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E.U. Leaders Gather for Special Summit on Ukraine and Defense; Trump Issues "Last Warning" to Hamas to Release Hostages; Trump Pauses Canada, Mexico Auto Tariffs for One Month; Supreme Court Rejects Trump Bid to keep $2 Billion in USAID Funds Frozen. King Charles Steps Into Diplomacy Amid U.S.-Europe Tensions. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired March 06, 2025 - 00:00   ET

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

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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome to all of you watching us around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM

We're hours away from an important E.U. summit coming amid warnings that Europe is entering a new era in its alliance with the United States.

Donald Trump issues a last warning to Hamas just as we're learning the U.S. is in direct talks with the militant group for the first time.

And after pressure from both carmakers and markets, the U.S. president hits pause on automobile tariffs from Canada and Mexico.

ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Kim Brunhuber.

BRUNHUBER: European leaders will soon gather in Brussels for an extraordinary summit focused on defending Ukraine, as well as strengthening defenses all across Europe as they face the new reality of a U.S. administration that's no longer a reliable security partner.

A senior E.U. official says Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will be among those attending, and it comes at a critical time in his country's fight against Russia after the U.S. abruptly paused its military aid for Ukraine in the fallout over that heated Oval Office meeting last week between Zelenskyy and President Donald Trump.

Ukraine's president has since called their exchange regrettable, and his top aide now says Ukrainian and U.S. officials have agreed to meet in the near future.

French President Emmanuel Macron says Europe is now entering a new era after the U.S. changed its position on supporting Ukraine. He also issued this stark warning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EMMANUEL MACRON, FRENCH PRESIDENT (through translator): I would like to believe that the United States will stay by our side, but we have to be ready if this isn't the case.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: And Nic Robertson is following all the developments from Brussels.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: There's a lot of sort of mechanics that have to happen here, and this is one of the disadvantages for the European Union trying to respond to President Trump, who can make a decision and turn on a dime. And unexpectedly for the European Union, perhaps taking a tougher line on the lack of support that he is now giving Ukraine and the support that he is giving for conversations with President Putin.

So the European Union is responding to that. What we heard from President Macron was sort of a passionate explain, if you will, to the French people very much as we saw Keir Starmer doing in the U.K. over the weekend, explaining why they need -- the countries need to spend more on defense, shake up their current sort of spending plans, maybe take from one pile to put in the defense pile.

What will happen here on Thursday, Emmanuel Macron will be here with the other 26 European Union leaders, and they've been given a plan by the European Commission president that says, this is how I propose we raise the money for increasing the defense spend of the European nations. And it has several parts to it. And one part would be potentially a 150 billion euro loan. Another part of it could be Ursula von der Leyen had laid out a 650 billion euros accumulated from all the 27 nations, spending another 1.5 percent of their GDP on defense spending.

It sounds complicated, it sounds cumbersome. And again, this is the difficulty of the E.U. trying to respond. They have processes so the leaders will get to decide and then tell the European Commission if this is the way forward, if this is what they want them to do. And only after that the European Commission goes away, figures out that all the sort of details in raising that money, and it's only after that that the countries get to discuss or get into the detail of what spending that money would look like on precisely what and who would build it and how it would be done.

So that passionate push by the French president there, it's all about preparing France for these tough decisions. But it's going to be across all those 27 E.U. nations.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Brussels.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: And we're now learning the U.S. didn't just pause military aid to Ukraine, but also crucial intelligence sharing. Following Friday's explosive meeting in Washington, the Trump administration appears to have ordered at least a partial halt to the intelligence the U.S. shares with Kyiv to defend against the Russian invasion. The extent of those limitations isn't clear.

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U.S. officials suggest the pause could be short lived if President Trump is satisfied that Ukraine is taking steps toward negotiations to end the war.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN RATCLIFFE, CIA DIRECTOR: President Trump said as he asked for a pause, in this case as everyone saw it play out, President Trump had a real question about whether President Zelenskyy was committed to the peace process, and he said, let's pause. I want to give you a chance to think about that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: But this pause could have dire consequences on the battlefield. The U.S. has provided extensive information on Russian troop movements and intercepted communications about their military plans since the early days of the war, and officials say that has been critical to Ukraine's ability to fight back.

