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France Voting for President Today; Pentagon Taking on a Brand New Warning to North Korea; White House Now Backing Off the Idea of Repealing Obamacare by the End of the Week; President Trump's First 100 Days; Testing the President's Murky Stance on DREAMers. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired April 23, 2017 - 19:00   ET

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


[19:00:04] ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR: Top of the hour. You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. Thanks for being with me. I'm Ana Cabrera in New York.

We are following breaking news right now, it's happening overseas, but you can believe these ripples will be felt here in the United States. The people of France, voting for President today, sent two people to the final round of voting. And here is the shocking part, France always chooses someone from the political mainstream, but not this time. In fact, the next French President will either be an investment banker with near zero political experience, or a far-right populist who wants the borders shut and wants out of the European Union.

Here's why this matters to us in the United States and the rest of the world. France has a huge economy, the sixth biggest on earth. What happens there affects markets everywhere. France is a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council for making decisions that will change the shape of the world. And France is also America's oldest ally. The partnership is strong and Washington has an interest in keeping it that way.

With me now, CNN international anchor Cyril Vanier.

I know, Cyril, you can't overstate the enormity of what happened today. Politics in France, absolutely turned upside down. What's more surprising to you, being from that country, the collapse of the mainstream, or the rise of these unlikely candidates?

CYRIL VANIER, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Well, I think they are linked. I mean, one actually caused the other. If you look at Marine Le Pen and Emmanuel Macron, and about I would say two years ago, if you had told me that they would be in the second round of the election today, if you told most French voters, they would have told you that you are crazy and you knew nothing about French politics.

But that did come to past. And the reason they are there today is because the mainstream collapse. So that is why I say the two are linked. And why did the mainstream collapse, I think it's because for decades, there has been a sense in France that the country is back sliding. You know, France is like the U.S. in the sense that it feels it has really something to say to the world and it should be one of the leading countries in the world. And it feels that it hasn't lived up to that standard over the last few years. And traditional politics just haven't been able to combat unemployment, haven't been able to provide answers to everyday problems for people. That's why mainstream is down, and that's why all these anti-establishment candidates can rise and fill the void.

CABRERA: Who do you see having the momentum now going into this next round, the final round of voting?

VANIER: Well, typically in French politics, you would say that the person who arrives first in the first round of voting, who gets the most votes is the person with the momentum, and that's Emmanuel Macron right now. And I think that rule of French politics is one of the few rules that's going to stand true before the second round, in the next two weeks. He is just a few percentage points ahead of Marine Le Pen, but his rise is nothing short of remarkable, Ana. A few years ago, nobody knew his name. He has never run for office. He has never been elected. And here he is poised to become the President of France.

CABRERA: What is it about him that makes him suddenly so popular?

VANIER: Well, I think, again, he has been very lucky about the political climate that he is running in. Because what is he? At heart, he is a centrist, he is a pro-market reformer. Somebody who says, well, we can take ideas from the left and right to combat unemployment. That is not a new idea. People have tried that before, in France and other countries. And in France, it has never got you to the presidency.

The reason it's got him so far this time is again for the reason that we are mentioning earlier, the center left and the center right, very various reasons, have collapsed. And so he is ideally poised, you know, positioned to profit from that.

CABRERA: Interesting. Cyril Vanier, thank you.

Let's get out to Paris now and talk to "the Daily Beast," Erin Zaleski.

Erin, it is after midnight there now. I know this is historic day. Did most people in France think this morning that by the end of the day, Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen would be heading for the final round in the Presidential election?

ERIN ZALESKI, PARIS CORRESPONDENT, THE DAILY BEAST: Some people did. I mean, that's what the polls have been saying for the past couple of months. But recently we have seen a rise in the far left candidate (INAUDIBLE) and Francois Fillon was the, as many people know, the Republican that the conservative candidate. He was sort of hanging in there, despite a political scandal. So it was a very, very tight race. So the polls said one thing, but people really, there was definitely a sense of apprehension and anxiety this evening because people really weren't sure how it was going to shake out ultimately.

