser, there's been some news that's been made in a different part of the country with the fellow Republican Senator Joni Ernst and she was asked and apparently, part of the question was with regard to all of these trips that the President keeps taking down to mar a Mar-a-Lago. Let me play that tape for you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JONI ERNST, SENATOR, IOWA: I wish he would spend more time in Washington, D.C., as that's what we have the white house for and we'd love to see more of those state department visits in Washington, D.C., and I think it's smart that he does business in Washington, D.C. so I've had those same concerns myself.

I have not spoken to him about the Florida issue yet but that is something that I think has been bothering not just me but some other members of our caucus. So, I think that is going to be a topic of discussion that we have when we get back to Washington, D.C.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: And just a little context on the Florida issue, as she put it, Matt, Dan Merica here with CNN put out reporting how President Trump is on pace to actually surpass the eight years of President Obama's travel spending just in his first year. Do you think the President will rethink his travel schedule? MATT VISER, DEPUTY WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, BOSTON GLOBE: I don't

know. He doesn't seem inclined to. It is striking from an ally, from a fellow Republican.

BALDWIN: Right.

VISER: Someone like Joni Ernst criticizing that travel and the money that's spent on that travel and the lack of focus that it seems to forecast in his time in Washington and his ability to control what is happening in the nation's capital. Tying it quickly back in to the hire America, you also have her hiring foreign workers at Mar-a-Lago. I think that's another area of criticism that we'll hear more about.

BALDWIN: Matt and Nia, thank you both very much on that.

Let's move along because we're getting new information on the latest development. You know that on this Facebook killer story, the manhunt had gone on for a couple of days. Ultimately police found him, he killed himself in Pennsylvania. We're now getting new information from police. Here it is.

WILLIAM TEPER, JR., PENNSYLVANIA STATE POLICE: Today, at 11:10 a.m., a concerned citizen contacted PSP Erie and indicated that Steven Stephens was sighted at McDonald's restaurant in Harbor Creek township. Stephens was wanted for the homicide of Robert Godwin in Cleveland, Ohio. Troopers responded to that location, located the vehicle and initiated a pursuit which traveled west on Buffalo Road towards the city of Erie. At that time, Wesleyville Borough joined the pursuit. He stopped his car one mile from the pursuit area. As the troopers exited their patrol vehicles, Stephens fled west on Buffalo Road. The pursuit continued for approximately one mile where troopers executed a precision and mobilization technique otherwise known as a pit maneuver near Downing Avenue. This resulted in the Ford Fusion coming to a stop.

[15:50:00] At that time, Stephens used a handgun to take his own life. Currently search warrants are being executed on the ford fusion and its contents. At this point, we cannot determine if Stephens had been in the Erie area but we'll continue to investigate and assist the Cleveland police department with this investigation. Although this was not the ideal outcome, we are pleased that no one from the community was harmed, including members of law enforcement.

The Pennsylvania state police extends our condolences to the Godwin family in Cleveland, Ohio. The Pennsylvania State Police was assisted by Wesleyville PD, the Erie county coroner's office, the Pennsylvania State Police would like to thank the public for the diligence and the numerous tips over the last several days. The public was instrumental in bringing this investigation to a successful conclusion. Thank you and we'll open it up to any questions that you may have. One at a time.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: There seems to be some confusion regarding the ping in this area a day or so ago, that it did happen, a cell phone ping and then all of a sudden it didn't. Here we have Chief Williams in Cleveland saying that there clearly was. It seems though he's been here the entire time. Can you clear that up when the ping happened and when authorities knew about it and what happened?

TEPER: As far as the Pennsylvania State Police, we had no direct knowledge of a ping. Everything we heard was on social media. Because Mr. Stephens was a gambler, we thought he may be close to the casino. We had our troopers on alert around the clock. We put e-mail messages out. We put information out to our troopers. We're looking for him from day one, but as far as a ping, we have no direct knowledge of a ping, at least PSP did not.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Did you confirm it was an employee at the McDonald's who spotted him and called in the tip?

TEPER: What we're reporting right now is a concerned citizen.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Did they delay him at the McDonalds?

TEPER: I was not there. I don't have that information although I would say the moment they recognized him and the vehicle, a call was made to our dispatch. Our members immediately got that information out. Our troopers happened to be in close proximity, and the pursuit ensued.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Sir, to the best of your --

TEPER: I'm sorry, one more time. Close in that area. Buffalo road, harbor creek township.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Sir, to the best of your knowledge will that concerned citizen be eligible for the $50,000 reward up to the FBI?

TEPER: That's not up to me.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: And can you walk us through what you'll be doing in the next couple of days to determine what he may have been doing in this area over the last 48 hours? How will you begin to work through that process to do that?

TEPER: There's a lot we have to do. We have members at the scene mapping forensics and mapping the area and making sure we have everything at the scene. We have search warrants on the car which is ongoing right now, I believe, but there's a whole host of things we're going to do. Once we wrap up the scene we clear from there and we'll start to backtrack his movements. He's been somewhere over the last couple of days. We don't know where. We'll have our investigators go out and try to determine where that is.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: How do you backtrack?

TEPER: Talk to people. Start at the restaurant that he was at, backpack, maybe talks to friends and family and see if there's any acquaintances in the area. Typically, when something like this happens and you have the death of the actor, some people will come forward. People will start to talk. We'll keep our eyes and ears open and make sure our numbers are out there, but, again, we'll try to find out as much as we can.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Was that a thigh-speed chase or was that slow and let's go and stop him?

