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Soon, First Monthly Jobs Report of Trump's Second Term Released; Trump Says, Job Cuts Should Be Made With Scalpel Not Hatchet; Russia Launches Deadly Strikes on Ukraine's Energy Facilities. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired March 07, 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: All right, standing by for a huge jobs report, a health check on the economy in a week where investors have been telling the president they're feeling a little queasy from the big money flip flops, what Axios just called the rug pull presidency.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Is the honeymoon over? Trump puts new limits on Elon Musk after weeks of sweeping government layoffs. Trump telling his cabinet in a meeting they are in charge of cutting the federal workforce, not his billionaire advisor wielding the chainsaw.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: A former Canadian Olympic snowboarder, now on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list, accused of running a transnational drug ring and ordering several murders.

I'm Kate Bolduan with John Berman and Sara Sidner. This is CNN News Central.

BERMAN: All right. Happening now, grab onto something that is tied down, fasten your seatbelts, gird your loins, do all of those things to prepare for what could be a wild day for the economy, coming at the end of what has been a dizzying and for investors, pretty depressing week. We're standing by for the release of the February jobs report that will give a window, albeit a partial one, into the state of the economy.

A private survey yesterday found some of the largest job cuts in years. The report this morning will not capture the mass federal layoffs driven by Elon Musk when he was still using a chainsaw, not a scalpel. More on that in just a moment. Any worker who's accepted a buyout is technically still a government employee. And the report today also really only covers until the middle of last month, but investors and economists are looking for signs of what seems to be shakier economic ground. And they've been sending clear signals they do not like the wild swings, the quick attacks, and even quicker retreats from President Trump and his self-imposed trade wars.

Let's get right to CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich for this report. It's a coming.

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: It's a coming, and this is going to be the first full jobs report that we're seeing under the Trump administration. So, they are going to be watching this closely.

Here's the expectation. Economists are predicting 160,000 jobs added, unemployment rate. We're really remaining quite historically low at about 4 percent. And 160,000 jobs added is actually more than what we saw in January, and that's a good number. It's obviously coming off the highs that we saw towards the end of last year and the pandemic highs that we have seen.

But it's worth noting that if we do -- there you go, you have those numbers over the last couple months, but it's worth noting that we have had 49 months of consecutive job growth. That is the second longest streak on record.

And as you mentioned, John, this is really coming on the background of all of this economic uncertainty, particularly for businesses. They want to be able to plan. Are they hiring? Are they firing? We've got that report from Challenger Gray yesterday that showed that businesses are planning to cut 172,000 jobs. That's more than 100 percent increase from the month before.

We should point out most of those job cuts are coming in government under DOGE, because of DOGE. But as you mentioned that will not be picked up in this report that we're going to be seeing in about the next hour. But what we have seen in the markets this week has just been those wild swings. We know that the markets react to news, especially economic news.

I think we have a screen that can just show you what, yes, look at that, up down up down. I think Futures right now, at last check, were up but they are going to be watching this very closely. This is sort of the end to what has been a week of really, really dynamic economic news and trade policy, which I think we're still trying to figure out what that ultimately means for the economy and for businesses who are trying to plan for their future.

BERMAN: Yes, I mean, the president seems to be trying to figure out exactly what that trade policy is, and investors don't really like the fact that he still seems to be thinking about it.

Vanessa Yurkevich, this will be interesting over the next several minutes. Thanks so much for explaining it. Sara?

SIDNER: It has been a wild ride.

All right. This morning, Trump changing it up again after Republicans face angry town halls and first buddy Elon Musk's falling approval ratings. Musk first proposed a wood chipper to bureaucracy, then came the chainsaw, now Trump says a scalpel should be used, not a hatchet. Wood chipper to scalpel, a huge jump.

So, who will be the lead surgeon making these job cuts?

[07:05:00]

What will this mean to the thousands of federal workers in limbo right now wondering if they have jobs?

Kevin Liptak is at the White House. Kevin, a lot of questions. Do you have any answers for us this morning?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, that's what Trump is trying to do here. He's trying to clarify exactly who has the power in the federal government to cut the government down to size, who has the power of firing and hiring? And what he's saying here is, yes, he still supports Elon Musk, but it will be the cabinet officials, the Senate-confirmed heads of these agencies and departments who will have the ultimate say.

What he's essentially trying to do here is reel in Elon Musk to temper some of how he has gone about what has so far been this indiscriminate attempt to cut the federal government down to size. That had been causing so much concern among Republicans who had been facing heat from their own constituents, but also from these cabinet members who, by and large, do support the overall mission, but had some real questions about how Musk was going about it. And certainly they had begun voicing some of those concerns to some senior officials here in the White House.