For what's believed to be the first time ever, the U.S. is negotiating directly with Hamas about the hostages and ceasefire in Gaza. Now, this marks an abrupt change in policy for the United States, which for decades has refused to engage with groups it considers terrorists. The U.S. declared Hamas a terrorist organization in 1997. No comment yet from Hamas about the negotiations.

White House press secretary explained why the Trump administration is breaking with precedent.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The special envoy, who is engaged in those negotiations, does have the authority to talk to anyone. Israel was consulted on this matter. And look, dialogue and talking to people around the world to do what's in the best interest of the American people is something that the president has proven is what he believes is good faith effort to do what's right for the American people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Meanwhile, President Trump issued a blistering new ultimatum to Hamas to release all hostages or, quote, "there will be hell to pay."

CNN's Jeremy Diamond has the details.

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JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, President Trump is making a new effort to try and seek the release of the remaining hostages held in Gaza issuing a fresh ultimatum to Hamas. In a social media post, the president wrote, quote, "Release all of the hostages now. Not later. And immediately return all of the dead bodies of the people you murdered or it is over for you. Only sick and twisted people keep bodies and you are sick and twisted."

The president goes on to say that he is going to, quote, "be sending Israel everything it needs to finish the job." And saying that not a single Hamas member will be safe if you don't do as I say. He goes on to say that this is Hamas's, quote, "last warning." And also issues a warning to the people of Gaza, saying that a beautiful future awaits you, but not if you hold hostages. If you do, quote, "You are dead."

This certainly isn't the first time that we have heard this kind of tough language from the president being directed at Hamas regarding the remaining hostages being held in Gaza, but this time it seems to come with a lot more meat on the bone. And it also comes at a very, very delicate moment in this ongoing ceasefire. Phase one of this ceasefire agreement has been completed with the release of 33 Israeli hostages in exchange for more than 1700 Palestinian prisoners.

But now we are in the delicate stage where the U.S. and Israel are both trying to pressure Hamas not to get into phases two and three of that deal, which would lead to the withdrawal of Israeli troops and the end of the war in Gaza, but instead are trying to impose new conditions on Hamas. We know that Israel has put forward this new proposal to see six or seven more weeks of ceasefire in exchange for the release of half of the remaining living and dead hostages being held in Gaza.

And now President Trump with this ultimatum to release all of the hostages immediately or effectively face the wrath of a U.S.-backed Israeli military resuming its war in Gaza. Israel has already begun to block humanitarian aid into Gaza as an effort to pressure Hamas, one that has drawn immense criticism from the international community and human rights groups, who have called that a violation of international law.

And now clearly, there is also very much the specter of the Israeli military recommencing its fight in Gaza amid this latest from the president. Hamas is already firing back. The spokesman for Hamas, Hazem Qassem, says that these threats, quote, "complicate matters regarding the ceasefire agreement and encourage the occupation government," meaning Israel, "not to implement the agreement." He is then calling on the U.S. administration to instead pressure Israel to enter the phase two of the ceasefire agreement, as was previously scheduled.

We've also now learned that the United States has been holding direct conversations with Hamas. Adam Boehler, the special envoy for Hostage Affairs for the United States, has met with Hamas officials in Qatar, according to a report from Axios.

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That was effectively confirmed by the White House press secretary, who said that Israel was consulted on this matter and that the talks are, quote, "on ongoing," but that she would not get into the details. This would be the first time that the United States has engaged in

direct talks with Hamas as far as we know.

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Tel Aviv.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: All right, now to the tariff war threatening to bring higher prices and economic recession across North America. Donald Trump has decided on a one-month pause in auto tariffs in Canada and Mexico. The U.S. president says he wants to protect the big three U.S. automakers from financial harm.

CNN's Jeff Zeleny has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: President Donald Trump often talks about imposing tariffs, and he's often talked out of actually going through with them. That is exactly what happened at the White House on Wednesday. At least for the big three automakers who have been tremendously concerned about the unfair competitive advantage they said that they would be at with these new tariffs to Canada and Mexico.

