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Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) Interviewed on New Republican House Spending Bill; Elon Musk Attends President Trump's First Cabinet Meeting; Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO) Interviewed on Contentious Town Halls for Republican Congressmembers and Effects of Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency Cutting Federal Jobs. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired February 27, 2025 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

SEN. CHRIS COONS, (D-DE): And if enough Americans get upset and engaged on this on pushed back on the Republicans in the House, they have a very thin margin. They can only afford one no vote. If there were two no votes or three, it would repeat that memorable moment when John McCain ended the effort to kill the Affordable Care Act. Taking things away from Americans that they value is not a winning strategy.

And right now, consumer confidence is plummeting. Two-thirds of Americans think Trump isn't doing enough to constrain costs. And he's threatening tariffs again on Canada and Mexico, which will increase our costs. Across these issues, Sara, raising our costs through tariffs, cutting benefits through cuts to Medicaid, Donald Trump is already the least popular president in modern times after just one month in office.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Senator Chris Coons, I know you have plenty of work to do there on the Hill. Thank you so much for taking some time with us in the morning.

COONS: Thank you.

SIDNER: A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Fifteen minutes to get your things and get back out. That is the new directive from fired USAID staffers today, just as the Supreme Court steps in for the first time on the DOGE efforts, giving a temporary legal win to the Trump administration.

Also, today President Trump is going to be meeting face to face with the British prime minister, the second European leader this week to race to Washington to try and turn the president away from his pro- Russia stance on the Ukraine war.

And remembering Oscar winning actor Gene Hackman, one of Hollywood's greats found dead alongside his wife inside their home. An investigation now underway.

John is out today. I'm Kate Bolduan with Sara Sidner. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL. So the nation's highest court handing down a legal win for President

Trump. The Supreme Court has granted an emergency request to pause a judge's order requiring the government to pay out the foreign aid to contractors and others that President Trump had froze. Chief Justice John Roberts issued what's called an administrative stay, essentially a legal way to hit the pause button for the justices to have more time to consider the case, because there was a midnight deadline. Roberts saying that he wants response then by Friday from the challengers who believe all of those funds have been illegally frozen.

And this marks the first time the Supreme Court has intervened on the DOGE moves and comes at an interesting time. The ruling came the same day the administration said it was terminating almost 10,000 contracts and grants for USAID and the State Department, and also happening as part of the administration's purge. USAID staffers have been given a one-hour window where they'll have 15 minutes to enter the headquarters, retrieve their belongings, and then get back out.

CNN's Arlette Saenz is live in Washington outside of USAID headquarters for us this morning. Arlette, what are you hearing from people?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, any minute now, we anticipate that fired USAID staffers will be arriving here at the headquarters to collect their belongings. These fired staffers have been given 15-minute windows where they can come in and pack up their desks and other items as they are preparing to leave the agency.

As you can see right behind me, there are a little over a dozen people here who have showed up. They say this is not a protest, but this is meant to show support for those USAID staffers who are coming here to collect their belongings today. On Sunday, about 2,000 USAID staffers began to learn that they were being laid off and thousands more were put on administrative leave. USAID is facing some of the most drastic cuts since President Trump came into office in the second term.

And I had a chance to speak with a union representative with the American Foreign Service Association about how they feel the administration has handled these cuts. Take a listen to that moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RANDY CHESTER, AMERICAN FOREIGN SERVICE ASSOCIATION: It's been quite tragic. I think there's been a lot of -- a lack of communication in general about what's happening to USAID. Staff don't know, day in and day out, what they're supposed to do. We've had our emails, most people have had their email accounts shut off. So they're getting notices third party from Facebook groups and from chat groups. So it's really a haphazard way to tell people what to do and how to do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: So a lot of uncertainty that has been facing thousands of workers who are either direct to hire employees with USAID or federal contractors. I was up on Capitol Hill a bit earlier in the week with some people who had recently been laid off. [08:05:02]

One woman telling me that she had received a notice on Sunday saying she had been placed on administrative leave, and just one day later received another notification that she had been terminated. So here we are expecting to see staffers beginning to come pick up some of their belongings, a slice, a window into the human impact of some of these cuts that have been made by the Trump administration at the start of his term.

BOLDUAN: Arlette, thank you so much for your reporting. Sara?

SIDNER: All right, with me now to discuss, senior political analyst Mark Preston. Mark, we're seeing some of the immediate impacts of the ruling, and John Roberts kind of putting a stay on this. What is the ultimate impact of all this, besides with Donald Trump?

