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Trump's Sweeping 25 Percent Tariffs on Steel, Aluminum Imports in Effect; Senate Faces Friday Deadline to Pass Bill to Fund Government; Senate Dems Weigh How to Vote on Government Spending Bill; Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) Discusses About the Vote on Stopgap Funding Bill. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired March 12, 2025 - 15:00   ET

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

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[15:01:38]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: An escalating trade war after President Trump imposes sweeping tariffs on steel and aluminum. Canada and Europe retaliate, and now Trump is promising another response of his own. But his attempts to fix trade imbalances has some Republicans imploring the President for clarity.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Great expectations in Ukraine. Volodymyr Zelenskyy saying he expects the U.S. to take, quote, "strong steps against Russia if the Kremlin rejects the ceasefire proposal." But the Kremlin will only say it wants to hear more from the U.S.

And if you think you look like your dog or vice versa, you may be right. It turns out there's a specific psychological reason.

We're following these stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

SANCHEZ: Some new developments to tell you about this hour as President Trump ramps up his trade war and a warning now about its potential impact on the economy. JPMorgan Chase says there's a roughly 40 percent chance - 40 percent of a recession this year because of the President's policies.

Just today, Trump slapped a 25 percent tariff on all steel and aluminum coming into the United States from all countries, impacting a variety of products. And caught in the middle, Americans who could soon be paying a hefty price on that wide range of products, from cars to canned goods.

And we're already seeing swift retaliation. The European Union and Canada now firing back with levies of their own on billions of dollars' worth of U.S. goods. Today's warning from JPMorgan reflects the growing unease we're seeing on Wall Street as President Trump's on-again, off-again tariffs stoke more anxiety and turmoil on global stock exchanges.

Let's take you now live to the White House with CNN's Jeff Zeleny.

Jeff, what is Trump saying about these tariffs?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Boris, the President certainly is defending his policies and really embracing the fallout from all of this, saying it's not to be unexpected. And saying yesterday for the first time really in days that he does not see a recession in the future. Of course, that is not what some analysts say. But the on-again, off-again policies of a specific tariffs, which of course are a tax placed on a good which is passed along to a consumer, that has certainly rattled and roiled the markets.

But the President, as he was meeting with the visiting Irish prime minister earlier today in the Oval Office, again, he defended his policies and said they are consistent.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Let me just tell you the inconsistency. I have the right to adjust. I'm not like a block (ph) that just, I won't delay. I have - it's called flexibility, it's not called inconsistency, it's called flexibility.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: Some also call that flexibility uncertainty, which leads to questions for planning for businesses and certainly has led to really just a roiled markets in recent days, even though they are up a bit at the moment. But there's no question the President is embracing this chaos and he is saying that more tariffs are to come.

[15:05:01]

The question is what those will do to the markets. And also if he's serious about imposing them or using them as a threat or a negotiating tool for us.

SANCHEZ: Jeff, there's new CNN polling out that's giving us a fresh look at how Americans feel about Trump's first weeks in office. Tell us about that.

ZELENY: Very interesting, Boris, and it really underscores many of the questions that the White House is dealing with. Certainly high prices are front and center, something that the President campaigned on, saying when he was coming into office, prices would go down. But when you look at how Americans view the President's handling of the economy, it is an underwater view, if you will.

Fifty-six percent of Americans disapprove of the President's handling of the economy. Only 40 percent - or 44 percent, approve. And specifically asked the question of the President's handling of tariffs, his tariff policy, which has been, you know, for Canada, Mexico, China and others.

Sixty-one percent of Americans disapprove and 39 percent approve, so that's six in 10 Americans are disapproving there. So, certainly Democrats are - Independents are as well, perhaps even a few Republicans. So, the bottom line to all of this is there is a bit of uncertainty with the President's policies on the economy. The question is, are they not understanding him or are they not liking the policies? And that's something for the White House to answer. Boris?

SANCHEZ: Jeff Zeleny, live for us at the White House. Thanks so much, Jeff. Brianna?

KEILAR: On Capitol Hill, there's another pressing problem, passing a bill to keep the government open. CNN's Manu Raju is live for us on the Hill with the latest. Manu, what are you hearing?

