Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

EU Leaders Gather for Special Summit on Ukraine and Defense; Supreme Court Rejects Trump Bid to Keep $2 Billion in USAID Funds Frozen; Easter States Slammed by Strong Winds, Blizzards, Tornados; Vatican: Pope Francis had a Tranquil Night, Still Resting. Aired 4:30- 5a ET

Aired March 06, 2025 - 04:30   ET

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

[04:30:00]

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. I'm Rahel Solomon, just about 4:32 Eastern here in New York, and here are some of the stories we're watching for you today.

Donald Trump says that he has agreed to give North American auto manufacturers an extra month to prepare for tariffs. This after he announced plans to implement 25 percent tariffs on all goods from Mexico and Canada. The tariffs for those auto manufacturers will go into effect now on April 2nd.

The U.S. is now discussing the terms of the Gaza ceasefire directly with Hamas, following a threat by President Trump on Wednesday. President Trump demanding that Hamas release all Israeli hostages still being held, as well as all the bodies of deceased hostages. Hamas claims that the demands may encourage Israel to avoid implementing phase two of the ceasefire agreement.

And this morning, European leaders are meeting in Brussels to discuss the future of Ukraine and greater European security.

It comes as the U.S. has halted military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine as the war against Russia rages on. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to attend the summit. If that, of course, happens within the next few hours, we will bring it to you live.

In the meantime, let's head now to Brussels and to Matthew Karnitschnig, who is editor in chief at Euractiv. Matthew, great to have you this morning. Obviously, quite an eventful morning in Brussels.

What are you expecting to come from this summit? What are you watching?

MATTHEW KARNITSCHNIG, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, EURACTIV: Well, thanks for having me. The main thing we're looking at is what kind of guarantees, what kind of commitments the Europeans will be willing to make to Ukraine today, to President Zelenskyy when he's here. Also, in terms of financial aid, the Ukrainians are going to need a lot more money, obviously, because the U.S. is suspending their aid, as it looks right now.

So the Europeans really need to step up here, but there are a lot of complications here. Most European countries want to do it, but there's a big but there, which is Hungary. And Viktor Orban, the prime minister of Hungary, great friend of Donald Trump's, and he, of course, is against, you know, massive aid packages for Ukraine at the moment.

SOLOMON: Yes and talk to us a little bit about those divisions. There's Hungary, perhaps member states like or nations like Slovakia.

[04:35:00]

I mean, how much do those divisions present a real meaningful obstacle for the greater EU's efforts here?

KARNITSCHNIG: I would say it's probably more of a bump in the road, a complication than something that would halt it altogether, because these countries are sovereign nations. They can they can go forward anyway. But I think there was a hope that the EU 27, all countries, all member states would lock arms here today in a show of unity. And it looks like that might not happen or probably won't happen.

So it is a more of a procedural problem, I guess, than than a fundamental one in the end. Although I think that the European Union itself, the the executive body here does have financial resources that that it could use to help Ukraine.

And without Hungary and possibly Slovakia, as you say, although I think the sense here this morning is that Slovakia could be convinced to go along. But every country has a veto on these things. So if they use it, the EU itself won't be able to provide this financial support.

SOLOMON: Yes, I mean, we heard EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen lay out earlier this week a proposal, essentially, of how these nations could increase defense spending, three measures. Matthew, help us understand what has to happen to get that approved. What would need to happen now?

KARNITSCHNIG: Well, I think today they were looking for a political decision, as they call it, which is for the leaders to say in principle that they support going forward on this. And if they get that, then in the coming weeks they would get down to brass tacks. We're talking about one hundred and fifty billion euros altogether. So a significant, significant sum.

But here again, without getting Hungary on board, it's going to be impossible to do it in the way that they're thinking of right now. So the workaround would be for Germany, France, other big countries to get together and to provide to provide this aid in other ways, which they've obviously done in the past.

Germany now is talking about a three billion package that has been frozen. So there are ways to knit something together here for Ukraine. But over the long term, Ukraine is clearly going to need a lot more support without Washington backing it. SOLOMON: Yes, and to that point, and we have to run here, but how much of this, these summits are about the messaging to the U.S. Essentially, we hear you. We're responding. We're upping our defense spending.

But with this sort of understanding that U.S. support on this may still be needed, as has been voiced by different European leaders recently.