That all culminated yesterday in this 90-minute meeting in the cabinet room. That's the same room where Musk kind of held court with cameras rolling one week ago. This time there were no cameras, but it was President Trump who said with Musk sitting there nearby that it would be these cabinet officials who had the ultimate decision-making power on the staffing within their own government and that he wanted it to be less of a haphazard approach going forward. He said on social media, they can be very precise as who will remain and who will go. We say the scalpel rather than the hatchet.

Now, how this works in practice, I think, remains to be seen. And we heard President Trump in the Oval Office shortly after this saying that Musk would still be making recommendations. Listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Keep all the people you want, everybody that you need. People that aren't doing a good job, that are unreliable, don't show up to work, et cetera, those people can be cut.

We're going to be watching them and Elon and the group are going to be watching them, and if they can cut, it's better. And if they don't cut, then Elon will do the cutting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIPTAK: So, you hear Trump there essentially putting these cabinet members on notice that, yes, they have the final decision-making power, but Musk will still be looking over their shoulder to ensure this is all going according to plan. So, you can easily see how that could turn into a power struggle down the line.

The president did make clear that this would be an ongoing conversation. He said he would convene his cabinet members and Musk for these types of meetings every two weeks.

SIDNER: Kevin Liptak, thank you so much for all your reporting this morning. I appreciate you. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Still ahead for us, and breaking overnight, no one is answering. I am freaking out. Newly released text messages and 911 calls in the case of the man accused of murdering the four Idaho college students. There's new news coming in there.

And at least two people are dead now after Russia launches a fresh barrage of attacks overnight targeting Ukraine's energy infrastructure.

And Dolly Parton remembering and honoring her late husband, Carl Dean, in the way only Dolly can, quite frankly, releasing a new song out this morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:10:00]

BOLDUAN: Breaking overnight, Russia unleashing a new deadly wave of attacks across Ukraine. At least two people were killed in the missile and drone strikes were targeting critical energy facilities.

So, these attacks, they also come at an important time, a critical time, just after Ukrainian President Zelenskyy was meeting with European leaders in Brussels. Zelenskyy plans then now to go to Saudi Arabia next week ahead of talks with the U.S. It's about bringing an end to the war, of course. And Zelenskyy is expected to present an initial ceasefire plan ahead of talks with Washington.

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh is in Kyiv, he's got much more on all of this. And there is a lot going on. You have these attacks overnight, and then these huge talks coming up next week. What are you hearing about the talks?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I mean, the talks are supposed to be bilateral, and they are supposed to be senior Trump administration cabinet officials, Marco Rubio, secretary of state, and I think National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, talking to the Ukrainian delegation led by President Zelenskyy's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak.

Now, Zelenskyy will be in Riyadh the day before. That is a visit that was delayed when he canceled the previous one, which was due to be around about the time of the last U.S.-Russia summit that was held in Riyadh that Ukraine was not invited to. It's not clear if Zelenskyy will hang around for the parts of the talks that come afterwards, but it's always a possibility.

These are bilateral, the Ukrainians very much understand, and there's not thought to be a Russian presence there. But bear in mind, this may not just be a meeting of healing. Yes, they want to sign the rare earth minerals deal. Both sides seem clear on that. But also we are seeing increased American pressure on the Ukrainian side here through the pausing of military aid, through the pausing of intelligence sharing, which may be designed at this particular meeting to deliver perhaps an ask for the actual technical details of what a peace deal will look like.

Meanwhile, the Russian assault here is on relenting. 60-plus ballistic missiles fired, 30 of them taken out in the air by defense, including Ukrainians using a French Mirage 2000 jet for the first time to intercept the missiles. This is a key because it's Ukrainian Patriot air defense that can take down these ballistic missiles and that supply is, of course, stopped now and in question how much they have in their stocks.

Another issue too while we discuss this diplomacy, the frontline situation for Ukraine in some areas improving, but in one key place, Kursk, the incursion they did into Russian territory, that is significantly at peril, it seems, at the moment, with both Russian and Ukrainian bloggers saying that the key supply route to Ukrainian forces from Ukraine into a town called Sujda, which is their main kind of hub inside of Russia, that that is currently under what they call fire control. Basically, if you drive up and down it, you're probably going to get hit by the Russian artillery or drones.

