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Trump's Standing Before Address to Congress; Trump Pauses Military Aid to Ukraine; New Orleans Ramps up Security ahead of Festivities; Mexico's Lawsuit Before the Supreme Court; Adam Mulvey is Interviewed about Federal Firings. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired March 04, 2025 - 08:30   ET

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

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[08:34:25]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: We are standing by this morning to see how Wall Street reacts today after China and Canada retaliated overnight to President Trump's new tariffs and the trade war that is clearly now upon us. Tonight, the president is headed to Capitol Hill for his first major address to Congress of this second term. So, another question is, how are Americans feeling about President Trump as he heads to the Capitol? Harry Enten is here to help us set the scene.

So, set the scene, first of all, overall approval, and what -

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Yes, well -

BOLDUAN: How that helps us always have a good sense of how Americans are feeling.

ENTEN: Right. We'll set the baseline here.

[08:35:00]

We'll look at overall approval rating. And we're going to look at a president's - at this point in their presidency, right? And the word here that I would use to describe Trump is awful.

In fact, the only person who does worse than Trump does right now with a plus one net approval rating is himself back at 2017 when he was at minus eight. So, he's doing better than he was.

BOLDUAN: I was going to say, you could spin it another way, he's making gains.

ENTEN: He's making gains, but he's doing worse than everybody else. The average president at this point, get this, plus 27 points on their net approval rating. Donald Trump is doing historically awful. The only person he beats is again himself from term number one.

BOLDUAN: How about on the issue that, one, he says he was most elected to - to fix. And he said he would do it on day one, which would be the economy. ENTEN: On the economy. Well, he beat himself on overall. But on the

economy, he can't even beat himself. Again, this is historically the worst going back in polling at this point in a presidency. The net approval rating on the economy. He's right now at minus four points. In term number one, he was at plus eight points. Historically, the average is plus 15 points. He is doing nearly 20 points worse than the average president when it comes to the economy on net approval rating. He is historically doing awful, awful, awful, weak, weak, weak. And on the issue on which he was elected to, of course, fixed, he is doing historically awful. This is not good. If this number holds, you can guarantee his overall approval rating will go down and it could take his entire presidency with him.

BOLDUAN: And this also now can change very quickly because of tariffs. I mean, you have a lot of mixed reaction coming in from all - especially amongst Republicans on what these tariffs are really going to mean. I mean, can these tariffs help the president?

ENTEN: I don't think they're going to help the president, at least in the near term. And the reason why is, simply put, look at the opposition. Americans oppose tariffs on Canada. Look at this. You've got nearly two thirds of the country opposing it on Canada, 64 percent. How about on Mexico? Nearly three-fifths of the country at 59 percent. We're already dealing with a president who - what we're having is the economy bringing him down. These tariffs, in my mind, will only bring him down further. Again, historically awful on the economy at this point. And the tariffs, I think, will only lead to further deterioration, Kate Bolduan.

BOLDUAN: If prices go up, that is not the direction that Americans elected him to - to push them.

ENTEN: No. Americans don't like the idea of prices going up. That leads to approval ratings going down.

BOLDUAN: Harry Enten getting exercise on live TV.

It's good to see you, Harry, thank you so much.

ENTEN: Nice to see you.

BOLDUAN: John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: You know he's serious if he's using your last name.

All right, new this morning, a former Ukrainian defense official calls President Trump's order to halt all military aid to Ukraine, quote, probably one of the biggest shocks of the war.

Joining us now, CNN's senior military analyst, former NATO supreme allied commander, Admiral James Stavridis. We should note, Admiral Stavridis is a partner at the Carlyle Group, a global investment firm, and he serves on the board where it advisors for a handful of defense related companies.

Admiral, very nice to see you.

Our Nick Paton Walsh, on the ground in Ukraine, just heard from a Ukrainian official who tells him they could run out of artillery shells by May if the United States continues this pause in military aid. What would the impact of that be?

ADM. JAMES STAVRIDIS, CNN SENIOR MILITARY ANALYST: Oh, it would be devastating on the front lines. This really has turned into a world war level battle of artillery back and forth, tanks moving back and forth, trench warfare. John, if it were a novel, it would be all quiet on the western front. It is - the coin of the realm in this conflict at this moment are those artillery shells.

So, the Europeans have some capacity here, but they're going to have to really stoke their own fires. And by May, that's going to be a real problem on the battlefield.

BERMAN: The question is, cui bono, who benefits from this decision by President Trump to halt military aid?

