The policy. Nor is he selling it to his own good advice to President Trump from senator santorum. Thats it for the lead. Im jake tapper. Tune in for state of the union. My guest will be samantha b. It all starts at 9 00 a. M. Eastern. I turn you over to cnn tonight with don lemon. Thank you for watching. This is cnn breaking news. Breaking news. North korea tests a Ballistic Missile in a show of defiance against growing pressure from the Trump Administration. Are they also testing the new president . This is cnn tonight. Im don lemon. Pentagon Officials Say the test failed, the missile growing up over north korea territory. The launch coming hours after President Trump warned of a possible major conflict with north korea. Meanwhile, tomorrow marks the president s 100th day in office. The stakes are high for a president who made a lot of promises and has been feeling
the pressure to deliver. How does he feel about holding the highest office in the land . Well discuss all of that, but i want to begin with north korea and go right away to Cnn International correspondent will ripley, the only western tv journalist inside the country. Also with us from the white house, our senior White House Correspondent jeff zeleny. Ill start with you, will. Good evening. A u. S. Official confirming north korea test fired a Ballistic Missile. This comes after President Trump warned of a, quote, major, major conflict. What are you learning . Hey there, don. Yeah, we are not hearing anything from north korean officials on the ground here in pyongyang. In fact we informed our government contacts about this attempted launch early this morning. Given the fact it is believed to be a failure, it is likely north koreans will never hear about this. I have been in the country where attempted Missile Launches have failed, it is never announced on the state media. If it was a success, there would be photos with the leader kim
jongun. We know it reached an at tut of about 44 miles. While it didnt go as far as they wanted it to, they gain a lot of valuable intelligence even if the Missile Launch is a failure. You can expect more launches to come. In fact, officials have been telling us this week. Also they say the world can expect more Nuclear Tests as well. To jeff zeleny at the white house. What is the white house saying about this . Don of. Reporter don, we know that the president was briefed on Air Force One when he was flying back to washington and he has not said much about this in an official statement from the white house they said they were aware of this. But then, of course, about an hour or two later he went to social media and had a message. I think we have it. He said this. He said, north korea disrespected the wishes of china and its highly respected president when it launched, though unsuccessfully, a missile today. Bad. Don, his advisers, also Foreign Policy advisers called it a
provocative move and are keeping an eye on it. It is interesting to note the official statements coming from the white house are not saying much at all here. The u. S. , the white house is hoping that china will step in here and sort of ease any rising threat from north korea. But, don, it is one of the biggest threats facing this president and, you know, he has been talking about it most every day, giving briefings on it of course every day this week and most of his presidency. Jeff, by the way, the president is commenting tonight on his new plan, tax plan he released this week ahead of his 100th day in office. What is he saying . Reporter he is touting his plan. Don, interestingly, this is first time he has talked about it actually. He had a big his white house had a big release of the plan on wednesday but he did not speak about it at all, but in an interview with fox news he was talking about the fact that it would help everyone including the middle class, not just higher income earners. Lets watch. You keep forgetting to say that the biggest beneficiaries are the middle class people who
have been absolutely hurt. Your critics are going to say, well, Real Estate Companies like President Trumps company will benefit along with the middle class. Will it make you harder to get the big cut in the middle . If im individually playing 35 , i will tell you thats more okay, im going to end up paying more than i pay right now in taxes, all right. I will pay more than i pay right now. Reporter but interesting, don, he said he will pay more than he is paying right now but the reality we do not know how much he will pay because he has not yet released his tax returns. Once the Tax Discussion becomes more developed on capitol hill, that will be a refrain from democrats and others saying, where are your tax returns. The white house, of course, says he still has no plans of releasing them. Jeff zeleny at the white house and, again, will ripley in north korea, the only western tv journalist inside that country. If anything happens, we will get back to you in this broadcast, will. I want to bring in cnn political
we have talked about it is that he there is a struggle within the Trump Administration over the extent to which the bannontrump ideas should prevail. So this is not just a story of the short comings of donald trump the leader, this is also a story about the strength of the system that is actually preventing some of the crack pot i tes fr ideas from being realized. What we learned about him as a leader, he has a short attention span. He wants wins. He is willing to change on a dime if he doesnt get what he wants the first time, he will switch his policy entirely. Finally, once again, he is unwilling to admit error. None of those things are surprising given the campaign, but what is surprising is that he hasnt changed in 100 days in office. The question is, mark preston, Given Everything Timothy just said, there is the tendency in this administration to brush that criticism and the reality off as an alternative reality when it certainly shows
