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Trump Could Back Off Some Tariffs; Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D- NY) is Interviewed about Tariffs; Supreme Court Rejects to Freeze Foreign Aid; Stacey Abrams is Interviewed about Trump's Attack. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired March 05, 2025 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Annual rate.

But that doesn't mean American shoppers are feeling relief yet.

JENNY KLINE, PENNSYLVANIA INDEPENDENT: I think it's going to take some time for that to happen.

FREEMAN (voice over): But Jenny Kline, an independent who voted for Trump, says she has complete faith in the president.

KLINE: It didn't get this way in six months, you know. It will take a while for the prices to come down. And I'm willing to give him the time because I feel he'll be able to do it.

BRIAN MCGRATH, PENNSYLVANIA DEMOCRAT: A lot of these areas around western Pennsylvania, I'm sure, and West Virginia, are kind of like depressed. We haven't seen a lot of growth here. We hope that maybe by having the Republicans in, there might be some potential growth.

FREEMAN (voice over): Brian McGrath is a registered Democrat who voted for Trump. While he feels some parts of the new administration have gone overboard this past month, he's still willing to give President Trump time to bring prices down.

MCGRATH: We'll have to wait and see. All I can say is, two years from now we'll have another, what is that, midterm election. And if people aren't happy, then they're going to go the opposite way.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And the decaf one.

FREEMAN (voice over): At nearby Ispirari (ph) Coffee, prices are front of mind.

JOLENE MCILWAIN, PENNSYLVANIA DEMOCRAT: And here in the coffee shop, you hear people talking about, are we going to be able to afford to get a car loan? Are we going to be able to afford to buy eggs?

FREEMAN (voice over): Democrat Jolene Mcilwain didn't vote for Trump but understands the desire here for something different. MCILWAIN: I think people are going to hold out hope, but also be

highly critical of - no matter which party because we've seen under both kinds of administrations, we've seen difficulty.

SPRANKLE: There's a lot riding on the next four years.

FREEMAN: Yes.

SPRANKLE: Because, let's face it, people made a choice in 2016. People made another choice in 2020. And now the next four years, I think, will really go a long way to determine, was everybody's decision that they made the right decision?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news, backing off on tariffs or issuing exemptions, just some of the possibilities the commerce secretary is again floating as world markets react to President Trump's tariff tactics.

Also breaking this morning, the director of the CIA confirming the U.S. has stopped sharing critical intelligence support and weapons shipments with Ukraine after the Oval Office clash seen around the world.

And Target targeted for boycotts. For 40 days and 40 nights, that coincides with Lent, a Target boycott begins today over Target's dumping of diversity, equity and inclusion policies.

I'm Sara Sidner, with Kate Bolduan and John Berman. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, breaking this morning, is the president already retreating from the tariffs he imposed just one day ago - 25 percent tariffs on Mexico and Canada - that sent the markets reeling. Well, moments ago, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told "Bloomberg," quote, "there will be some categories that will be left out. It could well be auto." So, is that a retreat? Unclear. It's actually less, perhaps, than the markets were hoping for.

Yesterday, Lutnick said that the U.S. would meet Canada and Mexico in the middle. This is a little bit less than the middle. And you can see, the Dow and the S&P, which had been positive all morning long because they really did think the president was retreating from the tariffs, they're now turning negative. Now there seems to be much more uncertainty.

And, of course, this all comes after the president acknowledged in his big speech to Congress that there would be some pain, perhaps, from tariffs for a short period of time. A little disturbance, he said.

Let's get right to CNN's Alayna Treene at the White House.

Again, the markets turning downward.

Here to clear this up, if we can, what does Howard Lutnick mean? What does the president think?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, first of all, John, just those numbers that you were showing of the Dow and the stock market, I mean, those are numbers that, of course, the White House and the president himself, I'm told, were monitoring very closely yesterday before that speech to Congress. We know that the president has long been fixated on the stock market. And seeing it fall some 1,300 points in two days around that tariff announcement definitely played a role here.

But look, I do want to get to what the commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, said on "Bloomberg" this morning. He essentially told them that there could be some sort of tariff announcement today from the president that would not remove the 25 percent blanket tariffs on Canada and Mexico, but could include some new exemptions, including autos.

I just want to quickly read for you exactly what he said. He said, quote, "the president gets to make the decision. There will be some categories that will be left out. It could well be autos." He went on to say, "I think he's going to figure it out. You do more and I'll meet you in the middle some way."

Now, what is clear is that the president does view tariffs as a negotiation. And this is kind of playing into that, if this is actually what we see happen later today.

