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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees

Trump Again Attacks Judge in Deportation Flights Case: Claims his Rulings are "Ridiculous, and Inept"; Trump Signs Order Aimed at Dismantling Education Department; Dems At Fiery Town Halls Face Calls To Step Up Opposition To Trump; Trump Signs Order Aimed At Dismantling Education Dept.; Israel Renews Gaza Ground Campaign; Hamas Fires Rockets At Tel Aviv; Sources: New Canadian PM Expected To Call For Elections As Trade War Threatens Crucial Summer Vacation Season In Maine; Boston Celtics Being Sold For Record $6.1 Billion. Aired 8-9p ET

Aired March 20, 2025 - 20:00   ET

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

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: ...perhaps the exception to the rule. We're here listening to Congressman Suhas Subramanyam. He's a Democrat, as I noted. Make no mistake, there's a lot of anger and frustration at the Trump administration and DOGE here behind me tonight. But they like what the Congressman is saying here. He's been saying things like, the American people want us to fight. They want us to be bold and we can take risks. That's the kind of answer that a lot of these frustrated Democrats really want to hear -- Erin.

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: Danny, thank you so much and thanks so much to all of you, AC360 starts now.

[20:00:33]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST: Tonight on 360, bordering on outright defiance, breaking news, as President Trump takes a brand new swipe at the judiciary and a judge calls White House compliance with his orders woefully insufficient.

More breaking news, the President orders the elimination of the Education Department, but his administration gives mixed signals about what happens to funding for children in need.

And later, a new report on what was once a popular vacation spot in Maine for Canadians, but no longer. Randi Kaye on how the Presidents trade war has hurt one local economy.

Good evening, John Berman here in for Anderson.

Breaking news tonight with brand new attacks from President Trump on the federal judge overseeing the deported migrants case, with the President accusing him of, "doing everything in his power to usurp the power of the presidency."

Now, it should be noted that even some conservative legal analysts say the judge is just doing his job, as outlined by the very law in question. The Presidential assault on the Judiciary, a co-equal branch of government, has already stoked fears among some of a constitutional crisis. The new chapter appeared to come after the DOJ had a noon deadline to answer some key questions regarding hundreds of migrants deported to El Salvador over the weekend.

They missed that deadline and the information they eventually did provide to U.S. District Judge James Boasberg was deemed, " woefully insufficient." The judge went on to say the DOJ evaded its obligations. He chastised the government for providing a sworn statement from a low level ICE staffer that, "repeated the same general information about the flights." He then issued two new deadlines.

The first is tomorrow at 10:00 A.M., when he demanded a declaration from, "an official with direct involvement in Cabinet level discussions about invoking the state secrets privilege." We'll hear more about that shortly. The other is a deadline of Tuesday for the government to brief him on how they did not defy his order if they did, despite the reality, the planes he ordered to turn around never returned to the U.S. with those migrants on board. Attorney General Pam Bondi was asked about the case last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAM BONDI, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: This judge has no right to ask those questions. You have one unelected federal judge trying to control foreign policies, trying to control the Alien Enemies Act, which they have no business presiding over. And there are 261 reasons why Americans are safer now. That's because those people are out of this country.

The judge had no business, no power to do what he did. They're meddling in foreign affairs. They're meddling in our government. And the question should be, why is the judge trying to protect terrorists who have invaded our country?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Now, there are new questions about at least one of those 261 migrants, whom attorney general Pam Bondi called terrorists. This man Jerce Reyes Barrios. He was a professional soccer player in Venezuela before fleeing political persecution, that is according to his lawyer.

He legally sought asylum in the United States, but was detained in Southern California in 2024, says his lawyer. In a court statement, his lawyer also said the Department of Homeland Security alleged this tattoo on his left forearm shows he's a member of a notorious Venezuelan gang.

Now, it is hard to make it out, but she says it's a soccer ball topped with a crown to represent his favorite soccer team, Real Madrid. On Saturday, he was deported by plane, according to his lawyer, along with hundreds of others, and taken to El Salvador's infamous terrorism confinement center, which can hold up to 40,000 inmates in pretty decrepit conditions. No one has heard from him since.

Now, CNN has reached out to DHS for comment, but have yet to hear back. DHS has previously said it takes many factors into account for deportation decisions, not just tattoos.

Back to the attacks by President Trump on Judge Boasberg earlier this week, the President called for him to be impeached, which led to that rare but swift rebuke from Chief Justice John Roberts, who released a statement that read in part, "For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision."

Now, shortly before air, the President launched that new attack on Truth Social that read in part, "If Justice Roberts in the U.S. Supreme Court do not fix this toxic and unprecedented situation immediately, our country is in very serious trouble."

Let's start with Maggie Haberman, senior political correspondent for "The New York Times," who is with me here tonight. Where is this headed, do you think? What does your reporting tell you about where the President wants this to go?

