MIKA BRZEZINSKI (CO-HOST): Where do we begin, Willie Geist, on those facts that he claims to spew out to the audience that's just screaming at him because it's his base?
WILLIE GEIST (CO-HOST): Well let's tick through some of those that we saw there. The president says he signed, quote, “hundreds of billions of dollars worth of agreements with Middle Eastern countries,” but some of those deals were put into place, you'll remember, under President Obama, and many are preliminary and require further negotiation. The president said a coal mine just opened in Pennsylvania for the first time in decades. Last year the state's Cresson Mine was being put back to work following weaker coal production in Asia. The president suggested CNN shut off its cameras when they didn't like what he was saying. It's a line he's used at rallies in the past, including just a month before the election. Last night Fox was the only network to take the president's comments in full. President Trump said home builders are starting to build again. As Reuters reported last week, quote, “U.S. housing starts hit eight-month low.” The president pointed to new, stricter guidelines for how immigrants can receive welfare. As NBC says, quote, “Those requirements, or something similar to them, do already exist.” The president attacked the Paris climate deal saying, quote, “Like hell it's nonbinding.” The New York Times Q&A from last month reads, quote, “The deal is nonbinding.” And Daniel Dale of the Toronto Star who pointed out many of these falsehoods. He said, “The level of lies rivaled some of the president's 2016 campaign speeches.”
BRIAN KILMEADE (CO-HOST): Did you have a chance to watch it?
SANDRA SMITH (CO-HOST): “Winning,” OK. He said that a few times. By the way, we'll talk about the young women behind him in just a moment.
STEVE DOOCY (CO-HOST): Oh yeah.
SMITH: But first, he did take the opportunity to say, “Here's what's next, we're working on health care, we're working on infrastructure.” But he was so energized, and that was what everybody predicted when he said he was going to go and do one of these rallies in the state of Iowa. But yes, he did take a few moments during that speech to point out where he is winning.
KILMEADE: Right. I do think it's going to be a problem for one person and that is the freelance teleprompter operator that's going to submit an invoice. I don't believe they were used at all. That was the president just talking, having a conversation, intimate conversations, with thousands of people. But he did make a little bit of news. He went over infrastructure, things he wants to accomplish and things on deck and he says, “Don't worry, it's all coming.” But he also says, “I got some new rules for immigrants who want to come here.”
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DOOCY: They call it a rally there at the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids with 6,000 people, but really, it's a progress report. And he's telling the people of America, “OK, on the campaign trail, I promised you this, this, and this, and this is the status on all of that stuff.” Here's a note to whoever is running his schedule: Do more of this. Because whether you voted for him or not, it is, in real-time, a progress report of what the United States is doing. The New York Times this morning called last night's event “mesmerizing.” Whether you voted for him or not, it's great to hear the president of the United States talk about what direction we're going in.
SMITH: Yeah, it was incredibly optimistic. I think it rallied his base. And it was an opportunity for him to point out everything he has gotten done and what he intends to do.