[09:05:02]

Also, I just want to mention that I did speak with National Security Advisor Michael Waltz this morning. I asked him about this because we know that they're calling this a drug war, not a tariff war, wanting, you know, to see Canada and Mexico do more to stem the flow of fentanyl coming into the United States. Waltz told me on the tariff issue that, look, he won't say anything about details regarding timing and what not, but that they are very encouraged by the way that Mexico and Canada are responding on this.

BERMAN: And as we know, the market's turning here. It does seem at times the White House is negotiating with the stock markets more than they're negotiating with Mexico and Canada over this.

TREENE: Right.

BERMAN: We'll see where this heads.

Meanwhile, Alayna, I do understand you also have some news based on what administration officials are now saying publicly about Ukraine, an aid to Ukraine.

TREENE: Yes, look, there's been some, you know, I wouldn't say mixed messaging, but it does seem like there is more of a positive outlook on relations with Ukraine as we head in to today, particularly after the president noted last night in his speech that he received a letter from Zelenskyy saying that essentially he was ready to move forward with that minerals deal that they view as so critical. But look, I do want you to take a listen to what Mike Waltz said on

this, because we did learn that there has been a pause in intelligence as well as weapons to Ukraine from the United States. However, we also heard the CIA director, John Ratcliffe, say that that could be lifted soon.

But listen to what Waltz said on Fox News this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL WALTZ, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: We have taken a step back and are pausing and reviewing all aspects of this relationship. But I just got off the phone before I walked out here with my counterpart, the Ukrainian national security advisor. We are having good talks on location for - for the next round of negotiations on delegations, on substance.

I think we're going to see movement in very short order.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: He said he thinks there will be movement in very short order. And apologies, that was actually him talking to me and other reporters this morning.

But look, this does follow some reporting that my colleague, Zach Cohen, and I sent out yesterday just before the speech, which is that, in the days after that Oval Office dustup between the president and Zelenskyy, I we know that Trump administration officials, top officials, people like Keith Kellogg have been in contact with Zelenskyy and other Ukrainian officials saying, you need to get talks back on track. And they said that really stressed that those talks needed to get back on track before the speech last night.

Now, we know that the minerals deal has not yet been signed, but in my conversations with White House officials, they say they do believe it will happen shortly.

Again, all pointing toward kind of a more positive outlook on the relationship between the United States and Ukraine. Specifically the one between Trump and Zelenskyy as well as we head into this Wednesday.

John.

BERMAN: Alayna Treene, a busy morning for you, chasing a lot of threads, big threads, more like ropes at the White House this morning. Thank you for your work. Keep us posted.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, joining me now is Representative Adriano Espaillat, a New York Democrat and chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

Thank you so much for being here. Let me just quickly get to what was breaking news this morning, that

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick seems to be saying that some tariffs will be rolled back now, telling "Bloomberg" there will be some categories that will be left out. It could well be autos.

Your response to what is a tariff decision whiplash, so to speak.

REP. ADRIANO ESPAILLAT (D-NY): Well, they're stepping back. Obviously, they are - they're responding to the markets. So, this is a very fluid proposal put forward by the White House. It doesn't really have strong legs behind it. We see how they're backing up on cars. Tomorrow will be a different product. And so, the main issue is, Sara, is what are they going to do to ensure that inflation is cured (ph)? And the president, last night, did not present any serious proposals to address that problem. We continue to have a 96 percent increase since he got into office on eggs alone and other emergency items are extremely high at the supermarket. So, why did he present beyond the tariffs that will cure inflation across America? That's the big question this morning.

SIDNER: To be fair, the egg issue in particular has to do with bird flu. But there are other items in the grocery stores that have not gone down whatsoever. We just heard from people in Pennsylvania complaining about that. So, I guess the question is, what can Democrats do as they watch this administration making lots of changes, rapid fire, big changes, what can you do besides protest?

ESPAILLAT: Well, certainly we cannot accept these major cuts in Medicaid and Medicare. My district has over 500,000 people on Medicaid and over 100,000 people in Medicare, out of 780,000 constituents. They - they - they have these public insurances because the cost of health care continues to be extremely high.

[09:10:06]

So, Medicaid, Medicare, food stamps, these are important, important programs for the constituencies that I serve and many across the country. And we should fight at every juncture a budget crossroad (ph). We should tell the American people what they're proposing to do, which is to cut these vital programs and give a big tax cut to the very rich.

SIDNER: I want to get your response too on something that happened this morning. We - we learned that Trump's deputies withheld intelligence from Ukraine as punishment for the Oval Office argument heard around the world. It seems they're changing tact after Zelenskyy sent a letter to Trump. What are your thoughts on the - on the information that there was intelligence withheld?

