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Trump Lashes Out at Judge Who Blocked Deportation Flights; Federal Reserve to Make Interest Rate Decision Amid Trump Trade War; First Game of March Madness Ends on Last-Second Layup. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired March 19, 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]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: The battle of words between a Supreme Court justice and Donald Trump, President Trump doubling down on his call to impeach a federal judge who blocked his deportation flight. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts calling him out in a rare rebuke. What Trump is saying about that this morning.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking overnight, fireworks at a town hall in a deep red district over Elon Musk's, tariffs and Ukraine.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What are you going to stand up for?

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And a fisherman reunites with his family after 95 days lost at sea. The answer to the burning question, what he ate to stay alive.

Kate is out this morning, I'm John Berman with Sara Sidner, this is CNN News Central.

SIDNER: This morning, President Trump is stepping up his attacks on the courts as judge after judge has ruled against him. This time, he's lashing out at the federal judge who temporarily blocked Trump's deportation of hundreds of mostly Venezuelan immigrants accused of being gang members. Trump calling the judge, quote, crooked and demanding he be impeached.

As the fight escalates, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts appearing to issue a rare rebuke to the president without naming him, though saying, for more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision. The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose.

But Trump, doubling down last night in an interview with Fox News, saying Roberts never specifically mentioned him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: He didn't mention my name in the statement. I just saw it quickly. He didn't mention my name, but many people have called for his impeachment, the impeachment of this judge. I don't know who the judge is, but he's radical left.

What do you do when you have a rogue judge? The judge that we're talking about, he's, you look at his other rulings, I mean, rulings unrelated, but having to do with me, he's a lunatic.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CNN's Kevin Liptak joining us from the White House this morning. If Donald Trump does not think that this was a rebuke to him from John Roberts, I'm not sure why that is. What can you tell us about what the White House is saying about these comments this morning?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, it was pretty unambiguous, I think, but I do also think it's telling that the president is trying to shrug off John Roberts here. He knows that the Supreme Court is about to get a lot of his agenda coming before it, and John Roberts appears to be one judge that he's not interested in picking a fight directly with. So, it was telling, I think, that he seemed to shrug off that criticism directly, but certainly he is still continuing to go very fiercely against that federal judge in Washington who blocked his use of the Alien Enemies Act for these quick deportations, but also very notably has been very skeptical from the bench about the Trump administration's arguments for why it didn't turn those planes around after he ordered them to do just that.

Last night on Truth Social, the president wrote, if a president doesn't have the right to throw murderers and other criminals out of the country because a radical left lunatic judge wants to assume the role of president, then our country is in very big trouble and destined to fail. So, maintaining that very combative stance towards Judge Boasberg.

And I think it all kind of illustrates the strategy that you hear from the president, and when you listen to White House officials, they do believe that they have the majority of the country behind them on this issue of immigration, and they think that attacking these judges will only bolster the president politically. And you saw that in that interview with Laura Ingraham last night, the president saying that it was time to go after what he called rogue judges.

But I do think it was also notable in that late night statement is actually an early morning statement. He posted it eight minutes after midnight. He did not repeat his call for impeachment against this judge, which I think is telling. Obviously the president not necessarily wanting to get into a public spat with the Supreme Court, so much so much of his agenda now heads in that direction.

[07:05:04]

SIDNER: Yes. It is so rare for a Supreme Court justice to make a statement at all other than the issues -- the orders that are issued. So, it is surprising. I do want to go to another of the things that have happened. The Trump administration has been dealt several legal blows. This is just one of them. And one of those big blows was that a judge said, look, it looks like it may be unconstitutional, that it was likely unconstitutional the way that DOGE dismantled USAID. What do we expect that to mean for USAID and for those who have all been laid off?

LIPTAK: Yes, because you'll remember so much of that agency has already been dismantled. A lot of the programs have already been halted overseas. And so I think it will be very difficult for them to re-begin those programs very quickly, which will have obviously a continuing effect for the people that they were helping on the ground.

But this judge's order is significant. It is one of the first times that Elon Musk and DOGE have been directly challenged by the courts. And the thrust of the argument from the plaintiffs and from the judge in his decision was that because Elon Musk is not a sworn officer of the United States. He doesn't have the constitutional ability to dismantle these agencies. He says that it deprives Congress of the ability to dissolve it themselves after they formed these agencies.

So, this will be an important sort of way for this to go forward. Obviously, Trump says he will appeal. It's not clear what this means for the actual employees of USAID, but it is a significant setback for the administration in the court.

