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Canada's Liberal Party To Announce New Prime Minister; Trump Declines To Say Whether U.S. Will Face A 2025 Recession; House To Vote On Stopgap Funding Bill To Avert Shutdown; Dems Scramble On Shutdown Strategy With Deadline Days Away; Israel Cuts Electricity Supply To Gaza; Trump Threatens Canada With Steep Tariffs On Lumber; Pastor Leads Call For Target Boycott Amid DEI Program Changes; Mark Carney Wins Race To Succeed Trudeau As Canada's PM. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired March 09, 2025 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:00]

PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR: 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's been prime minister for almost 10 years at the helm of this party for 12.

Listen, it is bittersweet. Many in the Liberal Party blame their fortunes, which haven't looked so good in the last few months, on the fact that he stayed too long, did not read the room and unfortunately seemed to divide Canadians. That's in the opinion of people in his own party.

Having said that, though, Jessica, the last few weeks with Donald Trump have completely reshaped, you know, the legacy of Justin Trudeau and quite frankly, the race to come. I want you to listen now to Justin Trudeau in a goodbye speech just a few moments ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUSTIN TRUDEAU, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: Now, these past years, these past 10 years, have been challenging. Crisis after crisis has been thrown at Canadians. But through every crisis, Canadians have shown who they are. We've pulled together. We've stood up for each other and every single time we've emerged even stronger and now.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

TRUDEAU: And now, as Canadians face from our neighbor, an existential challenge, an economic crisis, Canadians are showing exactly what we are made of.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: And you heard Justin Trudeau there alluding to the fact that, as I said, the country itself in terms of public opinion has been completely reshaped by Donald Trump and his demands, not just on tariffs, but his demand that Canada become the 51st state.

Frontrunner here right now to take over for Justin Trudeau is Mark Carney. Some people might recognize him as the former governor of the Bank of England and the former governor of the Bank of Canada. Listen, he has quite a pedigree in terms of economics and even hockey, Jessica, but not as a politician. Having said that, I want you to hear what he just said moments ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK CARNEY, CANDIDATE TO REPLACE PRIME MINISTER TRUDEAU: We have made this the greatest country in the world. And now and now, our neighbors want to take us. No way. No way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Perhaps tongue in cheek there. Listen, they are taking the threat from Donald Trump quite seriously in this party, and they do see it as a rallying cry.

Jessica, Donald Trump has almost single handedly turned the fortunes of this party around. So what will happen next? Listen, Justin Trudeau will be prime minister for a few days. There will be a bit of a transition sometime after Wednesday. So Wednesday or Thursday or Friday. The winner of this liberal leadership campaign, whether it's Mark Carney or perhaps Chrystia Freeland, who was the deputy prime minister for a while, that person will be sworn in later in the week, and then Canada is likely to be in -- have an election really in a matter of days or weeks.

That will be up to the liberal leader, and certainly if it is Mark Carney, he's indicated that Canada will be in a position to have an election within days.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN ANCHOR: Wow. And Paula, President Trump and his administration, meantime, are claiming Canada is responsible for fentanyl crossing into the U.S. even though those numbers are 0.2 percent. They're very, very small, especially when compared with Mexico. How have the Canadian officials been responding?

NEWTON: Well, they've been responding by doing all they can in terms of appointing a fentanyl czar. They are trying to show proof that is borne out by proof from American authorities as well, that not only was that fentanyl that low in terms of seizures, but it's gone even lower, Jessica, in January and February. Having said that, I'm sure that the Trump administration would say that, look, we had a point, that northern border had to be more secure.

The point is, Canada will do whatever it takes, it tells us, the government tells us, to make sure that the American government is happy with what's going on on the border. The problem is, Jessica, that even President Trump himself has said point blank that he would like to bring the Canadian economy to its knees in order to basically make it the 51st state. And that is what has so rattled Canadians.

And it has really united so many, not just across political lines, but the fact that even here, people who have a lot of connections to the United States, there is a certain nationalism here that now every politician will play into. Having said that, Jessica, a lot going on economically in the next few weeks and whoever is prime minister in the next few days, a really tall order to try and deal with that crisis and simultaneously fight what will be an incredibly competitive election.