[20:05:12]

MAGGIE HABERMAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: So a couple of things, John. This is very much a fight that the administration wants to be clear is over this specific case. You heard what the Attorney General said. She is describing this as a case of judges and Democrats and people who criticize what happened here, wanting alleged terrorists, although she just calls them terrorists to stay in the country.

This is actually a lack of due process issue, which is why the judge in this case did what he did, asking about an order not being followed is what any judge would do, no matter who they had been appointed by. I actually think what Trump said, yes, that was clearly an attack on Judge Boasberg. There's no question about that.

He's playing a very risky game because judges don't like attacks on other judges, but he did not repeat the impeachment point. And I think that that is the key point there. I think he is trying to show he is still issuing a pressure campaign. He always does. We are going to see him continue to do that. But his calls for Congress to impeach judges, which is very hard to make happen, has upset some of his own staff and it has upset leaders in the Senate and in the House, Republican leaders in the Senate and the House. So, I think that this is him saying, fine, I hear you, at least for now.

BERMAN: So, no impeachment in the statement tonight. But there was this new reference to the Supreme Court, which was pretty interesting.

HABERMAN: He knows where -- Well, he knows where this is going and yes, it was absolutely a brushback to Roberts. And it was trying to say, essentially there is something wrong with you all if you don't side with me, but it was much more of an acknowledgment that "A" this is going to the Supreme Court most likely, and "B" that he may not get what he wants and he may not get what he wants, both on the matter of law and because he's not really making things easier for himself.

BERMAN: So, the Justice Department sort of dragging its feet and in some cases close to or over the line and outright defiance of the judge. How deliberate is this?

HABERMAN: Very. I mean, it's amazing. And I was having this conversation with someone earlier today. Remember, the whole strategy for the Trump legal team when he was a defendant and when he was facing a ton of lawsuits as a candidate and before he was a candidate, just as a former President was delay, delay, delay, delay, drag everything out, make it go as close to the election as possible. So then you could argue that the sentencing in his criminal case in Manhattan couldn't happen until after election day, you know, or this case is now too close to election day and one of the other indictments.

It's the same thing here. It's not a coincidence that the DOJ is led by two of his former criminal defense lawyers, Todd Blanche and Emil Bove and Pam Bondi has represented him in other matters. They are employing the same tactics and I think you can expect to see a lot of that going forward.

BERMAN: Maggie, if you will stick around. We're not done with you just yet. We want to bring in your colleague, though. "New York Times," Devlin Barrett, who has a new report on the 18th century law that the Trump administration has been using for some of these deportations and how officials may attempt to use it again in a new, controversial way.

Devlin, great to see you. Can you walk us through your reporting here, what you've learned? Right.

DEVLIN BARRETT, "THE NEW YORK TIMES" REPORTER: So the Alien Enemies Act was designed for wartime. And one of the things that has happened in American history is its been used to go into people's homes without a warrant.

What I'm told is that the Trump administration has decided that basically, by invoking that law, they now have the authority to do that if they choose to. That's a very sharp curtailment of the Fourth Amendment. It's a basic part of the Bill of Rights that you need a warrant from a court to go into someone's home. But I'm told within the Justice Department, senior lawyers believe that they now can go into a suspected alien, a suspected Venezuelan citizen's home, if they believe they might be a member of this gang.

BERMAN: So is it clear how or if the administration plans to implement their interpretation of this law?

BARRETT: It's really not. But if you look at all of the things you were talking about with Maggie in terms of the administration arguing, this judge has no business getting into these issues with us. This could be another piece of that, because the case law on this, there are past cases in which courts said that the Alien Enemies Act could be applied without recourse to the courts, and that is clearly something that the administration is banking on. The question is, how far will they take it?

BERMAN: Any White House response from this?

BARRETT: They're not commenting on this yet. I think, to be honest, the fight with Judge Boasberg is sort of consuming a lot of the attention and time and energy, understandably so. But I think this is another issue that's going to be coming down the pike eventually.

BERMAN: Devlin Barrett, great report. Sort of shining the spotlight on it early before it all breaks into the open. Thank you so much.

Back with us now, Maggie Haberman and joining us, former federal prosecutor, senior legal analyst, Elie Honig. Counselor, how legal is this what Devlin's reporting here?

HONIG: Well, we don't know and I think Devlin did a nice job of laying out what we do and don't know. Here's what we do know for sure. The strategy that Devlin's reporting on, that the White House believes they can make unwarranted entry into a home, is nowhere authorized in the law itself, and there's no specific case law saying they can go into homes.

Now, on the other hand, immigration cases are different from criminal cases. Clearly, in a criminal case, the government, the FBI, cannot just kick in a door without a warrant or without some other exception. Immigration cases don't afford the same level of due process protection to people who are subject to deportation, but they also people zero due process protection here.

