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Trump Declines To Rule Out Recession; New DHS Secretary To Use Polygraph Test On Employees; Democrats Struggle To Respond to Trump; Small Plane Crashes Near Pennsylvania Airport; Russian Forces Advancing In The Kursk Region. SNL Pokes Fun At Clash Between Rubio And Musk; Death Toll Rises In Syria As Violent Clashes Erupt; Canada's Trudeau Gives Farewell Speech. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired March 09, 2025 - 17:00   ET

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

[17:00:00]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: A programming note, comedians Alex Edelman and Laurie Kilmartin join Roy Wood, Jr., Amber Ruffin and Michael Ian Black on a new episode of "Have I Got News For You," now streaming on Max. Thank you so much for joining me today. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. More "Newsroom" straight ahead with Jessica Dean.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: You're in the "CNN Newsroom," I'm Jessica Dean in New York, and we begin with President Trump declining to rule out whether the U.S. could face a recession this year. Markets have been signaling a growing risk of economic trouble with economists blaming Trump's on-again, off-again tariffs that could bring a new inflation shock and federal job cuts. In an interview with Fox News, the president defended his economic agenda and the widespread concern it's created.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARIA BARTIROMO, FOX NEWS HOST: Are you expecting a recession this year?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I hate to predict things like that. There is a period of transition because what we're doing is very big. We're bringing wealth back to America. That's a big thing. And there are always periods of -- it takes a little time. It takes a little time. But I think it should be great for us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: CNN senior White House producer Betsy Klein is joining us now from West Palm Beach, Florida. Betsy, what else did the president have to say about this?

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE PRODUCER: Well, the president, Jessica, was pressed repeatedly by Maria Bartiromo in that same Fox News interview as to whether he could offer any clarity to members of the business community amid all of this uncertainty and back and forth on tariffs on Mexico and Canada. But I want to step back and talk about how we got here. The president talked about tariffs a lot on the campaign trail, and just weeks after the election said he would impose tariffs on both Mexico and Canada, signing an executive order on February 1st and then delaying that another month.

That got us to the uncertainty. this week. Starting on Tuesday, he imposed 25 percent tariffs on Mexico and Canada. On Wednesday, he issued tariffs or lifted tariffs on the auto industry. By Thursday, he had lifted all tariffs for a month. And on Friday, he announced new tariffs on Canadian dairy and lumber products. But just this morning, his Commerce Secretary, in fact, announced that those dairy tariffs would not go in place until April 2nd.

But asked whether the tariffs going into place April 2nd are the final iteration or if there will be more, the president declined to say. He said it depends and they could go up. But look, the president's team views these tariffs as a move aimed at cracking down on fentanyl. Kevin Hassett, the president's top economic adviser, said that this is a drug war, not a trade war, and that the whiplash we have seen over the past few days is a sign of progress.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN HASSETT, WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL ECONOMIC DIRECTOR: What happened was that we launched a drug war not a trade war and it was part of a negotiation to get Canada and Mexico to stop shipping fentanyl across our borders.

JONATHAN KARL, ABC NEWS: I mean, one percent of fentanyl is being smuggled across of the border, one percent. I mean, Canada is not a major source at all of fentanyl in the United States, are they?

HASSETT: Yes, they are a major source and I can tell you that in the situation room, I've seen photographs of fentanyl labs in Canada that the law enforcement folks were leaving alone. Canada has got a big drug problem even in their own cities.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KLEIN: I want to emphasize what John Carl said just there. U.S. -- Canada is responsible for just 0.2 percent of illegal fentanyl imports into the U.S. But all of this taken together rocking markets so much uncertainty, Jessica.

DEAN: All right, and another week ahead where we will see what happens. Betsy Klein, thank you so much for that. CNN political commentators Van Jones and Shermichael Singleton join us now to talk more about that and more. I want to say welcome to both of us -- to both of them. I see Van there. So Van, let's start first with you on this. I do want to play a clip from President Trump and then let's talk about it on the other side.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We may go up with some tariffs, it depends. We may go up. I don't think we'll go down, but we may go up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: So Van, we have Shermichael Singleton joining us as well. Shermichael, we'll get to you in just a moment. I think the big question right now is, how long will Americans who in part -- who really in large part voted for Donald Trump because they think the cost of living is too high. How long are they gonna go along with what he's calling this transition, do you think?