STAVRIDIS: Gosh, let me think. It's got to be Vladimir Putin. And by the way, we underestimate this, but it's also Xi Jinping in China, who is looking covetously at that small democracy nearby called Taiwan. It benefits Iran, which is pumping military aid into Russia for the war in Ukraine. It benefits North Korea. Gosh, are those the countries we want to be aligned with? I say no.

BERMAN: Admiral, your life has been spent in the military, but in the senior echelons, of course, politics and diplomacy do factor in. Vladimir Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, is now faced with a choice. I mean, President Trump is demanding a public apology in order to get aid reinstated. What would you advise President Zelenskyy to do?

[08:39:56]

STAVRIDIS: I wouldn't apologize, but I would advise him, and I think this is what he's going to do, John, align himself closely with the Europeans, perhaps go back to Washington as part of a European group led by Emmanuel Macron of France and Keir Starmer of the United Kingdom, up the discussions of the mineral deal, Trump really wants that, and indicate that you want to work with Washington, but you also are going to work with the Europeans so that the Europeans provide more support for you. I think that's the package of the deal that could get done.

Look, in in finance and international business, we often say, no deal is ready until it's died at least twice. Let's give this one a couple more rounds.

Final thought here, by the way, John. The Europeans - we talked a moment ago about their challenges in getting artillery shells. But broadly speaking, Europe has immense capacity. Europe collectively is 450 million people. It's the second largest economy in the world. Twenty-two percent of the world's GDP. They have excellent defense firms there. BAE, Thales, Airbus, Saab. They don't just make cars, they make Gripen fighters. The Europeans, over time, over a year or two, can really put a lot of capacity on that battlefield. The key is going to be getting through the next few months if team Trump seriously cuts off the taps. I hope they don't.

BERMAN: Well, very briefly, let's talk more about Europe for the moment. And I have seen figures that the Europeans and NATO countries have increased their defense spending substantially over the last couple of years, which has been a goal of just - of the Biden administration and the Trump administration before that.

But - but, and I know you've done a lot of thinking about this, does Europe need to start thinking about a NATO without the United States, which, of course, would not make it NATO, but a system without the United States?

STAVRIDIS: I think it does. There's two ways that could manifest. The United States could effectively withdraw from NATO. That would be a geopolitical mistake of epic proportions, but it would leave you with what we could call ETO, European Treaty Organization, NATO without the U.S. It would still be by far the most powerful military collection on earth. It has nuclear power because of France and Germany. Nuclear weapons. So, that's one way it could go. Or the European Union - and, by the way, one of the strongest figures supporting Ukraine is the head of the European Union, Ursula von der Leyen, former defense minister of Germany. The Europeans, just yesterday, committed to over $900 billion of defense spending. I think the light is going on, not only in Brussels, but across the continent, that they need to be prepared to go it alone if the United States continues down this reckless and dangerous course of walking away from Ukraine.

BERMAN: Admiral Stavridis, nice to see you this morning. Thanks so much for being with us.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: So, Mardi Gras celebrations in New Orleans are coming up, and the city has ramped up its security ahead of all of the festivities. Mardi Gras this year is taking place just weeks after that deadly New Year's attack on Bourbon Street that killed 14 people. So, there will be local, state, federal law enforcement all on the ground this time to help ensure that the thousands of people expected to attend are kept safe.

CNN's Leigh Waldman is live in New Orleans ahead of all of this.

And, Leigh, what are you learning - one, fantastic. Two, what are you seeing and hearing?

LEIGH WALDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kate, you know, you have to dress up when you're out here for Mardi Gras. I feel like I almost look like a carnival poker player at this point, but that's OK.

Let's talk about the security mixed in with all the fun outfits that we've been seeing. Even when it was dark outside, at 3:45 this morning, up until right now, there's so many different law enforcement agencies patrolling through this French Quarter. We see National Guard, Louisiana State Police, in addition to the New Orleans Police Department all throughout here. They have these hardened barriers in place, Kate, to prevent vehicles from driving up and down Bourbon Street. And that's all in light of that terror attack, like you mentioned, that happened on January 1st, that took the lives of those 14 people. Now, what's so interesting is, we see the memorial to those victims alongside some of those hardened barriers.

In addition to all of that, we know that they are under a tier one rating from the Department of Homeland Security. This entire city is. And what that means is it allows the city to have extensive federal agency support. That means things like cyber assessment risk, canine detection teams, air security and tactical operations support. It is all hands on deck to make sure that this Mardi Gras goes off without a hitch and people here are safe, Kate.

[08:45:05]

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. And I was just reading up this morning, and the weather could also be having an impact on Mardi Gras festivities as well.

