Trump: My Admin running like "Fine-Tuned Machine"
BERMAN: This morning, we are hearing from some lawmakers saying they are stunned after the president's press conference. A Republican Senator told CNN "He should do that with therapist, not on live television."</s>HARLOW: Another Republican lawmaker called it "the new normal," adding, "We're just trying to manage this s***." CNN congressional correspondent Sunlen Serfaty joins us now live from Capitol Hill with more on the response. Those aren't the only two Republicans reacting that way.</s>SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Poppy. The Republicans were responding fast and furiously to the president's press conference yesterday. You know sources describe the Republican lawmakers watching this rather remarkable press conference unfold with varying levels of shock and dismay. But it was really that one bombshell statement from that one Republican lawmaker that really stood out, where they said, quote, "We're just trying to manage this s***. The people that love him will love him more. The people that hate him will hate him more and the people in the middle probably will look at it the way we look at it here in Congress, which is, that's just the new normal. That's just the s*** that happens. I don't know how else to manage it." And Senator Marco Rubio perhaps with a little less colorful language basically spoke to the heart of what many people up on Capitol Hill are feeling. He told CNN, quote, "It's been four weeks so it's not like we're talking about four months -- I know it might feel like four months -- but it has been just four weeks." And that's really getting to the heart of some of the frustration up here. That they are now a month in to this new administration and it does feel like they have a lot of distractions going on right now. You have this very ambitious agenda that Republicans has set tax reform, repealing and replacing Obamacare, and there is this concern and frustration and worry that these -- sort of daily distractions coming from a White House still in its infancy potentially could take the eye off the ball - on many of these big-ticket items that they want to get through. John and Poppy?</s>BERMAN: Sunlen Serfaty for us on Capitol Hill. You're hearing from one Republican Congressman there, clearly has a potty mouth. We won't repeat that word again. But different words you are hearing this morning are chaos, turmoil surrounding this administration. This is what the president had to say about that.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I turn on the T.V., open the newspapers and I see stories of chaos. Chaos. Yet it is the exact opposite. This administration is running like a fine- tuned machine, despite the fact that I can't get my cabinet approved.</s>HARLOW: Our next guest spent years working inside and behind the scenes at the White House. Joining us now is Craig Fuller. He's the former co-chair of President Bush's transition team. He served as Chief of Staff for Vice President George H.W. Bush. Welcome sir, nice to have you.</s>CRAIG FULLER, FORMER CO-CHAIR PRESIDENT BUSH TRANSITION TEAM: Thank you, Poppy. Good to be here.</s>HARLOW: Let's begin with the big headline this morning which is the fact that Admiral Harward has said no to the president, something that our Barbara Starr reports almost never happens. Sources close to him, telling CNN, this is because he basically saw chaos, a "s*** sandwich" inside of the White House. What message does this send to the president's team, is this a - a note they should take to heart?</s>FULLER: I think they have to take it to heart. You know people in the military tend to salute, and jump into any situation. And the fact that authorities are still in question, this having gone through the entire transition and now three weeks into the administration. I think does give people pause, trying to understand where the power centers are is not at all clear. And for a position as sensitive and as important as national security adviser, you don't want to take a position like that when there's doubt. It appears to me there's still a good deal of doubt over what the authority would have been had he taken the position.</s>BERMAN: So the president says it's a fine-tuned machine. Is it?</s>FULLER: I heard that line. I thought, well, that's only true if we're talking about some kind of a carnival ride. This is like a roller coaster. Here's the challenge. There were 73 days from Election Day to the swearing-in. There's a lot to be done during that transition. But they had that time to get ready for the months ahead for sure. This doesn't get easier. More things come at the White House. The president has an address to the joint session of Congress. He has a budget. Pretty soon he'll have a summit of the developing countries - developed countries. Lots of challenges come into that White House. And they're stressed over the very things that they should have prepared for during this transition period.</s>HARLOW: Also at the press conference yesterday, it was certainly history making, I think. Do you see any strategic value in what the president did up there? Did he gain any new supporters?</s>FULLER: You know, Poppy, you're asking I think one of the most important questions, and I heard you raise it earlier with regard to the rally in Florida, the same can be said of yesterday. What was the strategic intent? It seems to me that to have the kind of governing majority he needs, he has to build well beyond his base. 30 percent of eligible voters voted for him. 40 percent in polls approve his performance. Those are not numbers that are going to help him drive a very comprehensive, complex agenda through Congress, neither yesterday nor today with a rally makes a whole lot of sense in terms of trying to broaden that base. And I think that's something the White House is going to have to contend with going forward.</s>BERMAN: You know, he will point to the -- the White House will point to the enormous support he has among Republican voters. -</s>HARLOW: 84 percent.</s>BERMAN: 84 percent. On Capitol Hill, you sort of see a little bit of that as well. There are Republicans that say, hey, this president is popular with our base so we want to be careful here. But you've got to add to that if you want to get things done.</s>FULLER: You have to add if you want to get things done and you also have to ask whether this continued kind of theater, let's call it, is going to really serve his purposes. Or is it going to put in question elections around the country. Pretty soon as it gets into this year, -- if the initiatives that he promised the electorate he would pursue aren't in fact being enacted, members of Congress are going to get very nervous about their - on reelection. And in this town, job security tends to get their attention in a pretty dramatic way.</s>HARLOW: You know, generally, press conferences with the president don't get called an hour before they happen, right? So the White House had to scramble to make this happen, but all right, so maybe that's the style of this White House. That aside, do you see this as a president who actually - he took a lot of questions, which is great. Do you see him as answering any of them?</s>FULLER: You know, the press conferences that I was involved in, and there were a number of them, were carefully thought through, both with respect to timing, with respect to the messaging they wanted to come out, with respect to the opening statement, rehearsing and reviewing questions that were likely to be answered. They're very important events. It is important for a president to stand in front of the press and take questions and be able to be heard by the American people directly. But a president has a great deal of power. However, just saying something doesn't make it true. And when things are said that are in such conflict with what the facts seem to be, I think that hurts credibility. And when it comes to statements people have made, eventually, you know, Congress is going to be investigating probably General Flynn. Some of the questions will have to be answered under oath. And so when you get into a discussion about those kinds of complexities, which he did yesterday over the firing of an individual, you're opening a whole new ground for investigation. And that just keeps that story going, again, to your good question. I don't see how he benefits by doing that.</s>BERMAN: Last question, about leaks, you've been inside a White House before, you know that they happen. Are they happening in your view at a different or more dangerous level now?</s>FULLER: They're happening, in my view, in a dramatic way. But here is the thing. The president doesn't have to tell people leaking classified confidential information is illegal. They know that. The fact is they're so concerned about the circumstances they see. They're willing to break the law to release the information. It's also not just one person. There are many, many people throughout Washington that have access to some of this information. And good reporters are sharing it. I always thought that there needed to be a very constructive relationship between those of us serving on the White House staff and those in the White House press corps. Most Americans learn what they know about what happens inside that White House through the media. And to have this combative relationship, I really think does not serve the White House well. I don't think it serves the public well either.</s>HARLOW: Craig Fuller, thanks to have you on, have a good weekend. Still to come for us, Republican Congressman Peter King on his warning for lawmakers who are demanding that transcript -- of the call between the former national security adviser Michael Flynn and Russia. Why he says that's a "dangerous precedent." Obviously, also his reaction to the press conference and this news that Admiral Harward has said no thank you to the job, that's next.