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I think, well, first of all, one, USAID, I think, is gone, as far as we've ever known it. Democrats have pretty much given up on trying to fight to get it back. It will end up in the courts, and it is in the courts. And we've seen even this emergency stay right now, Chief Justice John Roberts allowed the Trump folks more time based upon having to give out these contracts to USAID.

I think this spells trouble, because this is going to be the first step in really Donald Trump successfully dismantling the government. Now, everything that he does try to do, Sara, is not going to be successful. But in this first step, he appears to be successful.

SIDNER: Yes. This is another thing that we were all watching, Donald Trump giving a really strong endorsement to Elon Musk, who was at the first cabinet meeting, not a cabinet member, but he was at the meeting. And I thought it was interesting that he was like, is anybody unhappy, to the room, to his cabinet? And they all clapped. I think everyone is not only happy, they're ecstatic, they're thrilled, Donald Trump said to his cabinet, what do you make of all of this?

PRESTON: Well, you know what? Let's have the president himself, let's hear what he had to say, because it is so interesting about -- it says so much in such a little bit of period of time about what we're going to see over the next few weeks, next few months. Let's hear what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) U.S. PRESIDENT: Let the cabinet speak just for a second.

(LAUGHTER)

TRUMP: If you're unhappy with Elon, if you are, we'll throw them out of here.

(LAUGHTER)

TRUMP: Is anybody unhappy?

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PRESTON: Look at them all just clapping and smiling and thinking to themselves, Sara, we better get on board. You know, it's very interesting. Donald Trump not only issues directions through social media, he also issues his threats to his own people in public. And that's clearly what we saw yesterday.

SIDNER: It clearly is. And it did feel a tiny bit awkward, or a lot awkward, when he made some of those statements and sort of they had to respond to it. Meantime, we're seeing these town halls where people are really unhappy with some of what Elon Musk has done.

All right, Mark Preston, it is always a pleasure to have you on. Thank you so much. Appreciate it. Kate?

BOLDUAN: And bouncing just right off of that, Republican members of Congress are increasingly facing backlash over Elon Musk and the DOGE cuts. In Virginia, voters protested at some mobile office hours for Republican Congressman Rob Wittman. A staffer usually leads these sessions, but constituents, they showed up, they wanted to hear from the congressman himself. Instead, they heard from a government worker, a former government employee, who also wanted some answers from the congressman.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: These mass terminations without any assessment of the American people's needs will end up costing taxpayers more money.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, yes. Waste. Waste.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Disruption to services. You want to know why no one at the Social Security office? They're firing people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: People there accused a Republican congressman of hiding from his constituents. Here's what the -- here is then what the Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson had to say last night about all of this blowback.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON, (R-LA) HOUSE SPEAKER: The videos you saw of the town halls were for paid protesters in many of those places. These are Democrats who went to the events early and filled up the seats. If you -- if the videos had panned out outside the building --

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: You can't argue they were all paid protesters, though, Mr. Speaker.

JOHNSON: Many of them were. I don't know --

COLLINS: A Republican acknowledged they were his constituents.

JOHNSON: One Republican acknowledged they were constituents. That's fantastic. OK, but they had Democrats come and fill the seats early.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Joining us right now is Democratic Congressman Jason Crow from Colorado. Congressman, it's good to see you. The House speaker, he really there seeming to dismiss this blowback. We've seen no evidence that, one, people were paid, and two, Democrats can be Republican members of Congress constituents as well. You have Republicans in your district. I have seen examples of people attending these events saying that they are lifelong Republicans and live in those districts. What is your reaction to what seems to be Johnson's shoulder shrug response to this?

REP. JASON CROW, (D-CO): Well, let's first of all compare the images here.

[08:10:00]

You just showed a video of the first cabinet meeting, and they were laughing and patting each other on the back and clapping, as if everything is fine. They're taking their victory lap. At the same time, if you actually get outside of the D.C. bubble, you get outside of the swamp -- and make no mistake, all these people in the cabinet meeting, these are creatures of the swamp, right? These are billionaires. These are elite executives. These are oil and gas executives. These are lifetime politicians. If you get outside of that room and you go around America, people are hurting. They're afraid. They are feeling the real cuts of what's happening, the real human impact what's happening. And they're pissed and they should be pissed. And they're starting to stand up and to be heard. And my Republican colleagues can certainly ignore them, but they are not going away.

BOLDUAN: I mean, you wrote about this yesterday. It grabbed my attention. You said the lesson from tough town halls isn't to run away. You said, I'm hosting a town hall tomorrow, meaning today, because my constituents have a right to know where I stand and what I'm doing to advocate for them. I mean, what are you hearing from your constituents? And what do you expect to hear from them today?

