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Trade Wars Erupt as Trump Tariffs Hit Canada Mexico, China; Russia Launches Nearly 100 Drones as Trump Pauses Military Aid; Triple-Threat Storm Hits Central and Southern U.S. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired March 04, 2025 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: We are standing by for the markets to open after startling upheaval overnight. America's three largest trading partners lashing back after President Trump issued new tariffs. Economies on edge as the president speaks to Congress tonight.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Critical military aid to Ukraine cut off unleashes a new round of attacks. What President Trump is now demanding from Ukraine's leader before even considering sending help his way again.

And a powerful cross-country storm delivering a weather triple threat. Blizzard conditions, fire weather, and even tornadoes expected to impact millions of people.

Sara is out today. I'm Kate Bolduan with John Berman. This is CNN News Central.

BERMAN: All right. Breaking this morning, we are watching the markets. They have dipped slightly negative after a huge plunge yesterday. Overnight, America's three largest trading partners, China, Canada and Mexico, all responding to new tariffs from President Trump, and the responses might be harsher than expected in a scathing editorial titled Trump takes the dumbest tariff plunge.

The Wall Street Journal writes, quote, investors are trying to read this uncertainty as they also watch growing evidence of slowing U.S. economy. Unbridled tariff man was always going to be a big economic risk in a second term. And here we are. This is a trade war.

Meanwhile, We have breaking news in a ground war, new signs this morning that Russia is taking advantage of President Trump, pausing all military aid to Ukraine, and all of this is happening as the president prepares to address Congress tonight.

So, let's get right to the White House, CNN's Alayna Treene is there. So much happening, Alayna, in just the last few hours. Give us the latest.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: That's right. Let's start with tariffs, John, because, look, this is something that the president had threatened to do. He was moving forward to do it more than a month ago, and now it is here.

It's something that still, you know, even in the final hours yesterday, as they were leading up to this new deadline of this election. This morning people on Wall Street, people on Capitol Hill were still hoping, and certainly, of course, Ottawa and Beijing and Mexico City were hoping that the president wouldn't move forward with, but now he has.

I'm just going to break down exactly what these tariffs are. One is that we know that he has implemented the 25 percent blanket tariffs on Canada and Mexico. Those took effect this morning. But then he also bumped up tariffs on China from 10 percent to 20 percent.

And immediately we've seen some of these countries retaliate with tariffs of their own. China, for example, retaliated by announcing 15 percent tariffs on chicken, wheat, corn and cotton imports from the United States. They also announced a 10 percent tariff on soybeans, pork, beef and other various goods.

Canada, for their part, we heard Prime Minister Justin Trudeau say that they are going to have $30 billion or tariffs on $30 billion worth of U.S. goods and that they would impose an additional $125 billion tariffs on American goods by March 25th. All to say, look, it's unclear how the markets are going to be impacted by this, but this is coming at a time when already you have a very inflation weary Americans, many of whom do not want to be thrust into this trade war. John?

BERMAN: And, again, and it comes as the president is preparing to speak to Congress tonight. Alayna, what are you learning about what he plans to say?

TREENE: Yes. Look, John, there's going to be -- I mean, one, we know that the White House is saying that the theme of this is where the renewal of the American dream, may also have laid out some key topics that he wants to get through.

One that I know is that when I talked to White House officials and Trump administration officials about this, they say it's going to be a speech that is very heavy on domestic policy. You can expect him to walk through some of the major gutting and slashing of the federal workforce, his push to try to reshape it in his image.

We know DOGE is going to be a topic of conversation. Elon Musk is going to be in the room for this address. But he also is going to talk about the economy. Again, we're talking about tariffs.

[07:05:00]

That will come up tonight. But also, you know, this idea as you have Senate and House Republicans still kind of trying to grapple with what this budget will look like, how to implement some of his economic priorities, including the renewal of the 2017 tax cuts, that's supposed to come up, of course, immigration and border security.

And then also, I think this is the big one that many people are looking for, is how will his rhetoric -- what will his rhetoric be and look like as it relates to foreign wars. We know that, of course, one of the biggest things right now is how is he going to be messaging on Ukraine, particularly after we saw the White House move to pause all aid on Ukraine yesterday. John?

BERMAN: That, of course, is a major development. That won't just be watched here in the United States, but all around the world.

Alayna Treene at the White House this morning, great to have you there, thank you very much. Kate?

BOLDUAN: And part of all of this as well, especially when it comes to the speech tonight, President Trump slamming on the brakes on military aid to Ukraine after that disastrous Oval Office clash. The move comes as Russia just launched nearly 100 drones on Ukraine. The drones destroying homes, energy infrastructure, damaging a children's hospital, and injuring at least four people overnight. Ukrainian military leaders are sounding off this morning saying what happens next now depends on European allies.