DEAN: Yes, it is fascinating to watch. Paula Newton for us. Thank you so much.

And today, President Trump declining to rule out whether the U.S. could face a recession this year.

[18:05:03]

There have been red flags in financial markets this week signaling a higher risk of the economy stalling out. Economists blame Trump's tariff rollouts that could bring inflation and federal job cuts. In an interview with FOX Business News, the president defended his agenda and the widespread concerns it's created.

CNN senior White House producer Betsy Klein is joining us now.

Betsy, what did the president have to say?

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE PRODUCER: Yes, Jessica, the president was pressed repeatedly by Maria Bartiromo in that interview airing this morning on whether he could offer any clarity to business leaders amid all of this uncertainty around tariffs on Mexico and Canada. And just to take you a little bit through how we got here, the president vowed during the 2024 campaign to place tariffs on Mexico and Canada and followed up in a tweet promising that just a few weeks after the election.

Then on February 1st, he signed an executive order with 25 percent tariffs on Mexico and Canada, reversing course just a few days later, pausing that for 30 days. That took us to this week. He reimposed those 25 percent tariffs on Tuesday. On Wednesday, he lifted some of the tariffs on auto makers. By Thursday, he had reversed entirely and lifted all tariffs on Mexico and Canada for one month.

And on Friday he announced he would be placing tariffs on dairy and lumber products from Canada in the coming days. Of course, his Commerce secretary this morning clarifying that that actually will take place on April 2nd. But asked about whether the tariffs going into place on April 2nd are the final iteration or if there may be more, the president really declined to say. He said it depends and there could be more.

But just take a step back. The president's team really views these tariffs as a measure aimed at cracking down on fentanyl, and Kevin Hassett, his top economic adviser, said in an interview this morning that they are launching a drug war here, 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 COUNCIL 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, 1 percent of fentanyl is being smuggled across the border. 1 percent. I mean, Canada is not a major source at all of fentanyl in the United States, are they?

HASSETT: Well, yes, they are a major source. And I could 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: And again, I want to reiterate that Canada is responsible for just 0.2 percent of illegal fentanyl imports into the United States. However, so much uncertainty here rocking markets and really causing a lot of concerns for the leaders of Mexico and Canada whose economies depend so much on U.S. markets -- Jessica.

DEAN: All right. Betsy Klein in West Palm Beach, thank you for that reporting.

This week, the House is expected to vote on a Republican plan to fund the government in order to avoid a government shutdown that could begin on Friday. Now, this bill would fund the government through September. President Trump has backed the plan, saying it would help him keep the tax cuts in place, allow Republicans to focus on his agenda. But it's not clear if the bill can pass without support from some Democrats. And the question is, will they support it?

Julia Benbrook joining us now.

Julia, can the Republicans get this through on their own?

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In the House, potentially. In the Senate, no. And we know that lawmakers are now gearing up for this budget battle next week with that potential government shutdown just five days away now. And House Speaker Mike Johnson unveiled a plan that would keep the government funded until September 30th. It's a stopgap measure known as a continuing resolution, and what is unclear is if he can get the support needed to get it out of his chamber.

Now, he would need almost every House Republican to support it if no Democrats support it, and Democratic leadership is making it clear that they have concerns. In fact, they wrote in a statement, quote, "The partisan House Republican funding bill recklessly cuts health care, nutritional assistance, and $23 billion in veterans' benefits. Equally troublesome, the legislation does nothing to protect Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, while exposing the American people to further pain throughout the fiscal year. We are voting no."

Now, if they are able to pass it in the House, this bill would then go to the Senate where they would need Democratic support. And there's going to be a lot of pressure on lawmakers in that chamber to throw their support around that same plan that close to the budget deadline. And many Democrats have not yet committed in the Senate on where they stand. [18:10:00]

And so we do have some sound from Democratic Senator Elissa Slotkin. She delivered the Democratic rebuttal to Trump's Joint Address to Congress this week. And she said while she is still working through that House GOP bill, there are some assurances that she's hoping to see.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. ELISSA SLOTKIN (D-MI): I think the fundamental point at least as I approach this is, look, the president has been deciding how to spend the money any way he wants even we have a budget that both Democrats and Republicans voted on. That's a constitutional, right? Everyone knows Congress has the power of the purse. So I just -- until I see some assurances that whatever we pass next week is going to ensure that the money is spent the way Congress intends, I'm going to withhold my vote.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BENBROOK: Now, Johnson is expected to bring the 99-page bill to the House for a floor vote in the coming days. We expect that to happen on Tuesday. And right now, Republicans hold control of the White House, the Senate and the House. So this is a key test to see if they can pass this latest challenge. Trump is encouraging Republicans to rally around Johnson's plan -- Jessica.