CABRERA: Now in the U.S. here, a lot of people have compared Le Pen to the rise of Donald Trump. Do people in France see their election this same way, or is it Trump not really a name that anyone cares about there in France?

ZALESKI: No, his name does come up. Both among supporters of Marine Le Pen and opponents of Marine Le Pen. And the supporters, of course, of Marine Le Pen see it as a positive thing. They have told me, well, a lot of people said Trump could never win. And his brand of populism was embraced in the U.S. and similar thing could happen here in France.

[19:05:06] CABRERA: And what's your take? Could similar thing happen there?

ZALESKI: Well, you never say never. According to the polls, Macron is set to beat Marine Le Pen pretty soundly. But I think it's too early to call it. I mean, on the one hand, he has a backing, Macron has backing from the political establishment right now on the left and the right. And it's good for his campaign. On the other hand, a lot of French are wary of traditional mainstream politics, so that could be a negative too.

CABRERA: All right. Erin Zaleski, our thanks to you from Paris.

And now, I want to talk more about this with David Gergen. He is CNN senior political analyst and a former adviser to President Nixon, Ford, Reagan and Clinton.

So David, President Trump has been watching this very closely. He tweeted this today, saying quote "very interesting election currently taking place in France." And this comes two days after Trump tweeted that the recent terrorist attack in Paris will have a big effect on the Presidential election there.

So David, clearly the U.S. government is watching this. From your view, why is this election so important?

DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, for a couple of reasons, Ana. First and foremost, what you have been talking about is that this election does represent yet another rejection of elites who have been running politics. We have seen that here in America. We saw it in Britain with Brexit. And we see much of the same sentiment in France with none of the traditional parties getting into the second round.

But what's fascinating about this also is, yes, there is a Trump candidate in the race. Donald Trump has been -- and his team have been clearly favoring Marine Le Pen, the far-right Populist Party. And yet at the same time, we have seen the emergence in this election of a new figure, an Obama-like figure, Macron, and Obama called Macron before the election. He is young, he's a globalist like Obama. He has some rhetorical similarities with Obama. And so you got, from our perspective, in a fascinating way, a Trump candidate versus an Obama candidate. And that's very interesting in and of itself, where it goes.

But the more serious aspect of this is, of course, if Le Pen wins, and she does have Donald Trump support, it's really important, if she wins, she is going to basically pull France out of the European Union. The euro may well collapse. And we would go back to another age. The nationalism that Steve Bannon and others represent in the Trump White House would come to victory in France.

At the moment, that's unlikely to happen. She is unlikely to win. The poll that is decided most often as head on head between the two of them, had Macron ahead by 26 points, just not long ago before this election today. So she is not likely to win, but I think having Trump versus Obama in France, and it really could have a lot to do with the future of Europe, that's a big story.

CABRERA: Well, it could have something to do with the future of U.S. and France relations, right?

GERGEN: Yes.

CABRERA: And how do you see that playing out and the dynamics if Macron wins versus Le Pen?

GERGEN: That's a very, very good question. The American foreign policy establishment would much prefer Macron. It would keep globalization alive, international institutions would continue to thrive and that sort of thing.

On the other hand, Donald Trump himself and his administration have been leaning to Le Pen. So there's that split between Trump and how he would view the victory, versus what the political -- versus what the -- they would much prefer Macron. As any experience says he is. Maybe he has a little bit of Kennedy-esque-quality about him. And he has come out of nowhere to organize this new force in the French politics. Because he is so much for the revitalizing the existing international institutions, more collaboration. He is going to be, you know, he is going to be welcome by the establishment here in the United States. But very strikingly, Trump listens to a different drummer.

CABRERA: Well, we will see what happens. David Gergen, we will be watching that election. Please stay with me.

GERGEN: Thanks, Ana.

CABRERA: Now from France to North Korea, the Pentagon taking on a brand-new warning, sending this out to North Korea today after the rogue nation detained an American system this weekend and threatened to sink a U.S. aircraft carrier.