CROW: Yes, that's right. I mean, showing up and listening is fundamental to the job. It is the most basic element of the job. The people you represent have a right to know what you're doing, where you stand, the votes you're taking, and for you to stand in front of them and to be accountable for that. And they may not always agree with you, but they have a right to know that. If I do a town hall and I have a very mixed district, I have a lot of Republicans, I'm the first Democrat ever to hold my seat in Congress. But I'll show up and I'll have Republicans that say, you know what, I don't necessarily always agree with you, but at least I know where you stand. And I don't think you're lying to me and you're being transparent. I'll take that, right, because that's the start of a conversation and we can actually develop trust and go somewhere with that.

So obviously we need more than that. If the Republicans are going to shut that out and refuse to listen, there will be consequences to that sooner, probably rather than later. They need to show up, and they need to hear the pain and suffering that their policies are going to inflict on their constituents.

BOLDUAN: I want to ask you about that cabinet meeting that you were just mentioning, where Elon Musk played prominently. He said that the president, what he has heard from the president is that the president wants him to push harder on those cuts. And broadly, you hear Republicans elected and not and others saying they like the idea of a smaller, more efficient government, that's for sure. But Elon Musk admitted during this cabinet meeting that they have made mistakes along the way. Let me play what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELON MUSK, PRESIDENTIAL ADVISER: We won't be perfect, but when we make a mistake, we'll fix it very quickly. So, for example, with USAID, one of the things we accidentally canceled very briefly was Ebola, Ebola prevention. I think we all want Ebola prevention. So we restored the Ebola prevention immediately.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: It was just wild that that was the example of like, oops, Ebola prevention.

CROW: It's so --

BOLDUAN: Go ahead.

CROW: Listen, can I comment on that? That is so unbelievably tone deaf and disconnected with the plight of regular people around the country, right. You know, Elon Musk is somebody that is known for hostile takeovers, for coming in, slashing, cutting companies, changing companies. And there are instances where you can do that in the private sector. But the government and actually running, helping run the government that impacts people's lives, life and death decisions, doesn't work that way, right?

If you make mistakes, and if there's 10 to 15 percent, quote-unquote, inefficiency, that's actually someone's life, right? They might lose lifesaving medication. They might lose their house. You simply just can't un-ring that bell and change that. You are you are dealing with real people's lives in real time, and it just shows how drastically out of touch Donald Trump and his cabinet and Elon Musk are to that reality.

BOLDUAN: Really quickly, you're on extremely relevant, important committees of Armed Services and Intel. You have the British prime minister coming to meet with President Trump today. You have the president meeting with Zelenskyy tomorrow. And he was he is really still playing coy and punting on the question of security guarantees, saying, I'm not going to make security guarantees beyond very much. How do you square this circle? How do you think -- do you think that European leaders, no matter who they are and how fast they come to Washington to try to turn Trump away and convince him otherwise, do you think they are going to be able to?

CROW: Well, I don't spend a lot of time, Kate, trying to square circles in Trump world, because you usually can't do that, because it doesn't really make sense. There's really no policy. But listen, there are several things that can be true at the same time here, right? It can be true that some of our European partners need to step up and do more. It can be true that I actually think, in principle, the idea of a mineral deal to help pay for some of our support is not necessarily a bad idea for the taxpayers, and to actually create more of an economic connection between the United States and Ukraine, which I think in the long term is good for everybody.

[08:15:00]

But it also can be true that refusing to say Russia was responsible for the invasion and calling Putin a dictator is an appalling thing that makes Americans less safe and sends exactly the wrong message to both dictators and to our allies.

So, you know, that's what's going on here, and that's why leadership matters. And that's why actually having somebody who can be consistent and send the right messages when they're sitting in the Oval Office to protect Americans matters a lot.

BOLDUAN: Yes, I'm very interested to hear what the conversation is coming out of this meeting with Keir Starmer today. I'm sure you are as well.

Congressman, thank you very much for your time -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right, new this morning, a major change in policy that could kick thousands of troops out of the U.S. military.

Plus, we're standing by for the newest Jobs Report to get a check on President Trump's handling of the economy. And remembering a Hollywood legend who could play everything from a coach to admiral to arch villain.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GENE HACKMAN, AMERICAN ACTOR: It's kryptonite, Superman. A little souvenir from the old hometown. I spared no expense to make you feel right at home.

You were great in your day, Superman. But it just stands to reason, when it came time to cash in your chips, so good, a diseased maniac would be your banker.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:20:52] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HACKMAN: What do you think I mean?