VAN JONES, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I don't know right now. The transition looks like it's going to be a transition to higher cost and not lower cost because that's what tariffs do. Look, Donald Trump is making America the worst neighbor ever.

[17:04:59]

If you had a neighbor like these making threats and changing demands and you would like, honey, we're moving. But unfortunately, Canada and Mexico can't move. They're just stuck with this craziness.

There's -- look, you can have tariffs, you can have not tariffs, or you can just have turbulence. We're in this turbulence and I don't think it's smart for anybody. It's certainly not good for the United States image in the world.

DEAN: Shermichael, what's your take on this? How long do you think Americans will go along with this transition? And to Van's point, at this point it's unknown exactly how this all shakes out, but there is a very high probability, if these tariffs do in fact go into effect, that it's going to raise costs for the average American.

SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yeah, that's one of the drawbacks of tariffs, higher consumer prices, potential trade wars, and obviously it leads to economic inefficiencies, particularly when the economy is weak and struggling as our economy still is, which is the case for most global economies, or all global economies across the globe, I should say. With that said, however, I think the administration needs to streamline the process, and there is a lack of cohesiveness.

I think if you can articulate to the American people that the idea of a temporary and limited tariff strategy to protect domestic industries, to reduce trade deficits, to increase the demand for local jobs, thus boosting employment in domestic industries, that is an argument that I think will be very palatable to Americans who are still yearning for good paying jobs and jobs that could lead to sustainability long-term.

I'm not really seeing that thus far coming from the administration, but I think a pivot there, Jessica, is something that I would advise the president, you can do this with some level of effectiveness. I just don't think they're quite there yet.

DEAN: And look, Van, Democrats still trying to figure out exactly how they're going to operate in the second Trump term, and they clearly have not landed on anything quite yet. But I thought this was interesting. There's a new op-ed in the "New York Times" from a Democratic congressman, Chris Deluzio, who's from Pennsylvania, who says that anti-tariff absolutism is a mistake. He wrote the answer isn't to condemn tariffs across the board and these risks putting Democrats out of touch with hardworking people who used to be the lifeblood of the party. What do you think about that?

JONES: I just think it's stupid because the reality is the last administration was fighting hard to fix the problem, he's talking about in terms of getting the industrial base back on board. The IRA, as they called it, was trying to build infrastructure. The CHIPS Act was trying to bring data centers and everything back to the United States. But there's just no -- this particular tariff strategy of just changing the rationale for the tariffs.

By the way, I have one of my closest friends die because of fentanyl. I don't like the deaths of fentanyl being pimped and used and held out as an excuse. If it's a trade war, let it be a trade war and be honest about that. If it's a drug war, this is the dumbest drug war strategy I've ever heard of. Most of the fentanyl is not coming from Canada. Most of the fentanyl is being cooked up here in the United States by people who are getting away with it here.

And so you're blaming Mexico, you're blaming Canada, you're saying it's fentanyl, you're changing every day. This is not a good strategy. Now when the congressman says, you know, absolutism. Look, no one, no Democrat or no Republican has articulated exactly how any tariff strategy is going to result in unwinding all of this stuff quickly so you actually have jobs here. We know we're going to have the cost going up, but there's nobody's been able to show you how you're going to have -- the cost will be going up. But there's no idea that anyone has put forward that's honest that says the jobs will be going up anytime soon.

So I reject the congressman's point of view, and we just need to be clear. Donald Trump has a nutty strategy for drugs and trade, and it's causing everybody a lot of concern around the world and the United States.

DEAN: And Shermichael, to Van's point on the messaging around what they're calling this, and we heard from Kevin Hassett saying that this is a drug war, not a trade war, but then you do look at the actual numbers. Canada making up just 0.2 percent of fentanyl seizures at the U.S. border in the last year. You know, we're showing a graphic here right now and its 96.6 percent Mexico, 0.2 percent Canada. Is that the right tact here, you know, to say and try to message out this is a drug war, not a trade war?

SINGLETON: Yeah, look, I actually agree with the congressman and I hear Van's point about the IRA and wanting to bring chip manufacturing back to the U.S. That's a higher skill required for those types of jobs. I'm not necessarily opposed to that from a policy disposition. From the administration's perspective, I would pivot.