TEPER: My understanding, sir, the pursuit did not go over 50 miles per hour. I'm sorry, go ahead. I will say this. In talking to captain passing engineer and lieutenant Klein, here were a lot of leads we had over the past couple of days. Every troop had leads. Not saying that there was there, whether there was video surveillance, nothing captured him.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Do you believe anybody was harboring him?

TEPER: It would be an assumption at this point. One thing we like to go back and go back to try to find out where he was, if possible, and again from there. Again, this investigation as far as where he was just starting.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Sir, have investigators, did they locate his cell phone that was in that vehicle, fanned so has a search warrant been issued?

TEPER: I'll say this. Right now, we have search warrants on the vehicle. We're forensically mapping that. We have our forensic members there taking pictures and documenting everything, so that's in the process.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Is there any new information?

TEPER: No. Hang on a second. We have search warrants for the contents of that vehicle as well.

[15:55:00] UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Sir, the move that you were talking about to try to stop the vehicle, was that a spike strip?

TEPER: No, it's a precision immobilization technique, something that we as state police are taught at the academy. I'm sure other law enforcement have that as well, but it's a technique to basically stop the movement of the vehicle. What our troopers do, they make sure it's in a safe location and they go -- utilize that to stop the -- the fleeing suspect, and in this case, we knew -- we knew that Mr. Stephens was wanted for homicide from Cleveland. We knew he could be a threat to our troopers but also to members of the public. That trooper used his discretion, did the pit maneuver and did it successfully ending this investigation.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Was he inside of that McDonald's restaurant or driving through the drive-thru?

TEPER: No, this was several miles down the road.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: You want to elaborate where the maneuver took place? When he was at the first scene, was it inside the restaurant, at the drive-thru part there?

TEPER: Again, what we're releasing he was on Buffalo Road and Harbor Creek township is what we're releasing and a concerned citizen called us.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Was the school locked down?

TEPER: One of the things our troopers took into cars, there was a school there. Happens to be an abandoned school. Our trooper knew that and that's why he chose that location. I'm sorry, sir?

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: How long do you feel the scene will be closed off tonight?

TEPER: Approximately another two hours. Another couple of hours. That's one thing we don't want to rush. We're going to forensically map it and make sure we have all the computer drawings of everything. You only have one chance at a scene and we're not going to rush and thank god, we have the weather in our favor today.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: (inaudible question)

TEPER: To my knowledge when the pit maneuver is conducted, the vehicle spun around, came to a stop and he immediately pulled the weapon out and he shot himself in the car. Could you repeat?

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Do you have dash cam or body cam?

TEPER: We have MBR videos, there were three vehicles that should have MBR. As a rule, we don't release that, but we have that.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: How relieved are you that the manhunt is over?

TEPER: Clearly, no investigation is 100 percent complete until the investigation is done, right now, to the best of my knowledge, and I'll let anybody else jump in here, we don't believe he had any accomplices. Our concern is he was somewhere over the last several days. Whether somebody harboring him, under a bridge somewhere, I don't know. I would say if -- I feel a lot more comfortable now than I did prior to 11:00, but, again, whether somebody else, we don't know, but I would -- I certainly feel that the -- that the tension is a lot less now than it was earlier. Captain, would you agree with this?

BALDWIN: All right. We're going to pull away from this because we have a live position now with our reporter at that McDonald's in Erie, Pennsylvania, and so I heard this correctly. You have this murderer roll up to the drive-thru and an astute employee who recognized him?

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Brooke. I mean, you just heard a lot of questions being peppered to the Pennsylvania State Police asking about that McDonald's. This is an incredible story. So, Stephens apparently rolled up to the first window of McDonald's. That's where he gave some money but didn't wait for his change. That worker, a girl, called over her boss, the owner of this McDonald's, I think that's Steve Stephens, can you verify? Yes, it was, only he had a trimmed down beard. That's what he said was the only difference. Still that white Fusion car. They called police, and I want you to hear what they said they did next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TON DUCHARME, OWNER MCDONALDS WHERE SUSPECT WAS CAUGHT: He came through the drive-thru. Placed an order and got to the first window where you pay, and the drive-thru employee that was working at the time recognized him or thought, noticed that the car was Ohio tags on it and it was a white Fusion, and -- and took his money, and he pulled to the next window. Meanwhile, she stepped out of there and called the state police right away, and -- and we -- I pulled my front drive- there you girl out of window and had myself and my supervisor present at the window and told him it was going to be a minute with the fries which it wasn't and wanted to make sure she got in contact with the state police. He didn't want to wait and took his six-piece and didn't want any bun back and head out on buffalo road and about the time he turned right on buffalo road the state police was behind him at that point.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GINGRAS: So, Brooke, my question to him was whose idea was it to say -- make him wait for the fries because that was quick thinking and that owner telling me that they really didn't have any time to think. It just came sort of instinct to come up with some reason to stall him so state police whose barracks are really not too far from here would have time to get here. He says Stephens did look a little, you know, worried, maybe that they were on to him and that's when he pulled out and started heading down the road to where this chase ensued. So, certainly, such an interesting story, the McDonald's worker should certainly be credited for ending this long 48-hour manhunt.

To stall on the French fry order because they recognized him and those Ohio plates, thank goodness, this entire ordeal is over, not for, of course, the family of Mr. Godwin, but for the rest of the community. Thank you very much. And thank you for being with me. I'm Brooke Baldwin.