[20:10:22]

And to me, it sounds like it would be, as Devlin said, such a flagrant violation of the Fourth Amendment to just go into homes to enter the most private of private spaces without a warrant or without cause. So, I'm skeptical but we are in an unknown area here.

BERMAN: Maggie, if you read some of the reporting in the last few days, it almost seems as if, you know, White House adviser Stephen Miller has been sleeping with copies of the Alien Enemies Act under his pillow for years. Like studying it, preparing for this very moment. How much of this is driven by him? And how much of this is being driven by the President himself?

HABERMAN: Well, look, Stephen Miller doesn't have the power that Stephen Miller has without Donald Trump. And Donald Trump is absolutely the person who wants this agenda to happen. Stephen Miller, however, is the person who is enacting it and who has spent years, as you said, I mean, that's not a joke. He has been focusing on this for a very, very long time, and he spent probably more than any other person thinking about in the in the four years between the first presidency and this one, the first Trump presidency and this one, how to do it differently, how to be more effective, how to use existing statutes, so you didn't have to go to Congress and create new law. And what could be upheld at the courts and what they could take their chances with.

And so, a lot of these various things. You know, the Alien Enemies Act is something that Stephen Miller talked to my colleagues about and me for a piece that we wrote in November 2023 about Trump's immigration plans. So, now, did we hear about specifically using this for, you know, warrantless home entrances -- no. But clearly this administration is testing what they can do. Chad Mizelle, the chief of staff at the DOJ is a very close Stephen Miller ally. So, all of these things work together.

BERMAN: Elie, you and I were talking earlier that this is now developed in kind of this Christopher Nolan "Inception" type of film, where you've got this top level battle about the law itself, constitutional battle about what the law says, but then several layers of separate battles going on, the lowest of which is now the Trump administration not responding to the judge on his specific orders. How defiant is this? How unusual is it to just defy orders like this or not comply with them?

HONIG: Right, so just to reorient our viewers because there's a lot happening here. The top layer here is the dispute over is this use of the Alien Enemies Act, constitutional or not? The judge has not even touched that yet.

The middle layer is did DOJ defy the judge this past weekend when the judge said, hold on to those planes or turn them around? Could they -- you know, what happened there? How did that go down? The third layer where we're at today is DOJ is refusing to give the judge he needs to resolve the airplane question on level two.

Let me just say, this is absolutely abnormal. When a judge says to the especially to the Justice Department, I want you to answer these five questions. It doesn't matter if you like it or not. No, thank you, Your Honor, which DOJ has now been saying for three consecutive days, that's not a menu option when you're at the Justice Department.

Yet, here we are and this judge, I don't know if he has the patience of a saint or maybe to Maggie's reporting, he doesn't want to play into an escalation of this. But every day he says, by noon, I need you to answer. Were on day three going into day four, I need you to answer by noon the next day, DOJ at noon says, no thanks, judge, were not going to give you anything new. And the judge says, well, one more day. So that's where we are starting to really get close to the line of open defiance.

HABERMAN: Look, it is also to your point, it is a heads, the administration wins; tails, the judge loses situation. And, you know, we have seen this with other judges since Trump was elected. There was a lot of anger at judges involved in Trump's cases when Trump was a criminal defendant. There is an effort, I think, by judges to be very mindful of how what they say is going to be used in the court of public opinion.

BERMAN: And just to go back up to the top "Inception" level here, the battle over the questions over the law itself, because when we heard Attorney General Pam Bondi moments ago saying this judge has no right whatsoever to do anything with this law, when you read the law, Elie, the word judge is all over it.

HONIG: It's the entire third part of the law, right? We've been talking a lot about the first part where the government, DOJ is going to have to show that the presence of this gang was akin to an invasion, and that it was somehow tied to the Venezuelan government. They'll argue it out in the courts, but if you then flip forward two sections in the law, it basically says judges and courts can hear this type of dispute.

And more to the point, it's not up to Pam Bondi. It's not up to Stephen Miller. It's not up to Tom Homan whether judges can decide this or not, they can argue that for sure. It's up to the judges themselves.

One more thing about Judge Boasberg, he has decided almost nothing of substance in this case. For all the attacks coming at him from Donald Trump, he has made no ruling about the Act itself. All he is trying to do is get the answers to know whether DOJ defied him or not. All he has done is said what every judge in this situation would say. Let's pause where we're at and let's take a couple of days so we can figure this out. And you see the avalanche that's hit him.

[20:15:10]

BERMAN: How much does all of this defiance, how much will it ultimately matter when it gets to an appellate court, when it gets to the Supreme Court?

HONIG: Well, defiance of courts is not generally smiled upon in the courts. But look, I think judges and I think Judge Boasberg is a good example of this. They -- the good ones and most all of them are good. They don't hold grudges. But boy, the problem is you sacrifice your credibility when you're telling a judge, we're not going to answer you. That's going to stick with, right, when judges are deciding, do I believe them? Do I trust them? They have to.

