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Trump: Deported Migrants Were "A Bad Group" Of People; Judge Hits DOJ For "Disrespectful" Language, Grills Lawyers On What They Knew About Migrant Flights To El Salvador; Musk Wraps "Great Meeting" At Pentagon As Military Weighs Big Cuts; Now: Flights Resuming At Heathrow Airport After Shutdown; Total Measles Cases In United States Rises To 404; Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA) Discusses About The Message Of Constituents To Fight Hard; Voters Tell Dems To "Fight Dirtier" & "Get In The Mud" Against GOP. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired March 21, 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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BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Demands for the DOJ. The Trump administration is facing off right now with a federal judge. There's a lot of questions about recent deportation flights. But the White House aims to invoke National Security concerns to keep a lot of those details under wraps. We'll explain.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Elon Musk once again showing his extraordinary levels of government access by meeting with top military officials at the Pentagon. What we have learned about their discussions as Musk and the White House fend off concerns over conflicts of interest.

And taking off again, flights set to resume this hour at London's Heathrow Airport after this fire upended all travel there.

We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN News Central.

SANCHEZ: Breaking news into CNN. We're watching a critical hearing underway right now as lawyers for President Trump's Department of Justice meet face-to-face with a judge amid an ongoing legal battle over the decision to deport hundreds of migrants under a centuries-old wartime law.

Judge James Boasberg has given the DOJ multiple opportunities to turn over information about why those flights were allowed to continue to El Salvador last weekend even though he ordered them to turn around. The White House maintains the migrants who were being removed are gang members though they've provided scant evidence to prove that. Here's what President Trump said earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: These were a bad group. This was a bad group and they were in bad areas and they were with a lot of other people that were absolutely killers, and murderers and people that were really bad with the worst records you've ever seen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: President Trump did say that the administration would be looking into claims that some of those who were deported were not gang members. CNN's Kara Scannell been following the latest developments for us.

So, Kara, bring us up to speed with what's happening in court.

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, this hearing has been underway for about 30 minutes and the judge started out by criticizing the Justice Department by saying that in the recent court filings they have written them with intemperate and disrespectful language that he has never seen before from the United States. The judge setting the tone at the outset that he is going to hold both sides accountable.

He also pressed the Justice Department attorney who was in court over the weekend when the judge issued that order telling them to stop the planes. He asked the attorney if he understood his order and what he meant at the time. The prosecutor said that he did understand it was binding and effective at the time the judge delivered it from the bench.

The judge pressed him again saying, so anyone saying anything to the contrary would not be accurate or consistent with this prosecutor's understanding and he agreed to that. So, the judge here getting on the record that his order was clear from the bench saying that the planes should be stopped at that time.

And, of course, Donald Trump and others have said - have raised questions about whether they knew it was effective then or until that written order came out a couple hours later. Now, the judge also telling them that he was asking these questions saying, you know, why were people rushed on the planes. It seems he said, you know, it's it seems you know it's a problem and want to get them out of the country before any lawsuits challenging that could be filed.

Now, at this point the conversation in the courtroom has shifted to the judge getting into some of the more technical aspects here asking how could someone, a petitioner, one of these individuals who was scooped up in this raid and put on the plane, how could they challenge that they are an alien enemy, which is the act that Trump has used here to try to invoke to remove these individuals, non-U.S. citizens from Venezuela. How could anyone challenge that they would fit under this act if - you know, before they could be deported at - getting to the questions that the petitioners have raised about due process.

So, they're getting into kind of the nuts and bolts of this argument right now as this hearing is underway.

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But the tone from the top of the judge here, he's warning everyone that he is, you know, holding them accountable, even saying that he has told his law clerks that one of the most things they can treasure is their reputation and their credibility. And he said that he hoped that the attorneys particularly the Justice Department lawyer he was speaking with would take that to heart today during this hearing. Boris.

SANCHEZ: Kara Scannell, thank you so much for the update. Please keep us updated as we get more from inside the courtroom. Brianna?