SIDNER: It is. All right, Kevin Liptak, thank you so much for reporting early this morning outside of the White House. John?

BERMAN: All right, let's go back to the deportation case and the actual law. The Justice Department has until noon today to answer this federal judge's questions.

Let's get right to CNN's Katelyn Polantz for the latest on this. Good morning to you.

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. This is a moment where Judge Jeb Boasberg in the federal court in Washington, he just wants answers and the Justice Department has been very hesitant to give him answers about these planes.

So, what had happened is he had given that order. And then whenever there was a lot of discussion of whether the Trump administration was violating the order intentionally, or just not listening to the judge at all, he called them into court and he tried to get the facts.

At that hearing on Monday, the Justice Department didn't want to answer. Yesterday, they provided some answers to the court, but now Judge Boasberg says, okay, if you can't do this in public, I want to know the laundry list of facts about these planes. Because what is happening here, John, is that Judge Boasberg, he's trying to figure out if the administration was intentionally violating his orders and he's also trying to build the record, making sure that he knows all of the facts before he says any conclusions here about what happened between him and the administration. The facts that he's trying to get now, what time did the planes take off, the planes that left the United States with migrants on them headed to foreign countries before the judge issued his written order? Where did they take off from? When were the planes leaving U.S. airspace? That's part of the Justice Department's argument. They say they never violated any court orders. There were jurisdictional issues where the judge might not have any say over the planes because they were over international waters. We'll see if that holds up. And then there are questions about how many people on those two planes were actually being removed from the country based on Donald Trump's proclamation, which Judge Boasberg says may not hold constitutional muster here.

So, that's the bottom line he's trying to get to. The Justice Department says that a plane took off after the judge issued his order. And when that happened, none of those people were subject to the proclamation that the judge was weighing in on. So, a lot of moving parts, a lot of detail still moving forward in court. John?

BERMAN: Yes, the judge asking questions about the facts here. We will see.

Katelyn Polantz, it's great to see you this morning, thank you so much. Sara?

SIDNER: All right, thank you, John.

Today, a key decision on interest rates from the Federal Reserve. What impact will President Trump's rapid fire policy changes have on the economy so far? The Dow futures looking at least happy and green this morning.

All right, moments ago, we learned that President Zelenskyy says he will speak to President Trump today just hours after Russia ramped up its attacks. On Ukraine overnight and that phone call between Trump and Putin.

And there will be madness, the last minute Hail Mary that helped Alabama State secure a spot to the dance (ph).

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SIDNER: Happening today, what would have been a normal decision from the Federal Reserve now not so normal. The Fed is widely expected to hold interest rates steady at their meeting today, but with President Trump's trade war and rapid fire policy shifts, there's a lot to consider about the economic outlook ahead.

CNN's Matt Egan joining us all the way from Washington. He has left New York for a bit. We don't know why. Maybe he doesn't like us in person.

[07:15:00] But, look, a lot of people are looking to this to see what the Fed is going to do. And you never know because of some of the policy shifts that we're seeing. What are you expecting to hear?

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Yes. Good morning, Sara, from Washington. And, no, don't take it personally that I'm here today really for the Fed decision. And, look, we are expecting the Fed to stay on the sidelines as officials wait for more clarity on the trade war in recent weeks. Fed officials have made clear they're really in no rush to change interest rates. So, that's why Wall Street is widely expecting the Fed to keep rates steady, just a 1 percent chance of a cut today, a very low chance of a cut at the next meeting in May. And even in June, there's only a two in three chance of an interest rate cut.

So, investors think the Fed is in a bit of a holding pattern. Former president of the New York Fed, Bill Dudley, he told me he thinks that the Fed could be on hold for many, many months. Here's the problem. They're trying to navigate a trade war that can simultaneously hurt economic growth and lift prices. So, the Fed they really don't know which way to go. Do they tap the brakes by raising interest rates to fight inflation or maybe they should tap the gas, speed things up by cutting interest rates to prevent a recession. I mean, it's if you were driving in your car and you suddenly were surrounded by heavy fog, you would probably take things slow and wait it out until there's better visibility. And that's where the Fed is today.

Now just because no change in interest rates does not mean there won't be significant changes from the Fed. We are expecting a new economic projections to come out. It's the first time since December that the Fed is putting out these new projections. The big question whether or not the Fed is still penciling in two interest rates cuts this year, or if they dial that back again because of the trade war.