HABERMAN: And when you're saying, I'm not going to go through the existing system, I want this judge to be impeached as opposed to which is what prompted Justice Roberts to say, actually, the appeals court system is how we deal with these things.

BERMAN: How much have they gamed out if and when this does get to the Supreme Court, do they think they have a court that would be favorable to their interpretation?

HABERMAN: They generally think that they have, on paper, a court that might be favorable to their interpretation. There are people in the administration who recognize that they are not necessarily helping their case with this.

Now, there are a number of people who watch the court and have for a long time who think, yes, you're right about grudges, but these are judgment calls and these are people and Trump is just making this exponentially harder on himself the further he goes.

BERMAN: Any predictions on how the court will look at this if it gets to them?

HONIG: Well, they're definitely going to reject any effort to defy the court. I mean, they stand for the integrity of the court system. But with respect to the Alien Enemies Act itself, look, I think it's a stretch to say this gang is an invasion. I think it's a stretch to say they're somehow aligned with the Maduro regime that runs Venezuela.

But it's not impossible, and it's also possible the Supreme Court agrees with what Pam Bondi has been saying and says, this is what we call nonjusticiable, meaning we stay out of this kind of thing.

BERMAN: So yes, but it's not the thing in closing, it's a novel argument. Novel arguments in legal terms tend to get reviewed by judges, which is what's happening right now.

HONIG: We're all learning together.

BERMAN: Elie Honig, Maggie Haberman, great to see both of you. Thank you very much.

Coming up, more than 45 years after President Carter signed legislation creating the Department of Education, President Trump signed a new executive action, basically eliminating it. What happens now to the agency and its funding for low income students in those with disabilities? Former Secretary Arne Duncan joins us coming up.

And later, Democratic members of Congress getting an earful from constituents, including this town hall in New York.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have people being transferred to El Salvadorian gulags without due process of law. Have we reached the red line, sir? Have we reached the red line?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: New York Governor Kathy Hochul joins us to talk about Democrats' struggle to unite and the way she deals with President Trump.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:22:23]

BERMAN: And more breaking news, President Trump made sure there was a lot of fanfare at the White House today, as he sought to become the first President in modern history to abolish a full-fledged Cabinet Department as much as he can by himself.

Republican governors, supporters and a number of children sitting at desks were at the White House to watch him announce an executive action, eliminating, as he put it, the Education Department.

This comes after the White House already cut about half the agency's workforce. But what happens next is still a bit of a mystery.

For starters, the White House needs Congressional support to completely do away with the department. And while the Republican senator whose committee oversees the department said today he was on board. Trump officials have acknowledged they don't have the votes. So, that's one big question.

Another is what happens to critical functions like Pell Grants, aid for low income students and those with disabilities. This is what the President said today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: If you look at the Pell Grants, supposed to be a very good program. Title 1 funding and resources for children with special disabilities and special needs. They're going to be preserved in full and redistributed to various other agencies and departments that will take very good care of them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: So very clearly, the President said these programs will be, "preserved in full and redistributed to various other agencies." He didn't say which other agency. So, that's another question. But definitely they're going to be absorbed by other agencies. His Press Secretary said kind of the exact opposite this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: So, when it comes to student loans and Pell Grants, those will still be run out of the Department of Education.

REPORTER: And the Department of Education plays a critical role in enforcing Civil Rights laws that prohibit discrimination. Who's going to do that now?

LEAVITT: Any critical functions of the department, such as that will remain. But again, we're greatly reducing the scale and the size of this department.

REPORTER: What about federal Title 1 funding and special education funding? Is that still going to --

LEAVITT: Same answer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: So who is in charge of these programs, the administration says it wants to preserve? That's yet another mystery. And one, governors and Republican states, they may want them solved. The 16 states that relied the most on federal funding for their public schools in 2022, all voted for the President. That includes Texas and Florida. The governors of both states, Greg Abbott and Ron DeSantis, they were at the event today.

With us now, the former Secretary of Education under President Obama, Arne Duncan. Secretary Duncan, thanks so much for being with us. So, when it comes to these programs and you heard them listed right there, Pell Grants and others, the President is saying one thing while his Press Secretary is saying another. Does it seem to you that they even know where and how these programs will be administered?

ARNE DUNCAN, FORMER U.S. EDUCATION SECRETARY: Well, what they did today was obviously just performance art. It was performative, and he doesn't know or care about any of the details. And as you said so accurately, what does the Department of Education actually do?

[20:25:11]

It provides additional resources for some of our nation's most vulnerable children, children with disabilities, children with special needs, poor children, children who live in rural communities, who talked about Pell Grants. Over 6.5 million people, many first generation college goers having the chance to go to college because of those Pell Grants.