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh is in Kyiv for us tracking it all. Nick, what are you hearing this morning?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, there is no more seismic move, frankly, the Trump administration can make other than pausing this aid. How much? Well, Ukraine appears to rely on, depending on who you're listening to, anything between 40 percent to 20 percent of its military aid from the United States is trying to get down to 20 at least. But it's the kind of aid that is so utterly important.

We understand that intelligence sharing. That's utterly vital for Ukraine's forces to know what the Russians are planning against them. That does continue, it seems, at this stage. But utterly vital are the air defense Patriot missiles. Only the United States can provide them and Ukraine's prime minister was utterly clear that's a key part of what they need and Zelenskyy himself has said every morning, frankly, they wake up and count how many they have to stop Russia's ballistic missiles. That is utterly key.

Now, also important in this is the fact that there wasn't much clarity as to whether the Trump administration was going to increase its own funding militarily towards Ukraine. I think they argue a peace deal would make that unnecessary. So, this is essentially about freezing out or slowing down the remnants of Biden authorizations that were still trickling their way towards Ukraine.

But it sends a huge seismic blow to Ukrainian morale here because all the talk, the rhetoric, the theater of the past two weeks has left people here dizzy, frankly, but this is an actual immediate practical consequence.

Now, of course, there'll be a lack of clarity as to some of these issues when they become critical or not, but we did know that roundabout in the summer, Ukrainian officials were concerned about the shortage of ammunition. That may become more acute. Yes, drones do a lot of the fighting on the front line here. But be in no doubt, this is a hammer blow to Ukraine, and at least President Zelenskyy in a very complicated bind. Because it is clear that Trump officials want to see him apologize in some way, possibly publicly. It's clear they want him to sign up to a rare earth minerals deal, but within that, there's no promise of aid or security guarantees.

And it's also clear now that they -- to be committed to peace. But it's the kind of peace, frankly, that's the big question here. Ukraine and its European allies say that without security guarantees to protect Ukraine if Russia refits, replenishes and attacks again, that peace is rushed and meaningless and works in Moscow's favor.

So, Zelenskyy basically has to apologize, do everything the White House wants for no obvious immediate gain on his side, apart from the continued good graces of the U.S. president. It's an exceptionally hard choice. But this morning, Ukrainians again waking up to the unimaginable happening before their eyes.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. Nick, thank you so much for being there. We've got much more on this ahead for sure.

Also ahead, a triple threat that you never want to encounter, blizzards, tornadoes, wildfires that are going to impact millions of people from coast-to-coast. It's the first, also it's the first big weather test for federal weather forecasters at NOAA since the White House slashed hundreds of jobs from the agency.

And Elon Musk is using A.I. to help guide his massive cost cutting measures. The security threats that could pose.

And rapper Jay Z now fighting back against the woman who withdrew her sexual assault lawsuit against him.

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[07:10:00]

BERMAN: All right. Developing this morning, more than 55 million people are under severe weather threats, an unusually powerful storm system has the potential conditions, tornadoes and fires, all of it.

Let's go right to CNN's Derek Van Dam at the Weather Center to get the latest on this. Derek, what are you seeing?

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, John. We're going to have to revise that script and call it a quadruple threat. We can include dust storm on the threats with this mega system that is moving through the central parts of the U.S. This is what it looked like in El Paso yesterday as 170-milewide dust storm fueled by the winds associated with this large storm system rolled through. And guess what? The winds are headed towards a major metropolitan that is celebrating Mardi Gras this very day. We've got new Orleans in a high wind warning.

So, this is actually outside of the threat of severe weather that is going to precede this as the winds pick up ahead of the cold front. It could gust over 60 miles per hour. But this is important, because from Shreveport to Jackson and now inclusive of New Orleans, so this is the latest update from the Storm Prediction Center, the potential here for EF2 tornadoes exists today. This hatched area, that is EF2 tornadoes with winds in excess of 111 miles per hour.

So, here's the culprit, a very potent spring-like weather system with a cold front racing eastward. We've got it all, blizzard conditions on the north side, just south of Minneapolis, but also inclusive of Omaha. Don't focus on the snowfall totals. It's the winds associated with the system that will blow the snow around and then reduce visibilities at a moment's notice.

Then right now, we have a tornado watch that is ongoing through 10:00 A.M. Central Time. A line of strong to severe storms just pounded through Dallas, in fact, severe thunderstorm warnings just to the east of the metroplex. And this is what Dallas-Fort Worth currently looks like right now. Yes, this was lighting up with lightning and rain and wind with, in fact, Dallas-Fort Worth International reporting a gust of 74 miles per hour within the past hour.