[17:09:57]

The message again would be our here is to protect domestic industry and to increase demand for local production. We can go all the way back to the early '90s with NAFTA. The idea of the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement was that it would boost all boats, that all economic levels in this country would rise. And what we actually saw was the reverse or adverse effect of that, Jessica. You saw a lot of middle- class industries destroyed because of free trade.

Now, usually conservatives are all about free trade. I'm very, very skeptical of the notion of free trade because I do not think it has yielded the results that we thought it was going to yield about 25, 28 years ago. And so that should be the focus. That should be the message to the American people. Yeah, there will be a slight pinch because obviously you're pivoting industries here, but those production needs are gonna have to take place somewhere. The argument again should be that they should take place within our own borders, not outside.

DEAN: And I do want to get to a couple other things with you all. Van, the new DHS secretary, Kristi Noem, has said she is using now all measures to crack down on leaks out of her agency. I want to play what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRISTI NOEM, SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: Anyone who is leaking information outside of how something is planned for the safety of those law enforcement officers needs to be held accountable for that.

MARGARET BRENNAN, CBS NEWS HOST: And you're going to continue these polygraphing employees?

NOEM: Absolutely. The authorities that I have under the Department of Homeland Security are broad and extensive and I plan to use every single one of them to make sure that we're following the law, that we are following the procedures in place to keep people safe, and that we're making sure we're following through on what President Trump has promised, that he's going to make America safe again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Van, she's saying they're going to continue using polygraph tests on employees. Is that aggressive type measure an answer here?

JONES: Look, it's the same thing every time. What problem are you trying to solve? Well, you know, if you're trying to solve the problem of fentanyl, beating up on Canada is not going to solve it. What problem are you trying to solve? If you're trying to solve, you know, we only have jobs in industrial heartland, throwing tariffs around and then not implementing and then changing, that's not going to solve it.

Are you trying to solve a problem that we're having leaks out of the Department of Homeland Security that are costing Americans lives? Well, then where were those leaks? No, what you're doing is you're concerned that you're going to be doing stuff behind the closed door that some whistleblowers are going to tell the public about. This has nothing to do with national security. What it has to do with is you have an authoritarian push inside of this government that wants to lock everything down.

If they came forward and said, you know what, we have had 17 leaks and it has cost Americans their lives, we've had our spies killed, this is a massive problem, we're going to use polygraphs and anything else, I would snap to attention and say, well, you go sister. There is no problem that they're trying to solve here, folks. This is just to make sure there's no whistleblowers it spilled the beans about whatever they're cooking up inside the Trump administration.

DEAN: Shermichael, is there any other answer besides that one that you think?

SINGLETON: I mean, look, if someone is leaking information that puts individuals at risk, then they should absolutely be fired, number one, and potentially even face some type of legal repercussions. There are whistleblower protections for a reason. I don't necessarily disagree with Van in terms of if whistleblowers are highlighting things that may be unethical or illegal, regardless of who the president is, Democratic or Republican, then I don't think that's a bad thing. I think most Americans would want to know if there's some malfeasance going on.

But if what the secretary is claiming is as factual that she is legitimately concerned that there is information being leaked to members of the press that puts at jeopardy certain operations that keeps our country safe, then yeah, we need to know who those individuals are. We need to make sure that if they're saying they're not doing it, that they're telling the truth, so that the following process of letting them go and whatever's to follow next can take place.

DEAN: Yeah. And then just lastly, Van, in terms of Democrats and where they go from here, this last week we did see them try to -- some people try to protest during the president's address and then leader, House Leadership getting on to them, other Democrats calling them out. They still seem to be wandering around trying to figure this out. What's your take?

JONES: Can we ask another question than talking about my own party? Can we talk about Ukraine or something? No? NO? Look, man, we're screwed. I mean we don't know -- Democrats don't know what to do. This is a nightmare. You know, somebody like Donald Trump, we thought we'd at least have, you know, Hakeem Jeffries in the speaker's chair to hold them back if we didn't have Kamala in there to do the right thing.

Listen, the Democratic Party is going through a massive set of internal crises. You have a party that got trapped two ways. One, defending a broken status quo that nobody likes because they thought that Donald Trump was gonna make it worse. But when you're defending a status quo, you're gonna lose.