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Senate Democrats are deliberating, really agonizing over what many are describing as a painful choice, whether to vote for a Republican bill that passed the House narrowly to keep the government open through September, a bill that includes cuts to domestic spending that they're concerned about, that does not constrain Donald Trump or Elon Musk or the efforts to purge the federal government, but one that they have to essentially accept in order to avoid a government shutdown. Concerns that if they don't vote for this bill, that this government could shut down by midnight on Saturday morning, 11:59 PM, Friday night is the deadline, and how long could that shutdown last if they don't agree.

The math is critical here. Yes, the Republicans control the United States Senate, but it's a 53-47 Senate, meaning that there need to be 60 votes in the Senate to overcome any filibuster attempt. And we expect one Republican to vote against that plan. That means eight Democrats will be needed. Will there be eight? That's a question that a lot of Democrats are debating now, whether it is to supply the votes. Some, including Sen. John Hickenlooper, are warning that if they don't vote for this plan, then the government could shut down for a long period of time and ultimately give Donald Trump more power.

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SEN. JOHN HICKENLOOPER (D-CO): It does seem the lesser of two very serious evils is to go along with the CR. Shutting down the government, A, it's always a last resort. In this case, it's even more than that, because who knows how long it stays shut down? Who knows how long the President decides that he likes making all the decisions for the government? The - he's going to say - you can imagine him saying, Congress has failed, Congress can't help you. It's up to me to save everyone.

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RAJU: And that is really what has been debated behind closed doors. In fact, for a second straight day, Democrats were debating how they should actually handle this situation and whether they should actually vote now and give Republicans what they want or block this measure when it comes up for a vote as soon as tomorrow or potentially even Friday.

And coming out of this closed-door meeting that lasted about 90 minutes, Democrats indicated there was no consensus yet on how to proceed. Many of them are still pushing for a shorter-term deal to keep the government open for about a month. Republicans will not go for that, which means their choice ultimately is back the bill that passed the House or essentially shut the government down. How they deal with that is still a question. We expect to get perhaps some indication of how they may plan to proceed.

Chuck Schumer, the Senate Democratic leader, is planning to go to the Senate floor in a matter of minutes to reveal his thinking. Will he reveal how they'll vote on this key issue remains to be seen here, guys.

KEILAR: All right. We'll be looking for that moment from Leader Schumer. Manu, thank you for the very latest there. Boris?

SANCHEZ: There is growing frustration not just on Capitol Hill as Senate Democrats are meeting to figure out how to vote on the GOP spending bill, but also among voters. And CNN's Eva McKend has been speaking to voters in Pennsylvania, which awarded its 19 electoral college votes to Donald Trump back in November. What are folks sharing with you there?

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, there is a real disconnect between what Democrats are saying and what they are actually doing. That is the view from Democratic voters across the country. A CNN poll found as such, 73 percent of Democrats do not believe elected Democrats are doing enough to meet this moment.

So, I went to Pennsylvania. I spoke to some of these folks, including a music librarian. His name is Robert Lipartito (ph). And Boris, listen to what he told me.

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He said, "It's not just a matter of trying to find consensus when someone is literally dismantling our institutions right before our eyes and turning on our allies." He says, "I understand the importance of bipartisanship in normal times, but these aren't normal times."

And these frustrations are not just concentrated in urban centers like Philadelphia. We travel to more rural parts of the state. There aren't as many Democrats there. But they feel really isolated in this moment because they work very hard to convince their conservative and independent neighbors to support Democrats.

Here is what an elementary school cafeteria cook told me. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOBBI JO ERICKSON, PENNSYLVANIA DEMOCRATIC VOLUNTEER: There is a war being waged in rural America, in rural Pennsylvania and we're fighting, and we're scrapping every single day to get volunteers, to get Democrats on the ballot, to get votes out. We're scrapping every day. And if they would work half as hard as we do, I would have no complaints.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCKEND: So Boris, you might wonder, well, what can Democrats do in this moment? They aren't in power. They can still do quite a lot. When you speak to these Democratic voters, they can gum up the works. They can make it more difficult, for instance, for Trump to confirm his nominees. Many Democrats have supported Trump's agenda by voting in support of his nominees. And it's hard to make the argument that we are on the precipice of a constitutional crisis in one breath and then support Trump's nominees in another.

