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Employers Added 151,000 Jobs In February, Missing Forecasts; Trump Preparing To Sign Order To Dismantle Education Department; Crisis Responders On Veterans Hotline Warn Of Lapse In Mission. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired March 07, 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]

BRADY DALE, CRYPTO REPROTER, AXIOS: Seeking jobs to America and sees this as a fresh new opportunity to do that.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Stand by to stand by. It's good to see you, Brady. Thanks for the help. A new hour of CNN News Central starts now.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: We begin with breaking news. The first jobs report of President Donald Trump's second term just dropped. The numbers of job losses worse than expected. Not good, but salaries are on the rise. Not bad. A real mixed bag. We'll discuss.

Plus, the death knell for the Department of Education. The new secretary of education says the department doesn't need to exist. Three states attorneys general are already fighting back over the cutting of grants for teachers.

And chilling text messages could give investigators a better idea of what exactly happened the night four University of Idaho students were killed in their own house. The accounts from the victims' roommates as they allegedly listened to the killer. I'm Sara Sidner with John Berman and Kate Bolduan. This is CNN News Central.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. We do have breaking news. The new jobs report just released. This comes days after these days of economic turmoil. So the numbers were a tick lower than expected, but still solid. 151,000 jobs added. In February, the expectation was 160,000. The unemployment rate rose to 4.1 percent. Still decent numbers.

Now as for stock futures this morning, so far they have been more or less flat. Actually, you can see right now they're now ticking downward but ever so slightly. Investors basically saying this doesn't answer a lot of questions for them. And man, do they have a lot of questions after this week. Kevin Liptak is at the White House first, though, Matt Egan is with us. Give us the dirt on this report, Matt.

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: John, this report showed solid job growth. 151,000 jobs were added in February. That is an improvement from January, which had been revised lower to 125,000. I think the more disappointing news here was the unemployment rate. It was expected to hold steady at 4 percent. It didn't. It ticked higher to 4.1 percent. Of course, that's still historically low.

You can see on that chart that there's been just a slight rebound in the last month in terms of the rate of hiring. So, relative to all of those concerns that you were just alluding to, John, about the economy, these numbers are not bad. Right. They don't suggest that anything is really going off the rails in the jobs market right now.

Digging into some of the numbers here as far as where jobs were at and where they weren't, just a couple of things I would call out. We did see that leisure and hospitality and retail lost jobs last month. That's something we got to keep an eye on because we know that consumer confidence and consumer spending has taken a bit of a hit.

The other big number here is the government workforce because we saw that overall government hiring slowed. That's because while state and local governments added jobs, we actually saw a drop in the number of employees for federal workers that fell by 10,000. And keep in mind, that's largely not even accounting for the mass layoffs that have presided over by Elon Musk and DOGE as they try to cut federal workers.

To sum it up, I talked to Joe Bruce Wallace over at RSM. He said he thinks this is a -- it's a Goldilocks report, right? It's not so hot that it would raise any sort of alarms about inflation. It's also not so cold that it's going to really spook people about the idea of a real slowdown in the economy.

There was also another milestone. We see that the U.S. economy has now added jobs for 50 months in a row. That is the second longest period of uninterrupted job growth in American history, second only to that recovery from the Great Recession. So listen, you put it all together, I think kind of a mixed report, but also better than fear.

BERMAN: Better than I think the worst case scenario, though, as we said, may not answer all the questions that investors have at the end of this tumultuous week. Let's go to the White House now. Kevin Liptak is standing by there.

And Kevin, it's a little bit before the White House can give its official response, but I am curious how you think they will approach this. 50 straight months of job growth, 48 of which happened during the Biden administration.

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, I think they'll welcome this report. This is the first full month that fell under the Trump administration. You'll remember when the jobs came in slightly below expectations last month, they said it was a reflection of a Biden economy that was worse than anyone expected.

This month they're slightly better. So you can probably expect them to take full credit for it. But I think in reality, what the real sort of win here for the White House is that this job market is healthy enough to absorb some of the shocks that are still coming.

[09:05:00]

You know, this jobs report, as Matt said, reflected a 10,000 job decline in the government sector. You can expect that is going to increase as time goes on as these government cuts take full effect, perhaps seen in job reports later this spring.

