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U.S. Jobs Growth Stalls, Just 22K Added In August; Massive Raid At Hyundai EV Plant In Southeast Georgia; Chicago Among Cities Bracing For Increased Enforcement Activity; Trump Again Calls Epstein Case A "Hoax". Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired September 05, 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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[15:00:38]

ERICA HILL, CNN HILL: Another warning sign from the job market about the U.S. economy. The August report coming in far worse than expected. The White House meantime downplaying that data as the President appears to again blame Fed Chair Jerome Powell for the lackluster numbers.

And one of the largest raids in the Trump administration's crackdown on immigration, 475 people apprehended at a new Hyundai plant in Georgia.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: Plus, rebranding the Defense Department. President Trump expected to sign an executive order renaming it the Department of War.

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

HILL: So, one hour left now of course in the trading day. On this Friday after that summer slump of a jobs report sent stocks sliding earlier today. Here's a look at those new warning signs for investors. Just 22,000 jobs added in August. That revised data as well showing that June's numbers actually came in negative marking the first month of job losses since 2020. So, the key question here, does this make a concrete case for an interest rate cut when the Fed meets later this month?

The President who is once again attacking Fed Chair Jerome Powell again suggesting that rate cut is long overdue. Let's lead the hour off with my colleague Vanessa Yurkevich joining us from New York.

So, Vanessa, when it comes to this, you have some insight here when it comes to the odds, when it comes to cutting those rates.

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS & POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and let's start with these big numbers. This is really a no hire no fire jobs market which essentially means that businesses feel paralyzed right now. So, they're not really hiring people. They're not really firing people. They're just kind of saying we got to wait and see what this economy looks like and that's what you're seeing here, 22,000 jobs added in the month of August. That is a slowdown. That is a stall.

The estimate was for 77,000 jobs in the month of August to be added. Look at that difference. That's not close to that number that was projected. The unemployment rate though was projected to increase to 4.3 percent. So, now you have more people entering the job market. More people looking for jobs right now.

Take a look at this chart. This is really telling because in every single jobs report, Erica, we get revisions. It's normal. Some are much larger than others. In the month of July, we found out that there were actually 6,000 jobs added. More than what was initially reported. But in the month of June as you mentioned for the first time in five years since December of 2020, since COVID, we actually saw in the month of June a loss of jobs, 13,000. That broke a historic streak. The second longest job expansion in U.S. history coming to a close now in the month of June because of those job losses.

Some bright spots here in this jobs report. There were jobs added. Healthcare, 31,000 jobs added. Social assistance, 16,000 jobs added. But here's the federal government shedding 15,000 jobs. That is because of the trickle-down effect of these DOGE cuts that are finally showing up in the jobs report. And then wholesale and trade and manufacturing.

These are two key categories that you sort of want to be seeing increases in jobs not decreases because the cornerstone of President Trump's trade policy is to try to bring manufacturing jobs here to the United States. Instead, a month of losses in both sectors.

For the average job seeker out there, the tide has definitely turned. A few years ago, and even just last year, we saw that the job seeker had the upper hand. Right now, there are now less than one job available per one person looking. So, 7.18 million open jobs, but Erica, there are more people looking for jobs that are available and we are seeing that not only is it harder to find a job Erica but it is taking job seekers longer to land that job.

HILL: Yes, all very important context. Vanessa, appreciate it. Thank you.

I want to bring you now to the White House. Kristen Holmes standing by for the reaction there. This is obviously not the report that the White House wanted to see, Kristen.

[15:05:04]

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Erica, and they've been downplaying it all day. We heard one of his advisors saying at one point that this was just the beginning of the Trump economy. Things were going to pick up. You'll see where things are in another year. Now, of course, they had been saying that since he got into office that this - the economy would immediately pick up.

We also heard from another advisor who indicated that they were aware that there was a bit of a disappointment here. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN HASSETT, DIRECTOR, WHITE HOUSE ECONOMIC COUNCIL: All the indicators that we're seeing are that inflation is low and economic growth is solid. Income growth is solid as well, so that the only part of the data that's disappointing is that the jobs numbers have been a little bit lower over the last three or four months.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Now, at one point we also heard Hassett say that, you know, there might be a revision and more jobs could be added. Of course, as we know the last revision showed actually more job losses and the last jobs report that President Trump didn't like he said that the numbers were rigged and he fired the Bureau - the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Statistics.

