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Trump Threatens New Tariffs On Canada, Including 250 Percent Dairy Tax; 151,000 New Jobs In February, Unemployment Ticks Up; Trump Says He Sent Letter To Iran This Week Urging Nuclear Deal; Most Americans Oppose Transgender Athletes In Women's Sports; Gavin Newsom Faces Pushback From Progressive Dems For Trans Comments. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired March 07, 2025 - 14:00   ET

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

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[14:01:33]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": A whiplash trade policy, Donald Trump now backtracking on tariffs, leaving markets unsettled, business leaders uncertain, government workers in limbo, and many in Europe wondering whether they can trust the United States.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": Dem divide, one of the most prominent Democrats in the country breaking with someone in his party on the issue of transgender athletes, agreeing at least in part with a conservative activist. California's governor now in hot water with some on the left. And a plot to buy military secrets, two U.S. soldiers and a former service member arrested and accused of selling that intelligence to buyers in China. We're following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to "CNN News Central."

SANCHEZ: A new pivot for President Donald Trump in his day-to-day changing tariff war. Just one day after offering a one-month reprieve on tariffs on Canada, today he's threatening new tariffs on our neighbors to the north, including a 250 percent tax on dairy. This is just the latest in a series of tariff flip-flops for Trump that have knocked stocks lower this week, and it comes as a new Jobs Report just dropped today, covering the first month of President Trump's second term.

In February, the U.S. economy created 151,000 jobs. That is considered solid, though it came in just slightly below expectations. Unemployment ticking up to 4.1 percent. We have a team of correspondents covering these developments. Let's start with Vanessa Yurkevich, who has more with how this chaos and uncertainty is hitting stocks. Actually, let's go ahead and start with Matt Egan on the Jobs Report. Matt, apologies for the fake out. I'm imitating the president who is moving tariffs back and forth. Walk us through these jobs numbers, Matt.

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Well, Boris, look, this feels like this report could be the calm before the storm, nothing terribly alarming here, although there were some hints of softness in the jobs market. We learned today the economy added 151,000 jobs in February, as you mentioned, that was slightly below expectations. But that is an improvement from January, which was revised lower, and it's a solid pace of growth.

Now, the unemployment rate, it did unexpectedly tick higher to 4.1 percent. That's historically low, but it moved higher because more people are unemployed and fewer people are in the workforce. When we dig into some of the industries, the good news is that manufacturing returned to job growth after a few months of losing jobs, but retail lost more than 6,000 jobs amid worker strikes, leisure and hospitality lost some jobs as well, and the federal government lost 10,000 jobs. That's the most since June of 2022 and it doesn't even fully capture all of those mass layoffs from DOGE and Elon Musk. So we expect that to continue.

This is the 50th month in a row where the U.S. economy is adding jobs. That's the second longest streak on record. But Boris, the big question is, how long is it going to continue amid all this uncertainty around federal layoffs, federal spending cuts, and of course, this trade war?

SANCHEZ: And Matt, where exactly are we with tariffs? What's the status of these tariffs today?

EGAN: Yeah, it's incredibly confusing. It feels like every hour, almost there's a new tariff that is threatened or dialed back or delayed.

[14:05:00]

I haven't looked at my phone in 90 seconds, so I might have missed another tariff threat on Truth Social. But look, 20 percent tariffs on China. That did kick in on Tuesday. There's also 25 percent tariff on Canada and Mexico, excluding autos and products that are compliant with the USMCA Trade Agreement, 10 percent tariff on Canadian energy and potash, which is a compound used to make fertilizer that American farmers need. But look, there is more tariffs that are on the way, maybe. I mean, the president has threatened to impose new tariffs on steel and aluminum imports next week. Early April, there's tariffs that loom potentially on products from the European Union, on autos there's the reciprocal tariffs.

And then later on this year, potentially tariffs on copper and lumber, timber, semiconductors. You mentioned the new tariffs that were just threatened today on Canadian dairy products as well. We've seen trade policy uncertainty just go through the roof. There's an index that tracks that. It's the highest it's ever been going back to 1960. And so right now, we just -- everyone is trying to make sense of it all, right? It's a lot of uncertainty and chaos for investors, for CEOs, and for small business owners to try to make sense of. Boris?

SANCHEZ: Matt Egan, thank you so much for that update. Let's bring in Vanessa Yurkevich now. Vanessa, obviously markets don't like volatility, even though Trump says he's not watching the markets.