So, this severe threat continues today with that line you saw on the radar. It could potentially impact New Orleans, the festivities there. A lot of the parade routes have been shortened. We've had cancelations of some of the festivities celebrating Mardi Gras, so something to consider with so many people outdoors today. Then that severe weather threat moves to the East Coast tomorrow, keeping us all on our toes. John?

BERMAN: It sounds like you are going to be a busy man. Derek Van Dam, thank you very much. Everyone pay attention to your local forecast too, because some of this could get hairy today. Thank you, Derek.

All right, the breaking news this morning, let's take a live look at the stock markets again. They have turned negative. You can see the red hours there. This after huge losses yesterday. It's all reaction to President Trump's new tariffs. And we still have not heard from Mexico, how they will respond. That comes shortly.

And was this the last home game for the biggest star in men's college basketball? Maybe ten teams in the NBA are tanking to get a shot at this guy. What is he now saying about his own future?

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[07:20:00]

BOLDUAN: Duke basketball star Cooper Flagg -- is that how you say his last name, guys, yes, we're going to go with it -- helped lead his team to a victory over Wake Forest in what could be his final home game. So, what now for the projected number one pick in the NBA draft, CNN's Coy Wire.

This is one of these areas where I'm going to know about him by the time we get to March Madness, but I have not been following the season. Help me. COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: I got you, girl. You will remember his name. Are you ready for March Madness? Cooper Flagg of Duke showing why he's the number one projected pick in the NBA draft. He just played in what could be his final home game with the Blue Devils. Dude just turned 18 a couple months ago. 6'9 out of Newport, Maine, has shooting range and he has this, Kate, soft toes. Look at him get up. 28 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 blocks, 2 steals, a 93-60 blowout win over Wake Forest. Duke was 17-0 at home this season. Cameron Crazies, they started chanting one more year when he checked out of the game. That's a wish that likely might not come true for Duke fans.

Now, do you hear that loud booming sound, Kate? It is the Thunder. OKC, best in the west, and they've got that man, Shai Gilgeous- Alexander, favorite to an MVP, best thing to come out of Canada since Jim Carrey, Celine Dion, Drake, Bieber, I don't know. He' pretty darn good. 51 points in a 137-128 win over Houston, his fourth 50 point game since January 22nd.

Rest of the league has just two combined since then. He does not care, though, about personal stats. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHAI GILGEOUS-ALEXANDER, OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER POINT GUARD: You play the game to win. Like you don't play the game to score a bunch of points. To be like regarded as one of the better players to ever play, you have to win. Because if you don't win, then it's all for nothing. That's just how I see it. And that's how I see it in golf. That's how I see it in football. That's how I see it in competition, period. And winning is the be all, end all for me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: All right. To the NHL, a goal you have to see. Rangers and Islanders at Madison Square Garden in NYC. The Ranger's Will Cuylie, way to use your head, kid, a shot from Zach Jones deflected off the stick of an Islanders player and bounced off Cuylie helmet straight into the net. The rest had to look at it and determined that he did not purposely redirect the puck with his head, so it counts. Cuylie will take it and the Rangers will take the game 4-0.

Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin is also close to breaking Wayne Gretzky's NHL all-time goal record, but he was denied a chance at getting closer last night. Ottawa Goalie Linus Ullmark, stretching out like spandex on a sperm whale for that one golden opportunity robbed. Ovi remains 11 goals shy of breaking the record after a 5-4 win over the Senators. He's got 21 games to do it, Kate. We can watch him chase history again tomorrow night on our sister channel, TNT, or streaming on MAX, Capitals at Rangers at 7:30 Eastern. The Maple Leafs at Vegas at 10:00. He's 39 years old. He's got tied for the fifth most goals this season, Kate, of all players, and this is despite missing 16 games with a broken leg. There is tough and then there is hockey tough.

BOLDUAND: I'm sorry. My brain turned off after you said, spandex at a sperm whale. What happened just now? [07:25:00]

WIRE: Good morning.

BOLDUAN: Good morning, everyone. I love you, Coy. Thank you so much.

WIRE: I love you too, girl.

BOLDUAN: Oh my goodness, he's so funny, he's so good.

Coming up for us, we have new reporting about how Democrats plan to respond to President Trump's big speech tonight and the rising star with an extensive national security background. The Democrats have chosen to offer that response.

And the ripple effect of massive cuts to USAID already having an impact in North Carolina. You got to see this.

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LEONARDO WILLIAMS, DURHAM MAYOR: It's happening right here in my city. When those jobs are gone, that means I have one less resident that can support the small business here locally. That's one less resident that can contribute to the tax base right here in Durham.

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