A Pentagon spokesman now warns North Korea to quote "refrain from provocative destabilizing action and rhetoric. The American was stopped before he attempted to fly out of the country. And we are told Tony Kim, that's his name, he had just finished teaching for several weeks at Pyongyang University of science and technology. But we don't know exactly why he was detained. President Trump is set to talk with Japan's prime minister and China's President tonight and the topic of North Korea will likely be a big focus.

Still ahead this hour, countdown in Washington in what could be the most impactful week of Trump's presidency. Health care, tax reform, and government spending are all on the table. We have brand-new poll numbers ahead of the President's 100th day in office.

And later, a frightening moment captured on camera. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I saw it happening and it blew my mind. It was kind of like I wasn't even seeing what I was seeing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: You won't believe it either. An off-duty, volunteer firefighter springing into action when this little girl falls out of the back of a moving bus. What the hero firefighter tells CNN just a short time ago, he spoke with us.

You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:15:10] CABRERA: A senior administration official tells CNN the White House is now backing off the idea of repealing Obamacare by the end of the week. This repeal was one of President Trump's biggest promises, something he vowed not just to do in the first 100 days, but in his very first day in office.

So with one week to go until the 100-day mark, what will the White House have to show? What could it mean to voters? Let's talk with CNN senior political analyst and former adviser to four U.S. Presidents, back with us, David Gergen.

David, brand-new polling out today from ABC News and "the Washington Post" poll shows there is 42 percent approve of the President's job performance, but 53 percent disapprove. Yet, 96 percent of those who voted for President Trump say they don't regret it. What do you make of that?

GERGEN: Well, it's, you know, it is really, really interesting. You know, in traditional politics, he would have suffered with his base, but he has kept it up and you have to say that's a political achievement. What is also striking, Ana, of course, is that he hasn't expanded upon his base. And if you look at the people who were intentionally disapproving of Trump, it's 43 percent, whereas his approval is 42. So he has got -- there's a growing polarization and divide over Donald Trump.

I will tell you one thing, Democrats shouldn't be too complacent at 42 percent. That's why hasn't keep that base. You know, he be very competitive for re-election.

CABRERA: Should the President be happy with these poll numbers? He has been tweeting that they are very good.

GERGEN: I don't think he should be happy, but he's got a little something there. He has got some bragging rights. But listen overall, the big story is he has got the lowest approval rating of any contemporary President as he goes into his 100th day. That's a big deal. And the White House is bracing for a series of media attacks the end of the week. They know it is coming. There are going to be some pretty harsh judgments on the first 100 days that are coming.

CABRERA: We have that spending bill showdown that is shaping up to be perhaps a big deal this week. Now, Congress has to pass it, of course, to prevent a government shutdown. And the White House is signaling that it must include funding for the President's border wall. Let's listen to homeland security secretary, John Kelly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KELLY, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: It goes on saying that the President has been pretty straightforward about his desire and the need for a border wall. So I would suspect he will do the right thing for sure, but I suspect he will be insistent on the funding.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Do you think Republican lawmakers will be as insistent?

GERGEN: It was striking that "the Wall Street Journal" went and looked at every member of Congress who has a seat either in the Senate or the House adjacent to the border of Mexico, and not one of them wants to vote for a border wall. So there's a lot of disquiet about this. The President wants it very badly. What the White House is looking for is a deal. And that is telling Democrats, if you give us money for a border wall, so we can get started on it, we, in turn, will fully fund Obamacare, which there's a big deadline coming up on that, whether that funding is going to go forward. And the Democrats have said, no deal, Mr. President, we're not doing that. And the -- they say, what do we get out of that? You promised the wall would be paid for by Mexico. We are not going to pay for that. And you have a moral obligation to keep Obamacare going until you come up with a replacement.

So the Democrats don't want to play ball. But Ana, what's important about this is, in order to keep the lights on and keep the government funded, the Republicans must get eight Democratic senators to come along with them before the end of the week on whatever the government spending bill is. That's going to be very hard. There's a good chance they will understand the road there, come to the end of the week, they don't have the votes and they will say, let's just pass a temporary, one week, and then we will come back and fight again.

CABRERA: So they will just kick the can down the road.