Ever since the U.S.-Mexican-Canadian trade agreement was passed during the first Trump administration, there has been effectively free trade flowing from Mexico to the United States to Canada, which has benefited the automotive industry, which of course have suppliers in all three countries. Well, giving a reprieve for the tariffs for one month at least offers some relief, but raises questions about what is to come.

The market of course all week long, the financial markets have been a key concern at the White House, the White House press secretary said this about the markets.

LEAVITT: For folks on Wall Street who may be concerned, look at what this president did for you in his first term. Wall Street boomed, the stock market boomed. The president expects that to happen again. But most importantly, main street is going to boom. And that's why the president has this whole of government economic approach, which includes tax cuts, tariffs, regulation cuts and an energy industry that will bring down costs for American consumers.

ZELENY: Now, Leavitt said the White House is open to additional carveouts as well. They did not give any specifics on that. But could that be bourbon? Could it be syrup? Could it be gasoline? Other things? The other tariffs are still scheduled to go into effect on April 2nd. Those are the broader reciprocal tariffs.

Now all of this is coming as the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is trying to urge the White House to back off of those broader tariffs. The president of the United States said he is signing them to protect the U.S. from fentanyl. Of course, Canada is responsible for very little of the fentanyl that actually comes into the United States. More of that, of course, comes from Mexico.

Topping all of this, the Mexican president, Claudia Sheinbaum, is scheduled to speak with President Trump on Thursday.

Jeff Zeleny, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: I want to bring in Christopher Clark, who's a professor of economics at Washington State University.

Thank you so much for being here with us. So, as we heard, President Trump granted car companies a one-month reprieve. So what happens a month from now? Obviously, that's not very long if the president expects companies to move production to the U.S.

CHRISTOPHER CLARKE, ECONOMICS PROFESSOR, WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY: Well, the ask to have an entire supply chain that has been set up over the course of 30 plus years to just magically come into the United States over the course of a month is fantasy thinking. At most you can move a little things here and there, but there are long term contracts that have been signed, and you can't just build a factory overnight.

BRUNHUBER: Yes. That's right. So you wonder whether this will just continue after that or whether he'll have to impose it. A wider trade war would harm Canadian and Mexican exports. It will also hurt obviously the U.S. economy. President Trump said there will be little disturbance, but we are OK with that. So how big of a disturbance are you expecting?

CLARKE: Well, the estimates have been put out that this will be a tax on the American family of well over $1,000 a year. If we keep these 25 percent tariffs for the duration of the year. This is a significant disturbance. We import a ton of produce from Mexico, lumber from Canada. This will make housing even more expensive to construct.

It's not the end of the world. The estimates are GDP may fall by a half a percentage point. We're currently growing at two and a half percentage points. So, just slowdown in growth. But certainly living under our potential.

BRUNHUBER: Yes. It's so hard to know and to project because, you know, as some have observed, as often as Donald Trump talks about tariffs, it seems as though almost as often he's talked out of them. It's that sort of whiplash.

CLARKE: I know.

BRUNHUBER: That's creating so much economic uncertainty. What effect is that having?

CLARKE: Well, this is huge. And this is part of the whole difficulty in trying to understand what's happening is one day you have a tariff. And literally today, the next day, it's lifted for some of the economy, the economy that has a little more political connection to Washington. [00:15:05]

But we have 330 million people, $30 trillion of brand new goods and services are produced every year. Part of the long run engine of growth is investment. And why do businesses take the risk? No one forces them to. They go out, they decide this is the future. This is the risk I'm going to take. I'm going to build this new business. I'm going to expand my existing operations. And that all requires a certain level of predictability. All of this uncertainty is harming that.

BRUNHUBER: Yes. Now we don't know exactly what effect that's having right now, but certainly over the last few weeks, there have been plenty of troubling economic data coming out. Hiring is down, GDP forecast to fall, consumer confidence is down. Now the Trump administration argues this bad economic data is Biden data that Trump's only been in office for a couple of months now, not long enough to turn around the economy.

Does he have a point?

CLARKE: To an extent, certainly. A lot of the -- in particular, we can take the GDP now forecast coming out of the Atlanta Fed that shows a drastic decline. It's a forecast. It's a very light, very timely thing that comes out with immediate data. And it's pretty volatile as new data comes in. Another GDP now forecast from other Feds are not showing such a dramatic decline. So it's kind of remain to be certain how quickly things are declining.