SANCHEZ: Yes, really fascinating reporting. Eva McKend, thank you so much for bringing us that. Brianna?

KEILAR: With us now is Democratic senator Tina Smith of Minnesota.

Senator, thank you for being with us. And we certainly, I should note, are waiting to see what Leader Schumer says here shortly on the floor about how Democrats will proceed. But are you going to vote yes on this stopgap funding bill that would keep the government running past Friday?

SEN. TINA SMITH (D-MN): So, the Republicans have served up for Democrats in the Senate two terrible alternatives. One, shutting down the government or, two, voting for this long-term resolution to fund the budget in ways that would really, really hurt Minnesotans. So, two terrible choices.

What I think we should do, and where I think the Democrats are unified, is we are demanding a vote on a short-term resolution to continue the budget negotiations. They are so close to achieving that agreement that would allow us to fund the government without doing great harm to the people of my state and that's where I think we are unified right now.

KEILAR: So, you're talking about that 30-day stopgap funding bill that we've heard other ...

SMITH: Exactly.

KEILAR: Okay, so I want to challenge you on that, because it ...

SMITH: Exactly. Let's put a vote on the floor, you know, let's ...

KEILAR: Well, it sounds like ...

SMITH: Sorry.

KEILAR: ... admittedly, you have two difficult options, politically, for Democrats. But that's not really an option either, a 30-day CR. That's not a realistic option, right?

SMITH: At the very least, it is not unreasonable for Democrats to ask for - to demand a vote on that. This is something that has broad support amongst Democrats and Republicans in the United States Senate. At the very least, we should be able to expect a vote on that before we continue on to whatever comes next. But you know what I'm really focused on right now is how these two options - and I - you know, if those are the two options that, ultimately, I'm confronted with, I don't know which one I'm going to decide is the - does the least harm to Minnesotans. But what I can see right now is both of them are terrible, because both of them are this giant power grab by Donald Trump and Elon Musk to wrest control all in their hands and put the billionaires in charge in ways that are going to hurt Minnesota families. And that is - that's not right.

I agree with those voters that you had on before I came on, saying that this is a fight for the soul of our country. And I know what side I'm on. I'm on the side of the people of this country and not the billionaires.

KEILAR: Okay. But it sounds like what you want is a chance to register an objection with this 30-day stopgap bill that - let's just be clear, it's not going to go anywhere. You don't have the votes. You don't control the Senate calendar, right? So, then, walk us through the calculus on these other, from your perspective, terrible choices. Because you have some Democrats who are saying, if you keep the government open, you are going to allow Elon Musk and DOGE to continue slashing government. If you close it, you actually could then have a long closure and people could lose their jobs as a result of that. So, walk us through how you see these options.

SMITH: Right. Well, so the way I see this is that you have Republicans basically forcing two terrible choices on the people of this country. And this is not so much for me a political challenge as it is just a challenge about how to protect people in this moment.

If we were to do this long-term continuing resolution, understand that there are hundreds of projects in Minnesota that we had agreement on that will go unfunded around law enforcement, around public safety, around clean water.

[15:15:05]

Understand that in that short-term CR, there will be massive funding cuts to housing. That's bad for Minnesota. That's not going to help lower the costs for anybody in Minnesota.

And then on the other hand, you have the choice of not supporting that and having the Republicans push us into a shutdown. And what does that mean for Minnesota? Donald Trump, we know, and Elon Musk want a shutdown. They believe that in that scenario, they could keep us in a shutdown indefinitely. What happens next? The courts, after a few weeks, don't get funded. They have nearly unlimited power to decide who's an essential employee and who gets fired.

It - I think, in some ways, even worse, it exacerbates their stranglehold on power in the federal government, completely ignoring both Republicans and Democrats in the United States Senate as they take that step.

KEILAR: So, what is clear is your options are very limited. I do want to sort of relate it, but on a different topic. You responded to Elon Musk's email to federal workers a few weeks ago here, asking them to account for what they've done in the past week. And I want to say to people, there's a bad language, curse word, expletive alert here ahead of this.