That's a massive complicating factor for that entire presence in Kursk. It was controversial since it happened in August. It is what President Trump perhaps refers to when he talks about Ukraine having cards. That's the only real one they seem to have at the negotiating table in terms of territory. It's now under threat and possibly too the lack or the pause of American aid, certainly the change in American support vocally may be having an impact now, and that's felt on the battlefields. Back to you.

BOLDUAN: And an impact already. Yes, Nick, it's great to see you. Thank you so much. John?

BERMAN: All right, breaking overnight. Three U.S. soldiers arrested accused of sharing classified secrets with China.

And from half court for $100,000, one basketball fan is waking up with a few extra zeros in his bank account this morning, also I imagine some extra money.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:20:00]

SIDNER: One of the most shocking trades in NBA history. It landed superstar Luka Doncic at the L.A. Lakers. And now he's propelling them to an impressive win streak.

Joining us now at CNN is Andy Scholes. Andy, run us through the highlights. People were mad in Dallas.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: I got a lot of Mavs fans in my life, Sara, and they are never going to get over this situation, especially watching what Luka is doing with the Lakers. He, LeBron, and the Lakers, they've now won eight in a row. It's their longest winning streak since the 2019-'20 season, during which they won the NBA title.

And they had a great game against the Knicks last night. We're going to pick it up fourth quarter. New York down three under a minute to go, Jalen Brunson gets the bucket plus the foul. He's all pumped up, so was Spike Lee, who was sitting courtside. We'd go to overtime. In an O.T. Luca working on Karl Anthony Towns, makes the fade away there. Then the next time down, Luka, the three, he finished with 32.

And then under two to go play, everyone in New York talking about this morning, Brunson rolling his ankle badly on this play. He would make both free throws before exiting the game. Lakers though, they would go on to win 113-109. Here with Luka afterwards.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LUKA DONCIC, LOS ANGELES LAKERS GUARD: I don't think we played good today. I think we have especially for the first three quarters. I don't think we played good. So, that does show the whole group together, you know, everybody's cheering for each other. And we gave each other a push that we need to win the games.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: All right. Steph Curry, meanwhile, was just doing Steph Curry things last night in Brooklyn. Right before halftime. Steph, the turnaround three with less than a second left, and he just ran off to the locker room. Steph made seven threes in this game. He scored 14 in the fourth and the final corner three here put the game away. And then Steph hit the nets with the night, night celebration finished, with 40 as the Warriors won 121-119, Golden State 10-1 with Jimmy Butler in the lineup.

All right, finally, back to L.A. where a fan named Mike had a chance for $100,000 if he could make the half court shot. And, of course, we wouldn't be showing you this if he missed. He banked it in and he showed off his Kobe tattoo that he had on his bicep. He was also wearing some Kobe shoes, Sara. And you know, sometimes, you know, you look at the person that's shooting the half court shot and you're just like, this guy's going to make it. And I really had the feeling seeing Mike step up to the plate for that one.

SIDNER: He did. He did a Kobe right there, boom, like got it in.

SCHOLES: Mamba mentality.

SIDNER: Totally. It is sad to see Brunson hurt because he's such a fun player to watch. No matter if he's on your team or not, he is a fun player to watch.

Andy Scholes --

SCHOLES: Yes, Knicks fans. Certainly fingers crossed that it's not too bad. We'll see. We'll wait and see today.

SIDNER: All right. Thank you, Andy. I appreciate it. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Also a contagious cheer, Knicks fans are not. I hear my kids all the time, Jalen Brunson, all over the house.

SIDNER: It's great fun.

BOLDUAN: And I remind them then that their father's a Pistons fan and that is the whole issue.

Anyway, here we go. Coming up for us, you're laid off, you're rehired. We're enacting tariffs. We're pausing tariffs. The fast action from the new Trump administration has also led to some neck-breaking whiplash. We have a new look at how Americans are feeling about that now.

And then there's this, a Canadian Olympic snowboarder now has a new title, one of the FBI's most wanted. What led to the FBI offering now $10 million for his arrest.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:25:00]

BOLDUAN: So, the White House right now is looking to invoke a rarely used rule to force people who file legal challenges against the government to pay up front at the start of a case. The move comes as the Trump administration is fighting nearly 100 lawsuits, actively, in federal courts right now. And the battles are over, well, you've seen it play out before you on your television screens, everything from immigration, to DEI and policies, to spending freezes, and efforts to shrink the size of the federal government.

CNN's Katelyn Polantz joins us right now with much more on this.

[07:30:01]

I mean, how does this rule work?

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, it's a rule that is part of how you're.