GERGEN: Kick the can.

CABRERA: The first 100 days are usually a honeymoon period for most Presidents. Is it unusual to you that he hasn't accomplished more, or do you think he would have accomplished more in his first 100 days?

GERGEN: Well, I must say the old idea of honeymoons has been gradually disappearing and Donald Trump has had the roughest welcome and the most poised come to office when the country been the most polarized. So it is harder to govern and achieve things into that. But I think he is going to pay a price in the history books. Look. He has Republicans controlling the House. He had Republicans control the Senate. He doesn't have one piece of major legislative accomplishment to show. The health care bill went down badly and it was a major dramatic defeat for him, you know. So he is paying a price for this.

And I think -- also the issue becomes many Presidents have stumbled in their first 100 days. But what the Presidents who have succeeded have learned from their mistakes. Their learning curve has been very high. And that was true of John Kennedy, for example, to stumble on bay of pigs. Fourteen months later he was a terrific President when the Cuban missile crisis arose.

Bill Clinton slipped early on. He learned from his mistakes. Learning curve very high. You have a sense -- I just posted a blog with CNN on this. You have a sense that Trump and his team, their learning curve has been pretty flat.

[19:20:41] CABRERA: What do you think is the number one lesson, you think, he has learned in this first 100 days?

GERGEN: Governing is a lot harder and a lot more complicated than it looks. And people have been doing this, have been trying valiantly to get things moved along, and they have often run into so many roadblocks. It's very, very demoralizing for a lot of people who come into politics, but it is vital for the future of the country. And I hope what is to come out of this, learning is hard, it's complicated, but it must be done. And I must learn how to and my team must learn how to govern.

CABRERA: Do you think he needs to reach out to those beyond his base? Again, coming back to the poll numbers, his base is holding strong, but he is not necessarily making in-roads with those who didn't vote for him. Should he?

GERGEN: That's a good question. I believe, in order to govern in the country, a President must command a lot of voters in the middle. And it's not enough to have people on one wing or the other wing of either party in order to govern. You have to be able to reach across the aisle. You have to be able to talk to voters who are conflicted. They may have a Democratic view on one issue, a Republican view on other issue. And you have to govern as President of all the people. I think when you govern as President of a wing of a party, you make it almost impossible to succeed.

CABRERA: David Gergen, thank you.

GERGEN: Thanks, Ana.

CABRERA: Coming up, she is one step closer to winning the French presidency, but Marine Le Pen's meeting with Vladimir Putin and praise for the Russian President has some across the world a little nervous.

You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [19:26:39] CABRERA: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Ana Cabrera.

A leading Presidential candidate who wants to pull out of NATO and is being courted by Russia's Vladimir Putin. Sound familiar? Well, in this case, we are talking about the French's election and France's far right leader Marine Le Pen. Early results of today's vote show Le Pen will now face the independent centrist Emmanuel Macron in the final round of France's Presidential election.

CNN's Brian Todd recently looked into Le Pen's ties to Russia in a report that first aired on March 24th.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Vladimir Putin's latest attempt to manipulate another country's levers of power. He meets in Moscow with France's far-right presidential candidate, Marine Le Pen, a woman who if she wins could turn a key U.S. ally upside down. Le Pen says she would like to lift sanctions on Russia to recognize Putin's annexation of Crimea and she makes another bold declaration.

MARINE LE PEN, FRENCH PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (through translator): It's the world of Vladimir Putin. It is the world of Donald Trump in the United States.

TODD: Analysts say it's a stunning image for a top candidate in a western democracy to unabashedly embrace Moscow at a time when in America, President Trump's campaign is being investigated over whether aides coordinated with Russian operatives.

HEATHER CONLEY, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: I think what's unusual is how much Russia is now playing into our daily news cycle, our daily consciousness. Russia is very much at the center of our attention and that's exactly where President Putin would like to be.

TODD: Why is Marine Le Pen a favorite French candidate of Putin's?