DEAN: All right, Julia, thank you so much for that.

Up next, we're going to get reaction from our panel about this busy and very potentially consequential week ahead in Washington. Plus, how Trump's tariff threats on wood could -- from Canada could create a nightmare for parts of California trying to recover from wildfires. And Israel cutting the power supply to Gaza, hoping to pressure Hamas to free the remaining hostages. How this could affect the people there.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:16:19]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. ANDY KIM (D-NJ): And this is a place where we can reassert and say that, yes, we are the part of the good government, the branch of government that's in control of the appropriations and control of the funds. We should reassert that right now. And that's what I hope that the Republicans in the House and the Senate agree to, and we can restart these bipartisan talks and actually get things done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: That's Democratic Senator Andy Kim of New Jersey this morning urging Republicans to come to the table for bipartisan funding talks before Friday's government shutdown deadline.

Let's talk more about all of this. We've got Axios national political reporter and CNN political analyst Alex Thompson and Axios senior contributor Margaret Talev.

Great to have both of you here with us.

Look, Alex, the House Republicans putting out this bill this weekend. They -- from their vantage point, they call it a clean what's known as a CR, but it just essentially kicks the can down the road and they don't do a big grand bill that would take a lot of negotiating.

How do you see this playing out?

ALEX THOMPSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, there's no way to get Congress to act like a deadline. And that's exactly what's happening here. But it's unclear if Johnson has the votes because his margin is so small and he has basically not worked with Democrats for this time. And then you also have to get through the Senate, which requires more -- which requires more votes from Democrats. So this is probably going to get messier before it gets solved.

I'd also add that, you know, some of these things in the CR, they continue funding at the same level, which undermines some of the things that Elon Musk and DOGE have been doing to try to cut things, which is, you know, something they've been bragging about.

DEAN: Well, and something certainly that some of those House Republicans, Margaret, are real sticklers about, that they won't vote for a bill if it doesn't have some more cuts in it. And Mike Johnson obviously tasked with trying to keep together a very, very slim majority that he's got and have them stick together on this. So that's what's happening in the House.

And as Alex noted, then you've got to go over to the Senate where they are going to need Democratic support. And the question for Democrats is what exactly will they do? What do you think?

MARGARET TALEV, SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR, AXIOS: Yes. That's right. I mean, the question is, are Democrats willing to either be blamed for a government shutdown or can they avoid being blamed for it since, in fact, of course, if all the Republicans stuck together, Republicans can, you know, do this without Democrats, at least on the House side? So there are -- both parties I think have some strategic considerations here, Jessica.

And as you mentioned, there are a lot of House Republicans who in a normal year would never go along with this. They're stalking horses are the deficit. And, you know, spending. But President Trump has made it clear he expects all the House Republicans to fall in line on this. For Democrats the strategy goes something like this. They don't want cuts to health care, cuts to social services, or even effectively cuts to those things if spending doesn't increase.

But on the other hand their party's divisions, their trouble, kind of trying to figure out the strategy for how to lead spilled over into public so clearly at the president's Joint Address to Congress last week. The Democrats really are weighing, do they have the -- collectively the messaging skills to say, hey, you know, we're fighting the good fight to make sure that people's benefits and health care and things like that are covered, rather than being sort of tagged with the idea that they're shutting down progress. So both sides have strategic concerns, but this is all going to come to a head in the next few days. And Republicans are betting that ultimately they can prevail but we'll see.

[18:20:04]

DEAN: Yes. And boy, do you make a great point about Democrats being all on together and on message, Alex. They just have really not been able to find a cohesive message in the second Trump administration so far. And as Margaret noted, we just saw that spilling out into plain view with the president's address to Congress and seeing what some people were doing in leadership, reportedly reprimanding them. You know, how do they kind of navigate their way through all this? That's actually, I think, quite interesting, too, on that side to see how they're going to do this.

