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Interview with Wab Kinew, Manitoba Premier: Trump Threatens New Tariffs on Canada; U.S. Soldiers Accused of Selling Military Secrets to Buyers in China. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired March 07, 2025 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Today, in another tariff twist, President Trump started threatening new tariffs as soon as tomorrow on Canadian dairy and lumber, a product used extensively in building homes. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Canada has been ripping us off for years on tariffs for lumber and for dairy products. 250 percent, nobody ever talks about that, 250 percent tariff, which is taking advantage of our farmers. So that's not going to happen anymore.

We're going to be -- they'll be met with the exact same tariff unless they drop it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[15:35:00]

SANCHEZ: This comes just one day after Trump announced he would pause tariffs against most Canadian goods for a month if they fell under the USMCA trade agreement.

Let's discuss with Wab Kinew. He's a premier of Manitoba, Canada. Sir, thank you so much for being with us.

First, I just want to get your reaction to Trump backing off tariffs for at least another month. But then, as you heard, they're threatening new ones.

WAB KINEW, MANITOBA PREMIER: Well, these new tariffs that are being floated are just going to make the trip to the grocery store more expensive for Americans and building homes for Americans more expensive as well.

So here in Manitoba, when we heard that announcement yesterday about a pause until April 2nd, we said that wasn't good enough for our province, and I would encourage Americans to think that that's not good enough for you either.

I think all of us want to see costs get lower. We want to see prices come down. But these tariffs getting applied and then retaliatory measures, it's just going to raise the cost of living for everybody. I would much rather see us work across the U.S.-Canada border to lower prices for Americans as well as Canadians, too.

SANCHEZ: What about his argument regarding that 250 percent, as he claims, tariff on U.S. dairy imports going into Canada?

KINEW: Well, here in Manitoba, we have a really close relationship with a lot of the Midwestern states. So we send a lot of electricity south. We're a major exporter of low-carbon baseload power. That helps the Midwestern states. And then when it comes to the ag sector, across the board, we have great trade that goes back and forth. So whether it's pork, you know, canola, beef, eggs, dairy, what have you, a lot of these products, they may start in Canada.

They might go down to Iowa or North Dakota, then come back to Canada, then go back to be sold in the U.S. So really, if you try to separate our ag industry, you're going to hurt American farmers just as much as any impact that we're going to feel here in Canada. So from our perspective, we'd much rather put these tariffs in the rearview mirror.

Yes, we are going to push back. We are going to stand up for our economy on things like pulling U.S. liquor off our Liquor Mart shelves here. But that's not the sort of conversation we want to be having.

We would much rather be having a conversation, how do we work together? How do we make that ag producer in the States better off at the same time that we make the ag producer better off here in Canada? So if we can put this Trump tariff tax in the rearview mirror, I think we get back to those lower price conversations sooner.

SANCHEZ: I have two questions for you on stuff you just mentioned. You signed an order pulling American liquor off of Manitoba shelves. You imitated Trump in your announcement, sort of jokingly poking fun at the president's style.

What went into your decision? What were you trying to achieve with the announcement?

KINEW: Well, people have been talking about a trade war here, but I think this is also a meme war, if you will. And so for somebody who's talking about our country as the 51st state, I'd hope that he's able to take the sense of humor that we're responding with as well. But again, we look at America as our neighbors, as our friends.

We love the American people, cross-border shopping, coming down to watch NFL games and concerts and things like that. We have a great working relationship. But the thing is, right now, these actions of the Trump administration are going to raise the cost of living for the average American.

So we're taking steps to get noticed. Pulling U.S. liquor off of our Liquor Mart shelves is one way for us to get the attention of the American people. Hey, why don't we move past this tariff conversation and focus on the real economic priority for people on both sides of the border, which is lowering the cost of living?

That's been a priority for us, and I'm sure Americans would agree, if we could focus on bringing costs down, it'd be great.

