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Becky Pringle is Interviewed about the Department of Education; Polls on Tesla and Elon Musk; Norm Eisen is Interviewed about the Easter Egg Roll Sponsors; Maryland Survives in March Madness. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired March 24, 2025 - 09:30   ET

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

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[09:31:35]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening right now, Department of Education employees are starting to clear out their offices in Washington. Today they have just 30 minutes to pack up and then leave once again. Earlier this month, the department said nearly half of its staff would leave through layoffs and voluntary buyouts. And last week, President Trump signed an executive order to begin the process of dismantling the entire agency. There are still questions, though, of course, about how that will happen, since only an act of Congress can shut down the cabinet level department.

Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: In addition to those questions come the legal challenges to President Trump's executive order. Today, a coalition of advocacy organizations, including the NAACP, the National Education Association, and the Education Law Center have all filed a lawsuit to prevent the administration from further dismantling the Department of Education.

Joining me now is Becky Pringle, the president of the National Education Association.

Thank you so much for being here this morning with us.

First of all, what does the lawsuit allege?

BECKY PRINGLE, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION: It's good to be with you, Sara.

We have seen a steady destruction of the Department of Education, ending with the executive order late last week. But it didn't start there. Donald Trump and Elon Musk and Linda McMahon all have been talking about destroying the Department of Education, and they have already taken action.

Over half of the - of the people who work there, of course, have been let go. And then, of course, we have seen them saying that they're going to - to actually dismantle it. Now, we know that that is something that only Congress can do. So, we

know that this administration is overstepping its authority. And that is what our suit is about, that that authority rests in Congress.

SIDNER: Let me ask you this. Congress is ultimately the decider of whether or not the whole agency is gone, whether or not Trump can get rid of the agency. Congress has to decide that. They don't have the votes for that. But do you think that, in this inference, and what he's doing now, will irreparably break the Department of Education?

PRINGLE: You know, Sara, I taught middle school science for over 31 years. And what I know is that what this administration has done by stealing resources from our students, by gutting the Department of Education, by taking funding - $1.5 billion, Sara, of funding has been taken away. We're talking about almost 8 million that's dedicated to our students with disabilities, 10 million for those students who have done everything we've asked them to do and just need help getting to college. We have 12 million that's dedicated to career and technical education so our students going into jobs can be prepared for those jobs. And 26 million, 26 million, for our rural schools and our - and our communities where our students are living in poverty. That is not OK. And we know the impact will be real for our students.

That's why we have filed suit. And we're not stopping there. We are - we are, of course, we're looking at legislation and, of course, we are taking action, which you've seen thousands of parents and educators and students all over this country just last week taking action, mobilizing to say, no, you will not steal resources from our students.

[09:35:11]

SIDNER: Here is the argument being made against the Department of Education. We heard it just recently from governor - former Governor Sununu. He said, look, it's too big. It forces states to go through too much bureaucratic red tape, and it only funds a fraction of the states' education needs. It's somewhere between 6 and 13 percent.

So, why does it need to employ so many people? Why does it need to exist? Which Republicans, many of them are saying, it doesn't. And certainly Donald Trump trying to get rid of it.

PRINGLE: You know, Sara, let's be clear, every level of government has a role to play in making sure that every single one of our students gets what they need and what they deserve. The federal government's role in the establishment of the government - the Department of Education was at - after the Civil Rights Act, where we knew that there were inequities that existed in every social system in this country, and the federal government's role was to try to close those gaps so that our students with disabilities could get the education they deserve. Our students from low income families could get the extra resources that we know they needed.

It is not OK that this administration is stealing billions of dollars from our students to give billionaires tax breaks. We know that's exactly what they plan to do. We know that students have already been harmed and hurt, and our families are reeling from the impact of taking away the role of the federal government.

And let's be clear, we're not only talking about funding, we're talking about making sure that any complaints that come in from our schools, through the office of civil rights, which has been gutted, that they are investigated. That's why the NAACP is joining - has joined in this lawsuit.

So, we have a lot of work to do, and we are ready to do it.

SIDNER: We will see how this fight plays out in court and what further things that you do going forward that you have promised here on CNN.

Becky Pringle, thank you so much. I really appreciate your time this morning.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Ahead for us, Tesla's stock continues its post-election tumble, and Elon Musk's favorability with the American people trending in the same direction. So, what this all means now for Tesla's bottom line.

And the SEC is making history in the NCAA tournament, sending seven teams to the sweet 16. Coy has your March Madness highlights, next.

