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White House Says Special Envoy has Authority to Talk Directly to Hamas; Shouting Match Breaks Out at House Hearing on Sanctuary Cities; Farmers Brace for Economic Fallout Caused by Tariffs. Aired 3:30-4p ET
Aired March 05, 2025 - 15:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: The White House says its pick for special envoy for hostages has the authority to talk to anyone in negotiations, including Hamas. This is coming after Axios reported the U.S. was holding secret talks with the terrorist group to discuss the release of American hostages and the possibility of a broader deal to end its war with Israel. The move marks a major break from longstanding U.S. policy of not directly engaging with Hamas. Here with us now is Barak Ravid, the Axios reporter who broke the story. Barak, tell us what you learned and how these talks came together.
BARAK RAVID, CNN POLITICAL AND GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Good afternoon. This talk started several weeks ago when U.S. hostages envoy Adam Bowler went to Doha, the capital of Qatar, and met with several Hamas officials. There have been several meetings between Bowler and Hamas officials over the last two or three weeks.
The last one was earlier this week. He met with Khalil al-Hayya, who is the head of Hamas's negotiation team and is the, you know, in practice is the leader of Hamas's political wing. And in those meetings, they discussed first the Americans that are still held by Hamas.
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One of them is alive, Edan Alexander, but another four Americans who are dead and their bodies are being held by Hamas. But they also discussed something broad, how to use a possible release of those Americans as an opening for a broader deal and a long-term truce that will, in effect, end the war in Gaza.
KEILAR: So can you talk to us about the timing? You said it was a few weeks ago. Explain why this came about when it did.
RAVID: I think it came about because the Trump administration realized that the Israeli government at the moment is not willing to take the necessary steps to push this deal forward. On the other hand, President Trump is committed to bringing back Americans that are held in Gaza for more than 500 days. And one of them is alive.
And I think that more broadly, strategically, the idea was to see if you can get Hamas to do this mini deal with the U.S., whether you can get from there to a broader deal that ends the war. I think the jury is still out about that. The talks are still ongoing.
Steve Witkoff, the White House envoy, was supposed to go to Doha last night. He canceled last minute because Hamas refused to move. President Trump held several discussions about it today. And I think we might hear from Trump later today about this issue.
KEILAR: OK, that's really interesting. We'll be looking to see what Trump says about that. Talk to us a little bit about how Israel is reacting, because the Israeli prime minister's office said Wednesday in a quite restrained comment it had expressed to the United States its position regarding direct talks with Hamas.
We should note the White House says Israel was consulted on this. What are you hearing?
RAVID: Well, Brianna, when I read this comment by the prime minister's office, it sort of sounded like something my Polish mother would used to tell me. It was very passive aggressive. I don't think the Israelis were happy about this at all.
I think this puts a lot of pressure on Netanyahu, both domestically in Israel and also in his relationship with Donald Trump, because basically what Donald Trump is telling Netanyahu right now, if you're not moving with this hostage deal, I'm moving on my own. I'm getting my people out. And this is very bad news for Netanyahu.
KEILAR: He's saying he'll go around him basically. Right.
RAVID: I think it's you know, it's when you when you look at it -- when you take a step back, I think it has a lot of similarities to Donald Trump's message to Ukraine President Zelenskyy. Trump wants to end the war in Ukraine and he wants to end the war in Gaza. Those were two campaign promises.
He said it time and time again during the campaign. And now he's implementing his campaign promises. And the way to end the war in Gaza is to get the hostages out. And the way to get the hostages out is to end the war in Gaza. And I think President Trump understands it. And this is why he's doing what he's doing.
KEILAR: Yes, really great reporting, Barak, as always. Barak Ravid, thank you so much.
RAVID: Thank you.
KEILAR: Still ahead, a shouting match breaking out in the middle of a hearing on so-called sanctuary hearings on Capitol Hill. We'll have the latest.
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BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: We want to go back to the Sanctuary Cities hearing happening on Capitol Hill, because moments ago there was a very heated exchange between Massachusetts Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley and the Oversight Committee Chairman, Congressman James Comer.
KEILAR: CNN's Omar Jimenez is here with details on what happened. Tell us about this, Omar.
OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so look, obviously this is a hearing over so-called Sanctuary Cities. A lot of the tension that we've seen to this point has come between the four Democratic mayors that we have seen and some of the Republican members of Congress who, of course, make up this committee. But this moment in particular came between a Republican member of Congress, Chair Jim Comer, and Democratic member of Congress, Ayanna Pressley, as she tried to enter into the record an article noting the crime rates of immigrants versus those of citizens.
And this is what happened.
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REP. AYANNA PRESSLEY (D-MA): Mr. Chairman, I have several articles. I need to enter them. Let me just go ahead with the what the articles are.
REP. JAMES COMER (R-KY), CHAIR, OVERSITE AND GOVERNMENT REFORM COMMITTEE: What's the next article?
PRESSLEY: Let me proceed. Data from Texas shows that U.S.-born Americans commit more rape and murder than immigrants.
COMER: This trend of you all trying to get thrown out of committees so you can get on MSNBC is going to end.
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COMER: We're not going to put up with it.
PRESSLEY: This is my procedural right as a member of this committee to enter documents into the record. I am reclaiming my time.
(CROSSTALK)
COMER: That's what you want, no, no. Ms. Pressley, I've been very -- I have been very accommodating to you --
(CROSSTALK)
PRESSLEY: And I take particular umbrage as a survivor of sexual violence --
COMER: No, no.
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PRESSLEY: I will enter into the record. This is my right. Thank you.