[17:14:57]

And then offending, most people in the country calling everybody sexist and racist and every other name and then saying, please follow us. That's not a good strategy, folks. Defending a broken status quo and offending most of the country turns out is not as popular as my party thought it was going to be. And so it's going to take a while for people to get it figured out. I don't like talking about this. I'd rather be beat up -- can you give me something I can beat up Shermichael about? I don't want to talk about my own party. DEAN: I know. I know. I know, it's a tough question. It's a tough

question. Shermichael, if you happen to be advising Democrats, would you do you have anything for them?

SINGLETON: I mean, look, I'm not in the business of advising them, but for a long time, you know, Democrats, they sort of held the culture. You know, they led culture, they led in many ways the political corridors of urban America. A lot of young people were solidly strong Democratic supporters. And now what you've seen, Jessica, is that the pendulum is swinging.

You're seeing a lot of younger people, particularly men, who are moving more to the right. You're seeing Americans who are becoming much more skeptical of the Democratic Party, particularly on cultural issues. And this seems to be a culture shock for Democrats. They're not used to this. And it's a high moment for the Republican Party. And so I don't want to necessarily beat down Democrats, but what I would say is for my party in particular --

JONES: Thank you.

SINGLETON: -- let's utilize this opportunity to expand -- to expand our voter pool, African-American men, Latino men, Latino women, younger voters writ-large so that going into the next midterms next year, we can increase our Republican majority in the House. That's what I see this moment as an opportunity for Republicans to increase and further viability for our party. I'll let Democrats figure out their own mess on their own time.

DEAN: Well, they'll be --

JONE: Well, I sure hope you're wrong, Shermichael. And I tell you what, I mean, first of all, I don't like being on air with him because he's too smart, but the other thing is that, you know, you guys do have an opportunity, but I tell you, as best I can tell you, you're blowing it. If you would just focus on getting prices down, quit scaring the crap out of all of our allies and you know, exhausting people with bad media, you probably could grow.

You're giving us a tremendous opportunity to come back. But I don't want to come back just because Republicans are doing the wrong thing. I want Democrats to learn something so we can do the right thing. And we got a long way to go on that.

DEAN: Van Jones and Shermichael Singleton, our thanks to both of you. We really appreciate it.

SINGLETON: Good to see you, Van. Good to see you, Jessica.

JONES: All right, brother.

DEAN: Me too.

JONES: Thank you.

DEAN: Still ahead, Russian strikes on Ukraine intensify as peace talks are set to ramp up this week. At least 23 people now dead. President Zelenskyy calling these attacks brutal, with one strike hitting just as rescue workers arrived on the scene to attend to the victims of the first strike.

We also have some breaking news with a small plane crash in Pennsylvania. We have video, you see there, just coming in from the scene. We'll have more details for you when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:20:00]

DEAN: We have breaking news as the FAA says five people were on a small single engine plane that has now crashed in Pennsylvania. You're looking at video of that crash site. The aircraft crashing near a retirement community in Lancaster County, that's about 70 miles outside of Philadelphia. Local police are not providing any information about injuries or casualties. We do know the FAA is investigating. We'll of course continue to get more information and bring it to you as we get it.

Meantime, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russia has launched, quote, "hundreds of attacks" at his country this week, with 23 people dying in this latest round. The attacks include 1,200 guided aerial bombs and nearly 870 attack drones. Ukraine's Air Force is saying it struck down dozens of drones overnight. CNN's senior international correspondent Melissa Bell is following all these developments for us. Melissa, we are seeing this escalation in attacks. Russia also advancing in Ukraine forces in the Kursk region. Tell us more about all of it.

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, proof according to President Zelenskyy tonight in his evening address, Jessica, that Russia is not after peace but capturing and destroying as much Ukrainian territory as it can. We've been hearing more details also that missile strike you mentioned yesterday in Dobropillia in the east of the country, the scene of a double tap. So one missile hitting and then a second when emergency services are on the ground. That killed 11 people, but you're quite right, 23 dead over the course of the weekend according to Ukrainian authorities, and those are just the civilians.

We understand that conditions are extremely tough for Ukrainian forces up in the Kursk region that was captured from Russia in August with Russian forces making big advances. There was a daring entry of Russian forces rather into the town of Sudzha through a pipeline that allowed them to get inside the town, a key town that we understand Ukraine fears losing. We've also seen tonight images from the Russians of attacks on Ukrainian positions and soldiers, but also the raising of a Russian flag on a key settlement outside of that town of Sudzha.