And I think, you know, when you talk to Trump allies, they certainly see plenty of flashing warning lights in the economy, whether it's from these massive job cuts that are coming at the hand of Elon Musk or whether it's the uncertainty caused by the president's tariff regime. They know that this is coming. They know that there could be some trouble ahead when it comes to the economy.

So a good jobs report today I think is enough to at least ease some concerns that at least the labor market will be able to absorb some of this uncertainty.

But already you've seen just in the last day, the president and the White House trying to ease back on some of the more whipsaw aspects of this. You saw the president delay some of the tariffs, for example. You saw the president tell Elon Musk that he wanted a more finely tuned approach to government cuts.

So certainly you see some calibration, I think, in the White House. But when it comes to this particular jobs report, I think it will be a welcome sign here among the president and the president's aides.

BERMAN: In Canada is being played as a full scale retreat from the White House on tariffs, at least for now. Kevin Liptak at the White House, thank you very much for that. And our thanks to Matt Egan as well, Kate.

BOLDUAN: And keep a close eye on that. We're also watching this. It's still unclear when President Trump will make his move to try and dismantle the Department of Education. But what is clear, according to his new education secretary, is that he will go through with it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNDIENTIFIED FEMALE: Do we need this department?

SEC. LINDA MCMAHON, EDUCATION SECRETARY: No, we don't.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What about your employees? 4,100 employees. What are they saying? I'm sure they're fearful going to lose their jobs.

MCMAHON: Well, I think any time there's talk about shutting a department down, you know, the employees that are there are concerned about their jobs, but they're good off ramps for them. And in a country where we right now have over 8 million openings and jobs, I think there'll be a lot of places for them to go. We'd like to help them get there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: When it comes to education front, there's also now a new legal action on this front. Three state attorneys general are suing the Trump administration over funding for teachers, specifically teacher training programs.

Joining us right now is one of the AGs leading this lawsuit, the Attorney General of New Jersey, Matt Platkin. It's good to see you, Attorney General. Thank you for being here.

So the administration --

MATTHEW PLATKIN, NEW JERSEY ATTORNEY GENERAL: Thank you so much for having me.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. You're now part of multiple lawsuits against the Trump administration just since he took office. This one is about hundreds of millions of dollars for teacher training programs. Why take this one on?

PLATKIN: Well, look, this is the latest example where this administration has shown an utter disregard for what Congress has said and for the law. And these programs that we're talking about are really critical. We have a national teacher shortage in the pipeline for our kids. And these programs make sure that kids in rural communities and kids in urban communities have quality teachers.

We make sure we have enough teachers trained in math and science and for kids with special needs. And it's part of, as you just saw, Secretary McMahon say, a broader assault, an unprecedented assault on public education and on our families across this country. And we're going to stand up for them.

BOLDUAN: The Supreme Court this week rejected the Trump administration's attempt to freeze $2 billion in foreign aid coming out of USAID, sent it back to a lower court. And in seeing that and thinking about lawsuits that you're involved in, this one included, I kind of think that the dissent that was led by Justice Alito, you could almost try to apply it to kind of the argument that were hearing and what you might be facing in these legal challenges going forward.

Let me read part of this dissent that he wrote. Does a single district court judge who likely lacks jurisdiction, have the unchecked power to compel the government of the United States to pay out and probably lose forever $2 billion-- $2 billion taxpayer dollars? The answer to that question should be an emphatic no, but a majority of the court apparently thinks otherwise. I am stunned.

Change the dollar amount, but apply it to kind of this overall struggle, which is what you are taking on in court, multiple different -- in multiple different ways, which is the question, which is about executive power and the extent of it. I mean, what do you say to this dissent?

PLATKIN: Well, I think the key word there is that it was dissent. The majority of the court said that the president is not a king, that he cannot unilaterally strike billions of dollars of spending.

[09:10:00] In one case, at least trillions of dollars of spending that went to things like Medicaid and early childhood programs and programs for our seniors and programs for our veterans. That he can't just wake up and say when Congress passes a law and the President signs it and appropriate spending, he can't decide not to spend it because he doesn't like something.

There's a way to do this. He can go to Congress. He has majorities in both chambers in Congress, and he's not even properly attempting to follow the legal process laid out in our Constitution. And more importantly, what he's doing is harming people. He is harming our residents. You just heard Secretary McMahon so callously say she's going to kill the department that she has been sworn in to run. OK.