And you said, "This is the ultimate dick boss move from Musk, except he isn't even the boss. He's just a dick." And then you followed that up with: "I'm on the side of the workers, not the billionaire asshole bosses."

And you've seen the polls. Democratic voters want more from your party. They want to see you opposing Trump in a more fulsome way. So, I mean, I ask you this sincerely. Do you - like, what's the value in that kind of language and communication? Is that the best way to communicate the stakes of the moment that the country's in?

SMITH: Well, what I am hearing from voters at home and what I heard on the - on your show is that people want to see some fight. They want to see some urgency in this moment that we're in. And they - I think with that tweet that I did, it touched a nerve with millions of people, because everybody has had the experience of having some boss who treats them with disrespect, who denigrates their work and is just basically using big power play moves to make - to terrorize them.

And so to me, what we really need to do in this moment is to speak out and to speak out loudly and clearly. And you can see my colleagues doing that across the board. You know, a couple of days ago, Elon Musk had the audacity to call Mark Kelly, a United States senator and an - and a combat veteran, to call him a traitor. And the response, the negative response that came from that, I think shows that voters all over the country - and Mark punched back and the positive response that he got, I think, is a demonstration, again, that people want to see us fighting.

KEILAR: He said Republicans supported on - supported him on that. They wouldn't publicly. But let me play a little devil's advocate on that.

SMITH: Yes.

KEILAR: And it was ridiculous ...

SMITH: Sure.

KEILAR: ... that Elon Musk called him, of all people, a traitor. That wasn't a four-letter word that he used, what Elon Musk said to him and it got a lot of attention. I mean, isn't there a way to mirror what your constituents, the outrage they're feeling, maybe even in a bigger way than using like the limited vocabulary of curse words? Because there's a lot of great words out there that can communicate a lot. I just - we're hearing lawmakers first, more and more and more. And at a time where there's a question of sort of what your party can actually achieve for those folks who want it. I mean, I just wonder sort of what your thinking is on that.

SMITH: Yes. I know what you're saying. I mean, I understand what you're asking. And I mean, I think I would just say that in that moment, that's what I thought. And obviously, it struck a nerve. And there are lots of different ways that we can express ourselves. And I know that my constituents, sometimes they swear, sometimes they don't swear.

What matters is that people feel like you're actually expressing what you really think, that you're not sugarcoating it, as my mother used to say, who also had a tendency to swear a fair amount. Let me just be honest with you. So, I think that's the thing that people are looking for, is that sense that, you know, how I express myself might be differently from how Mark Kelly does. But what matters is that people are connecting with the actual feeling that you have about the seriousness of the moment.

KEILAR: Yes. A lot of people did respond to it.

And finally, I just want to ask you, because we heard New Hampshire Democratic senator Jeanne Shaheen announcing this morning ...

SMITH: Yes.

KEILAR: ... she's not going to be seeking re-election. You made that announcement. Michigan senator Gary Peters has made that announcement. You guys have been in states, you know, these are tough states. I wonder what message that sends about sort of where Democrats think they can continue the fight.

SMITH: So I think it's interesting that each one of us are making very personal decisions about how we want to spend the next 10 years of our life.

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And in the Senate, you know, you have to make a decision two years out, and you're committing to six years. And I know for me, and I think for Gary and Jeanne, it was the same. And I also think that for each one of us, we knew, we had great confidence that there is a strong bench of leaders behind us ready to take up the mantle and ready to lead. And I don't think that either - any of the three of us feel like we are the only ones who can do this job in this moment.

But it matters to know that I believe that a strong Democrat will hold the seat when I am finished in this job. And that gives me a lot of energy, too.

KEILAR: Senator Tina Smith, thank you so much for the conversation. We appreciate you being on with us.

SMITH: Yes. Thank you.

KEILAR: President Trump says it is up to Russia now after Ukraine accepted a 30-day ceasefire proposal from the U.S. But Ukraine's president says he's expecting strong steps from Washington if Russia doesn't sign off.