KEILAR: Tech billionaire and Trump advisor Elon Musk has wrapped up a closed-door meeting at the Pentagon with top military officials. We're told the briefing was at the request of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that it focused on the tech mogul's efforts to slash government spending. Trump and Hegseth both deny a New York Times report that the meeting would include a discussion of military strategy for a potential war with China.

But the unprecedented visit is raising concerns about possible conflicts of interest due to Musk's extensive business ties to China and his lucrative SpaceX contracts within the Defense Department. CNN's Jeff Zeleny is with us now live from the White House.

Jeff tell us what you're learning about this meeting.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brianna, really in one of the most stark examples yet we are seeing the two roles of Elon Musk both as a senior advisor and leader of the Department of Government Efficiency and a leading defense contractor for the U.S. come into sharp conflict here. As The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal were reporting that Elon Musk was scheduled to have a briefing either classified or unclassified. That was not quite apparent over at the Pentagon talking about a potential war with China.

Well, the President pushed back on that extensively even as he explained why Musk was visiting the Pentagon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: No, he's over there to talk about cost. You might want to address that, Pete. But Elon was over there today to address cost. DOGE, thing called DOGE which you've heard about. I might add that I think Elon if you - if they ever wanted to do that, I think Elon wouldn't do it. I think he wouldn't do it. He wouldn't want to put himself in that position.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: So, we've long heard the President say that he would be the arbiter of any conflicts of interest between Elon Musk and his various government businesses. So, the President there was saying he thinks Musk would not want to have that information about China.

So, look, these whole series of events certainly raising more questions than we have answers for. But it's also making it clear that Elon Musk is now looking at the Department of Defense. Of course, it's the biggest slice of discretionary spending of this budget. Up until now the Pentagon has largely been removed from the layoffs and widespread of firings. But we will see if that changes.

We caught up with the Defense Secretary here briefly as he was leaving the White House to ask about that meeting. Brianna, he called it a terrific meeting and then he said Elon Musk is a patriotic American but did not answer our questions what they talked about. Brianna.

KEILAR: All right. Jeff Zeleny live for us at the White House. Thank you.

CNN Chief National Security Correspondent Alex Marquardt is with us now.

And Alex, as we mentioned this meeting really highlights those potential conflicts of interest for Musk and also the Trump administration.

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Brianna. And there's no doubt that there could be profound differences of opinion when approaching something like China. As big a priority as China from someone like Musk who's got these deep business ties who wants to grow his business there and a variety of National Security officials who see China as the greatest long-term threat to the United States.

I am sitting at the State Department where the Secretary of State Marco Rubio when he was a senator he was banned from going to China. He has been sanctioned by China. We have heard from the CIA director who has talked about China being the greatest long-term threat.

Even if Musk was over at the Pentagon to talk about efficiencies, to talk about cutting things, there are going to be immense questions about how that will affect for example INDOPACOM which is the military command that oversees China. And then, possibly extending that to the CIA where for example they have a large China mission center which really is the biggest mission center that they have that has been praised by the new CIA director John Ratcliffe.

Then, you contrast that with someone like Elon Musk who has cozied up to the regime of Xi Jinping, who has every interest in making sure that that relationship between the Chinese and the U.S. goes well to expand his market. So, there really are going to be a number of voices on the China issue that are at odds with each other.

And, I think, Brianna that you know when it comes to Donald Trump the question always is which voice is he listening to.

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He enjoys contrasting and oftentimes deferring views. Who will he listen to, is it the last person in the room, is that the loudest voice. That we don't know. But there are some very - there are some senior National Security officials with very strong feelings who really do prioritize making sure that the U.S. is outpacing China on an intelligence front, on an economic front, on a military front. And that could be very much at odds with the priorities, the business priorities of Elon Musk, Brianna? KEILAR: Yes, certainly. Alex Marquardt, thank you. Live for us from the State Department.

Global travel issues are expected to last into the weekend as one of the world's top airports is slowly getting flights back up and running after losing power because of a fire.

Plus, an update on the growing measles outbreak. We have new numbers on that. And Democratic lawmakers spent their week away from Washington facing vocal constituents. We're going to speak to a newly elected Democratic congressman who just hosted his own town hall. What he heard from voters. We'll have that next on CNN News Central.