THOMPSON: They're navigating it haphazardly. And it's part because there is a huge disagreement within the Democratic Party over why Trump won and what you have to do in response to him winning. And I'd also say, you know, at the Joint Address to Congress, you know, a lot of the, you know, not clapping, even at sort of the, you know, sympathetic moments, you know, that was as much emotional as it was strategic.

You know, I don't think you can underestimate how the lawmakers in Congress really dislike, on a visceral level, Donald Trump. And he called them out for it, too. But there is this sort of, I mean, borderline hatred at times, which makes it so, you know, where does strategy begin and emotion end, it's sometimes not clear.

DEAN: Mm-hmm. And Margaret, we have seen these town halls also happening, kind of starting to pop up across the country as these lawmakers go back and meet with constituents and some pushback to what's going on with DOGE, what's going on with these cuts. The GOP, the leader of the House GOP campaign arm urging members not to hold these town hall meetings after we've seen all of this.

How do you see this moving forward? Because obviously Democrats do want to capitalize on this. We saw Bernie Sanders addressing this large crowd, and I believe it was Wisconsin over the weekend. So Democrats wanting to push this forward. Republicans -- what is a Republican to do?

TALEV: Well, you know, it's quite interesting. I was thinking about the early years of President Obama's first term and how at the beginning he wanted to do both health care reform, what ended up becoming known as Obamacare or the Affordable Care Act, but also immigration reform. And politically, ultimately, he had to pick one because by the time he was done with one, there was no more political capital for the other. The circumstances are a little bit different for President Trump, but

he still may run up against the same challenges, which are that when you try to break from tradition and do something that has been very difficult to do for years, whatever that might be, however you might feel about it, cutting government jobs or changing the bureaucracy or whatever, like, can you really do everything at once? Can you really, like, fortify the border and do tariffs and gut federal jobs that four out of five are which are outside of Washington, D.C. and districts around the country?

Can you do all of that without constituents pushing back and saying, hey, enough, too far? Axios has got a pretty awesome interactive map today on the congressional districts that are the DOGE, most vulnerable to DOGE cuts. A lot of those are in Republican districts. And so I think this is not just a matter of whether organized activists are stacking town halls or not. The reality is that, yes, President Trump did say during the campaign that he was a fan of tariffs, but what he didn't do is tell people, and if you elect me, there are going to be months of pain before something good might happen.

Now those explanations are coming as we saw in the Maria Bartiromo interview. But Republicans have to deal with how constituents are not just doing economically, but feeling economically in their districts. And President Trump is wagering a lot on the idea that in the end, he will be rewarded for what he's doing. But in those midterms, it is congressional Republicans who will have to face the music, not Donald Trump.

DEAN: That is absolutely right. And a couple of things striking me, Alex, is, as Margaret was talking there, one, how much does the Trump administration have in the back of their head that time frame that really it's really they've got until the midterms to do what they can do. And so how do you try to condense it all into these two years? And then, you know, how do you -- how much time will Americans give them for this disruption or this whatever they want to call it, where the economy might not only not get better, but might get worse?

THOMPSON: I mean, there are different political incentives for Donald Trump and for House Republicans. House Republicans and Senate Republicans have to go before the voters in two years. Donald Trump does not. And so Donald Trump, you know, in some ways, he took over the Republican Party. He is not indebted to the Republican Party. And so I don't think he cares nearly as much as some of those congressional Republicans.

[18:25:02]

In terms of what you were saying about the political threat on the economy, you know, it was striking that during his Joint Address, he did not speak much about prices or inflation. He actually sort of spoke much more about the culture war issues, which is also how he campaigned, even though that prices may have helped him win.

And, you know, their view, which they're testing and like the most like risky way, but they are testing it is that Americans are going to reward them eventually because even if prices go up, their theory of the case is that, well, it doesn't matter if you have cheap goods, if you don't have a good paying job, if you don't -- you know, bring back American manufacturing. But that's a multiyear, maybe multi-decade project. So it's going to be really interesting to watch.

DEAN: Yes. And Margaret, it seems to me it really is a question of patience and how much people might have.