Plus, an anti-war activist arrested by ICE agents will remain in detention for now amid efforts to deport him. What's next in the case that's sparking concerns about free speech and the right to protest? Well, that and much more coming up on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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KEILAR: President Trump says that we'll know soon whether Russia is agreeing to a ceasefire deal with Ukraine, telling reporters he's received, quote, "positive messages" from Moscow. Today, U.S. officials are briefing their Russian counterparts on this 30-day truce that Ukraine agreed to just 24 hours ago.

SANCHEZ: Let's discuss with an expert on Russia, Dmitri Alperovitch. He's the author of the book, "World on the Brink," and the chairman of the Silverado Policy Accelerator.

Dmitri, thank you so much for being with us.

Trump's National Security advisor, Mike Waltz, spoke with his Russian counterpart today. How do you imagine the conversation over the ceasefire deal is going? What do you expect Russia to do?

DMITRI ALPEROVITCH, RUSSIA AND GEOPOLITICS EXPERT: Well, look, Putin is in a little bit of a pickle because I think that a lot has changed for him over the last month. He no longer feels like he can necessarily just reject this deal outright for fear of upsetting Trump. And also because he sees a much bigger price beyond just Ukraine now. He sees an opportunity to normalize the U.S.-Russia relations, to potentially further drive a wedge between America and Europe, to drop sanctions and everything else.

So, he needs to play ball here. But what he may try to do is negotiate other components of the ceasefire. So, for example, the United States, of course, has re-enabled military aid to Ukraine yesterday. He may try to argue that what's the point of sending military aid if there's going to be a ceasefire and do away with that or find some other concessions that he can get. But I don't think he's going to be in a rush to accept this.

KEILAR: And when you say you don't think he's in a rush to accept it, do you mean that he makes sort of overtures? Like, he's not going to say no, but he'll be looking for ways to exploit it and draw out this process?

ALPEROVITCH: That's right. That's his typical playbook. And, by the way, he was just visiting the region of Kursk, which was, of course, occupied by Ukraine last year, where the Russians are launching a counteroffensive. He ordered his military today to capture as much of that territory, actually all of it, as quickly as possible. I think he looks to consolidate those gains before he may have to accept the ceasefire, so he'll try to drag it out for as long as possible.

SANCHEZ: So, the White House won't say if there are enforcement mechanisms that would prevent Russia from breaking this proposed ceasefire. During that big Oval Office blowup, you had President Zelensky laying out the ceasefire that Russia had broken in the past. I wonder what kinds of security guarantees you would envision might actually keep the Kremlin in line.

ALPEROVITCH: Well, I don't think there will be any security guarantees of any consequences that will be provided. Certainly American troops are off the table. I don't think even European troops are going to be willing to fight Russia without American backing. But, look, Donald Trump can tell Putin that if he breaks his word on the ceasefire, he may double down on sanctions, on more economic measures. He may stop the ongoing talks right now on normalization of relations.

So, there can be real consequences for Putin, particularly if he sees a much bigger price at the end of the table with regards to a closer Russia-U.S. relationship.

KEILAR: Dmitri, we hear President Trump stating repeatedly now that Ukraine doesn't hold any cards. What cards do you see Ukraine holding right now and how many fewer cards are they holding than they were even, you know, three or four weeks ago?

ALPEROVITCH: Well, the most important card that Ukraine is holding is its willingness to keep fighting this war even without U.S. support, which it can do if the Europeans step up and try to compensate for the loss in U.S. equipment and munitions, which will be difficult for them to do, but it is doable.

So if Ukraine indicates that, with America or without, it's going to keep fighting this war to try to get to a just peace that it can't get at a negotiation table, then it has, frankly, all the cards and America will have little leverage over it.

SANCHEZ: So, Secretary of State Marco Rubio touched down in Canada for a meeting with G7 ministers today. Is there anything specific to Ukraine that you'll be looking for as part of that conversation?

ALPEROVITCH: Probably not. Look, the United States has made it very clear, the White House has made it very clear that it wants to negotiate an end to this war between the three parties, Russia primarily and Ukraine secondarily, and that the Europeans, they don't see necessarily having much of a role to play here. Ukrainians have been trying to push the Europeans into that conversation because they know, of course, that the Europeans are more likely to insist on security guarantees and other conditions that are preferable for Kyiv.

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But this will be very hard for ...