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, certainly, a lot of people are watching the markets though, and what we've seen most of the day is that markets were down on the news of this sort of weaker than expected Jobs Report. But if we look at the numbers now, they're up again. And this is just though a moment, a snapshot in what has been a very volatile week on Wall Street. And potentially, why they are up right now is because the Fed Chair, Jerome Powell, was at an event earlier today and he said that despite these levels of uncertainty, the U.S. economy is actually in a good place and that we just need to wait and see.

So when you have the Fed chair making a comment like that, that the economy is still working well, it is still doing well, that might have calmed some nerves on Wall Street. But of course, this has been an up and down week. There are more, obviously, losses than gains this week and next week is a brand new week where we might hear about new tariffs and certainly the market will react to that. But as it stands right now, you have Dow, S&P, and NASDAQ all just slightly up at this moment.

SANCHEZ: It's going to also be difficult to be a business owner when you have trade policy going topsy-turvy like this. What have business leaders that you've been talking to shared about what their planning is like?

YURKEVICH: Yeah, I've been speaking to business owners all week, in Mexico, in the U.S. and Canada. And the way they describe it is that it's a logistical nightmare. I spoke to one Canadian flower company that imports to the U.S. and they said that they initially on Tuesday put a tariff tax in place and then they had to remove it two days later. And Boris, that involved having to refund customers and also having to explain to customers what was going on, while having to pay credit card fees in the process. For many businesses, they like planning at least two weeks out. And this day to day, hour to hour flip-flopping, they've told me that this is just simply exhausting right now.

SANCHEZ: Vanessa Yurkevich, thank you so much for that. Brianna?

KEILAR: Let's talk more about what this means for jobs and the economy with Ben Bergman. He's a Senior Correspondent at Business Insider. And Ben, it's kind of a tariff yo-yo this week, so I'm going to summarize it. Yes, tariffs. Wait, not for Mexico. Wait, not for cars. Yes for Canada. Wait, no for Canada. Now, just today, it's yes for Canadian lumber and dairy, 250 percent because they're doing it to us. What is the effect of all of that craziness?

BEN BERGMAN, SENIOR CORRESPONDENT, BUSINESS INSIDER: Well, what do investors and businesses hate more than anything? It's uncertainty. And Boris just asked about the effect on businesses, I was just texting with my mother before this. She owns a small parenting magazine called 'Seattle's Child.' They print it in Canada. She just got an email from her printer that they're increasing the prices by 3 percent. That was on Wednesday. Then, President Trump said he's delaying that by a month yesterday, but they're not just going to be able to go back and forth. So, I think businesses would really like to just know what is happening, same with investors. The uncertainty is very difficult to deal with. KEILAR: What -- and what is, you know, bigger picture here, the emerging picture of the Trump economy between these Jobs Reports, the tariffs and the market reaction to all of it?

BERGMAN: The emerging picture is one of just tremendous uncertainty. It's a roller coaster that everyone is on, and I think you see that in the markets. Even though we're session positive right now, this is the worst week for the market since September.

[14:10:00]

And it seems like a long time ago, in the first Trump administration, where he would look at the stock market and really care a lot about that and that reassured investors. But this time, he doesn't really seem to care that much about the day-to-day fluctuations of the market.

KEILAR: Yeah. Let's not disparage, roller coasters, right? I mean, some of those are pretty great. And as you know, we're also expecting to hear from the president next hour. He's going to be at this crypto summit after he established a strategic Bitcoin reserve via executive order last night. Explain to us what that means.

BERGMAN: Yeah, rollercoaster is great to go on at Disneyland --

(LAUGH)

BERGMAN: -- not necessarily what you want to see your 401(k) doing. And yeah, this crypto summit is really interesting because it's something that President Trump announced, but no agenda was announced. No attendee was announced. But one thing he's probably going to talk about is this crypto reserve because the U.S. wants a reserve of Bitcoin and four other coins. I think a lot of investors were hoping that the U.S. will be buying up lots of crypto. Doesn't seem like they're going to do that. He said it's going to be revenue neutral, meaning they're going to use coins that they already have through asset forfeitures.

KEILAR: The Trump family notably launched their own coins just before he took office. Does that matter here?

BERGMAN: No, I don't think the TrumpCoin is going to be included in this reserve, but certainly, Trump has built himself as the first crypto president in this summit is indicative of that.