That department makes sure that kids with special needs have proper services in schools across this country. That department makes kids in low income communities of all shapes and sizes have quality education. As a parent of two kids, I don't just want to throw that out simply because the President doesn't like it. The law is the law and he has to follow it.

BOLDUAN: The President's reaction to all of this, the roadblocks that these lawsuits and the courts have presented so far in early in his administration, can kind of be summed up with something that he said back in mid-February. Let me play this for you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: We're being hindered by courts where they file in certain courts where it's very hard to win. And a judge will stop us and a judge will say that it doesn't make any difference what you find. You just keep paying the money. That's a hell of a way to be. And I follow the courts. I have to follow the law. All it means is that we appeal. But that gives people time to cover their tracks, and that's what they do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: What's your message to him?

PLATKIN: Well, I agree with him. He has to follow what the courts say. And in the USAID case, the court that he's talking about was one that he has boasted about, the appointments he's made to it. They have boasted regularly about how they've remade the federal judiciary.

No one is saying that he can't go to Congress and seek new laws. His challenge is he's not been able to get anything through Congress because what he's asking them to do is so unpopular. But what he can't do is take laws that are on the books, take spending that has been appropriate, that people are relying upon for fundamental services, for health care, for education, for law enforcement and say, you know what? I can't get Congress to do what they are lawfully able to do, so I'm going to do it the illegal way. And when a court says he can't, he has to follow.

BOLDUAN: That sounds like more lawsuits likely to come. New Jersey Attorney General, thank you very much for coming on. Sara.

SIDNER: All right. No one is answering. I'm freaking out. Those texts from students in a home were one by one they were being killed. The latest in the case against a suspected Idaho college student killer.

And warning that the impending job cuts at Veterans Affairs could put veterans dealing with mental health issues at risk. How the department's crisis responders are fighting back now.

And just minutes from now, the opening bell will ring and we'll see how the markets are responding to the first jobs report of President Trump's second term.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:17:20]

SIDNER: The Department of Veterans Affairs is bracing for deep cuts by the Trump administration. Crisis responders who answer the National Veterans Hotline say they are extremely alarmed. One staffer telling CNN, if there are not enough employees to be there for the crisis hotline, then that's going to definitely cause a lapse in the mission, which is veteran safety. It will be a very significant lapse.

Responders often talk to former service members who are in their deepest despair. The mandated return to office having an interesting consequence because some responders are forced now to have extremely sensitive conversations and exposed open cubicles where everyone can hear. Joining us now is the CEO of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, Allison Jaslow. She is also an Iraq War veteran.

First to you, in hearing from these responders, saying that they are having to sometimes go to their cars to take these phone calls to keep them private and that there could be deep cuts to this service that basically answers the call when a veteran is in a mental health crisis. What is this going to mean and how will this impact the men and women that you serve?

ALLISON JASLOW, CEO, IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN VETERANS OF AMERICA: Well, I think what's most concerning is we don't need the very people who its job is to reduce the stress level of somebody who's calling them in crisis to also be experiencing undue stress themselves. Right.

So, you know, I think who knows if the Department of Veterans Affairs will actually go through with the cuts that were leaked from the VA this week. But just having to deal with that uncertainty and added stress level on the very people who are supposed to be supporting and giving best in class care to our nation's veterans should bother all of us.

SIDNER: What are you hearing from the veterans that you serve? What are they experiencing as they hear some of this? The latest story was that 70,000 jobs may be cut from Veterans Affairs.

JASLOW: Well, you know, we actually just had many of our best and brightest members in Washington, D.C. with us this week. Several of them are federal employees themselves. What your viewers may or may not know is that nearly 30 percent of the federal workforce is veterans right now over at the Department of Defense, it's nearly 45 percent that are veterans. And some of our veterans actually work in the VA. They thankfully still have their jobs.

But what they told us when they were in town this week is that they're dealing with a lot of stress themselves. But also some of them who are leaders in their own right are carrying the burden of having to ease the anxiety and stress of coworkers.

And honestly, that's distracting them from being able to do the job that we need them to do, both to help get veterans the benefits that they've earned and deserved and also to be able to make sure that they have the care that they need.

[09:20:03]

SIDNER: Just to curiosity, I mean, we do hear a lot from all politicians, truly, who say that they really care about veterans, they want to do right by veterans. The Trump administration, and Trump himself has constantly said that he supports veterans, that he would not hurt veterans.

