Sources: Bannon's Role Is Diminished In White House.
BURNETT: New tonight, Steve Bannon, again by the president's side after being demoted. The president's chief strategist traveling to Mar-a-Lago one day after being kicked off of the National Security Council. How much longer will Bannon have the president's ear? Tom Foreman is OUTFRONT.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: He's a man of tremendous talent and experience.</s>TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Trump praising his new national security adviser, whose influence appears on the rise while Trump's controversial advisor, Steve Bannon, is getting a demotion.</s>STEVE BANNON, CHIEF STRATEGIST FOR PRESIDENT TRUMP: I can run a little hot on occasions.</s>FOREMAN: For Democrats, there is no greater lightning rod than the ultra-conservative, Bannon. Some instantly praised the move to push him from the inner circle of security.</s>SCHIFF: I think it's a very positive step. He's certainly introduced a political element there that doesn't belong there. From my own point of view he doesn't belong in the White House, either.</s>FOREMAN: Bannon bonded early with Candidate Trump using his appearance on a radio show on Breitbart to help him along.</s>BANNON: They were laughing at me when I was saying, hey, this guy Trump is going to be -- this is going to be very serious.</s>FOREMAN: But Bannon also brought an extremist orthodoxy which has infuriated many on the left, civil rights advocates.</s>BANNON: Now, I believe that's of beginning stages of a global war against Islamic fascist.</s>FOREMAN: And he's angered mainstream Republicans, too.</s>BANNON: Look at the intelligentsia of the Republican Party and the conservative intelligentsia. They were mocking the Tea Party. They were mocking these grassroots organizations.</s>FOREMAN: For now, Bannon and his allies are trying to put a good face on his move away from the National Security Council. In a statement, Bannon said "Susan Rice, security advisor under President Obama, operationalized the NSC during the last administration. So, I was put on the NSC to ensure it was de-operationalized. General McMaster has the NSC back to its proper function."</s>FOREMAN: What that statement means is not really clear, but this is. The embarrassing failure of Republicans to be able to overturn baker and other setbacks for this administration have resulted in other advisors getting more influence, including the president's own son-in- law and it is not clear right now if Steve Bannon can stay at the top of the heap -- Erin.</s>BURNETT: All right. Tom, thank you very much. And OUTFRONT now, Kayleigh McEnany, contributor for "The Hill", John Avlon, editor in chief for "The Daily Beast," and Jamie Gangel, our special correspondent. So, Jamie, let me start with you. Look, from the start of Trump's presidency and even in the transition, we've all been at meetings. We have seen pictures of meetings. Steve Bannon has been at every single one of them, in some way, shape or form, he is there, by the president's side. Has there really been a change?</s>JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: There has been a change. I think what's going on is very simple. Donald Trump is not happy. He is not happy about the failures of health care. He is not happy about his poll numbers. When was the last time -- remember in the campaign, he always talked about how great his poll numbers were, his ratings. I think the other thing that is true that we've been told is that Jared Kushner and Ivanka have fallen out with Steve Bannon, whatever that relationship is, it's not -- it is not going well. He's not going to fire his son- in-law or his daughter.</s>TRUMP: So, it's sort of a one faction versus another. I mean, Kayleigh, Bannon has a history of saying controversial things, right? And these are some of the things that made more traditional Republicans really dislike him. Here some of them are.</s>BANNON: Islam is not a religion of peace. Islam is a religion of submission. What we need to do is bitch-slap the Republican Party. We're now I believe at the beginning stages of a global war against Islamic fascism.</s>BURNETT: So, is less power for Bannon a good thing? Certainly you'd think it is for the more moderate Republican faction at the White House, the Reince Priebus side of things as it maybe?