WALDMAN: We are already feeling that impact too. So, it was 6:30 this morning local time, that's when the first parade started rolling. It - the sun wasn't even up here yet and they're having to move all of those parades that were scheduled throughout the day today to this morning because of that threat of severe weather that could impact the city of New Orleans. We know we're still going to see those big, iconic floats that people know and love, but there's not going to be any marching bands, no other parade event festivities in addition to those floats.

We spoke with the New Orleans Police Department Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick yesterday. She has the say of whether or not Mardi Gras goes on without a hitch. And she said, if this weather takes a turn for the worse, she is canceling all events to make sure that people stay safe. That's why we got our visor secured on here. Kate, just let me know if you want this exact one from New Orleans, or if you want me to bring you a different one. I can also get you a matching vest, too.

BOLDUAN: I mean, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. I will take whatever you got because you make that visor look good, my friend. Looking good.

And I think it's going to be great for rain protection as well. That fringe is going to block it all out for you all day long.

WALDMAN: Yes.

BOLDUAN: Thank you, Leigh. Really appreciate it.

WALDMAN: It really is.

BOLDUAN: Looking good. Looking good.

I love it, John. I'm actually turned to look, and all of a sudden I'm like, Leigh, very serious. Oh, Leigh's got a great, great hat on. BERMAN: Oh, hey.

BOLDUAN: Exactly.

BERMAN: I saw you coveting that hat, too.

All right, quote, "I felt insulted and aggravated. The new message from a fired federal worker as he plans to come face to face with President Trump at the president's speech to Congress tonight.

And the hazards of a haboob. This is serious business. For anyone who has ever been in a dust storm like this, it really can be life or death. You will not believe the video we're about to show you, and what happened to the family that was caught in the middle.

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[08:51:30]

BOLDUAN: So, this morning, the Supreme Court is expected to hear arguments in a lawsuit that Mexico has brought against a gun manufacturer, Smith and Wesson. The Mexican government alleges that the company, along with six other major U.S. gun makers, they design and market guns specifically to drug cartels.

CNN's Joan Biskupic is here with us. She's got much more on it.

Joan, what is going on here with this one?

JOAN BISKUPIC, CNN CHIEF SUPREME COURT ANALYST: Sure. Good morning, Kate.

You know, this is such an intriguing case, and coming to us at such an interesting time because of the relationship between U.S. and Mexico is - you know, can be very fraught. And also a lot of questions about what's coming and going across the border. And this case it's about guns coming from the U.S. into Mexico.

And what Mexico has said is that these Smith and Wesson and other gun manufacturers are deliberately marketing their products to the cartels, and that these drug cartels are using them for violence and causing all sorts of deaths there. In fact, one of their lines is that it's causing the loss of life and, quote, "the killing and maiming of children, judges, journalists, police and ordinary citizens throughout Mexico."

Now, Mexico points out that it actually has very strict gun laws. So what - these weapons are coming only if - coming into the country illegally. And what it's tried to do is sue under an exception to a 2005 law that generally prohibits lawsuits against manufacturers, and saying that there's enough of a connection between the sale and marketing of these weapons and the violence in Mexico to allow the suit to go forward. A lower appeals court said, yes, the court - the case could even get through the door, that we're at a very preliminary stage, Kate, said it could get through the door. But here's what Smith and Wesson says in its appeal. It says, "this

court has repeatedly held that it requires a direct connection between a defendant's conduct and the plaintiffs injury. In its zeal to attack the firearms industry, Mexico seeks to raise bedrock principles of American law that safeguard the whole economy."

Now, I should tell you that the gun manufacturers start with a stronger hand here, just because even though this isn't a Second Amendment case, the justices have certainly enhanced gun rights in recent years. And also, two years ago, the justices, in a case that's not related but that could inform this case, ruled that the family of a victim of a terrorist attack in Turkey could not sue Twitter for content that was on the social media platform from ISIS trying to recruit terrorists. The justices said the connection just wasn't - wasn't there. And that's what this is all about, is there a sufficient connection to bring the case.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Yes, intriguing is exactly the right word for - for what's going to happen today.

Joan, thank you so much.

John.

BISKUPIC: Sure. Thank you.

BERMAN: All right, new this morning, crews rescued more than 40 construction workers who had been trapped for 36 hours by an avalanche in the Himalayas. They survived by taking shelter in metal containers they had been using instead of tents. They were obviously taking precautions against the weather. At least eight people did die. They'd been building a highway when the avalanche hit.