TOM CRUISE, ACTOR: Well, I don't know. You're the risk taker.

HACKMAN: You think I'm talking about breaking the law?

CRUISE: No, I'm just trying to figure out how far you want it bent.

HACKMAN: As far as you can without breaking it.

CRUISE: In other words, don't risk an IRS audit.

HACKMAN: I don't give a damn about an audit. They just better not win.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: That was iconic Gene Hackman alongside Tom Cruise in the 1993 film "The Firm." It's so good if you haven't seen it.

All right, we're all following this breaking news. This morning the sheriff's deputies found Hackman, his wife, and their dog dead in their New Mexico home.

The 95-year-old had long since retired from his storied career, which earned him two Academy Awards and four Golden Globes.

CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister is joining us now.

Now, authorities, you told us earlier don't suspect foul play. Is there any reason being given for their deaths yet this morning?

ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: There is not, Sara. And this, of course, aside from being such a sad story, the passing of an absolute Hollywood legend, it's a really bizarre story.

Gene Hackman and his wife, along with their dog, all found dead in their home in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Now, as you said, police have said that no foul play is suspected, but they have not given a cause of death. This investigation is ongoing.

Gene Hackman and his wife, they were found yesterday in their home in New Mexico.

Now, Gene Hackman had really stepped out of the limelight for decades. He retired from Hollywood in 2004, and he and his wife had lived a quiet, relatively private life in New Mexico since they had moved there.

Now, of course, one of the greatest Hollywood screen actors of our time, and we have seen a few tributes. Francis Ford Coppola, George Takei, but of course, it is very early here on the West Coast. So, as people are going to be waking up in Los Angeles to this sad news, I anticipate we will see many more Hollywood tributes come. There you see, the five Oscars that Gene Hackman was nominated for, winning two of them. This is even more meaningful coming just days before the Oscars this weekend.

I anticipate that we will get a huge tribute to him at the "In Memoriam." But you know, Sara, back in 2011, when Gene Hackman was 81 years old, he was asked by "GQ" in a magazine profile how he wants to be remembered.

I want to read to you what he had to say. He said, "I want to be remembered as a decent actor, as someone who tried to portray what was given to them in an honest fashion."

Then he said with a laugh, "I don't know, beyond that. I don't think about that often, to be honest. And I'm at an age where I should think about it."

Now, back in the 80s, Gene Hackman sat down with CNN for an interview, and despite how great he was on screen, he actually said that he doesn't like to watch himself.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Unless you were looking at some other monitor, you weren't looking at it.

HACKMAN: No, I don't like to watch it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You don't like to watch yourself? Do you go to your own films?

HACKMAN: No, I, oh once in a while I will see one, but I prefer to think of myself the way I feel, which is 23, and then I see this old man up there --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, vanity. The vanity. I see you. I see.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WAGMEISTER: Now, of course, 95 years is a great long life and he had an illustrious career. But ending in this way in such bizarre fashion is certainly going to strike a lot of people. So again, Sara, this investigation will continue and hopefully we will have more answers very soon.

SIDNER: Yes, I thought it was really cool that you found that old clip of him on CNN and saying he doesn't like to watch himself.

Elizabeth, do you like to watch yourself? I certainly don't, and I'm no actor.

WAGMEISTER: I hate it, and I hate listening to myself. So, we are in the wrong business, Sara. But I have to tell you, we have to give a shout out to our team because it is our producers who found that clip. I cannot take credit for that, but it is so great to see Gene Hackman really seeming very much like a normal person, even though he was one of the most famous Hollywood stars.

SIDNER: That may have been Diana Hill. If I don't have that right, you guys can scream at me in my ear later.

Thank you so much, Elizabeth Wagmeister. Appreciate it.

All right, ahead, a child is dead from the measles outbreak in West Texas. More than a hundred children are infected with measles. One thing they all have in common; none were vaccinated.

And the fight to free the Menendez brothers may be in jeopardy as the Governor asks if they will be a danger to society.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:29:46]

BOLDUAN: New this morning, the Pentagon planning to kick out transgender service members who do not meet specific requirements under its new policy, recognizing only two sexes, male and female.

This is all coming from a new court filing in an ongoing lawsuit. Let's get over to CNN's Natasha Bertrand. She's got much more on this for us.

Natasha, what is the latest on this? What are you learning here?

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, the Pentagon laid out its policy regarding transgender service members in this court filing on Wednesday night and while it is pretty sweeping, it does have a few exceptions, including if there is, "a compelling government interest that directly supports war fighting capabilities," and if the individual is willing to adhere to all standards "associated with the applicant's sex."

[08:30:27]