BEN JUDAH, AUTHOR, FRAGILE EMPIRE: Because le pen wants to break euro Atlantic institutions. Le Pen wants to bring France out of NATO. She want to bring France out of the euro. She wants to break a bloc which Putin sees correctly as preventing Russia achieving the dominant position in Europe as a great power.

TODD: And tonight, there's serious concern that Putin will meddle in France's elections like he allegedly did in America. CNN has learned French officials are worried that Putin's hackers will fish for damaging information, using similar tactics to how U.S. intelligence says they targeted Hillary Clinton's campaign. Russian hackers are believed to have targeted France before with a devastating cyberattack in 2015 of a top French TV network. Putin denies trying to tilt the French elections.

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We do not want to influence events in any way. TODD: But Marine Le Pen has already gotten a boost from Russia, a

loan three years ago of about $10 million from a bank owned by a close friend of Putin's.

DAVID KRAMER, THE MCCAIN INSTITUTE: The very fact that Marine Le Pen is in Moscow this week and is there to drum up support from Putin, has received a $10 million loan from the Russians in 2014, that Putin is trying to boost the far right forces in France, all this does suggests that Le Pen is beholden to Putin in the Kremlin and Russia.

TODD: Analysts say Putin's attempt to help far right candidates with his view win power in other countries is just one way Putin is moving toward his ultimate goal, staying in power himself. He has got an election coming up next year, which experts say he is fairly paranoid about, even though he has manipulated the political machinery so heavily, there's almost no chance he will lose.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: Thank you, Brian.

This week is a countdown to President Trump's first 100 days, a special primetime edition of "the LEAD with Jake Tapper" starts tomorrow night at 9:00 p.m. only on CNN.

We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:34:12] CABRERA: President Trump made pretty big promises for his first 100 days in office. He has about five days left to get them all done.

So far, here is where he stands. He has withdrawn from the transpacific partnership and has his Supreme Court nominee confirmed. Now, he hasn't repealed Obamacare, implemented a travel ban or labelled China a currency manipulator. He is working on securing funding for his border wall and a tax reform plan, both of which he hopes to accomplish this week.

On top of all that, though, lawmakers have their own priority, passing a spending bill. If they don't do it by Friday, the government will shut down. The threat only adding to an already high pressure week.

Let's talk it over with out panel. Joining us "New York Times" contributor Wajahat Ali, historian and professor at Princeton University Julian Zelizer, and CNN political commentator and former lieutenant governor of South Caroline, Andre Bauer.

Julian, where does President Trump stand when you look back and compare him to past Presidents in terms of what he has accomplished this far into his term?

[19:35:10] JULIAN ZELIZER, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, in terms of legislation, it's hard to say that he ranks with the greatest Presidents. He simply doesn't have any major legislative accomplishments to boast of. And in terms of his approval ratings, he's very low by the historical standards that we have. That said, he has used executive power very aggressively and he and his administration will point to that as progress. And he has normalized his presidency, which for many Americans was not something that was going to happen. But in terms of legislation, this is not one of the greatest Presidents we have had in these hundred days.

CABRERA: Now, no one forced President Trump to make all of these promises about the first 100 days. He is the one who went so far as to say, they would be easy. Has he under-delivered, Andre?

ANDRE BAUER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I don't believe so. When you look at the executive orders, so many folks like myself that picked him out of a very crowded field, he has gone after so many and reversed them. Gorsuch is a big feather in his cap. He has had successful meetings with world leaders like the President of China who have immediately reacted and helped us with the problem in North Korea. He has reduced illegal immigration substantially. On the bad guys in the world are on noticed after they seen how he reacted to Syria. TPP, getting us out of that.

I think he has had a fantastic first almost hundred days. Of course, we would like to see legislative accomplishment, but I would rather it be thoughtful legislative accomplishment and he makes sure he gets it done right, rather than in a speedy time frame. And so, I said way back in February on your show that I thought that April was too aggressive to try to get health care passed. That it is too much of the debate needs to have. So I hope they will take their time, pump the brakes and not get in a hurry on the tax bill or the spending bill, or for that matter, health care. All of those are very complex bill so we need a lot more debate than we have had.