</s>KAYLEIGH MCENANY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: No, I don't think it's a good thing and here's why. Look, he -- yes, he's known for having that flamboyant kind of temper Breitbart, but here's something he's known for -- Steve Bannon, when the establishment Republican Party was taking the party off the cliff, Steve Bannon said, hold on guys, let's put a brake to this. We have to stand up for the worker. We have to be against some of these free trade deals. We need to stop border crossings -- illegal border crossings. We need a hard-line stance on immigration. He was saying these things that Donald Trump said in the primary that got Donald Trump elected. I fully believe that, right now, Donald Trump is materializing on what he promised the American people, TPP, immigration, those things are happening and that is because you have Steve Bannon there saying, don't listen to the Washington establishment, do what you told the American people you would do.</s>JOHN AVLON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Look, if you've ever worked in politics, one of the ironclad rules is don't fight the family. It's always a losing bet. And, you know, you're your point -- you can't fire Jared Kushner. Now, there are deep ideological and philosophical divisions between the two. We reported at "The Daily Beast" today the Bannon called Kushner a globalist and a cut-servative, which is really fighting words among the alt-right. But that is indication of the bad blood going there. And the other --</s>BURNETT: I thought that was a typo at first.</s>AVLON: Oh, no, no, no. It's a term of art.</s>BURNETT: Look it up, it's a term of art.</s>AVLON: But the second bit is, you know, there was a conscious movement among some folks to start pushing this idea of President Bannon. He was presenting himself as a Svengali, a very outsize powerful figure. That's going to get under Donald Trump's skin. We've also reported that that "SNL" skit where Bannon orders Donald Trump to the little desk didn't play real well either.</s>BURNETT: Yes. So, let's show that skit because there's all these other comments, Jamie, and "The New York Times" opinion piece, President Gannon. GQ, Steve Bannon is our president. "Politico", the man behind Trump still Steve Bannon. 'Foreign Policy", President Bannon's hugely destructive first week in office. I remember a brief conversation I have with him. He was sort of joking about how one article referred to him as Darth Vader. He was laughing about all this. But these are the sorts of things that could truly, truly damage a man who gets his news from reading mass market publications and runs into these kind of things, i.e., Donald Trump.</s>GANGEL: Correct. And the other thing I will tell you is, when you talk to the Republican establishment, they are thrilled about this. I mean, Steve Bannon's loss of power, they have felt that he was destroying the Republican Party. They feel that -- there was a sense of ding-dong, the witch -- the witch may not be dead but maybe the witch is going out. They want Steve Bannon out of there.</s>BURNETT: But that's exactly why, John, I wonder if he's going to be, because Donald Trump doesn't want to feel like the establishment has won. That is anathema to what he stands for. So, maybe now he wants to teach a lesson to Steve Bannon but is he really going to lose power?</s>AVLON: Look, I think that's a fair appointment. You've got sort of an accelerated game in Washington in real time being played through leaks in the press. But at the end of the day, I think to Kayleigh's point, Steve Bannon was sort of Donald Trump's spirit animal at the end of the campaign.</s>BURNETT: Spirit animal.</s>AVLON: He's sort of kept him through to what he said he'd do. The problem is you also have a game of contain the president going on. And there's an axis of adults in this administration trying to keep the administration from going off the rails. That based on and rooted in real responsibilities of governing is a pretty compelling argument, too.</s>MCENANY: Let's remember, you know, Steve Bannon was the person who would allegedly go on the plane with President Trump and President Trump would call him into a room and they -- he would be his calming force. Steve Bannon was the one that got along really well. I think in the end, it's a balance. You need the Reince Priebuses of the world. You need Ivanka. You need Jared. You need those moderating forces. But you also need the person that's going to hold President Trump's feet to the fire and say you cannot betray the base.</s>BURNETT: And remind him, as one person told me, that he did every day, this is what you're elected to do. This is what you're elected to do. That's what Steve Bannon was doing for Donald Trump. Thanks to all. And next, Republican ripping up the rules to get Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch on the bench. Tonight, Trump already talking about his next justice. And Bernie Sanders with a major hit that millions and millions are watching. You'll see it next.