So, difficult news coming from the front as far as Kursk goes, and of course Ukrainian forces remain under pressure elsewhere, even as they attempt -- they prepare rather to enter these negotiations with two key pieces missing from what should be their arsenal, and that is of course American support, the pausing of American military aid and American intelligence, sharing this is a decidedly weakened position in which Ukrainians find themselves and in which they enter this key week of negotiation, Jessica.

[17:25:07]

DEAN: Yeah, and it will be very interesting as Secretary of State Marco Rubio travels to Saudi Arabia to meet with those Ukrainian officials. Melissa Bell, thank you so much. We really appreciate it.

And joining us now is CNN Global Affairs Analyst Kimberly Dozier. Good to have you here with us. Thanks so much. I do want to start there with this escalation in attacks from Russia. Trump's saying this is what anyone in Putin's position would do. But do you feel like the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, is feeling pretty emboldened in light of the U.S. scaling back support, both with aid and sharing some intel this week?

KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, Ukrainians on the ground reported watching the military immediately fall back from various positions because of the cut in U.S. intelligence. And now it seems that Russia is taking advantage of that. If the Ukrainian troops are not getting the kind of information they were before, including real time reports on locations of Russian troops, Russian troop movements.

This is an opportunity for them to sneak up on Ukrainian positions, et cetera. We've seen them do that in Kursk. And of course, they're also simply pressing their advantage to try to take back as much territory as possible while they have this advantage before, they have to negotiate way some possibly at the negotiating table.

DEAN: And there now seems to be these questions of Ukraine's future access to Elon Musk's Starlink internet. Poland's foreign minister saying they may be forced to look for alternatives. What could that mean for Ukraine at this at this pivotal moment?

DOZIER: Well, the last I heard was that Elon Musk himself had tweeted that he wasn't going to cut off that access. But if you're Ukraine, if you're Europe and you're seeing that the White House is no longer the ally that you thought you could depend on, and you've seen the kind of things that Elon Musk has been tweeting about the conflict in general, you're going to be looking ahead to creating alternative supplies.

The problem with that is, you know, I have for years gone to various meetings in Europe where I listened to defense manufacturers complain that the officials keep talking about the defense manufacturers not ramping up production to have these kinds of things like ammunition for the battlefield available, but the various countries in Europe haven't been sending them the orders that make it worthwhile to open up new manufacturing supply.

All that is a way to explain that, you know, now that Europe sees after a lot of dithering that it really just possibly can't depend on the U.S. and it wants to give Ukraine and itself better options, it's going to take months to years to make up for U.S. resources, including as Polish officials and others have said publicly, coming up with alternatives to Starlink.

DEAN: And so now we look ahead to these talks in Saudi Arabia that are coming up this next week with U.S. officials. How does this current -- what we're seeing now, this escalation and attacks and how it's impacting Ukraine's position, how does that affect what's going to be happening this week?

DOZIER: Well, from the Ukrainian position, they have gotten the message that this White House, this president is far more in Putin's camp and is very transactional and only sees that mineral deal as a way to get something out of Ukraine. So they are reluctantly heading for these talks. I heard from a couple of Ukrainian officials today who basically said, you know, what else can we do?

They're also heading to those talks with the public admission by the Ukraine envoy, Keith Kellogg last week in remarks at the Council on Foreign Relations that he said the Ukrainians did this to themselves. He and others tried to tell them that the only way out of this was to sign that minerals deal. Kellogg described it, trying to get through Keith as hitting a donkey on the nose with a two by four. That has not gone over very well in Kyiv.

But for now, heading to Saudi Arabia and at least buying some time possibly could get them intelligence back. So they have to show willing and they have to do what they can. At least, they've been invited this time.

DEAN: Yeah. Yeah, exactly. All right. Kimberly Dozier, as always, thank you so much. We appreciate it.

Still ahead, Mike Myers channels Dr. Evil in his return as Elon Musk on "Saturday Night Live." The late night comedy show taking on the heated cabinet meeting we learned about in the "New York Times." You're in the "CNN Newsroom."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:30:06]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES AUSTIN JOHNSON, COMEDIAN AND ACTOR: Elon, you got to listen to me, okay? Marco is a very important part of the team. And we all need to --

MIKE MYERS, COMEDIAN AND ACTOR: Phase one of my plan is complete. Ingratiate yourself to the president and take over the media. But was taking this job a bad idea? A lot of people seem to really hate me. My Tesla stock is crashing, and my personal net worth just dropped by $100 billion.