ESPAILLAT: Well, when you hold intelligence, you keep - you put people's lives in danger. They're still continue to be an ally. Europe is a - a major ally of America, although we did vote with North Korea at the U.N. We must continue to strengthen our - our relationships with our traditional allies. And holding back intelligence that is life-saving intelligence could put people's lives in danger. I think this is so wrong to back up on Ukraine and to leave - leave them out in the cold, at the same time you're doing the same thing to Europe.

SIDNER: Congressman, I want to ask you, since you're a New York guy, about the mayor, whose corruption case was dropped for political reasons so that he could go forward with Donald Trump's agenda on immigration. He has said he is going to work closely with the immigration czar.

What do you think about that? Should Democrats join Eric Adams?

ESPAILLAT: Absolutely not. We should work together to ensure that dreamers that have been here on an average over 20 years, have pay their taxes, haven't committed any crimes, are regularized that - that farm workers, many of which are now going to the farms, and therefore we're going to see increases at the cash register, are protected, and the families are kept united. I think there should be guardrails in New York City and in other cities so that we won't go overboard and become really a police state.

SIDNER: Congressman Espaillat, thank you so much. I really appreciate you coming on early this morning. Thanks for the conversation.

ESPAILLAT: Thank you. Thank you for having me, Sara.

SIDNER: Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: We do have some breaking news just coming in from the Supreme Court.

I want to get straight over to CNN's Katelyn Polantz, who's pulling together the details from us.

And this has to do with President Trump's moves to - moves to freeze foreign aid.

Katelyn, what's happened?

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kate, what had happened in the Trump administration is they turned off money going to nonprofits and contractors on foreign aid. People that were working with the organization USAID, the agency that the Trump administration was trying to shut down. And what the Supreme Court - what Trump wanted to do is he wanted a green light from the Supreme Court o keep that money shut off. It's being litigated at the trial level courts. Courts far below the Supreme Court.

And what the Supreme Court just said is, we're not going to do that. We need the lower court to figure this out. There was a judge there who had set a deadline for the administration to pay up $2 billion by midnight of a day last week, was giving them less than 24 hours to do it. And the administration said, we can't just turn money back on like that. That's why we need the Supreme Court's help here to let us do what we want with our bills and just not pay them, freeze all the money that was outgoing. And now it's going to go back down to the lower court.

But, Kate, when you step back and look at what's happening in this order right here, it's 5 to 4 and the four dissenters of what is being done right now for Donald Trump, those people are all the - the conservative justices. And what they are saying is, we can't believe that this Supreme Court is going to override what the executive wants to do here and just give this lower court trial judge, Judge Ali in Washington, D.C., on the district court, the power to figure this out right now.

So, a big struggle between the court system and Trump, as president, ongoing that we're going to keep seeing happen in the courts.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: I was going to say, my take is, is like this is not the last time this conflict and struggle is going to be playing out and making its way back to the Supreme Court. This is - this is the beginning of a very long road here, but important decision coming from the justices nonetheless.

Katelyn, thank you so much for jumping on so quick for us.

John.

BERMAN: All right, steroids, vitamin a, cod liver oil, but not necessarily vaccines. The new alternative methods Health Secretary RFK Jr. is pushing to fight the measles outbreak. These methods that have some health experts worrying.

And more than 10 million people under tornado watch this morning as a triple threat storm brings dust, fires, now, blizzards across the country.

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[09:19:07]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, the breaking news. Just moments ago, in a 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court ruled against the White House, against the Trump administration, and said they did have to release foreign aid that had been frozen.

Now, the Supreme Court did not say when that aid needed to be released but ruled against - ruled against the Trump administration's request to keep it frozen. It now goes down to the lower courts.

The legal questions that this raises, and this is why it's so important with the Supreme Court weighing in, this is congressionally approved and mandated funding. Congress voted on it to go out. The White House said, no, no, no, no, we are not spending it. Ultimately, it will be up to the Supreme Court to determine who gets to decide whether that money gets spent or not, or where.

For the time being, at least, the Supreme Court rules against the White House.

[09:20:02]

We will see where it goes from here.

Other news.

Obviously, the president spoke to Congress last night. He highlighted what he called wasteful government spending. At one point he suggested, without evidence, that Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams is benefiting from it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: $1.9 billion to recently created decarbonization of homes committee.

Headed up, and we know she's involved, just at the last moment, the money was passed over.