KEILAR: Yeah. All right, we'll be watching for that. Ben, great to have you. Thank you so much for taking us through all of that. Boris?

SANCHEZ: So we've discussed the economic impacts. Let's talk about the political impacts of President Trump's dramatic policy shifts with White House Correspondent for Reuters, Jeff Mason. Jeff, great to see you as always. Talk to us about the logic here, the thinking that's fueling Trump's decision making. I imagine he's hearing from a lot of different folks on these tariffs.

JEFF MASON, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, REUTERS: Oh, no doubt he's hearing from a lot of folks, Boris, and good to see you too. I think that the politics of this is varied. You know, I think that, as your previous guest was saying, the business community certainly likes certainty. I don't think that would be incorrect to say that Republicans on the Hill would like a little bit more certainty as well, which isn't to say that they're standing up to President Trump or protesting these things with President Trump, but I think it does make things a little tricky.

Democrats certainly, the same, although I don't think they're looking for certainty in either way from this White House. I think they see this as a political weakness, which they will no doubt try to exploit once we get a little closer to the midterms. But that's a ways off for now. I think in general, this president, this White House feels like they have a mandate. This is his style. And so, I don't think that they're particularly concerned about it hurting him politically. But stay tuned, it might.

SANCHEZ: I do wonder when Trump says that he's not watching markets, I think it's safe to say that that's not true. Maybe what he means is that he ignores them when they're not in his favor. But he certainly touted stock market numbers when they've been good before.

MASON: Absolutely. You and I both covered the first term of President Trump and definitely, I remember him coming out into the briefing room when the stock market, when the Dow or one of the major indices had hit a new record. So you know, I agree with you. I think that he absolutely does care about the market, but I also think it's correct to say that these gyrations are not a concern to him because he cares even more about tariffs and he cares even more about these policies that he's putting into place than he does about the back and forth.

But if there were a major, major drop, I can't imagine that that's not something that would be very high on his radar. And the flip side, if there ends up being a major spike again, there's no doubt in my mind that he would come out and take credit for it.

SANCHEZ: Yeah, I was looking for another way to describe the volatility in the markets, gyrations, that is a fantastic word to use, Jeff. I also wanted to ask you about peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, and the United States. Trump saying that Russian President Vladimir Putin holds all the cards. There are also some indications that Trump has been bothered by the recent barrage that Russia has unleashed on Ukraine. Do you think he ties himself in any way to that? Why is he made angry by that, if he has seemingly sort of paved the way for Russia to be more aggressive?

MASON: It's a great question. He's giving contradictory messages on Russia. He did say in a social media post earlier today, he was negative on Russia for its bombardment of Ukraine. But then in his most recent back and forth with reporters in the Oval Office, just a few minutes ago, he said that -- what you just mentioned, that Russia has all the cards and he was more critical of Ukraine and said again that he wasn't sure Ukraine was ready for peace.

[14:15:00] So he didn't echo in front of the television cameras the harsh -- harsher, shall we say, criticism that he was directing at Russia earlier in the day. And that's just quite simply a mixed message. And to get back to your initial question, yes, he has paved the way for Russia to be aggressive because he has been more conciliated towards Russia than he has towards Ukraine. And it bears repeating again that the facts are Russia invaded Ukraine and not the other way around.

KEILAR: Jeff, one last thing. Something that he said during his press availability really struck me. He was seeming to hint that there might be some deal on the horizon with Iran over its nuclear program. He said there will be interesting days ahead, they're down to the final moments. Do we know what he's referring to?

MASON: No. I mean, no is the answer to that. Other than he has acknowledged that he sent them a letter and I think it's always bears repeating or remembering that he likes the word deal. So yes, looking for a deal, wanting to reopen in some kind of way communications with Iran about their nuclear program, but also adding a pretty clear threat there, both in an interview he did with another network and remarks to reporters today, that if they don't agree to a peace deal of some kind, then there is another option, and that other option he indicated would be a military one.

SANCHEZ: All right. Jeff Mason, appreciate the reporting and the time. Thanks for joining us.

MASON: My pleasure, sir.

KEILAR: Still to come. California's governor splitting with some Democrats saying that transgender athletes playing in women's sports is deeply unfair. How do most Americans feel about this issue? We're going to run the numbers.

KEILAR: Plus an update on the measles outbreak in West Texas and also New Mexico, there have now been nearly 200 cases reported. And then later, U.S. soldiers accused of selling military secrets to buyers in China. We'll have that and much more coming up on "CNN News Central."