As you noted there is obviously this factor of does this help Donald Trump in the end because does it give the reason to actually lower interest for the Federal Reserve. That's still an open question but it doesn't matter long-term. I mean, it might matter long-term but it doesn't matter in the moment because President Trump ran on the economy.

And while they will look to that and of course they want that to happen, they're also disappointed by these numbers and they know that overall the economy and numbers like this don't help President Trump's agenda.

HILL: Absolutely. Kristen, appreciate it. Thank you. Jess.

DEAN: Joining us now is Scott Lincicome. He's the Vice President of General Economics and Trade at the Cato Institute.

Scott, thanks so much for being here with us.

As we just walked through there, 50,000 fewer jobs than expected in this report today. I just would like to first get your thoughts on what's driving that number and how much of it can be tied directly to Trump's policies including his tariff agenda.

Scott Lincicome: Well, I think you have to blame tariffs for at least some of this. For months now businesses in the Federal Reserve surveys and private surveys, businesses have been saying that tariffs and just as importantly tariff related uncertainty are causing them to pause investments, pause hiring. They're facing higher costs as well and we're finally seeing that trickle into the real economy into the hard data.

The labor markets stalling out, manufacturing jobs actually declining, significant declines in transportation jobs like automaking. This is exactly what you'd expect if you go back a few months and look at those surveys and what employers are saying.

DEAN: And one sector that a lot of people are pointing to, manufacturing. America's manufacturers cut another 12,000 jobs in August. That's marking the fourth straight month of job losses there. Trump officials have said manufacturing employment is a lagging indicator, pointing to more favorable statistics showing that factory employees are working longer hours, that they're getting paid more overtime in recent months, which they say is groundwork for a domestic manufacturing boom.

So, knowing that that's kind of all the pieces of information we're getting, how do you see it?

SCOTT LINCICOME, VICE PRESIDENT OF GENERAL ECONOMICS AND TRADE, CATO INSTITUTE: Well, you always have to remember and I hope the Trump administration remembers that about half of everything imported in the United States are manufacturing inputs. These are things American manufacturers need. This is why companies like John Deere just this week reported hundreds of millions of dollars in additional tariff costs. Those costs are got to be borne by someone. They're either passed on to consumers or they're reflected in hiring wages and investment.

And so, sure, there are some companies, some manufacturers that can benefit from tariffs, but a lot of them are hurt and not just from higher import prices, but from higher domestic prices. And again, from all of that uncertainty. You know, President Trump is changing the trade rules almost every day, and that makes it just so difficult for manufacturers or really any business to plan to invest, to hire or fire. And that's why we're seeing this sort of stagnation, this stalling out of the labor market.

DEAN: And as all of this is going on, obviously there's been a lot of pressure on the Fed Chairman Jerome Powell to cut interest rates. Powell talked about this in Jackson Hole not that long ago, and now we have this additional piece of data. Do you - it looks like we're probably headed that direction. Do you think that an interest rate cut at this point is going to help this dismal labor outlook?

LINCICOME: Maybe a little, but the reality is that when you're dealing with supply side things like tariffs or when you're dealing with other things like investment uncertainty, a rate cuts really not going to help a lot with those types of factors.

[15:10:09]

The other thing you have to think about is, look, inflation is better than it was a couple of years ago, but it's still much higher than the Federal Reserve's targets. The Fed wants inflation to be around 2 percent. And right now, you know, those core readings are more like 3 percent. So, while there's a risk that a Fed cut can help make, you know, borrowing easier and the rest, there's a chance also that it ignites more inflation and we don't actually get much additional economic activity, like the dreaded stagflationary environment that I think a lot of folks are worried about.

DEAN: Yes. We had a former commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics on in the last hour or so, he categorized this as a slowing down. We're not in a recession yet, this is a slowing down of the economy. Would you agree with that assessment? LINCICOME: Yes, I would. You know, if you look at the unemployment

rate, if you look at the jobs numbers over the last several months, not just, you know, that one June revision or just in August, it is a slowing economy. It is, it doesn't appear to be economic catastrophe. But, you know, I know this is exactly what economists warned might happen with all of these new tariffs, not total economic calamity, but simply slowing growth a bit, slowing hiring and just making us a little bit worse off than we would be without those tariffs and with some of the good economic policies that the Trump administration is pursuing, things like tax reform and regulatory reform.