CABRERA: Well, but they have a deadline on the spending bill, that one is non-negotiable because at this point the government will not be funded if they don't do something by this coming Friday.

But that aside, let's listen to what chief of staff Reince Priebus has to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REINCE PRIEBUS, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: The President signed over 28 bills already. Health care may help next week, it may not. We are hopeful it will. As far as border -- you said the military, we have right now, in the CR, negotiating one of the biggest increases in military spending in decades. So he is fulfilling his promises and doing it at break neck speed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: So Wajahat, does he have a point there? Neil Gorsuch, Supreme Court, possible leverage maybe with the spending bill?

WAJAHAT ALI, CONTRIBUTOR, THE NEW YORK TIMES: I think President Trump has been very successful in lowering the bar for Presidents. That's been one success. Look, it's been a remarkable failure by his own standards. The wall, he said Mexico would pay for it. Mexico says, we are not going to pay for it. He said on day one, replace and repeal Obamacare. Well, he tried. That's been an utter failure.

The Muslim ban, otherwise known as the travel ban, which is the Muslim ban, has been blocked. And more Americans are coming out to airports in protests, welcoming visitors and foreigners. The approval rating is the lowest approval rating of any incoming President in modern history. People do not find him honest. People say he lacks the temperament. People say he is out of touch and do not trust him in a crisis. So judging by his own stand -- and remember, he would be tough on China. He said is going to be really tough on China. Well, he is now flip flopping on that as well. And now you also have the Trump-Russian investigations which is not a good look.

So I don't see how any of this is a success. Look. The Neil Gorsuch, yes, is one feather in his cap, but what was the approach that they had to take? Republicans had to go the nuclear route, the nuclear option route. And also people haven't forgotten Merrick Garland. So that's one feather in his cap.

He could have had an easy win with infrastructure, gone bipartisan support. We saw the budget plan that was there. And actually, it took money away from infrastructure and investment in rural America.

So these small victories that he could have got, he has actually floundered because of his lack of temperament, because of his tweets, because of his flip flop nature and an American public now, according to all the ratings and the polls, you're seeing enough people say, we don't trust him. But to his credit, his base is still with him, and to his credit, he said last year, if I stood out in Times Square, took out a gun and shot someone, they would support me. I'm sure if that person was a Mexican or Muslim, they would really support him.

CABRERA: But let's talk about the poll numbers. And the couple of you guys have brought those up. He is facing record-low approval rating over (INAUDIBLE) his first 100 days. It is just 40 percent on one, poll 42 percent in another. But take a look at this, only two percent of those who voted for him regret it. Are the first 100 days being turned into something much more than they actually are, Julian?

ZELIZER: Well, I think those are two separate questions. I do think it's fair to question whether the hundred days is the best measure. We have to remember, there's many Presidents who don't do very well in their first hundred days, including Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton, who will go on to be very popular and considered successful Presidents and others like Jimmy Carter, who did very well in his first hundred days, but doesn't do so well down the line.

In terms of the approval ratings, we do have to separate the national approval ratings which matter, but also the strong support with his base and continued loyal Republican support. I mean, he is counting on partisanship to hold for re-election. So, it's kind of a battle between whether that strategy works or these national polls start to cut away both at the base and the GOP, who never loved him so much. [19:40:44] CABRERA: Andre, how long do voters wait for President

Trump to push these promises forward and for them to come to fruition? At what point do some of those voters now who support him start to turn?

BAUER: Well, couple of points. Number one, I hope he doesn't pay attention to polls that were wrong before. But even more so, I want him to govern. I want him not to worry so much about what the latest poll is. He has got three and a half years before the election. We need a President who is going to lead and not worry about every decision, whether he polls popularly or not. And I hope that he will not even worry about the polls. But a lot of these polls are done via whoever picks up the phone. You don't know if they are a citizen, if they are a registered voter, if they even vote at all. And so, I wouldn't hold a lot of faith in these polls.

CABRERA: Well, we do know. I mean, we do have a testing system in which we deem whether a poll is credible in terms of how they go.

BAUER: I'm sorry. You know, those polls also said there was no chance he would become President. He would no chance he win.