We're not seeing huge effects in the labor market yet. The labor market is still fairly OK. So we're not seeing a dramatic decline yet. My biggest worry is this chain of uncertainty and a chain of lower investment over the course of the next year, five years or 10 years.

BRUNHUBER: Yes. So much unknown but one thing we can be certain about is, as you say, the amount of uncertainty.

Christopher Clarke, thank you so much. Really appreciate it.

CLARKE: Thank you for having me.

BRUNHUBER: Divided U.S. Supreme Court voted against the Trump administration's bid to keep foreign aid funds frozen, but it's still not clear when or if billions from USAID will start going out again. Plus, Republicans are pushing Elon Musk for control over the drastic cuts to the federal government. We'll have details on the closed door meeting between lawmakers and the unelected billionaire. That's next. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: Republican lawmakers are privately pushing Elon Musk for control over sweeping cuts to the federal workforce and spending. The world's richest man met with congressional Republicans behind closed doors on Capitol Hill on Wednesday. One Republican said Musk acknowledged making some mistakes while carrying out the Trump administration's efforts to shrink the federal government. Another lawmaker said Musk blamed the widespread firings on federal department heads.

House Speaker Mike Johnson says they discussed a legislative package that would codify the cuts. When asked, Musk told CNN Congress should have a vote on how the cuts are made.

A legal setback for the Trump administration on Wednesday has the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Trump's request to keep frozen billions of dollars in foreign aid from the State Department and USAID. But the court didn't say when the money must be released.

CNN's Paula Reid has more from Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: This is a technical decision, but the 5-4 split signals what might be going on behind closed doors at the high court and how partisan divides could shape future opinions. Here we're talking about billions of dollars in foreign aid, and this was all approved by Congress. But then the Trump administration came in and froze this aid. But some groups that rely on this to do their work sued, saying that the White House cannot override the power of Congress.

Now, a lower court said that while it considers this larger separation of powers argument that the money should continue to flow, and the Trump administration went to the Supreme Court asking for relief, asking them to keep these funds frozen. And for the second time, the high court declined to help out the Trump administration, declined to pause what had happened in these challenges to their efforts to reshape the federal government.

Now, the Supreme Court did not say when this money needs to be sent out, but sent the whole thing back down to a lower court. And I want to note, in this 5-4 decision, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Barrett joined Democratic appointees. But four conservative justices filed a really fiery dissent, really expressing outrage at the idea that a lower court judge could compel the administration to disburse these funds.

Now, the court still has not weighed in on the larger constitutional question about the extent of President Trump's executive powers, all the things he and DOGE have tried to do to reshape the federal government. That will likely come eventually. These are still preliminary questions, but notable that twice now the Supreme Court has declined to side with Trump.

Paula Reid, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Well, some might consider it a king sized job keeping alliances alive as tensions grow over Ukraine. And now British King Charles is taking on the unaccustomed role. That story and more coming up, please stay with us.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all you watching CNN NEWSROOM around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber.

Strengthening defenses across Europe and support for Ukraine will top the agenda at a summit in Brussels in just a few hours. European leaders are meeting at a crucial time as the new Trump administration in the U.S. has paused critical support for Ukraine and made it abundantly clear that Europe needs to invest more in its own defense.

On Wednesday, activists gathered near the meeting site and unfurled a giant Ukrainian flag with the words "Defend Ukraine, defend Europe." They also urged E.U. leaders to seize frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine in the war.

Meanwhile, British King Charles is stepping into international diplomacy involving the U.S. and its allies. But as Max Foster explains, bridging the gap is a tough balancing act, even for royalty.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Britain's King Charles, thrust to the forefront of international diplomacy three times in the past week, stepping in on delicate maneuvers between the U.S. and its allies.

Despite the traditionally apolitical role of the monarch, the U.K. hopes to leverage one of its greatest assets when it comes to President Trump. His fascination with the monarchy.

The king' s invitation for a rare second state visit was delivered to the president by the British prime minister, Keir Starmer, last week ahead of some tough discussions with the White House on Ukraine.