Things should be doing better given those tailwinds. But unfortunately, trade policy is preventing.

DEAN: All right, Scott Lincicome, thank you so much for your time. We appreciate it.

And still to come, we have new details about a massive immigration raid at a Hyundai plant in Georgia. Hundreds there taken into custody. We'll tell you what we're learning about that operation.

And later, what President Trump is saying about HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy after his fiery hearing on Capitol Hill. We have that and much more coming up on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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[15:16:26]

HILL: The Trump administration's immigration crackdown really being felt in Georgia. Hundreds of federal officers raiding a massive Hyundai electric vehicle plant that was being built in Southeast Georgia. So, this happened yesterday, not too far from Savannah. In all, 475 people were detained in what is being described as the largest operation in the history of Homeland Security investigations. Several agencies were involved here. And on that same day, hundreds of miles north in upstate New York, dozens of workers at a family-owned plant that makes nutrition bars were arrested during an ICE raid.

Joining us now is former acting director of ICE John Sandwich.

John, it's good to have you with us. When we look at, first of all, this raid in Georgia, again, multi-agency raid we learned from officials a short time ago, this had - was really the result of a months-long investigation. Of the 475 people who were detained. They were largely Korean nationals. It's actually more than a third of the workforce at this plant.

When it comes to a raid of this size, how does it all come together? We talk about a months-long investigation, but where does that actually begin? Is it a tip typically?

JOHN SANDWEG, FORMER ICE ACTING DIRECTOR: Yes, Erica, I think this is something that's really reminiscent of what we saw a lot of in the George W. Bush administration where I stood a lot of these large worksite raids. Typically, it begins from a tip or, you know, really what happened here is the administration said we want to restart these raids would have told HSI the criminal investigative side of ICE months ago to start looking for appropriate targets.

ICE then uses a number of tactics. It could be tips. It could be looking at payroll records for anomalies. It could just be what's called the I-9 order where you go on and you look at the immigration paperwork we all fill out when we get a new job. Either way, ICE gets a lead on that.

Now, we know they had a criminal search warrant, so they had to go to a magistrate and demonstrate there's probable cause for a criminal investigation. Typically, the target of that investigation is the employer. But let's be real, too, the benefit of ICE are twofold. One is they make 400 arrests. They like that. They like the civil immigration side. It helps them meet that quota.

But then the second piece of this is this deterrent message, Erica. And what we're seeing throughout all these immigration actions is that kind of the subtext to it is putting driving immigrants to leave the country, whether that's scaring employers to try to eliminate jobs or just putting people making people feel fear that they're not safe at work, you know, and you can't lose sight of that. That implicit message here, which is trying to encourage that self-deportation.

HILL: Does this - when we couple this with the fact that there was a separate raid at this plan in upstate New York yesterday, does this signal to you a shift in the strategy at all?

SANDWEG: I think it's part of the strategy. Again, I think we've seen this on a much smaller scale in L.A. We've seen a little bit of this in D.C. and across the country. ICE likes these type of operations because they can arrest large quantities of people. You get to a work site, you get this lower wage, low - where there's lower skilled employment. You're going to find large numbers of migrants.

What's different with this rate in Georgia is it's a very large operation. It took months of planning to get to. And Erica, I think we're going to see more of these. There are undoubtedly more of these that have been in the planning stages - that in the planning stages since the - really the beginning of the Trump administration, they're going to start coming online. But I think it fits into this larger puzzle.

Of course, Erica, the problem with these raids and the reason why these raids were de-emphasized during the Obama administration is you don't find criminals there. The MS-13 gang members, your transnational cartel members, you know, who might have infiltrated the U.S. They don't work in these factories. That's not who you arrest there. So, it's more about the volume of people they arrest, but not really the quality when it comes to public safety.

HILL: Right. Yes, we're hearing about a number of people who may have overstayed their visas, for example.

[15:20:01] There are also - I mean, it's also fascinating to me. You mentioned that if this was a month-long investigation, they could have been looking for an appropriate site. This site in particular, the fact that there was this EV battery plant being built there, the President touting Hyundai's investment in the United States back in March, specifically highlighting its efforts in Georgia.

Typically, what would the communication and/or even the coordination be between the administration, you know, letting the President know, for example, and Homeland Security or ICE when it comes to a raid like this?