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[14:21:40]

SANCHEZ: California Governor Gavin Newsom is facing criticism from some on the left for questioning whether transgender athletes should be able to participate in women's sports. Here's Newsom speaking on the debut episode of his podcast with his guest, controversial conservative activist. Charlie Kirk.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHARLIE KIRK, AMERICAN POLITICAL ACTIVIST AND AUTHOR: Would you say no men in female sports?

GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): Well, it's -- I think it's an issue of fairness. I completely agree with you on that. It is an issue of fairness.

KIRK: So?

NEWSOM: So, I revere sports and so the issue of fairness is completely legit. And I saw that the last couple years, boy did I saw how you guys were able to weaponize that issue at another level.

KIRK: Hold on, no.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: CNN Chief Data Analyst, Harry Enten, is live for us now. Harry, it is important to point out that Newsom also said that he had a difficult time seeing how transgender folks have been treated by some. He believes that they should not be disparaged for choices that they make and ways that they are described in the public. I do wonder where do Americans stand on this issue of transgender folks in sports? How has that changed over time?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Yeah, look, I think it's very important to separate transgender folks in sports versus in society at large. But let's focus in on sports, right? That was the main focus of their conversation, and I think it's important to note that this is an issue in which there is near uniformity among the American public. So transgender female athletes in women's sports, get this just 18 percent say allow them. Compare that to the vast majority, 79 percent of Americans who oppose. You rarely see four-fifths of Americans agree on anything, but they do agree on this in their opposition to transgender female athletes in women's sports.

And it's not just that you see this near uniformity in terms of the opposition. The opposition is becoming larger over time. And we can see this very well by looking at this time trend. And you can see the numbers in 2025 and compare them to 2021, again, transgender female athletes, those who oppose them in women's sports, look at this. In 2021, it was a majority, but it was a little bit more than three- fifths. It was 62 percent. Look at where we are now, again, in 2025, it's 79 percent. So the majority opposing transgender female athletes in women's sports has only become larger over time. Again, you rarely see four-fifths of Americans agree on anything, but they do agree on this issue, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Newsom, obviously a Democrat, how do folks feel about this broken down by party affiliation?

ENTEN: Yeah, obviously, Gavin Newsom is the Democratic Governor of California. And again, when you break it down by party, I think this is where the numbers get really interesting because you rarely get a majority of Democrats, independents, and Republicans to agree on an issue. But you do on this particular issue. Again, transgender female athletes, oppose them in women's sports, look at this. You get two- thirds of Democrats, 67 percent who agree with Gavin Newsom's position. Progressive Democrats are actually the ones who are out of the mainstream of the Democratic Party.

Again, among independents, you get a very similar number, 64 percent. And then look among Republicans, Boris, 94 percent of Republicans. So yeah, Republicans are more lockstep on this than Democrats are. But Democrats very clearly on the side of wanting to oppose transgender female athletes in women's sports. They are on the side of Gavin Newsom.

SANCHEZ: I wonder, obviously it's something that unifies Republicans, this issue. How important is it compared to other issues?

[14:25:00]

ENTEN: Yeah, I think this will kind of give you a good understanding of how important this is to Republicans, right? We were talking about Democrats, but amongst Republicans, this is really what riles them up. Again, GOP who strongly want to ban transgender female athletes from women's sports, look at that. 84 percent who strongly want to, not somewhat feel it, they strongly want to, and to put that into some perspective, right, how about the percentage of Republicans who strongly want to deport all immigrants in America legally? It's just 58 percent.

And of course, this has been an issue that Donald Trump has run on for years. Yet the issue that more Republicans rally around, the one that gets more of them riled up is this issue of banning transgender female athletes from women's sports. Again, 84 percent who strongly want to ban it. You rarely see numbers like this. This is an issue in which Democrats, Republicans agree, Gavin Newsom on the side of most Democrats, the progressives out of the mainstream on which Republicans feel really, really strongly, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Yeah, perhaps not surprisingly that one of Trump's most effective ads in the last campaign cycle highlighted this --

ENTEN: Yes.

SANCHEZ: -- specific issue. Harry Enten, thank you so much for breaking down those numbers for us.

ENTEN: Thank you, my friend.

SANCHEZ: Coming up, the deadly measles outbreak in West Texas showing no signs of slowing down. Dozens more people infected and now, cases spiking across state lines. Stay with "CNN News Central." We're back in just a few minutes.

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