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[09:42:07]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, there's new reporting out there this morning about what some see as a gap between how supporters view President Trump versus Elon Musk. "The New York Times" had a piece this morning as their, quote, "President Trump and Elon Musk took in the division one wrestling championship in Philadelphia on Saturday. But some of Mr. Trump's supporters expressed complicated feelings about his billionaire advisor. One supporter who said of Mr. Musk's role in the administration, it's someone putting their hand in a cookie jar they don't belong in." That's just some of the reporting that's out there.

CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten is here with me.

And part of this gets to the changing perceptions of Elon Musk in society in general.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Yes, I mean, I have rarely ever seen any change of perception as dramatic as this one. I mean, Elon Musk's net favorable rating, it's dropped from plus 24 to minus 19 overall from 2017 to 2025. And look at these - look at, among Democrats. He used to be beloved by Democrats at plus 35. Look where it is now, minus 91 points on the net favorable rating. That is a movement of over 120 points in the negative direction, falling through the floor.

Now, among Republicans, he has gone up from plus 18 to plus 51. But that doesn't at all make up for the gap that the Democrats have completely fallen off the rails for Elon Musk. And among independents the drop has been from plus 17 to minus 17.

Look, Donald Trump isn't the most popular president in the world, but he is far more popular than Elon Musk is.

BERMAN: So, we've been focused a lot on what this all means for the country as Elon Musk exercises a certain amount of power. But another question is, what does it mean for Elon Musk and his companies? Now, we can't be sure there's a one for one parallel here, but we are seeing activity.

ENTEN: We're absolutely seeing activity. I mean you can see this in terms of new registrations for Teslas in the United States. Car registrations. In 2024 versus 2023, look at that, down 5 percent.

I was interested, did that movement continue into the new year? Absolutely. If anything, it accelerated. Look at this, new car registrations, down 11 percent. And this has occurred as other EV carmakers have seen their registrations go up. And it has also occurred as Tesla registrations and the people buying Teslas worldwide has also dropped. It's not just a U.S. phenomenon.

BERMAN: And in 10 seconds or less, part of the reason is, who buys EVs?

ENTEN: That's exactly right. Who buys EVs? Look at this, the share of EV owners who are Republicans, just 20 percent. When you're falling with Democrats, falling with independents, you're giving up a large share of the market. And that is a big reason why Tesla is struggling and Elon Musk is certainly at least driving a little bit of that.

BERMAN: Harry Enten, thank you very much.

ENTEN: Thank you.

BERMAN: Kate.

BOLDUAN: And then there is this. This morning there are new questions surrounding something that should be anything but controversial. The White House Easter Egg Roll. This year, the 100 plus year old tradition is getting a new twist, corporate sponsors. The White House, through an outside event production company, is offering branding opportunities to anyone who wants to pay up. The sponsorship offers range from $75,000 to $200,000, according to a pitch document obtained by CNN.

[09:45:02]

Among the offerings for prospective sponsors, naming rights for key areas or elements, custom branded baskets, snacks, beverages, or souvenirs. Sponsors can also gain access to an invite-only brunch hosted inside the White House by the first lady. All of this raising fresh legal and ethical concerns.

Joining us right now is former White House ethics czar Norm Eisen.

It's good to see you, Norm. Thanks for coming in. Add this to the list of ways that President Trump is running up

against, or raising new questions about, where the ethical and legal line stands in this administration. What do you think of this aspect of it and the impact of this?

NORM EISEN, CO-FOUNDER, "THE CONTRARIAN": Kate, President Trump has smashed all of the guardrails around corruption in government. And this is another example of that. You have somebody who's launched a digital coin that lets foreign governments pump him money. That's a violation of the Constitution. You have him deploying Elon Musk, who's taking action that can affect his pocketbook. No wonder the American people are so angry at Elon Musk. Why should he be all over government when he has commercial interests at Tesla, at SpaceX, that are affected by these agencies he's cutting?

And now we're selling one of the finest traditions. It was like a homemade thing when I worked at the White House. The kids would come in. You'd have eggs. The egg producers would provide the eggs. Kate, eggs have become so expensive under Donald Trump that he can't afford to follow the rules. These are in law. There's regulations that you cannot be entangled commercially. And I think this raises profound issues around those rules.

So, it's reprehensible on every front. And it hurts the American people, large or small, even if it's just bringing these corporations in for an egg roll, government shouldn't be influenced by corporations. Should be helping the people.