SANDWEG: Yes, typically, Erica, this is not. Obviously. things are not always as typical in this administration as with other administrations. Typically, though, you would try to divorce those two things, right? You would not want the politics to be driving whether it's an appropriate target. There could be communications. You could alert the White House that such a large, high publicity operation is going to happen. You would need to do that carefully through White House counsel, through appropriate channels.

I don't think this is driven so much by the politics, though, as it was by the opportunity that they thought this presented to make a large number of arrests. But again, difficult to say, right?

HILL: Yes. And it's also because we had, you know, conflicting or shifting comments, I should say, from the President over the summer, announcing that farm workers, for example, would not be targeted. And then, you know, taking that back just a, you know, a number of days later. I also just want to get your take before I let you go on Chicago.

So, the city itself bracing for this potential deployment may be of the National Guard. I spoke with the lieutenant governor of Illinois a short time ago. She said they are expecting, you know, increased immigration actions likely to begin tomorrow, based on what we have seen in Los Angeles, even the crime efforts here in Washington, D.C. some of which have resulted, right, in some immigration action. Is this - in your eyes, is this an effective immigration tool for this administration?

SANDWEG: Erica, my concern with it is this, we're pulling FBI agents, were pulling Homeland Security investigations agents, and we're pulling ICE ERO euro officers off of what they would otherwise be doing to focus on these kind of operations. To date in L.A. And D.C., what we've seen them arrest are your run-of-the-mill economic migrants, not the people, not those gang members, not those convicted felons who have posed, you know, pose a threat to the U. S.

And the problem is, it's not just is it worth getting those people, but what are we losing, right? We're pulling agents off of cases who would be investigating expert control, right? Stopping the illegal export of weapons technology to North Korea or Iran or engaged in complicated, you know, cross border drug smuggling investigations or money laundering investigations. We're pulling agents off that beat to do immigration enforcement, but not against the high value targets. Look, we'll see what happens in Chicago. I understand why they're

drawn to Chicago. There's this political element. Chicago's Illinois is also the sixth largest state when it comes undocumented migration, and Cook County has had a very aggressive sanctuary policy that limits ISIS access to the jail.

But I think the answer to these questions will be seen by what are the results of this operation, who are the migrants they arrest. And I do think they're legitimate questions, is it worth it and is America safer overall when we're pulling these agents from these other responsibilities to do that kind of work?

HILL: John Sandweg, really great to have your insight and your expertise this afternoon. Thank you.

Still to come here, President Trump demanding the Democrats and what he again called the Jeffrey Epstein hoax. Epstein's survivors this week, urging him to stop using that word.

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[15:27:50]

DEAN: President Trump today dismissing attention around Jeffrey Epstein. He posted on his social media platform this morning, writing in part, quote, "The Dems don't care about the victims, as proven by the fact that they never did before. This is merely another Democrat HOAX."

That post comes two days after survivors of Epstein's abuse spoke out in an extraordinary moment on the steps of the U.S. Capitol.

Joining us now is Emmy and Peabody award winning journalist, Geraldo Rivera. He's also a Correspondent-at-Large at News Nation. Geraldo, thank you so much.

GERALDO RIVERA, FORMER FOX NEWS HOST: Hi.

DEAN: Hi. Thanks for being here with us.

I want to kind of jump off there where I was just talking about ...

RIVERA: My pleasure. Thank you.

DEAN: ... it's a valid question to be asked as to why the Democrats didn't push more for any of this during President Biden's term or after Epstein's death. That being said, the President continues to try to tamp this down. Do you think that this sort of thing, calling it a hoax by the Democrats, is enough to tamp down the calls for transparency from within his own party on this issue?

RIVERA: Well, there is no doubt that Trump is done with Epstein. The question is whether Epstein is done with Trump. You know, there is an intransigence among certain members of Congress, particularly Republican women, where they say, hey, listen, we need to have justice for these victims. We need to find out all that happened. President Trump is right when he says, I love the quote, Democrats did nothing while he was alive except befriend him, that is Epstein, socialized with him, traveled to his island and take his money.

You know, so now it's a target of convenience. So, I think they have, you know, the Democrats are relishing this moment. It's setting the President off his agenda. You know, it's hard to get rid of. It's kind of a sticky thing you can't get off your fingers. It's, you know, one of those impasses where I think the conspiracy theory industry will keep this alive. It's kind of like the President's assassination, obviously, by huge measure, less - more significant than Epstein, I believe.

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