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SANCHEZ: Breaking news into CNN, a live look at London's Heathrow Airport, which is now resuming some flights this hour. It comes after a major fire triggered a power outage that completely shut down Europe's busiest airport today. The fire breaking out at a nearby electrical substation. You see the aftermath there.

Heathrow's top boss said moments ago that he expects the airport will be running as normal by tomorrow morning. CNN's Anna Stewart is live at Heathrow for us.

And Anna, what are you hearing from officials and travelers there?

ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER: Well, actually, we're also seeing a little bit of action here, Boris. We've had two planes landing just in the last few moments, but - both from Gatwick Airport, so really just the other side of London. At this stage, some planes are just being repatriated here, hopefully ready for tomorrow.

We are expecting seven long-haul flights by British Airways to take off this evening to destinations like Buenos Aires and Sao Paolo. But those are just seven or eight tonight. I think tomorrow will be when we see full operational schedules back in action, hopefully. That was what the CEO of Heathrow Airport said. There have been many questions about how Heathrow has responded to the fire at a substation and whether or not more redundancies could be made available. Here's what he had to say.

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THOMAS WOLDBYE, CHIEF EXECUTIVE, HEATHROW AIRPORT: What happened around midnight last night was obviously that we lost a major part of our power supply. And I'd like to stress that this has been an incident of major severity. It's not a small fire.

We have lost power equal to that of a mid-sized city. And our backup systems have been working as they should, but then are not sized to run the entire airport.

(END VIDEO CLIP) STEWART: Now, many will take issue with the idea that everything worked as it should, given the huge level of disruption we've seen. Willie Walsh, who is the director general of IATA, the big airline association had a lot of criticism for Heathrow Airport, asking why a single source of power could cause such disruption and why there weren't better backup plans in place. Boris?

SANCHEZ: Anna Stewart, live for us at Heathrow. Thank you so much. Brianna?

KEILAR: Just in, according to a CNN tally, at least 404 measles cases have been reported in 2025 so far. And to put that into perspective, there were just 285 total cases reported all of last year. The outbreaks are raising alarm among public health experts, especially as vaccination rates among children decline in many communities.

In Texas alone, 309 cases have been reported. With us now is CNN Medical Correspondent Meg Tirrell. Meg, tell us what we're learning about these new numbers.

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Brianna, as we look at these numbers, we get updates from Texas every Tuesday and Friday, and they are consistently growing by between 20 and 40 cases every three days. So, we're still in a period where this is growing and growing by relatively large numbers.

And we heard from officials in West Texas earlier this week, they expect this to be a large outbreak and potentially to take a year to get through. So, in West Texas, where this is centered, as you said, there are 309 cases, 40 hospitalizations right now, and one death in a school-aged child. It's also spread to New Mexico, where now they're reporting 42 cases and two hospitalizations. One death there is under investigation.

Oklahoma also is reporting four cases tied to this outbreak. So, these three states really are seeing the bulk of cases primarily in Texas there. But we have 18 states in the United States now reporting cases of measles. Most of these guys are folks who are unvaccinated, traveled to other countries where we're seeing a lot of measles as well, and coming back with measles.

And of course, whether that spreads depends on how vaccinated the people around those travelers are. And typically, if a lot of people are vaccinated, you don't see more than a couple cases. And that's what we're hoping from a lot of these states, but we're keeping an eye on all of it, Brianna.

KEILAR: Yes, let's hope. Meg Tirrell, thank you so much. We know that you're continuing to update us here.

Democratic lawmakers getting an earful from frustrated and desperate voters who want them to fight back and, quote, "get in the mud with Republicans." That's what one said.

And why a California judge took a hands-on approach while slamming his own court's ruling on a state gun law. [15:19:50]

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. ANGELA ALSOBROOKS (D-MD): ... a continuing resolution. Well, let me just say ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let her speak. Let her speak.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: That was Democratic senator, Angela Alsobrooks, becoming the latest example of lawmakers at town halls all over the country facing the fury of constituents firsthand. Republicans have faced it, too, over DOGE cuts and support for Ukraine, while Democrats are getting slammed for lacking a discernible strategy to respond to the Trump agenda. And just the last day, Democratic voters have told lawmakers, quote, "fight dirtier," "do something," "step up or step aside."