And also how much has the Fed downgraded its economic outlook? A lot of economists think that the Fed will now be projecting slower GDP growth because of all the uncertainty around the trade war and penciling in higher inflation because of these tariffs that are on the way. So, there's a lot to pay attention to and I know that investors are going to be living and dying on every word out of Fed Chair Jerome Powell during the press conference today. Sara?

SIDNER: Yes, they can send a message without being very obvious with it. But I just want to say, Matt, you don't know me that well. If you think I go slow in the fog, I'm just saying. Thank you so much, live for us there from Washington, D.C., our Matt Egan.

All right, cases of measles spiking in a multistate outbreak now. The new numbers this morning and what you need to know.

The fisherman who survived more than three months stranded at sea is speaking to CNN and you will not believe what he had to eat to stay alive. But these pictures are so heartwarming.

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[07:20:00]

BERMAN: This morning really is madness. We've had two games. We've got two great storylines. The very first game of the men's NCAA tournament basically a buzzer beater. I know it technically wasn't a buzzer beater, but you know what? Sue me. And then the other game, North Carolina basically tells the world, take that, we belong.

CNN Sports Anchor Andy Scholes is with us this morning. Nothing but joy, Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Oh, yes. And, you know, John, as you mentioned, all the talk once that bracket was released was that North Carolina did not belong in this tournament and West Virginia was especially mad about it. But Tar Heels, I mean, they sure look good last night.

They were taken on San Diego State for an 11th seed in the right to play Ole Miss in the first round and UNC just blew this game wide open in the first half. Senior R.J. Davis six for six from three point land. He finished with 26 points. Tar Heels, they were up by 24 at halftime, they would win easily, 95-68. And the team, they were fully aware of what was being said about them.

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R.J. DAVIS, UNC GUARD: One thing about us, like, yes, we hear the noise, but we don't really pay attention to it. We stay within ourselves and we're just, you know, focused on what we have to do not really paying too much attention to what's being said about us and what not just our preparation leading up to the games.

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SCHOLES: All right. And the other first four game last night coming down to the final seconds, Alabama State and St. Francis tied at 68. Hornets, the full court pass and it bounced around to Amarr Knox who lays it in with a second left. Look at that. That would win it for Alabama State 70-68. They get their first tournament win in program history, move on to face Auburn tomorrow.

The first four wraps up tonight in Dayton. You can watch both of the games on our sister network, TruTV, starting at 6:40 Eastern.

All right, Alex Ovechkin, meanwhile, back on the ice last night for the Capitals against the Red Wings as he continues his quest to pass Wayne Gretzky's all-time goal mark. The 39-year-old, though, going goalless in this one as Washington got the win 4-1. Ovechkin needs eight goals in the team's final 14 games to pass Gretzky this season.

All right, finally, yesterday, we got a great example of why baseball needs to have a strike challenging system in the big leagues. The Yankees jazzed Chisholm full count. The umpire rings him up, but Chisholm immediately challenges because he knew it was a ball. He just runs to first and replay shows it was clearly a ball. The system, it works just like tennis where they immediately show you an animated replay. [07:25:04]

Only the batter, pitcher or catcher can call for a review and they have to do it immediately.

You know, John, they're testing this out right now in a lot of the spring training ballparks. It would not be in play in the big leagues until 2026. I'm fully for this. What about you?

BERMAN: I think it's awesome. I've been watching it in spring training. It happens instantly. It actually adds to the excitement. I don't know why they're waiting a year. Why wait a year to get something right?

SCHOLES: Yes, I don't know. It seems like it's working quite well and the players certainly like the calls being correct and not up to, you know, the umpire. So, yes, I think it's -- hopefully next season it's in full.

BERMAN: Yes, absolutely. And the last thing I'll say about St. Francis, that loss there, where was their free safety, A and B. Don't they ever watch any old like Duke Kentucky games? They've seen that play.

SCHOLES: Oh, yes, the old Christian Laettner, Grant Hill, yes. Well, props to Alabama State, they executed that pretty well.

BERMAN: It was awesome. All right, Andy Scholes, thank you very much.

SCHOLES: All right.

BERMAN: All right, quote, I don't give anything away for nothing. Nancy Pelosi does not mince words, ever, now going after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

And chaos erupts at new Republican town halls throughout the country in deep red districuts.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is where we're at. When are you going to stand up? And we're also on the human rights watch list. What are you going to stand up for?

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