TALEV: Well, that's in the best case scenario, if tariffs actually do what President Trump thinks they will do. The other question really is, are Americans willing to pay a lot more for things in order to have them mostly made in the United States, or are they willing to pay, you know, sort of an extra, maybe not penalty, an extra little bit if they really want something that comes from Europe or Canada or Mexico.

I just don't think that theory of the case is tested. I mean, part of the reason why there are so many imports from other countries is because Americans like cheap stuff, especially if it's Americans who don't make a large income, and it allows them to be able to afford more things that they want. So what he's talking about tackling here is -- goes way beyond borders and microeconomics and macroeconomics.

It really goes to the culture, like to the consumer culture, and that makes that -- relates to American identity, that relates to credit card debt, that relates to Americans' desire to have stuff that they want. It's actually a much bigger deal than just an economic proposition.

DEAN: It's deeper and more layered.

Alex Thompson, Margaret Talev, our thanks to both of you. We appreciate it.

TALEV: Thank you.

THOMPSON: Thanks.

DEAN: Trump's special hostage envoy says a truce between Israel and Hamas could come within weeks. This as Israel stops the flow of supplies, humanitarian aid and now electricity into Gaza. More on this when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:31:53]

DEAN: New today Israel says it has cut the flow of electricity to the last facility in Gaza that was still receiving power from the Israel Electric Corporation. This is an attempt to add to the pressure on Hamas to free the remaining hostages. But Hamas is downplaying the move, saying it will have little practical effect since Gazans have largely relied on generators and solar power since the war broke out.

Meantime, a human rights group warns Israel's decision to block humanitarian aid could shut down most of the territory's water infrastructure within a week by starving it of fuel.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond reports on the impact the blockade could have.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the desolate ruins of Northern Gaza, Hala assembles scraps of wood and chunks of foam to build a fire. Proper housing and basic infrastructure are nowhere to be found. But for now, at least, there is flour, water and oil. And Hala's mother can make bread.

The food aid is what's keeping us alive, she explains.

Like so many others, Umm Muhammad and her family of 11 are surviving thanks to the tens of thousands of aid trucks that entered Gaza during the first six weeks of the ceasefire.

We eat and drink for the whole month from aid. Without that, it will be very difficult. Food and drinks are very expensive, especially when crossings were closed. We couldn't buy sugar or flour, she says. Aid makes us live.

That lifeline is now under existential threat. Israel is laying siege to Gaza once again, shutting down the supply of food and other humanitarian aid in a move decried by the United Nations and human rights groups as a violation of international law.

Israel says it is trying to pressure Hamas into releasing more hostages, and accuses Hamas of profiting from the aid to, quote, "rebuild its war machine," a claim Hamas calls a baseless lie. It is also threatening to cut off water and electricity if Hamas does not give in to new conditions. And a return to war could also be on the horizon.

In Gaza, where markets have only recently begun to come back to life, Israel's renewed blockade is already driving up prices. And aid group say minimal stockpiles of aid are beginning to dwindle. Without more aid, the World Food Programme says bakeries and soup kitchens will likely shut down in less than two weeks.

For those living amid the rubble, aid running dry will revive the threat of famine and spell an end to what little they can still rely on.

We are so happy when aid keeps coming, Ibrahim says. We have no work. Our lives are on hold. Our businesses and homes are gone. So when aid comes, the children are happy. Whether it's food, drinks, cleaning products, this is the only way we can live.

For some, the aid blockade already feels like a return to war.

They are fighting us through food, Abu Muhammad says. Netanyahu is now publicly saying, I will close the crossings and starve you. No one is standing against him.

[18:35:01] He wonders who will stand with the people of Gaza and how he will feed his children when the aid runs dry.

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Tel Aviv.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: Jeremy, thank you.

Still ahead, what Trump's planned tariffs on lumber from Canada could mean for parts of California trying to rebuild after the devastating wildfires.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:40:01]

DEAN: Higher prices from tariffs will impact probably everyone if they go into effect. But one place it could have a very dramatic effect is Los Angeles, where wildfires earlier this year left whole neighborhoods in ruin. Those communities, of course, want to rebuild. Tariffs on Canadian lumber, though, could push up prices, making new homes more unaffordable for some families who have already lost everything.