And you can never say what Trump won't do. I hope he's telling the truth, that they won't touch those funds, but you honestly never know with him. And he has done so much damage already in starting to dismantle the Department of Education.

But as you said accurately, he cannot close it. Only an act of Congress would enable a Cabinet agency to be closed and that's never going to happen.

BERMAN: What about moving those functions to another agency? Is it even clear how that would work?

DUNCAN: Well, what you would have is a bureaucratic nightmare. And when I was there, what we tried to do was have what we called a state desk. So, every state would have one place to call for any educational question. The idea of having a bureaucratic nightmare, moving something to HHS and something to Treasury, and something to the Department of Labor. Can you imagine if you're a state or a district trying to navigate multiple bureaucracies in D.C.? It makes absolutely no sense.

And what's most troubling to me is we actually have an education crisis in our country. We saw a recent NAEP scores, they were very low. We have to help a lot more children learn how to read better and faster. And there's not a single thing, not one thing Trump has done or said that helps one additional child in the United States better learn how to read.

BERMAN: I want to play something else that President Trump said today when he was signing this order.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Department of Education, we're going to eliminate it. And everybody knows it's right. And the Democrats know it's right. And I hope they're going to be voting for it, because ultimately it may come before them, but everybody knows it's right. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Do you think this actually gets before Congress? And what happens if it does?

DUNCAN: No, it doesn't have a chance. In Education, historically, it is important for your viewers to understand, this is unprecedented. Education has always been a bipartisan or nonpartisan issue. Going back to our first Republican president, President Lincoln created the Land Grant Universities during the Civil War.

President Eisenhower, Department of Health, Education and Welfare. President Ford IDA helping students with special needs have access to a free and fair education. President Nixon, lots of problems with President Nixon, but guess what he signed. He signed Pell Grants into law.

And so, throughout our nation's history, this has been in our in our national interest. Trump is the first guy to politicize it to this extent. This is not left versus right, R versus D. This is a threat to dismantle public education and higher education in our country. And we should all be very, very scared of what could happen here.

BERMAN: You praised a lawsuit that's been filed by some parents against the administration for the mass firings at the Department of Education related to the Civil Rights Division. What grounds for the legal action do you think there is, and how successful do you expect it to be?

DUNCAN: Well, there are a couple of things happening now, and what the Office of Civil Rights has done historically is basically been like the court of last resort when young people have been traumatized, abused at the local level and it wasn't addressed. That was their last place to try and get some recourse for the trauma they've been through.

So, dismantling that or weaponizing that for me would just be an absolute travesty. The other place where they're taking on tremendous operational risk is they gutted what's called FSA, Federal Student Aid that administers millions and millions for students, billions of dollars in grants and loans each year for college.

And when you gut that department, their risk of having some catastrophic operational failure goes up very, very high.

And, you know, when you walk in some stores, they say, if you break it, you own it. Trump has broken that department. He's broken FSA, he's broken the Department of Education. And if something goes wrong, I desperately hope it doesn't happen. But if something goes wrong this fall with young people going back to college, they are going to own having broken that.

BERMAN: Secretary Arne Duncan, we appreciate you being with us tonight. Thank you. Coming up --

DUNCAN: Thank you so much. BERMAN: -- anger at the Democratic Party is boiling over.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want you to show fight and you are not fighting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: This was a town hall for Democratic Congressman Glenn Ivey of Maryland. The demand for Democrats to fight is being echoed by many across the country. We're going to speak to the governor of New York, Kathy Hochul, next.

And later, were going to get a report from Tel Aviv, where the ceasefire has fallen apart. Israeli ground troops are advancing in Gaza, and Hamas is now firing rockets into Israel.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:34:27]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: We continue with our breaking news on the Department of Education and the President signing an executive order to dismantle it. This is just the latest in a series of moves made by his administration in its first two months. And yes, it's really only been two months. That's it.

The critics call it presidential overreach. That's along with the fury directed at Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and other Democrats for voting to let President Trump's spending bill proceed last week, helping to avert a government shutdown. And all of that has many in the Democratic base and beyond demanding more of a fight from the party.

Let's talk about that and more with a well-known New York Democrat, Governor Kathy Hochul. Governor, thanks so much for being with us.

GOV. KATHY HOCHUL (D), NEW YORK: Glad to be back.

BERMAN: Why do you think so many people feel the Democratic Party is struggling right now?

[20:35:11]

HOCHUL: People are frustrated. I mean, first of all, they're exhausted. There's enormous fatigue that there's so much incoming all the time. The voters were promised lower prices on Inauguration Day. And let's talk about what's happened since then.

Inflation has not come down. The grocery bills are getting higher. You can't even find an egg these days. And also tariffs are creating higher utility costs already. So people are frustrated. They're showing up at town hall meetings. They're showing up and just -- and socially they're just had enough.