KEIR STARMER, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: This is really special. This has never happened before. This is unprecedented.

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: And he's a beautiful man, a wonderful man.

FOSTER (voice-over): Just days later, the king invited Ukrainian President Zelenskyy to his country residence in a show of solidarity and an indication of the king's fragile yet influential role at this tense moment.

HUGH VICKERS, ROYAL BIOGRAPHER: He's dying to -- to do good and to be a conciliator and to help things along. And he's in a very good position to do it. I think the meeting last Sunday, I would say, passed off extremely well.

FOSTER (voice-over): Charles has long appeared to side with Ukraine over the war, recently calling Russia's invasion as an indescribable aggression and unprovoked attack.

KING CHARLES III, UNITED KINGDOM: We've all been worried about you and thinking about your country for so long.

FOSTER (voice-over): But now, having to play a delicate dance with Trump as the U.K. and Europe try to keep him on side, the king also found himself confronted by another U.S. dispute when he hosted Canada's prime minister, Justin Trudeau, this week as Trump slapped tariffs on Canada and declared it should become the 51st state of America.

The king, as Canada's ceremonial head of state, again caught between two allies.

The late Queen Elizabeth, Charles's mother, was one of the few global figures Trump seemed to show real deference to in his last term as president. So, this new era of the relationship between Charles and Trump will be a real test for the monarch.

VICKERS: He's met many, many world leaders. He's got a lot to offer, just as the queen did.

FOSTER (voice-over): Their first official meeting five years ago was rumored to have not been an instant success.

NIGEL FARAGE, U.K. REFORM PARTY LEADER: You had a meeting with Charles?

TRUMP: I did.

FARAGE: It was reported by one of your former press secretaries that you were somewhat bored by the meeting.

TRUMP: That I was?

FARAGE: Yes.

TRUMP: No, I wasn't bored. I liked Charles. I thought he was great. No, he's an environmentalist. He talked about the environment most of the meeting, which was fine.

FOSTER (voice-over): No date set as yet for Trump's second state visit to the U.K. But when it does happen, we can expect the whole royal family to come out in full force to meet the president.

FOSTER: In the 14 years I've been reporting regularly on the British royal family, I have never seen them roll out the red carpet like they are for Donald Trump this time round.

King Charles even offering to fly up to Scotland whilst the president is playing golf there, so they can discuss how they can both get the most out of this unprecedented second state visit. It's set to be quite the show.

Max Foster, CNN, Buckingham Palace, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: All right. Still ahead, the fallout from President Trump's address to Congress in Lesotho. We'll explain why this small African nation feels insulted by the U.S. president. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: Catholics prayed for Pope Francis during Ash Wednesday services as he remains in hospital, fighting double pneumonia.

In prepared remarks read aloud by a cardinal in Rome, Francis reflected on how brief life can be, writing, quote, "The condition of fragility reminds us of the tragedy of death."

The pontiff implored listeners not to fear death, since everyone must eventually reckon with it.

The Vatican is expected to release an update on the pope's condition in the coming hours.

The foreign minister from Lesotho says he was shocked and insulted by comments about the African nation from U.S. President Donald Trump this week. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Eight million dollars to promote LGBTQI+ in the African nation of Lesotho, which nobody has ever heard of.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Well, the minister said some organizations did work to support LGBTQI, but the U.S. provides funding for Lesotho's health and agricultural sectors.

Lesotho is home to about 2 million people and entirely surrounded by South Africa. It has the highest average altitude of any country in the world and is sometimes referred to as the Kingdom in the Sky.

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Lesotho's foreign minister invited President Trump to visit his country sometime and see it for himself.

The World Cup is turning to U.S. football's Super Bowl for inspiration. FIFA's president says, for the first time ever, there will be a halftime show during the World Cup final next year in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Now, he adds, the band Coldplay will help decide which musical act should perform. Now, Coldplay performed at the Super Bowl in 2016, but it's not clear if the British band would do the World Cup gig.

The U.S., Canada, and Mexico are co-hosting next year's tournament. I'm Kim Brunhuber. I'll be back at the top of the hour with more CNN

NEWSROOM. But first, WORLD SPORT starts after the break.

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