Let's check in with Marybel Gonzalez, who is joining us now from Los Angeles with more.

Marybel, what have you found out?

MARYBEL GONZALEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jessica, you know, right now we are just knee-deep in this cleanup phase. So many of the burn areas look just like this, right? Homes burned to the ground, debris scattered everywhere. And while we have seen some of that cleanup happening, the Army Corps of Engineers, for example, here today on the ground helping with that process, we do know that this is a concern for homeowners.

The one here told us she's worried that these tariffs could possibly affect the price of her rebuilding. And we heard the same from several local contractors we reached out to some of them telling us that construction materials are already up in price as it is.

And look, the president has been critical for quite some time now about Canadian tariffs on U.S. dairy and lumber. He says we should be doing the same to Canada. He also says, you know, we have enough lumber here that we don't have to rely on Canadian lumber. And to a certain degree, he is right. We do have 300 billion trees. But economists tell us that it's just not that straightforward.

Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANJAY SHARMA, PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: The U.S. has a lot of forests, but it takes years to build the supply chain. You need more sawmills. You can't build sawmills tomorrow. You can't just say, you know, these sawmills are not lying idle right now. You can't just say, let's make some, you know, we have an executive order to produce more lumber. It takes time. It takes investment, it takes manpower.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GONZALEZ: And of course, I should mention that the U.S. currently sources about 30 percent of the softwood lumber. That is, the lumber used to reconstruct homes right now annually from Canada. Now another concern is the volatility in these tariff announcements. Right? So we're talking about how some investors may not necessarily want to put their money towards building those large sawmills, those lumber mills, because they don't know if these tariffs are going to stick around. If they do go away then their investment will not pay off.

DEAN: All right. Marybel Gonzalez, thank you so much for that reporting.

Still ahead, meet the Atlanta pastor leading the charge to boycott Target as the chain joins the growing list of companies pulling back from DEI programs.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:47:26]

DEAN: We have an update now to some breaking news we brought you last hour. We have just learned the five people on board a small plane that crashed in Pennsylvania have all been taken to the hospital. Video taken just after that crash shows the wreckage covered in flames. The small single engine plane going down near a retirement community in Lancaster County in Pennsylvania. That's about 70 miles outside of Philadelphia. The FAA is now investigating.

An Atlanta based megachurch spearheads a boycott of Target, and it's quickly gaining traction online. That campaign against the retail giant is expected to last throughout Lent in response to changes made to its diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

CNN's Ryan Young has more on this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REV. JAMAL BRYANT, SENIOR PASTOR, NEW BIRTH MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH: There's never a revolution without inconvenience.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They are calling it a spiritual act of resistance. Prominent Atlanta area megachurch pastor, Jamal Bryant, calling for at least a 40-day boycott of Target during Lent.

BRYANT: It is not over in 40 days. That is a benchmark for us. This is being driven by the church. The Montgomery bus boycott was effective not just because of its strategy, but because of its spiritual underpinning. YOUNG: What do you want people to do?

BRYANT: We're asking people to divest from Target because they have turned their back on our community. Black people spend upwards of $12 million a day, and so we would expect some loyalties.

YOUNG (voice-over): Customer visits to Target have slowed since they announced it was eliminating hiring goals for minority employees days into the Trump presidency.

BRYANT: Target made overtures to meet with me on last week, and I told them I'm only going to meet with the CEO. I need a decision-maker. I don't need a photo-op.

YOUNG: And Dr. Bryant is not the only pastor calling for the Target fast.

FATHER MICHAEL PFLEGER, SAINT SABINA CHURCH: If we do this strong and we come on strong and we weaken Target and flex our muscle and let these other corporations know we are going to respond.

YOUNG: In a note from Target's chief equity officer, they say they are still committed to inclusivity and offers a wide range of products and services, including items from vendors that are black and minority owned. The company has declined to comment to CNN further about the boycott.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: FAFO stage.

YOUNG: As strong reactions by supporters continue online.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You don't believe in DEI, so I don't believe in giving you money.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do not shop at Target. We are boycotting them.

[18:50:02]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have hit up Target's official page and they are getting torn up.