CABRERA: I don't think so. I have to disagree with you. Because the polls showed a margin of error. And the bottom line is Hillary Clinton did win the popular vote. It was the Electoral College that the President won, but the popular vote did go to Hillary Clinton.

BAUER: They said Hillary Clinton was going to win Georgia. They asked me if she was going to win South Carolina on CNN and I said, you all are missing it totally. In February when I picked him to win, I said your polls are absolutely wrong. And so, again, I don't think he should put a lot of faith in the polls or should anybody else. But I don't think people should govern towards polls. I think he got elected for a four-year term. I think he needs to be more concerned about governing and leading than worrying about the latest poll.

ALI: If I may, forget the polls. Just look at Americans. We had thousands come out and marching for science. We had three-plus million women come out for the largest march across America right after his inauguration. And we had thousands of Americans across America come out hoping that Donald Trump releases his taxes. So if you don't want to look at the polls, fine. Look at the sentiment of America. You have a cross section of America. You a cross section -- women, men, scientists, people of color, Mexicans, immigrants, Muslims, who are uniting together saying that this President's policies, his temperament, is not becoming of a President of the United States of America. They want change. They want him to behave better. Enact better policies. And if these ratings and polls, which are pretty consistent across the board, by the way, they are saying that he is not doing a good job and they want him to do better.

So by any metric that you want to judge this, if you don't want to go by polls, fine. Judge him by his behavior, his tweets, the fact that he doesn't have a single legislative victory, he is failing. It's not a good 100 days. And let's hope for the sake of America and the world, he can correct the ship. CABRERA: Wajahat Ali, Julian Zelizer, and Andre Bauer, thank you all

for coming on. We appreciate it.

There are a lot of stories that quickly get bumped out of the headlines in a busy Newsweek. In case you missed it, here are some of those headlines.

Forty million Americans are now waiting to find out what the Trump administration has planned for their student loans.

Education secretary Betsy DeVos has already begun putting the brakes on some of the Obama-era rules. They had been designed to strengthen the rights of student borrowers and make debt repayment easier. In one case, deVos said public input was not sought before a rule was changed.

Over at the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, several pesticide manufacturers are asking that scientific reports regarding the effects of pesticides on endangered species be withdrawn. These reports were sent out just two days before Trump's inauguration. Now, the manufacturers dispute these EPA reports and claim the government research is flawed.

And at the commerce department, it will determine whether steel imports are harming national security. President Trump directed his administration to determine whether U.S. manufacturing companies can quickly scale up production during a national security crisis given their current supply of U.S. and imported steel, while the investigation could result in recommendations on whether to curb steel imports.

Still ahead in the NEWSROOM, talk about irony, a federal judge who was the subject of much criticism from candidate Donald Trump has now been assigned to hear the first possible case of a DREAMer being deported. What's at stake, next? You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:49:13] CABRERA: A 23-year-old named Juan Manuel Bojorquez is testing the President's murky stance on DREAMers. Undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children. He has lived in this country for 14 years and his lawyers say he was wrongly deported earlier this year, something the government disputes.

Here is what makes this case extra interesting. The presiding judge now is the same judge President Trump once attacked as a candidate for his Mexican heritage.

Here is CNN's Rosa Flores.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I have a judge who is a hater of Donald Trump, a hater. He is a hater.

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Candidate Donald Trump took punch.

TRUMP: He is not doing the right thing.

FLORES: After punch at federal judge Gonzalo Curiel last year.

TRUMP: He is Hispanic I believe and he is a very hostile judge to me.

[19:50:04] FLORES: The judge handling the Trump university case.

TRUMP: I think judge Curiel should be ashamed of himself.

FLORES: Although judge Curiel was born in Indiana, then candidate Trump pointed to his Mexican heritage, saying he couldn't be impartial because of Trump's hardline immigration stance.

TRUMP: I'm building a wall, OK. I'm building a wall.