By a woman named Stacey Abrams. Have you ever heard of her?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: All right, with us is the two-time nominee for governor of Georgia, Stacey Abrams.

Thank you so much for being with us.

He called you out by name. What's your response?

STACEY ABRAMS (D), FORMER GEORGIA HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: That he is trying to distract Americans from his failure to deliver on any of his promises. And instead of doing his work, he's going after those of us who are actually doing the work of the American people.

I am very proud of the work that I've done to protect voting rights, to lower the cost of energy for real people in the state of Georgia. And working with organizations that want to do it around the country. Because Donald Trump is failing in his promises and focusing on petty retribution instead of fulfilling his promises to the American people.

BERMAN: What is your connection to this organization that did get funding, did get federal funding?

ABRAMS: I led a project in southwest Georgia that has lowered the cost of energy for struggling families, and I'm extraordinarily proud of that work. And because of that work, because of the work of five major organizations around this country who have done more than 250 years of service combined, the Biden administration authorized a grant. I did not work for the entity that received the grant, ultimately. I worked for one of the partner organizations. But I was very much a part of pushing and showing America that we have the ability to lower prices. That the money is there, the will is there, the capacity is there.

But what is not there is Donald Trump and his lackeys willingness to actually let American people get the benefit of these services.

BERMAN: What would happen if the money was removed from these services? If he withdrew the funding for this program? ABRAMS: Then millions of Americans will lose access to lower prices.

There is a young woman in southwest Georgia whose husband died, unfortunately, because the hospital that could have saved his life had been closed due to the governor's failure to expand Medicaid. But that's a story for a different day. She saw her bill cut in half. And when you're raising children in a time when prices are on the rise, having a lower electric bill is an amazing, amazing thing. Her bill was cut in half. And what Donald Trump, what Elon Musk, what his lackeys and flunkies in Congress are saying is that they would rather have retribution than actually support the people of America.

We have proof that it works. We know that it can actually help people. And they are saying, we won't let you be helped because we don't like who's offering the help.

And the fact that he's using me as one of his examples simply shows that the work we're doing is effective.

BERMAN: While I have you, obviously there were protests during the president's speech last night. Al Green was shouting. He was escorted from the chamber. There were other Democrats holding up signs.

What do you think the most effective or more effective way is to push back on President Trump's policies? Is it what we saw last night in the speech or, and I'll play a bit of sound from it, this was Senator Elissa Slotkin from Michigan after the speech.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. ELISA SLOTKIN (D-MI): President Trump is trying to deliver an unprecedented giveaway to his billionaire friends. He's on the hunt to find trillions of dollars to pass along to the wealthiest in America. And to do that, he's going to make you pay in every part of your life.

His tariffs on allies like Canada will raise prices on energy, lumber and cars and start a trade war that will hurt manufacturing and farmers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: So, what do you think is the more effective message, the during the speech or after?

ABRAMS: I have a podcast called "Assembly Required." And we have been having this conversation for the last six weeks. And we have to do all of the above. We have to call out Donald Trump on his lies. We have to point out that an unelected oligarch is doing his best to steal America from its people in Elon Musk. We have a complicit Congress that is allowing him to fire thousands of people who should be delivering services to Americans. And he is now starting trade wars to cover for the fact that he has failed to deliver on his day one promises.

Donald Trump is an early failure, and he's hoping that by attacking folks like me and others that we won't notice that he has failed and that he has no intention of delivering anything other than retribution.

[09:25:04]

He is a petty tyrant who is surrounded by complicit flunkies, and it is the job of Americans to stand up and say, we want what we voted for, and that is progress for America, not petty revenge for Donald Trump.

BERMAN: But in the subject of pettiness, even what Democrats were doing during the speech with the signs and what Al Green did, you don't find that petty?

ABRAMS: I do not because in an opposition position, your job is to show people what is true. And we have a president who's doing his best to clamp down on the media, to shut down on protest. He does not want us to use our First Amendment rights.

Let's not forget who is in power. They control both branches of government and they have appointed the majority of the Supreme Court. If Republicans can't deliver when they hold all of the power, then what they're telling us is that they're powerless and it is up to Americans to take our power back, to take our country back, and to create the future that we deserve.

BERMAN: Stacey Abrams, thanks so much for being with us.

Sara.

SIDNER: Ahead, we are moments away from the opening bell as the White House says tariff compromise may be on the table now. Will Wall Street replace fear with optimism? We will see.

Newly unsealed court documents reveal attorneys for Bryan Kohberger, the man accused of fatally stabbing four University of Idaho students, are citing his autism diagnosis in a bid to avoid the death penalty.

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