And Democrats have to respond to that and say, no, we will take up the mantle. We will fight back. And sometimes we have to use the courts. We have brought countless lawsuits from the very beginning here in the state of New York. It's definitely a growth industry for lawyers, this administration. So we're always in litigation.

But today I was at a school talking about the education cuts, you know, making sure there's a spotlight in the media, getting out to the parents. Who is doing this? Who is possibly taking away the free lunch that saves you $1,600 a year per child, a family of two, $3,200 that you may now have to pay because they're eliminating this funding from the Department of Education.

So, of course, they're frustrated. How could you not be?

BERMAN: We'll get to the Department of Education in just a second. There are many Democrats who are saying we need to hold up a mirror. We need to look at us here. And New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is now one of them. This is what she said yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D), NEW YORK: This isn't just about Republicans. We need a Democratic Party that fights harder for us too. We, as a community, must choose and vote for Democrats and elected officials who know how to stand for the working class.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

BERMAN: How much harder do you think Democrats need to fight?

HOCHUL: She's not wrong. But you look at a state like New York, examine the record, what are we delivering for people? Child care, $7 billion that we're investing in our families. The affordability agenda that I have in my budget. I have a path with $5,000 back in families' pockets with an inflation rebate, a middle class tax cut, the largest tax rate cut in 70 years.

Also making sure that we have money for families with children. So it could be $5,000. She's right that we need to stand up. And Democratic governors are in a perfect position to show what we leave when we have the power to stand up for our residents and put more money back in their pockets.

They want to hear from that more than hearing about it. They want to see you do it. My budget I'm negotiating right now will deliver that.

BERMAN: So Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Hakeem Jeffries, the House minority leader, Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, it's all happening right around you. These are all New Yorkers here.

HOCHUL: Yes, yes.

BERMAN: What did you make? Did you approve of what Senator Schumer decided to do to let that funding bill go through, not let the government shut down? And do you think he's the right person to lead the Democrats in the Senate? HOCHUL: Listen, we have benefited tremendously here in the state of New York of having the influence of the majority leader for the Senate, our home senator. Look at the CHIPS and Science Act. We have Mike Rahn (ph) with 50,000 jobs coming to upstate New York. He helped get that through the Congress and directed that programming here in New York.

The Gateway Tunnel, thousands of good paying union jobs are being created. What we're doing with the Second Avenue subway. So he has been my partner and I don't want him to lose that clout. Why do we want someone else in a different state that have that kind of weight in Washington?

I say keep him right where he is. He's doing a great job in that respect. And people can debate whether or not that was the right decision. But don't forget who brought us here. The Republicans created this scenario. They --

BERMAN: Do you think it was the right decision?

HOCHUL: They created the chaos. We need to point the finger where it belongs.

BERMAN: Do you think it was the right decision?

HOCHUL: Republicans created the chaos. We need to point the fingers where it belongs.

BERMAN: A notable non-answer. I do want to ask you --

HOCHUL: They do.

BERMAN: -- about what the President did with the Department of Education today, because as he was signing that executive order, he basically ran down a list of counties in New York. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: But we'll work with them and we're going to make them -- they'll do a job. I think they'll do a job, and they'll go to sections of the state. For instance, New York, you'll have a Manhattan and you'll have a Suffolk County and you'll have Nassau County and you have Westchester County.

You'll do four or five or six of them. You have Upstate New York. And those counties, I think, are going to do very well. And I think ultimately Manhattan should do very well.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

BERMAN: What do you think he's talking about there?

HOCHUL: I have no idea. You're talking about we're going to do better with the elimination of the Department of Education? Right now, we get $6 billion from them in New York State. $2 billion for Pell Grants to give people a pathway to higher education. $2 billion goes to school lunches.

Like I said, I was in an elementary school this morning. Watching the kids eat their breakfast and lunch later on in the afternoon. There are families who cannot afford to feed their kids a lunch. So is he saying he's going to spread the same amount of money we get now and hand it back to us?

[20:40:03]

I know how I'll spend it as a Democrat and I'll make sure it goes to the right place. Haven't helped the Republican states who might take that money and do something that's not focused on feeding hungry kids, helping kids with disabilities and everyone else that the Department of Education helps.

So why do this? Why are you unleashing this chaos on the people who put you in office? Just leave everybody alone. Leave the parents alone. Leave the kids alone.

BERMAN: What do you think the impact is on the children?

HOCHUL: They're going to be hungry. If that money does not come for school lunches and breakfast, we're doing it in the state of New York, but we need the federal money to supplement our efforts here.

And I want to make a very clear point. We get $93 billion in all kinds of support from the federal government. Now, New York, we send more than that in Texas. So we are still a donor state, but I cannot make that up. They start cutting that kind of money. I can't make that up. People are going to suffer.