(LAUGHTER)

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP) DEAN: Mike Myers back on "Saturday Night Live" channeling Dr. Evil for his take on Elon Musk.

[17:35:00]

That scene playing off a New York Times report detailing intense Cabinet meetings where things reportedly got very heated between the billionaire and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Joining us now, CNN media analyst and media correspondent for Axios, Sara Fischer. Good to see you, Sara. Look, there's a lot going on in that sketch, but the bottom line is that Elon and the Elon of it all is breaking through enough that it can hit a mainstream audience on "Saturday Night Live."

SARA FISCHER, CNN MEDIA ANALYST, SENIOR MEDIA REPORTER FOR AXIOS: Yeah, he has definitely become somebody that's going to be a main character on SNL for a long time. You know this, Jessica, when SNL takes a big actor or a big celebrity and they put them on an impersonation, that can live for a whole administration. Think about -- or a whole campaign -- you know, Tina Fey iconically becoming Sarah Palin. Alec Baldwin and Donald Trump, by putting Mike Myers, such an iconic comedian on Elon Musk, it tells you that Elon Musk not only has penetrated the socials like ice in America, but that SNL thinks he's here to stay.

DEAN: Hmm. And look, beyond -- beyond just SNL, we're now seeing protests at Tesla dealerships. We're seeing Tesla stock, as they note in the piece or in the sketch, that the Tesla stock is going down. This is -- this is kind of in the zeitgeist, I guess.

FISCHER: Yeah, absolutely. It's for the business community, especially. And you'll recall, Jessica, a few years ago, when he took over Twitter, Tesla shareholders sued. They essentially said, we don't want a part-time CEO while our company needs leadership.

The same type of thing is bound to come up now because it's not just that Elon Musk is distracted by X. Of course, he has other companies, you know, Grok and SpaceX and Neuralink. But now, he has distracted by trying to rewrite the federal government. You can imagine how frustrated Tesla shareholders would be. And remember, they have not a great earning report the other week.

So, this does not come at a great time for Elon Musk as he's trying to prove to his business stakeholders that he's not distracted.

DEAN: And this is somebody you've covered for a long time, Sara, Elon Musk, and through different iterations of his career and what he has been focused on. You know, we get this reporting from "The New York Times" that there was this heated exchange between him and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The president ultimately weighing in saying that Rubio was doing a good job and saying that it's these Cabinet secretaries that are going to be running their agencies with Elon Musk really weighing in and advising more than anything else.

But how does that sit with somebody like Elon Musk, knowing what you know about him, knowing how he has run companies and worked previously?

FISCHER: Yeah. I mean, he embodies the typical tech bro nuance, which is we move fast when we break things. That's what their mentality has always been. And so, for Elon Musk to be told no or you don't have the authority to do that or you need to cede power and control to somebody else, it does not sit well with Elon Musk, especially because Donald Trump has been publicly empowering him, saying Elon is doing a great job.

But behind the scenes, I think he recognizes that this power, you know, struggle between Rubio and Musk and other Cabinet officials and Musk might make it really hard for them to be effective in getting done what they need to get done. So, I think this is going to be a huge challenge for Elon Musk.

Even though he has gotten some Donald Trump's favor and, you know, getting access to be able to get into these agencies, he's not going to be able to do the type of damage and the type of change that he wants to do if you've got pretty serious pushback from folks like Marco Rubio which, by the way, is now public.

You know, in this White House, I think that scene getting leaked, it tells you a lot. This is going to be very similar to the first Trump administration where, you know, things leak out very early and very quickly because of all the inter fighting intention.

DEAN: And that is the key, right, Sara? I mean, as a media reporter, you know this better than anybody. It's -- it's watch what kind of stories are leaking out. And when it's these kind of fights between different factions, that should tell people something.

Sara Fischer, thank you so much. Good to see you.

FISCHER: You, too. Thank you.

DEAN: Still ahead, hundreds of people killed in Syria as violent clashes erupt between opposing factions. How the Trump administration is responding as an American journalist, Austin Tice, remains missing.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(APPLAUSE)

JUSTIN TRUDEAU, PRIME MINISTER OF CANADA: Canadians are showing what it is that makes us Canadians, not by defining ourselves by who we're not, but by proudly embracing who we are.