BOLDUAN: So, also late last week, the president moved to revoke security clearances of another round of high-profile people, including the Biden family, Kamala Harris, the former secretary of state, Tony Blinken, and you, Norm. What was your reaction when you heard about this? And why do you think it's happened? How does it impact you?

EISEN: Kate, it's the third time that Trump and his people have revoked my security clearance. They announced it several weeks ago. Then they announced it again. Then they did it on Thursday. You have to wonder, are they - is Trump like taking my security clearance away and then turning it back on so he can take it away again?

Kate, the reason he's doing it is because he's losing. We filed or helped on more than two dozen lawsuits against Donald Trump at my organization, State Democracy Defenders Fund. We've had a series of big wins protecting 6,000 FBI agents from being targeted by him, getting 20,000 federal employees who were wrongly fired, rehired.

We just got DOGE and Musk declared unconstitutional for the work that they did tearing down USAID, many, many more things. It's petty retaliation. He'll probably take it away a fourth time this week. I couldn't care less. I'm just going to sue him even more.

BOLDUAN: I mean, I guess we'll stand by to stand by.

Norm, thank you for coming in. Appreciate your time.

John. BERMAN: All right, remember the outrage when Jill Biden suggested

inviting a losing basketball team to the White House? Well, it just happened again. President Trump is apparently now inviting Super Bowl losing Kansas City Chiefs to come by. But wait, there's a twist.

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[09:53:42]

BERMAN: The (INAUDIBLE) says he is inviting the Kansas City Chiefs to the White House. Yes, they lost the Super Bowl. But as you can see by that chyron giving away the punch line, he says it's a makeup visit because they did not get to go when they won in 2020 during the pandemic. This year's champions, the Philadelphia Eagles, the president says they are set to visit the White House in late April.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, so there was an insane buzzer beater, yada, yada, yada. But you know what the big story is here? Florida won. We sure did. So, let's go to Coy Wire.

And, Coy, where are you?

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Hi.

SIDNER: Listen, there's only one story you need to talk about. So, just go ahead and tell us about how great Florida is and then we can be done with this.

WIRE: How are those fingernails this morning, Sara? They were in quite the nail biter. Your Gators were. And we will get to that in a second.

But we have to see this first buzzer beater of March Madness. Twelve seed Colorado State. They're about to bust even more brackets, taking down four seed Maryland. They were down two with two seconds left - 10 seconds left there. Look at that three pointer by Jalen Lake. They take the lead.

And then there were three seconds to go and Maryland gets it to Derik Queen. And it is a big man buzzer beater. Six foot ten from Baltimore banking it off the board. March Madness is upon us. Derik Queen, just a freshman, sending the Terps to the Sweet 16 with a 72-71 win.

[09:55:03]

Now, the two-time defending champs, UConn, they were taking on the fighting Sara Sidners, one seed Florida. And UConn ties it with two minutes to go. Sara is fully chomping on those nails.

SIDNER: That's right.

WIRE: But here come the swamp monsters. Walter Clayton Junior had five three pointers, including the dagger, a 77-75 win. Florida advances to the Sweet 16 for the first time in eight years. Sara, the SEC has seven teams headed to the Sweet 16. Most by any

conference ever. NIL could be a factor. Every team in the Sweet 16 is from a power four conference. No mid-majors making it this year.

Now, on the women's side. Defending champs, Dawn Staley's South Carolina, they were down at halftime to eight seed Indiana. The Hoosiers' Sydney Parrish, she said before the game that the Gamecocks just didn't have the same players this year. And that is bulletin board material. All three of South Carolina's losses this season came when they were trailing at halftime. But this time, they rallied. Their star, Bree Hall, said that she fell asleep, Sara, reading that article. South Carolina on to their 11th straight Sweet 16 after a 64- 53 win.

We have number one USC. We have number one Texas. We have UConn later today to book their tickets to the Sweet 16.

SIDNER: (INAUDIBLE).

WIRE: And, yes, that is the Gator chomp, if you don't know. There they go.

SIDNER: Scottie (ph) right here knows what it's all about. Come on.

WIRE: Yes.

SIDNER: All right.

WIRE: This could be the year.

BOLDUAN: I - I don't want to get Gator chomped, so I'm not adding to this.

But I'm still winning when it comes to brackets.

SIDNER: Oh, yes.

WIRE: You go, girl.

BOLDUAN: Thank you for join - thank you, Coy. Thank you for joining us. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL. "THE SITUATION ROOM" up next.

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