So, a terrifying road trip in New Mexico. A family drove right through a dust storm. These are called haboobs. Almost zero visibility. The winds were 45 miles per hour. The mother says they were suddenly surrounded by dust, and then they realized, quote, "we are going into something crazy."

[08:55:06]

They did manage to coast through. The storm did trigger an emergency alert for drivers to shelter in place amid dangerous, life-threatening travel conditions. You're looking at them right there.

All right, Mattel released new Barbies for International Women's Day. Barbies that celebrate friendship. They include famous friends like British actress Hannah Waddingham and Juno Temple, and U.S. gold medalist Jordan Chiles and Jade Carey. Two things I can get behind, Kate, Barbies and friendship.

BOLDUAN: Of course, John. They would make one of you and I as well.

BERMAN: I am canuff (ph). BOLDUAN: Yes, you are. Keep saying that.

OK, let's move to this.

Just hours from now in Washington, President Trump will give his first address to a joint session of Congress. His first address of - to a joint session of Congress of his second term. And while some Democratic lawmakers are planning to skip it, others are attending and now inviting to join them as guests now fired federal workers, people who are among the thousands cut in these mass DOGE firings, asking them to join them tonight, to sit in the chamber and to be guests at tonight's speech.

The next - my next guest is one of those federal workers who lost their job in February as part of the mass cuts and will be attending the president's address tonight.

Joining me now is Adam Mulvey, an Army veteran who, until last month, worked with the VA.

Adam, thank you very much for coming in.

You are attending tonight as a guest of Democratic Congressman Brad Schneider. And let's start with tonight. What do you want the president to know about your story, to know about the VA, as you are sitting there tonight and he is standing up there tonight?

ADAM MULVEY, TERMINATED FEDERAL EMPLOYEE: Well, good morning, Kate. Thank you for having me.

The first thing I'd like to say is, federal employees, not really federal employees. We're civil servants. We've joined the government, most of us after a life of service in the military, to serve our country and continue to helping our communities. So, I think it's more than just employment. It's a calling and it's a service.

Tonight, I'd like to hear what the overarching plan is. We hear a lot of talk about how much money is being saved and how much fraud or waste and abuse is being found. But there's not a lot of talk about what services we're willing to do without. You know, as a lifelong veteran and civil servant, I understand there's areas to cut and there's ways we can tighten up the budget. And we probably need to. But I don't think the way we're doing it is correct. We're going about it in a haphazard manner.

I liken it to what my grandfather used to say is that you can have something fast, you can have something cheap, or you can have it done right. And right now we're seeing a lot of things being done fast, and we're seeing a lot of money being saved, but at what cost, especially to the services that veterans have come to expect to receive in this country.

BOLDUAN: And let's talk about your personal story. You worked for the VA as an emergency management specialist at a hospital there in Illinois. How did you find out about being fired? MULVEY: I worked at the Captain James A. Level Federal Health Care

Center. It's the only federal health care center the country has. It sees veterans, active-duty military, recruits from Naval Station Great Lakes, it sees retirees, and it even sees family. My wife and children get seen there. So, it's a community that I've come to really love and appreciate.

We had talked about the firings. We'd been hearing about different things in the media. But none of us there expected it would touch the VA because our mission is so important, and the patients that come in our doors are so important and need the care that they're getting.

So, I received a call from my supervisor, who's also a disabled veteran, Gill (ph). He told me he heard there were rumors that employees were getting emails about terminations. I quickly got my work phone and looked down and there it was. I saw an email saying that I was terminated. And the part that was hard to swallow at first is that it said I was terminated for performance. Every employee from the VA and across federal government that has been terminated has received the same carbon copy email that says your firing is based on your poor performance. You know, nothing could be further from the truth.

I just received a performance evaluation where I received the highest ratings. In fact, yesterday, I received my final paycheck from the federal government and it included a cash bonus for performance, exceeding the standards for the year. So, to be terminated and fired from a layoff for financial reasons is one thing, but to be told it's based on my poor performance, I think that was very disingenuous.

BOLDUAN: This actually gets to something that even without knowing that I wanted to ask you because we've heard the White House defend the firings in various ways, including something that I want to play for you, because it was said in it's kind of stuck with me, from one of the president's top economic advisers, speaking with reporters and facing questions from reporters in the White - in the Briefing Room.

Let me play this.

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REPORTER: I'm being told by a lot of people who have been let go at other agencies that they were told they were being dismissed because of poor performance, when in some cases they haven't even had a performance review yet because they've only been on the job a couple of months.

[09:00:06]

KEVIN HASSETT, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL: Yes, I've never seen a person who was laid off for poor performance