SANCHEZ: You mentioned hydroelectric power being exported to the United States from Manitoba. I know you're considering putting a 25 percent surcharge on energy exports to certain states, similar to what Ontario has done. But what ultimately would factor into that decision?

KINEW: Well, we don't want to live with this economic cloud over our heads that is this threat of more tariffs in the future, whether it's next week or the week after that or April 2nd. The reality is, if we focus on lowering prices, both of our countries will be better off. But we have to take some steps to push back and to get the American public to pay attention to the economic pain that the Trump administration is going to bring on to your own country.

So us being an electricity exporter is one of those ways that we can get attention. During this time of artificial intelligence, baseload power is one of the most valuable things in the world. We have it here in Manitoba, and we're sending it south of the border.

[15:40:00]

But if that relationship is going to change, if it's not going to work for us as Canadians any longer, then we're going to have to make a change in that decision to send power south.

So again, this is not the conversation I want to have. I would much rather be talking about increasing baseload power exports to the U.S. But again, I shared this message with Governor Tim Walz and some of our other neighbors. We have to look out for our Canadian economic interests.

So as long as the Trump administration is going to be threatening tariffs like this, we're going to make those decisions and use those tools that we have to reach out to other Americans to raise your voices and hopefully persuade the Trump administration to focus on better things like lowering prices for the average consumer.

SANCHEZ: Premier Wab Kinew, thank you so much for the time.

KINEW: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Still ahead on NEWS CENTRAL, U.S. servicemembers accused of selling military secrets to buyers in China. We have new reporting from the Pentagon just minutes away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:45:05]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Two active duty U.S. soldiers and a former service member are in custody accused of selling military secrets to buyers in China. They're facing bribery and theft charges.

Oren Liebermann is live for us at the Pentagon. Oren, what more are you learning about this?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, these three soldiers are accused of obtaining sensitive information on a number of different topics and then selling that to China. The three accused service members are two active duty soldiers.

As you pointed out, Li Tian, a first lieutenant who was stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, a major military facility just outside of Seattle, Washington. He was a health services administrator. And Jian Zhao, a battery supply sergeant at that same military facility in Washington. The former soldier is Ruoyu Duan, a former soldier from 2013 to 2017.

All three have been charged with conspiring to commit bribery and theft of government property. It is Jian Zhao who has also been charged with obtaining and transmitting national defense information. Prosecutors say that he sold two hard drives full of sensitive information to buyers in China, classified hard drives with secret and top secret government documents, as well as selling sensitive military documents and information related to U.S. rocket systems and information about U.S. military readiness and preparedness in the event of a war with China.

Meanwhile, it is the other two, Tian and Duan, who prosecutors say tried to obtain sensitive information about U.S. armored systems like Bradley fighting vehicles and striker combat vehicles to sell and transmit that information to China.

According to the indictment, according to prosecutors, that is, it is Zhao who was paid $15,000 starting in August until recent months here. The Department of Justice, in filing these charges and arresting these three individuals yesterday, said, quote, they will face swift, severe and comprehensive justice as DOJ goes after them.

KEILAR: All right. Oren Liebermann, live for us at the Pentagon. Thank you.

We'll have more when CNN NEWS CENTRAL comes back.

[15:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: A brand new season of the CNN original series "UNITED STATES OF SCANDAL WITH JAKE TAPPER" premiers this Sunday. The season goes beyond political scandals and looks into the world of corporate America, pop culture and sports.

KEILAR: And this premiere episode focuses on Ab Scam, which was the FBI's elaborate sting operation in the 1970s that targeted some of the top members of the U.S. government at the time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can't investigate and convict criminals with angels. JAKE TAPPER, ANCHOR AND CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): So the FBI takes a gamble. They'll let this con man try to earn his freedom by conducting stings on white-collar criminals. But they had no idea how far that would go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It started in a very humble way. The object was only to recover stolen art and securities. And to everyone's amazement, it was involved in the investigation. Three years later, it resulted in the conviction of six United States congressmen and a United States senator.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: And Jake Tapper is with us now. All right, Jake, just remind us and our viewers why the scandal was such a big deal and what it was all about.