knew. I just dont think i dont think he had a clue. I think one of the things thats interesting to me is how after the first 100 days and people have dgone through their variou stages of grief and have come to the acceptance point, people are saying, well, you know, it is not so bad. You sort of say, well, why do you think it is not so bad . People say, well, we havent had an apocalypse, were still here, we havent been bomb. I think that there is this tendency to talk about the new normalization, but the second is that it is not normal. Sally, it sounds like to me youre saying that hes saying, i cant believe people bought this because maybe he didnt even convince himself. I dont think he did. This is why i think everyone is in shock. I think he is really horrified at the situation that hes in now where he has to make these decisions, and if you look i mean people voted for him because they thought he would be a strong president , but the fact is that he has turned out to be
so far as i remember the weakest president weve ever had. Okay. If you look at the way he changes his position, one right after the other, Somebody Just has to say, thats not a good idea and he goes, okay, well, forget nafta, okay. As they said, i forget who said it, if you want to have influence on the president in policy be the last person to speak to him, the last person in his ear. Hold those thoughts because i want everyone to stick with me. When we come back, what lessons has the president learned so far and whats ahead for the next 100 days . Here is a look at the president s first day in office. The president and first lady dancing inauguration night away at a series of balls. There they are. Its over. Ive found a permanent escape from monotony. Together, we are perfectly balanced, our senses awake,
our hearts racing as one. I know this is sudden, but they say if you love something. Set it free. See you around, giulia [ sighs ] hey, i was using that. What, you think we own stock in the Electric Company . I will turn this car around right now theres nobody back there. I was becoming my father. [ clears throat ] its. Been an adjustment, but were making it work. You know, progressive. Com makes it easy for us to get the right home insurance. [ snoring ] progressive cant protect you from becoming your parents, but we can protect your home and auto. [ chuckles ] all right. Nlike squirrelgirl52, without thwho writes,ootball. No football on sundays has left me with a lot of free time, so ive constructed a sanctuary for local squirrels. Try watching the nfl draft. Maybe watch with a friend. Or doctor. Tremendous disadvantage in the Electoral College, you know that, tremendous disadvantage. And to run the whole east coast and then you go with iowa and ohio and all of the different states, it was a great evening, one that a lot of people will never forget. A lot of people. Not going to forget that evening. So hes anyway, ill go on. I mean hes like hes it is like yearning for the day, like that you know, The Good Old Days which were just, you know, a couple of, three, four months ago. I mean actually it was a little longer than that. That was today. Theres also at this reuters interviewed he passed out a map of his Electoral College win to each reporter. Mark, i dont know, can you explain why hes so obsessed with this . A couple of things, don. He used to do the same with you, right . He would give me polls. He would show you the polls. I thought it was unorthodox, unusual, but at least he was in the middle of the campaign and he wanted to show me what he was doing. The campaign is behind him. The election is over. Right. A couple of things. Oe is hes looking in the Rearview Mirror and sitting in the drivers seat and not looking at what is in front of him necessarily, or if he is, he is being distracted which i guess it is probably more of the latter. He is distracted by his own successes because it gets under his skin that people dont think hes the legitimate president of the United States. He gets so frustrated by that. The fact of the matter is that he is the legitimate president of the United States. Why does he think people dont think they see him as because democrats continue to this day to say that the election was stolen and the russian interference the whole russian thing and Electoral College win. Correct, all of that. Here is the problem. As tim said earlier as we were talking, the fact is hes the president of the United States. He has a lot on his plate. Right . He needs to be successful. To do so, don, he needs to start
listening to people outside the white house, people who have been in politics before because the fact of the matter is this is a very difficult job, and he did acknowledge that himself. Okay. I need to go quickly, guys, if you can. Brechity is t brevity is the key because i want to get you all in. Tim, would you say President Trump is the least knowledgeable president in modern history, because remember nafta, he was shown a map according to you know, about nafta and on and on. Listen, president s dont have to be able to do well at jeopardy, thats not important. Whats important is that they have a sense a theory of governance. They dont need to know trivia but they have to have a sense of how to govern and a sense of the federal government. Donald trump doesnt understand the size of the government and he doesnt understand some of the ideas he campaigned are mutually exclusive. Which is why this past week when he thought about getting rid of