Do veterans believe that now in seeing that these potential cuts could be quite severe, some of whom have already been laid off from the federal government?

JASLOW: Well, I would say that there are politicians from both parties that are usually just giving us lift service when they say that, you know, and I think, you know, actions speak for themselves. And so again, you know, I don't know if the current administration will go through with the cuts that they've detailed, but the growth in the workforce over the last several years was very important.

You know, we passed what was called the PACT Act, which was a huge investment in veteran's health care. One of the largest investments that has been made in decades in veteran's health care. And it's allowing vets who have cancer because they had toxic exposure during their wartime service get the care that they need. And the last thing we want to do is rip that support out from under them.

In other words, you know, we have veterans who thankfully were able to survive wartime, but are dealing with the impact of their wartime service back here at home. And we should be making sure that we're taking care of them in part because if we still want to fight our nation's war with an all-volunteer force, we need to make sure that everyone who's raising their hand and signing an oath to serve in all our volunteer force knows that we're not going to abandon them on the other side of that service.

SIDNER: Suicide rates are disturbingly high for veterans coming back into this country after dealing with war. One of the things that I'd like you to speak to is how difficult it is for someone to come back from the intensity of a place like Afghanistan or Iraq and then return and try to get their footing and find jobs here. How hard is it for veterans to try and reenter the workforce? JASLOW: You know, to your point about the veteran suicide crisis,

unfortunately, I don't know a veteran who doesn't know another veteran who's died by suicide. So it's something that we still need to raise awareness around as a country. I appreciate you bringing it up today and still aggressively tackle.

And I think there's a lot of reasons why veterans are taking their lives. You know, I have a buddy who was in ROTC with me who he dealt with survivor's guilt when he came back and just couldn't shake it. We lost a member in December who struggled with PTSD and took his life.

But, you know, I think to your point earlier, just reintegrating into society can be very hard for many veterans. You know, we do a number of things when we build people into the service members that they are, into the soldiers that they are. Right.

And a lot of it is like breaking them down in boot camp or basic training, getting them to learn how to take orders. And then when they get out of the military, they go into a civilian society that doesn't function the way that the military does, that doesn't have the structure that the military does, that is more fend for yourself than the military is where we're taught to get each other's backs.

And that can just be really hard on the average veteran. And if they don't have, you know, the right support network and or, you know, appropriate battle buddy like they did when they were in the service to help them through that can just cause undue stress if they have a family, makes them feel like at times they can't provide for their family. And that can, you know, have veterans go to the brink as well.

So, you know, even if they don't, you know, deal with what you would believe are the common stressors of wartime service and what they might be exposed to, there's just the stress of reintegrating in the civilian society that can do a real number on many veterans.

SIDNER: The Veterans Affairs tries to help with that as well, especially the crisis responders who are very concerned that their jobs are being impacted here.

JASLOW: Yes.

SIDNER: Allison Jaslow, thank you so much. I really appreciate you coming on and sort of giving us an important perspective this hour. Kate.

JASLOW: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: We are minutes away from the opening bell on Wall Street. How markets are reacting will be reacting to the latest jobs numbers and a full week of whiplash over President Trump's on again, off again tariff strategy.

And there's also new reporting this morning from the Associated Press. Tens of thousands of images, including war heroes and military firsts, have been marked to be deleted by the Defense Department as part of the effort to eliminate DEI programs and influence. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:29:03]

BERMAN: We are roughly 90 seconds away from the opening bell on Wall Street, awaiting the response to the new jobs report that came out one hour ago. A little lower than expected, a little lower than expectations. The U.S. economy added 151,000 jobs in February. January was revised lower as well. You're just looking at futures which have turned lower over the last few minutes.

CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich is here to share this moment of the market's opening.

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: All right. We got one minute, but here we go, 151,000 jobs added, a little bit lower than expected, but still solid. The unemployment rate ticking up to 4.1 percent from 4 percent but still historically low.

Interesting where we have seen job gains last month, we saw it in health care, in finance, transportation and warehousing. But where we saw declines is interesting, leisure and hospitality. This is potentially reflecting how businesses are feeling about consumer spending, what they're going to be spending in the future.

[09:30:00]

And then overall government jobs increase, but at the federal government level, decrease by 10,000. And then when you break it out.