BERMAN: Let me ask you very quickly, and I'm sure you want to -- you're excited to weigh in on the mayor's race here in New York City. Eric Adams --

HOCHUL: Yes.

BERMAN: -- someone you considered using your power to push out of office. Andrew Cuomo, someone you replaced, could come down to them. What do you think?

HOCHUL: You have to say only in New York, only in New York do we get this kind of situation. My job as governor is to make sure that whomever the very smart voters of this city want as their mayor is someone that I will work with, who will work with me to continue my efforts, to make our subways safer, to make sure that we're working on building more housing.

Number one cost of living here is because housing stock has not been kept up with the need and the demand. I'm focused on it. So give me a mayor I can work with.

BERMAN: Governor Kathy Hochul, we appreciate you coming in. Thanks so much.

HOCHUL: Thank you. BERMAN: Now to the Middle East where fighting between Israel and Hamas is escalating in the wake of a collapsed ceasefire. Today, for the first time since the deal fell apart, Hamas resumed firing rockets at Israel while Israel expanded its renewed ground operation in the Gaza Strip.

Jeremy Diamond in Tel Aviv with the latest. So Jeremy, what are you learning about the new IDF ground offensive into Gaza?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, the Israeli military is continuing to widen its military activities in Gaza, not only with airstrikes which have killed 85 people just today, raising the death toll from the Israeli strikes this week to over 500 people who've been killed, including over 200 children, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

But now we are also learning of these expanded ground operations that the military is carrying out. Yesterday, they captured that Netzarim Corridor, half of it at least, which separates northern Gaza from the rest of the Strip.

And today, we've learned of additional Israeli military ground activities in the northwestern part of the Gaza Strip, as well as in southern Gaza, which all could be laying the groundwork for a much wider Israeli ground offensive that could involve as many as 50,000 Israeli ground troops in the coming weeks or months. John?

BERMAN: So it could get even bigger. Hamas fired rockets at Israel for the first time since the whole truce collapsed. What are you learning about that?

DIAMOND: That's right. Three rockets fired by Hamas from the Gaza Strip towards central Israel, setting off air raid sirens here in Tel Aviv and across the region. One of those rockets was intercepted, two others fell in open areas. There were no casualties resulting from it, but it was the first time that Hamas had fired since this ceasefire broke down following those Israeli strikes in Gaza, as it decided that it would indeed continue to carry out those rocket attacks.

The Houthis in Yemen also firing two ballistic missiles at Israel today. Those were both also intercepted. But all of this signals, of course, this kind of escalation in the region, as we are watching once again, scenes that we have seen previously over the last year and a half beginning to play out once again.

BERMAN: So, Jeremy, what's the response been inside Israel?

DIAMOND: Well, inside Israel, John, there have been those, of course, supportive of the Israeli Prime Minister's decision to go back to war, but many others who have not been. And that is part of why we have seen widening protests in Israel over the last couple of days, as well as concerns raised by the families of the hostages who remain in Gaza about the safety of those hostages as Israel returns to war.

We have also heard testimonials from former hostages who were released during this latest ceasefire, recounting their fears when the ceasefire, the first ceasefire in late 2023, broke down and Israel's bombardment resumed, as they also expressed fears for the hostages.

And one of the criticisms that's been lobbed at the Israeli prime minister is that he's really focused on his own political interests, as the Far-Right National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, rejoined the Prime Minister's right-wing governing coalition, stabilizing that coalition ahead of a key budget vote later this month, which the Israeli Prime Minister needs to pass, otherwise his government might fall apart.

Many of the Israeli Prime Minister's political opponents accusing him of restarting the war in order to be able to pass that budget, save his government, and of course, maintain his own political career. John?

[20:45:03]

BERMAN: Jeremy Diamond on the ground. Great to see you tonight, Jeremy. Thank you.

All right, next on 360, President Trump's trade war with Canada is already threatening the summer vacation season in the United States, where it takes you to one beloved destination, where small business owners who depend on visitors from Quebec are bracing for what's ahead.

And later, one of the most famous and successful teams in all of professional sports, and really, one of the most beloved teams in all professional sports, sold in a record-breaking deal, and you will not believe the price. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:50:13]

BERMAN: And more breaking news, as the trade war between the U.S. and Canada shows no signs of letting up, two government sources say Canadian Prime Minister, new Canadian Prime Minister, Mark Carney, is expected to ask to dissolve Parliament this Sunday and call for federal elections on April 28th.