(APPLAUSE)

We're a country that knows that standing up for everyone's fundamental rights is the only way to protect our freedom.

(APPLAUSE)

We're a country that believes no one should be left behind and that everyone should have a real and fair shot at success.

(APPLAUSE)

We're a country that refuses to accept the false choice between a strong economy and a healthy environment.

(APPLAUSE)

[17:44:56]

We're a country that embraces reconciliation and indigenous peoples as true partners because it is the only path to a shared, prosperous future.

(APPLAUSE)

(through translator): We are a country that promotes its culture, that protects its heritage. We're a country that breathes life into the French language and is heard across the world.

(APPLAUSE)

(through translator): We're a country that celebrates its diversity and draws strength from its differences.

(APPLAUSE)

We're a country that celebrates the right of each and every person to be who they want to be, to pray as they pray, and love whom they love.

(APPLAUSE)

We're a country that will always defend a woman's right to choose.

(APPLAUSE)

And we're a country that will be diplomatic when we can but fight when we must, elbows up.

(APPLAUSE)

(CHEERING)

But you, you here in this room and our fellow Liberals watching across the country, you know all about fighting with grit, with determination, when the going gets tough. You remember where we were 15 years ago with just 35 seats in the House. You remember our ups and downs and all those times that people counted us out, all the times they said our party was on its last breath.

(END VIDEO CLIP) DEAN: You're listening there to Prime Minister Trudeau, who is giving his farewell speech before his successor is named to be the next prime minister of Canada. Of course, this coming as Canada is in a fight with the United States over these tariffs and what happens next and a country looking for a leader who is going to go toe to toe with President Trump as he seeks to invoke more tariffs on our ally.

We're going to continue to keep our eye on this. We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back.

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[17:50:00]

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(GUNSHOTS)

DEAN: Tonight, it is a dire scene that's unfolding in Syria. A human rights group tracking the situation says more than 600 people have died since violence erupted after the collapse of the Assad regime. According to eyewitnesses, armed men believed to be loyal to the new Syrian government have been carrying out widespread field executions, killing civilians in traditional strongholds of the old regime. Syria's interim president dismissing the violence, calling it -- quote -- "expected challenges during a transition government."

Meantime, President Trump's special envoy for hostages says he plans to travel to Syria in hopes of finding missing American journalist Austin Tice, who was last seen in Syria back in 2012.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADAM BOEHLER, SPECIAL ENVOY FOR HOSTAGES: Truthfully, I don't know whether Austin is still alive. but for me, in my job, it's to bring all Americans home, dead or alive. And so, Austin is on my list. And I'm going to go to Syria, and I'm going to do the best I can to find out. If he's there, I'm going to bring him home. If he's dead, I'm going to dig up his remains with the FBI, we do it together, and we'll bring him home to his mom because that's the right thing to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: What we don't know is specifically when he'll be traveling to Syria, but you did hear his plans once he gets there. Still ahead, as President Trump escalates his tariff threats on Canadian prime minister on Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will soon be out of his job. He's speaking right now. We'll take you there next.

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[17:55:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) DEAN: You're in the "CNN Newsroom." I'm Jessica Dean in New York. And tonight, Canada's Justin Trudeau saying farewell as his party announces his successor. Two months ago, Trudeau said he'd stepped down amid voter discontent with his party and the economy. Tonight, of course, Canada in a different situation than it was two months ago. It's big question now who can best stand up to President Donald Trump. Right now, Canada caught in the middle of a trade battle with the U.S. as Trump threatens America's biggest trading partner with stiff tariffs.

CNN's Paula Newton is joining us now live from Toronto with more on this. Paula, set the scene for us here in America. What to know about all of this? Who's likely to become the new prime minister?

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. So first, just let's set up what's happening, right? This is the Liberal Party of Canada. It is Justin Trudeau's party. This is very much like a Republican or Democratic convention but, Jessica, so much more consequential.

We will know in the next hour or two who the next prime minister of Canada will be because the Liberal Party is in government right now when they choose a leader.

[17:59:58]

That means for at least a little while, they have a new prime minister. What is happening, though, at this hour is that Justin Trudeau is bidding his goodbye. He has been prime minister for almost 10 years at the helm of the House of Commons.