KARNITSCHNIG: Well, I think there's a lot of that, obviously. There's a lot of, you know, kind of virtue signaling towards the United States in terms of the country's own military spending and their willingness to increase that spending. But there's a kind of a counterintuitive situation here, because the one person who's blocking more aid to Ukraine right now to step into that breach is Viktor Orban, who's very close to Donald Trump, which sort of tells you that, you know, the U.S. administration might not want the Europeans to be providing a lot of military aid to Ukraine right now because they want to force Zelenskyy to the negotiating table. They want these peace talks with Vladimir Putin. And if the Europeans start funneling a bunch of money into Ukraine, that could extend the war, obviously.

So it's a bit of a -- it's a bit of a tricky situation. At the same time, it looks like the Europeans are getting more and more skeptical about the United States by the day.

SOLOMON: Yes, certainly a lot of cross currents to watch here. We will be watching it all. Matthew Karnitschnig, we appreciate your time today. Thank you.

KARNITSCHNIG: Thank you.

SOLOMON: 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 Wednesday. One Republican said that Musk acknowledged making some mistakes while carrying out the Trump administration's efforts to shrink the federal government.

But another lawmaker said that Musk blamed the widespread firings on federal department heads.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): He won the room. He actually gave out his number. We need a system where if you see something that you think is not what it was intended, who do you call and how do you fix it? He said, when I -- I want to fix it quickly is what he said. I want to keep the momentum.

But from a political point of view, we need to take the work product of DOGE and put it in a rescission package.

SEN. RON JOHNSON (R-WI): Elon is very upfront, so they're moving fast. It's not going to be perfect. There'll be mistakes made. But we'll correct those mistakes very quickly. (END VIDEO CLIP)

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

[04:40:00]

The Trump administration, meantime, planning to cut more than 70,000 jobs at the Department of Veterans Affairs. That is according to a memo which states that the V.A. is working with Musk's DOGE team to, quote, aggressively restructure. A letter from two congressional lawmakers from Maine says that the Trump administration has already fired nearly 2,500 employees at the V.A.

Meanwhile, nearly 6,000 fired workers from the Department of Agriculture will be reinstated, at least temporarily. A review board ruled on Wednesday that it agreed with a claim that the mass layoffs appeared not to follow the law for how the government can cut back its workforce.

And there is chaos and confusion within the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. E-mails and documents from a recent court filing show contradictory directions to staff about what work they are allowed to complete. It highlights the problems employees have endured as the Trump administration attempts to effectively dismantle the agency.

A legal setback for the Trump administration on Wednesday as 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 did not 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.

Now, 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 and 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 disperse 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)

SOLOMON: For the first time in 50 years, a rare southerly cyclone is threatening millions of people along Australia's eastern coast. The latest update from the Joint Typhoon Warning Center says that Tropical Cyclone Alfred is cracking winds of 92 kilometers or 57 miles per hour. It is slowly moving west and is now expected to make landfall with heavy rain late Friday or early Saturday local time north of Brisbane.

Officials say that 20,000 properties across Brisbane could face storm surge or flash flooding, and flood watches have been issued across the coast. People there are filling sandbags to protect their homes. And officials in Queensland are urging residents near vulnerable coastal areas to follow evacuation orders.

Meantime, here in the U.S., more severe weather in the eastern U.S., where deadly storms have killed at least five people this week. The system has spawned strong winds, blizzards and tornadoes, leaving a trail of destruction. CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam has more on what to expect this week.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: This is what near hurricane force wind gusts can do when they're associated with a thunderstorm. This is coming out of a airstrip near the Dallas-Fort Worth region. Check out that private jet that smashed right into a much larger airplane.

Just incredible to see the fury of Mother Nature, especially when it comes together in the form of a straight line wind. This is part of a larger storm system that brought havoc to much of the southern and eastern parts of the U.S. We had over 225 severe weather reports from this one single system, many of which were severe wind reports. But also we had confirmed tornadoes, parts of Oklahoma and into Texas where you see those red dots.

The blue dots, of course, indicating the wind reports, some of which caused damage. We know that at the height of this storm, it actually knocked out power for over 400,000 customers. And with all the pent-up wind still wrapped around the backside of the system, it's going to be difficult to restore power for some of those hardest hit communities.

These wind gusts, by the way, they're equivalent to a Category 1 Atlantic hurricane.