Now, earlier this month, Carney was elected leader of the country's Liberal Party and took over as Prime Minister when Justin Trudeau stepped down after low poll numbers in a Cabinet revolt that has not stopped President Trump from attacking Trudeau. This is what he said last night.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

TRUMP: One of the nastiest countries to deal with is Canada. The people that -- now this was Trudeau, the people that -- good old Justin, I call him Governor Trudeau, he was -- his people were nasty.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

BERMAN: President Trump last night. Now, earlier this month, before stepping down, Trudeau said this at a press conference. (BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

JUSTIN TRUDEAU, THEN-CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: Canadians are hurt. Canadians are angry. We're going to choose to not go on vacation in Florida or Old Orchard Beach or wherever.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

BERMAN: And that's happening. Our Randi Kaye went to Maine's Old Orchard Beach and this is her report.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

STERLING MORSE, OWNER, POINT OF VIEW INN: This has been a family business for 50 years. You've got to take into the fact how the Canadians perceive this, and they are incredibly pissed off.

RANDI KAYE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): We met Sterling Morse in Old Orchard Beach, Maine. He owns the Point of View Inn, which is only about 150 miles from the Canadian border.

MORSE: We have been here for --

KAYE (voice-over): He says the majority of his regular customers are French Canadians.

MORSE: Very traditional people, you know, families that take the same room, the same, you know, the same dates every year.

KAYE (voice-over): Not this year. Sterling says most of his Canadian customers have canceled, fed up with President Donald Trump's antagonistic rhetoric toward Canada. There's the threat of tariffs too. And lately, Trump has suggested redrawing the border between the two countries.

MORSE: It's affecting at least 90 percent of my business.

KAYE: Are you saying you've had 90 percent of your business canceled this year?

MORSE: Easily, easily.

Point of View Inn.

KAYE (voice-over): During our visit, yet another Canadian called to cancel.

MORSE: Listen, Monsieur (ph), you don't need to explain anymore.

This is every registration card from last year. This is the Canadian. That's my American. This just went away.

KAYE: That's all you got now. That doesn't pay the bills.

MORSE: It does not.

TRUMP: Invested my ability.

KAYE (voice-over): For Sterling Morse, it all snowballed shortly after Donald Trump's inauguration.

MORSE: All of a sudden, an email pops up. You know, it's almost like, you know, your phone, ding, ding, slow ding. People that have been here for 35, 40 years, you recognize that number. And it's like, I know why they're calling. And the anger is, in my eyes, incredibly justified.

KAYE: Here in Old Orchard Beach, roughly 40 percent of the tourists come from Canada, according to the Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber's executive director told us that those tourists make up about 30 percent to 40 percent of the revenue for many of the businesses here.

KIM HOWARD, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, OLD ORCHARD BEACH CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: I think we're still kind of seeing how many different industries this impacts. It doesn't just impact tourism, of course.

KAYE (voice-over): Over at the Alouette Beach Resort, owner Fred Kennedy hasn't seen a cancelation yet, but he's heard an earful from his Canadian customers.

KAYE: What are they telling you?

FRED KENNEDY, OWNER, ALOUETTE BEACH RESORT: Well, their feelings are basically hurt. They don't like to be referred to as the 51st state. And they feel that it just -- they just want to express themselves in sort of a nationalistic way.

As an innkeeper, hotelier, I'm concerned with losing any guests. I'm sort of cautiously optimistic that things will resolve themselves as time goes on.

KAYE (voice-over): Old Orchard Beach is a seasonal town, so businesses have about 12 to 15 weeks to make their money for the entire year.

Back at the Point of View Inn, Sterling Morse doesn't see any way he can make up that lost revenue this season.

MORSE: Yes. You've got to start thinking about the endgame. The endgame of 50 years of tradition, to be honest, yes.

KAYE: Like you would consider closing down, selling? What do you think of that?

MORSE: There may be no choice.

KAYE: Sterling Morse, the inn owner who says he lost 90 percent of his business, went to school in Montreal and feels a real kinship with Canadians. He told me that their anger is justified and he appreciates their renewed sense of nationalism.

He also told me that he has tried to convince some of them to change their minds and to come anyway, but he says they are standing firm with Canada. Randi Kaye, CNN, Portland, Maine.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

BERMAN: Our thanks to Randi for that.

Now a story I know they care about in Maine. A jaw-dropping historic deal. Wait until you hear how much one of -- wait until you hear how much the greatest team in the history of basketball just sold for.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:59:49]

BERMAN: So the Boston Celtics, the NBA's greatest and most successful team with 18 world championships, 18 banners, reached a deal to be sold for a record-breaking $6.1 billion. That's with a B. If approved by the NBA Board of Governors, this would be the biggest price tag ever for a U.S. sports franchise and worth every cent.

It tops the $6.05 billion deal for the NFL's Washington Commanders. That was two years ago. The Celtics' new ownership group is led by billionaire William Chisholm, who runs a private equity firm. The Georgetown, Massachusetts native said in a statement he has been a, quote, "diehard Celtics fan for his entire life". Some of us would call him a wicked big fan. We are counting on him.

The news continues with Kaitlin Collins. The Source starts now.