COMER: No, no.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JIMENEZ: So I will say overall, the hearing has never gotten to that level. But obviously, one of the more intense interactions we've seen over the course of this. I should mention, too, yes, this is hearing -- a hearing about so-called sanctuary cities. There's not really a single definition of it, but it's essentially jurisdictions that don't always cooperate with federal immigration actions, depending on the situation.
And in large part, what we've heard from these mayors is while there are some instances of migrants committing crimes, some of them violent, some of them after having being held in local police custody, these mayors have argued that overall they're safer -- their cities have been safer as a result of these policies of their current policies, citing drops in murder over the past few years, which, of course, corresponds with their respective influxes of migrants as well. Those are some of the numbers that we've heard cited by these mayors.
But again, they also made a point to emphasize that while they don't necessarily comply with every ICE detainer request, for example, they do comply with ICE warrants, and they have been very clear about citing the differences between those two situations.
SANCHEZ: An explosive hearing. Omar Jimenez, thanks so much for watching it for us.
Still to come, trade wars are causing serious anxiety for America's farmers. How much will tariffs hurt the men and women who help feed our country? That's story next.
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SANCHEZ: President Trump last night asked American farmers to quote, bear with me again, as new tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China and retaliatory actions from those countries are set to impact their industries. We're talking about the top three agricultural export markets for the United States, which means tens of billions of dollars each year in shipments.
Joining us now is farmer and vice president of the North Dakota Farmers Union, Bob Kuylen. Sir, thank you so much for being with us.
What do you make of that request from President Trump? He's saying there is going to be some disruption, there is going to be some pain, but he hopes it's for the greater good.
BOB KUYLEN, VICE PRESIDENT, NORTH DAKOTA FARMERS UNION: Oh, I wish he would have looked at what financial shape the Midwest is in, the farming communities are in. Like 55 percent of farm closures are up 55 percent. That's not a sign of a thriving economy that didn't take a huge hit like this. He's picking on some of our best allies when it comes to agriculture. Mexico is number one in corn and wheat imports. That's what we have the most of in this country is corn and wheat. And now we're probably going to lose a great customer again. We just can't keep taking these hits.
People don't understand that if we lose $3 a bushel on these trade things, that we can add $3 on to what we want for our wheat. We have to sell on an open market. We have no choice on what we sell our crops for.
So when he tweets, when the president tweeted yesterday, we need to make more farm products and get them out there because we're going to make all kinds of money. It doesn't make any sense because we raise food and we don't have a choice in what we get paid for the food we raise. That's taken care of by corporations.
SANCHEZ: I do wonder how you experienced the first Trump term. He did allocate some $28 billion to farmers affected by the trade war. How are you expecting any potential relief to come around this time?
KUYLEN: You know, we lost about $3.5, $4 a bushel on our wheat and we got 14 cents back from the government. It cost the government trillions of dollars. Soybeans made out pretty good. I think they were $1.30 or $1.40 something. Corn, I think, got four or seven cents. So what you're thinking those big payments were did not come to your average farmer out here trying to make a living.
SANCHEZ: So essentially that money didn't offset the losses. Is that correct?
KUYLEN: Not even close.
SANCHEZ: I did speak with a beef and hog farmer from Pennsylvania last night after Trump's speech. I wanted to play for you a soundbite of what he shared with me was his view regarding tariffs on agricultural products.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are the breadbasket of the world. They want our products. OK, so they're going to they're going to hold us hostage on our agricultural products, but they're going to come back and they're going to buy it.
SANCHEZ: So you're not worried about tariffs?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think I think we're going to take a dip in our products, but it's going to come back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ (on camera): Do you think that those customers, as you described them from Mexico and Canada and other countries, would be able to find the same quality product at the same price elsewhere? Would these tariffs essentially take your product off the market? KUYLEN: I believe that if someone comes to buy something from me and you slap them in the face, they're probably not going to come back to buy from you again. You know, that's not how business -- that's not how good business works. We work with each other and this is not working with people.
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This is just forcing us to end to something that we don't want. It's -- Canada bringing in fentanyl, what does that have to do with me making a living on my farm?
That's a promise he made to clean up the drugs. Why do farmers and everyone else in this country have to pay the price for that?
SANCHEZ: Bob Kuylen, we'll leave the conversation there. Thank you so much for sharing your perspective.
KUYLEN: Thank you.
SANCHEZ: Stay with CNN NEWS CENTRAL. We're back in just a few minutes.
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SANCHEZ: Scientists working to bring back the woolly mammoth and other extinct animals. Brilliant idea. Just created something new, the woolly mouse. The genetically modified rodent has curly whiskers and wavy light hair that grows three times longer than an ordinary lab mouse.
KEILAR: It's allowing the team at Colossal Biosciences to test -- you can't be laughing already -- they're testing theories about how the mammoth was able to adapt to life in cold climates. Skeptics say these animals are just hybrids, they're not the real thing, whatever that means. And they may look somewhat cute when they're this tiny, but they'd be pretty terrifying if they were the size of an elephant.
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SANCHEZ: I feel like we could use that ability to grow their hair really long for myself. I'd like to have like long blonde hair like that.
KEILAR: Oh my God, I would die. I would love it if you had hair like that.
SANCHEZ: However, with all the things going on in the world right now, do we really need woolly mammoths back?
KEILAR: Yes.
SANCHEZ: And these other extinct creatures.
KEILAR: Is that a controversial position? Yes, we do need them back. They were fantastic.
SANCHEZ: I feel like we've got so many other problems. Hey, thank you so much for joining us this afternoon. Brianna, always a pleasure.
"THE ARENA with Kasie Hunt starts right now.
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