FLORES: The case was eventually settled for $25 million. Call it karma or poetic justice, now that same judge he called totally biased and a hater has been thrust into Trump's world once again. This time he's in the middle of the first possible deportation of a DREAMer. Juan Manuel Bojorquez.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It could be a test. If I were an immigration lawyer it wouldn't be my choice though. They have a difficult case here because they lack these records of how Mr. Montez was sent back to Mexico initially.

FLORES: The 23-year-old DREAMer was brought to the U.S. when he was nine and has DACA protection until 2018. DACA is the relief given by the Obama administration to people brought to the U.S. as children. It was kept intact by President Trump. Montez Bojorquez's attorneys claim he was wrongfully deported on February 18th. According to DHS, that deportation never happened, saying in a statement in part, there are no records or evidence to support Montez Bojorquez's claim.

MONICA RAMIREZ ALMADANI, LAWYER FOR JUAN MANUEL MONTES: Well, that is not true. Our client again has been very consistent, very unequivocal that he did not leave the country of his own volition, but rather he was physically removed by border patrol agents.

FLORES: Why is judge Curiel in the middle of this immigration battle? He is presiding over the FOIA or freedom of information act dispute over the release of the deportation processing documents. Documents that could show if, in fact, the first DREAMer was deported under Trump's administration or if the DREAMer left the country willingly, which would void his DACA protection. Despite candidate Trump's personal attacks, judge Curiel didn't say a word about Trump's comments last year. This time --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it will be in the back of the judge's mind, but I have to say this judge handled himself magnificently when he was so fiercely attacked by a candidate Trump when he was running for President.

FLORES: Rosa Flores, CNN, Chicago. (END VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: Coming up next, captured on camera --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I saw it happening and it blew my mind. It was kind of like I wasn't seeing what I was seeing.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYING)

You won't believe it either. An off duty volunteer firefighter springs into action when a little girl falls out of a moving bus and lands on a busy highway. Hear more from the firefighter who comes to her rescue.

You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:57:15] CABRERA: Something you only see on CNN, a stunning admission today from our colleague, Alisyn Camerota, the anchor of "New Day" claiming she was sexually harassed while she was working at FOX News by Roger Ails, the network's former CEO who is out to amid mounting harassment claims. Now, Alisyn opened up for the first time about this, telling a very personal story to CNN's "RELIABLE SOURCES" host Brian Stelter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: When I was first starting out at FOX and I was single and I remember Roger -- being in Roger's office and I was saying that I wanted more opportunity, and he said, well, I would have to work with you. And I --

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Work with you?

CAMEROTA: I would have to work with you on that case. I would have to work with you really closely, and it may require us getting to know each other better. And that might have to happen away from here, and it might have to happen at a hotel.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Much more from this compelling interview you don't want to miss coming up in the next hour.

But first, we have a story you just have to see. Imagine seeing a child falling out of a bus in front of your car on a busy highway. That is exactly what happened to an off-duty volunteer firefighter in Harrison, Arkansas. You can see the rear door of the bus flying open. A four-year-old girl tumbles out of the back on to the highway and this first responder didn't hesitate to spring into action and rescued this little girl.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) RYAN CAMPBELL, VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTER: I immediately got out of my car. I realized the pavement was going to be hot because it was like 80 degrees that day, and so I -- as soon as I ran over to her and approached her, she was unconscious at first but then she started to move her arm and kind of look up at me and so I picked her up as carefully as I could and held her in my arms and kind of assessed, you know, her little body to see what kind of damage had been done.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: My God.

CAMPBELL: From the fall. And, you know, it is hard to use a clear head, but I tried my best. You know, I have an eight-year-old son. I have kids, you know, little girls, and it is hard. So just picking her up and getting her out of that situation, out of the middle of the road was priority one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: What a hero. That little girl is recovering in a hospital but she had some serious injuries, a broken jaw, she has to have surgery, but fortunately she is expected to fully recover.

8:00 here on the east coast. 5:00 in the evening out west. You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. Great to have you with me. I'm Ana Cabrera.

President Trump is gearing up for one of his most critical weeks of his young presidency. Saturday marks his 100th day in office, giving him less than a week to deliver on some of his major campaign promises.