TAPPER (on camera): Well, you have to remember, first of all, it came after Watergate and it came after the end of the Vietnam War. So Americans were already incredibly disillusioned with their government. And then all of a sudden, here comes the story of an FBI agent or two posing as Arab sheikhs, offering bribes to members of Congress, caught on film.

It's the first time, to my knowledge, that something like this came to the fore with the crime actually taking place. People could see it taking place with famous quotes that were made during those tapes, in order to have legislative stuff introduced on the floor of the House or Senate. So really shocking stuff.

There are serious questions of entrapment, and we get into some of that in the series, because it's not as though these members of Congress had done anything first to create the sting operation. It was just a sting operation going after others that kind of got out of control.

SANCHEZ: What was the most surprising part of the story as you were reporting it?

TAPPER: How blatant the corruption was. You know, when people like one of the members of Congress did something like a larcenies in my blood, Congressman Ozzie Myers, who was my congressman at the time, I'm very proud to say, in South Philadelphia, we're very proud of Congressman Myers, gave a famous quote, or infamous quote, money talks and BS walks. Except he didn't say BS.

So just the starkness of it. But also just the insanity of this FBI agent posing as an Arab sheikh. Potentially offensive in ways, but also just like, how on earth did anybody believe this?

But it's a fun episode. We interviewed a guy who was a member of the House and then later a senator who turned down the bribe and was very happy that he turned it down in retrospect.

SANCHEZ: It surprised me that in season one some of these folks like Rod Blagojevich wanted to actually come on and talk to you and tell their side of the story. I'm wondering who you got to chat with you this season that might be surprising.

TAPPER: We talked to Anita Hill. We talked to Floyd Landis, part of the Lance Armstrong scandal.

[15:55:00]

We talked to Anna Delvey from "Inventing Anna".

So we talked to one of the so-called whistleblowers from the Enron scandal. A lot of good, meaty, disappointing, sad, tragic, hilarious scandals this season. I think you guys will enjoy.

SANCHEZ: And it's all here for your enjoyment. Jake Tapper, thank you so much. The new season of "UNITED STATES OF SCANDAL WITH JAKE TAPPER" airs this Sunday at 9 p.m. Eastern and Pacific on CNN. Stay with us. We're back in a few moments.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: We leave you today with something lighter, a rare move for a royal. Britain's King Charles offering a peek into his personal life, specifically his taste in music. He's set to release his own playlist and a brand-new Apple Music broadcast.

Here's a quick preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KING CHARLES, UNITED KINGDOM: So this is what I particularly wanted to share with you. Songs which have brought me joy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Yes, that is Bob Marley. Because what is on a playlist fit for a king? Well, apparently the 76-year-old royal is a reggae fan, big Bob Marley guy, and he also likes recently Grammy-nominated singer- songwriter Raye.

[16:00:02]

The King's Music Room will premiere Monday, March 10th.

SANCHEZ: What do you think is going to be on there?

KEILAR: I don't know.

SANCHEZ: Obviously, the new bad boy --

KEILAR: I have no idea.

SANCHEZ: Pitbull.

KEILAR: Some Taylor Swift maybe.

SANCHEZ: Babe.

KEILAR: You think?

SANCHEZ: Maybe he's like a big metal guy.

KEILAR: There's got to be some British artists. We're kind of missing. We're sort of missing that Boris.

SANCHEZ: British artists.

KEILAR: Yes. Ed Sheeran. The Beatles. You know, the Beatles.

SANCHEZ: Charli xcx, right? Maybe he's a bro.

KEILAR: "THE ARENA" with Kasie Hunt starts right now. She wouldn't know.

END