nafta, he says, you know, if you undo that trade deal American Farmers will be in trouble. He said really, i had no idea. What we are facing is a president who has taken tough and very vocal stands on things he actually doesnt know anything about. That is troubling. Okay. If we doug, if we think back to congressman elijah cummings, he says he told the president that he could go town as a great president if he represents everybody, but Robert Kennedy jr. Said something similar. Listen to this. I think donald trump can be any kind of president he wants. He actually has an extraordinary opportunity because hes coming into office less burdened by obligation than probably any president in our history, with the possible exception of andrew jackson. I think he could be the greatest president in history if he wanted to. Yeah. Doug, do you see the president bringing folks who disagree with him into the fold . How does he turn things around . Yeah, i disagree with a lot
of what has been said here today. I think hes been very successful in many areas. I think he has turned around the economy. I think he has turned around illegal immigration, which has dropped like a rock even without the wall. He is the wall. I think hes turned around the supreme court. Those are the three things thats the people who wanted him to win voted for him, thats why 96 of them still support him and why he would beat Hillary Clinton in a poll that just came out two days ago if it was headtohead again today. So i differ a little bit. I also differ with the idea that president s are stupid. I have been hearing that all my life. Abraham lincolns cabinet, fellow cabinet officer used to write letters to his wife and refer to the president as our dear imbecile. People think that these president s just fall into office. It is just like a throw of the dice. I have been inside the white house and i can tell you theyre highly calculated. Some of my Journalist Friends cant believe some of the
stories i tell them of how issues are parsed, political issues and what political discipline these people have. I agree that hes out of the box, and thats what Robert Kennedy jr. Was talking about. That gives him an opportunity to offer solutions because he thinks differently and hes breaking the dishes and throwing over the tables. Thats kind of what i wanted to see. Well, sally, as i said, hes unorthodox. But, listen, the economy, whether he has turned the economy around, i think some people may want to argue about that. The border wall and immigration, many people believe he should get credit for that, and also the supreme court. He did get a nominee. He got someone on the supreme court, whether you want to argue whether it was Mitch Mcconnell or the president , it still happened under his watch. What do you say, sally . I dont see that he has bit a border wall yet or solved the immigration problem. He did get gorsuch in, and i suppose that could be the one thing you could say he has accomplished. I dont think you can be a
successful president if you have no ideology and no convictions and if you dont have a moral compass. We know that hes ethically challenged because we know that he doesnt Tell The Truth a lot of the time. I think that ultimately that is going to prevent him from being a good president , not just not a great president but a good president. I think that the inconsistency that he shows, particularly in the way he deals with every aspect of government has got people terrified, particularly our foreign friends and enemies. I mean the foreign leaders are all completely terrified because they dont know from one minute to the next what hes going to do and what he thinks. I have talked to a lot of the ambassadors and they all say they dont have a clue, and so what theyve decided to do, one of them told me actually tonight, what theyve decided to do is not Pay Attention to what he says. Theyve told their home offices that because they cant believe what he says. Well, for our adversaries it
may be good theyre terrified of him, but for, you know, our allies not so much. Again, it has only been 100 days and lets home it is a Learning Curve for him and a learning period and he has learned from the last 100 tays. Thank you all. I appreciate it. When we come you back, morgt of north koreas missile ballistic launch today and how the world is reacting to trumps presidency 100 days in. First a loot a look at this major moment, dropping the mother of all bombs on isis on day 84. Uhhh. And i was wondering if your brokerage offers some sort of guarantee . Guarantee . Where we can get our fees and commissions back if were not happy. So can you offer me what schwab is offering . Whats with all the questions . Ask your broker if theyre offering 4. 95 online Equity Trades and a satisfaction guarantee. If you dont like their answer, ask again at schwab. That they need is not to hit a target on the other side of the earth. Thats the normal Flight Direction for an icbm and that would normally be the case. But they can launch a satellite into orbit and it can be a relatively low orbit. The first thing we ever launched in space was a satellite, thats actually easier to do than to hit a target on the other side of the earth. And if that satellite contains a Small Nuclear weapon and it is detonated over someplace, say the United States, it can be devastating to the electric grid. So weve got a bigger problem than that he might go beyond launching something into orbit and be able to hit a target on the other side of the earth. It might take him a while, yeah, thats okay, the longer it takes him the better. But he may have more up his
sleeve than that. He may be able to detonate something inside a satellite that is in orbit, and that is extremely troubling. Michael len, to you now. This Missile Launch comes on the heels of the president telling reuters the u. S. Could have a major,