YOUNG: The CEO of one of the largest black-owned makeup companies carried in Target says they are disappointed about Target's rollback of DEI policies.

MELISSA BUTLER, CEO, THE LIP BAR: It's a really (EXPLETIVE DELETED) situation to be in.

YOUNG: But emphasizes concerns with the realities of a long term boycott.

BUTLER: By not shopping in these stores, you are also impacting the hundreds of black owned businesses.

YOUNG: The idea now that the pullback is going to affect that customer base, what do you think about those businesses? BRYANT: Yes, there are over 1,000 black vendors who have their wares

in Targets across the country. We've reached out to all of them to shift their focus to online.

YOUNG (voice-over): Some Target shoppers we met were supportive of the boycott.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm all for it.

YOUNG: Yet skeptical.

You see benefit in people standing together.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I do, but I'm not sure if this is the only vehicle to get the word out and to unite us as a country.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's where I get my prescriptions. And so no, I'm not going to do no total block on Target.

BRYANT: It is what makes America a democratic space is that people have the space to disagree.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So this is about reforming the --

YOUNG (voice-over): Bryant says he wants to show the White House they have a responsibility to all Americans, not just MAGA supporters.

BRYANT: I think we're getting ready to see a revival of the civil rights movement, much akin to what we saw in the 1960s.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

YOUNG (on-camera): Yet still the early days of the fast, so we'll have to see how it plays out economically for Target. But we know the retailers are already facing headwinds, especially with the downturn that they've been reporting as of recently. We'll have to see how this all plays out.

Back to you.

DEAN: Ryan, thank you.

A new episode of "HAVE I GOT NEWS FOR YOU" is now streaming on Max. Comedians Alex Edelman and Laurie Kilmartin join Roy Wood Jr., Amber Ruffin and Michael Ian Black. Here's a preview.

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ROY WOOD JUNIOR, HOST: Let's be fair to the Democrats. This was one of many strategies this week to show protests the signs, and you know, some walked out and there was also the Democrats dusting off a 7-year- old meme to do this.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: This choose your fighter video? Their take on a rather old TikTok trend.

LAURIE KILMARTIN, GUEST: So is this a call to action or is it cringe?

ALEX EDELMAN, GUEST: OK. The signs seem pretty good now. I didn't see -- that's real?

WOOD: Yes, that happened this week.

EDELMAN: Oh, no.

WOOD: So that was cringe to you all?

AMBER RUFFIN, HOST: Look, it's fine. Let them do it. Let these people make a stupid (EXPLETIVE DELETED) video. Every time they get together, and are like, hey, guys, what should we do? I don't know, something stupid? Let them (EXPLETIVE DELETED) have it. Let them do anything.

WODD: You're saying that now, Amber. But then next week, if they're planking for Medicaid --

(LAUGHTER)

WOOD: Are we getting what we need?

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DEAN: A new episode of "HAVE I GOT NEWS FOR YOU" is now streaming on Max.

Trump's tariff threats are throwing America's once close friendship with Canada into turmoil, as Canada now -- Canada's ruling party is choosing a new leader to replace the outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. How Canada's next leader may face off against Trump.

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[18:58:30]

DEAN: And you are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jessica Dean in New York. We have breaking news.

Canada's Liberal Party just announcing Mark Carney has won the race to succeed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as leader of that party.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In first place, the next prime minister of Canada, Mark Carney, with 131,674 votes, resulting in 29,457 allocated points, representing 85.9 percent of the vote.

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DEAN: Carney will be taking on President Trump and his threats to slap Canadian products with massive tariffs, something that has infuriated a lot of Canadians.

Let's go straight to CNN's Paula Newton, live in Ottawa for reaction on this. Paula, what is Carney saying right now?

NEWTON: Well, listen, this race was not very suspenseful. What happens next very much will be, Jessica. And right now he is trying to lay out his vision, again staying very close to those issues that are most important to Canadians. But right now, top of mind for Canadians is that trade war that so many are fearful will turn into something so much more given what Donald Trump has said himself in terms of the fact that he wants to try and break the Canadian economy.

Let's listen in now, as Mark Carney is still delivering those remarks to the party faithful here in Ottawa.

CARNEY (through translator): -- danger across the world and he will also allow our planet to burn.