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Here to discuss this and more is Democratic congressman Suhas Subramanyam of Virginia.

Congressman, thank you so much for being with us.

Notably, last night you held a town hall. What was your message to folks who want your party to fight harder to obstruct the Trump agenda?

REP. SUHAS SUBRAMANYAM (D-VA): Yes, I think the American people want us to fight. And they want us to be bold, too. They don't want us to give them excuses on why things aren't happening, why we're not fighting back, right? And so, you know, I've been trying to do everything I can.

Certainly, I speak on the floor every day. We've been supporting the litigation happening. And I've taken a lot of the feedback from constituents. This is our third in-person town hall, and I've used that. And most importantly, I've tried to empower the people who are speaking up and who are being hurt by the administration's actions because they are also powerful.

And it's not just up to lawmakers. We are empowered when they are empowered and the other way around, too. So I think, you know, these town halls have been a great way of learning about the stories and also about giving people a voice and helping fight back against the worst policies.

SANCHEZ: I wonder what you make of how that feedback might coalesce around a strategy, because I've spoken to several Democrats who've made clear that they do not believe that the party has a unified strategy. Do you think that's the fault of leadership? And how much of solidifying that strategy for a response to Trump depends on Leader Jeffries and Senator Schumer?

SUBRAMANYAM: Yes, you know, certainly one strategy that has been effective is sharing the stories of what's happening and connecting what's happening in Washington to how it's impacting the American people. And that's something that even our leadership in the House has emphasized.

And by doing that, we're shining a light on these actions. And actually, we're making a lot of progress, I would say. These - a lot of these court cases have been successful, but even the court of public opinion, I mean, you've seen DOGE, for instance, you know, call a lot of things they've done mistakes and actually tried to rehire people who got fired, some of whom were in my (INAUDIBLE).

And so I think when you put pressure on this administration and when you're bold, they do tend to back down. So, I would say that our strategy should be to speak up, give the American people a voice and be bold in fighting back.

SANCHEZ: Congressman, you're perceiving success while - or at least progress while folks that CNN has spoken to at these town halls and polls that we've done, there was one recently this week that showed that approval for Democrats in Congress was sub 30 percent. I think it was at 29 percent. It doesn't seem like it's connecting with folks. And I'm wondering what you think the approach should be more broadly from the party, because you have different factions.

You have Sen. Ruben Gallego, for example, who told The New York Times that a lot of working-class folks, which Democrats have seen an erosion with, connect to the idea that Elon Musk and Donald Trump are wealthy in part because they want to be wealthy themselves. They aspire to upward mobility. And then you have sort of another faction, the Bernie Sanders-AOC wing, which is a lot which is pushing a message that essentially amounts to tax the rich. There shouldn't be billionaires, et cetera.

I wonder where you land on that as an approach to working class voters.

SUBRAMANYAM: Yes, you know, I would just say that, you know, we all represent different districts and constituencies, but some of these issues and some of these moves by the administration are - they're going to hurt all Americans. You talk about Medicaid cuts, for instance. That's something that I think we are unified on. You're talking about cuts of federal agencies that will directly hurt American people, make them less safe. Like that's actually hurting all Americans and that - I think all Democrats are behind trying to stop some of those worst cuts.

And so I think we have good policies. We haven't talked about the fact that, you know, we want to see a plan for addressing rising costs in the economy, too. And, you know, Sen. Gallego probably was speaking to that as well. I think we have to show a positive vision for what we're going to do for the American people. But we do need to do a better job, I think, as a party of connecting the Trump administration's policies with how it's going to hurt the American people. That is our job right now. And I think we will be - we're getting better at having a unified message, but there's more we need to do, certainly.

SANCHEZ: You are the ranking member on the Oversight Committee - Oversight Subcommittee, I should say, on military and foreign affairs. I want to get your reaction to that New York Times report that Elon Musk was set to review war plans with China at the Pentagon today.

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