[04:45:00]

Just incredible to see what took place from Oklahoma into Texas as well as parts of the southeast. The good news is that this system is quickly exiting off the eastern seaboard. Still a lot of wind associated with this energy and the low-pressure system, so it'll be a breezy day over the eastern third of the country.

Wind gusts between 20, 30 miles per hour at times could cause some delays perhaps at the airport, so double-check your flights. But the flip side of this is that we only have one cooler day today, and then we start to rebound in those temperatures. Look at Atlanta by the week at 72 degrees. Not too shabby.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOLOMON: All right, thanks to Derek Van Dam there.

And still to come, the Vatican issues an update on Pope Francis while he fights double pneumonia in the hospital. We'll have the latest from Rome.

[04:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SOLOMON: Catholics prayed for Pope Francis during Ash Wednesday services as he remains in the 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.

Just a short time ago, the Vatican released an update on his condition, saying that the pontiff spent another tranquil night in the hospital and is still resting.

CNN's Ben Wedeman has more details on how the Pope is doing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Today marks three weeks that Pope Francis has been here in Rome's Gemelli Hospital struggling to overcome double pneumonia. This morning, the Vatican press office reported the night passed peacefully and the Pope is now resting.

Yesterday, Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent, the 88-year-old pontiff resumed work, according to the Vatican, including calling Gaza parish priest Gabriel Romanelli.

Before falling ill, the Pope tried to speak with Gaza on an almost nightly basis since the war began 517 days ago, a simple act of concern, kindness, and compassion, notably rare in today's politics of spite and bile.

By day, the Pope is doing physical therapy and is receiving oxygen via a nasal tube, while at night he takes supplemental oxygen through a mask. Vatican officials say the Pope's illness is evolving in a normal way, but the prognosis, the same officials say, remains reserved or, in simple English, the doctors don't want to make any predictions about Pope Francis' health.

I'm Ben Wedeman, reporting from Rome.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOLOMON: All right, still ahead this hour, this mouse may be tiny, but it could have a mammoth impact. The genetic breakthrough that scientists hope could one day solve the problem of Earth's dwindling biodiversity. When we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:55:00]

SOLOMON: Welcome back. Scientists have genetically engineered what they're calling a woolly mouse with the traits of a long extinct mammoth. Researchers say that the breakthrough could mark a big step towards saving the Earth's dwindling biodiversity. Allison Chinchar has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN SCIENCE WRITER (voice-over): It doesn't take a scientist to recognize that these are mice, but one of these creatures is not like the others. Whether you find them cute or creepy, these tiny golden creatures could represent a giant leap towards bringing back long extinct animals, like the woolly mammoth. Colossal Biosciences, a company dedicated to de-extinction, is calling them woolly mice.

BEN LAMM, CEO AND FOUNDER, COLOSSAL BIOSCIENCE: So we actually engineered a mouse equivalent of mammoth genes that we've identified on our quest to bring back the mammoth into mice in a healthy way and produce what we believe is cold-tolerant, woolly, phenotype-driven mice.

CHINCHAR (voice-over): But Colossal isn't just trying to revive the ice age giants for nostalgia. The Earth is on track to lose up to 50 percent of all biodiversity between now and 2050, a crisis the Texas- based company hopes to prevent.

BETH SHAPIRO, CHIEF SCIENCE OFFICER, COLOSSAL BIOSCIENCES: We know that ecosystems that are more biodiverse are more robust and resilient, and we hope that by re-establishing these interactions, by protecting species from becoming extinct, we will protect and preserve biodiversity that will help stabilize ecosystems and stop the loss of species today.

CHINCHAR (voice-over): While you won't see any woolly mammoth at your local zoo anytime soon, these genetically engineered mice may be the first step in making the impossible possible.

Allison Chinchar, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOLOMON: All right, sticking with our animal theme of the block, a celebrity birth announced with a series of tweets that might sound like something a Hollywood star would do. The parents this time are a famous pair of bald eagles who have finally hatched two eggs. The little chicks emerge with chirps in the nest of celebrity bald eagles Jackie and Shadow.

The couple had gone nearly three years without managing to hatch chicks. That's according to the Friends of Big Bear Valley. The adult birds have been closely watched on live camera since they became mates back in 2018. That's when Shadow drove away Jackie's previous mate known as Mr. B. There are hopes now that the third egg could also hatch in the coming days.

All right, that does it for this hour. Thanks for joining us. I'm Rahel Solomon live in New York. I have more of today's top headlines just after this break.

[05:00:00]