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CNN International: Ukraine Backs U.S. Proposal; Ukrainians are Ready to Stop Fighting; U.S. to Restore Military Aid and Intel Sharing to Ukraine; U.S. House Passes Stopgap Funding Bill; Trump Backs Down in Doubling Canadian Steel and Aluminum; Greenland Votes for Parliament; Celebrating My Freedom Day. Aired 6-7p ET
Aired March 11, 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]
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Jim Sciutto in Washington, D.C.
Just ahead this hour, Ukraine agrees to a 30-day ceasefire with Russia. The U.S. says the ball is now in Moscow's court.
President Trump backs down on doubling steel and aluminum tariffs on Canada. The original 25 percent tariffs, though, will still go ahead at midnight. We'll speak to the White House Senior Counselor for Trade and Manufacturing, Peter Navarro.
And the polls have just closed in Greenland in a parliamentary election dominated by independence. Donald Trump's bid to simply take over the island.
We begin with Ukraine's agreement to a 30-day ceasefire proposal put forward by the U.S. and the U.S. decision, and this is key, to resume intelligence sharing and military aid to Ukraine. A development welcomed by leaders in Europe, Russia has yet to respond, though its foreign ministry says it is open to at least contacts with U.S. representatives in the next several days. President Trump says he is ready for talks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I'll talk to Vladimir Putin, yes. I want to get -- look, that's the other, it takes two to tango, as they say, right? So, hopefully, he'll also agree. And I really think that would be 75 percent of the way. The rest is getting it documented and, you know, negotiating land positions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: Trump was there at the White House trying to help sell Tesla vehicles. Ukraine and the U.S. reached an agreement after eight hours of negotiations in Saudi Arabia. Secretary of State Marco Rubio says it is now up to Russia to respond.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MARCO RUBIO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Today, we made an offer that the Ukrainians have accepted, which is to enter into a ceasefire and into immediate negotiations to end this conflict in a way that's enduring and sustainable and accounts for their interests, their security, their ability to prosper as a nation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: He also said that if Russia does not agree to the ceasefire, that the U.S. will then know who is the obstacle to peace. Matthew Chance joins me now. And, Matthew, I wonder has the Kremlin reacted to this publicly? Do we know how they will respond going forward?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, no, they haven't reacted to it publicly yet. But you know, they're going to have to. Because basically, their bluff has been called. You know, and it really is a moment of truth for the Kremlin, because they've all along said that they're prepared to negotiate. Well, this is an opportunity for them to sort of go along with that negotiation.
And you know, the truth is that any negotiation was obviously going to involve some compromises. And, you know, Russia is going to have to compromise on some of its war aims if it decides to accept this U.S. peace plan, which is, of course, for a 30-day cease fire.
And, you know, the problem with that is that Putin has, for many years, said that he wouldn't accept any compromise on his war aims. Even last week when I was in Moscow, he sat down with, you know, a dozen or so mothers of killed Russian soldiers who died in the Ukraine war, and he promised them there wouldn't be any compromise on television when it came to the objectives of the war.
Now, it doesn't mean he wouldn't go back on that, but all I'm saying is that, you know, it's not an easy thing for Putin to do, and there's going to be a certain amount of people that will accept whatever he says, you know, they want this over with, but there's going to be some hardliners that may criticize him for bringing the fighting to what they would regard as an early end.
[18:05:00]
It's almost all -- it's also, Jim, I think, a moment of truth when it comes to Russia's relationship with the United States. I mean, Russians have been absolutely over the moon, cocker hoop about the relationship with Washington, with President Trump, about how this is going to be part of a great troika that's going to dominate the world. Well, you know, in order for that to progress, they're going to have to sign up to this peace plan. Otherwise, if they reject it, I think everybody understands that could, well, incur the wrath of Donald Trump, and that's a sort of unpredictability that I don't think the Russians necessarily would welcome. Jim.
SCIUTTO: No question. Of course, Donald Trump has often said quite complimentary things about the Russian leader. We'll see if that continues. Matthew Chance in London, thanks so much. For more now, I'm joined by Steven Pifer. He's former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine under President Clinton. Good to have you on here. I wonder. Do you think that that's an accurate characterization of where we stand here now that, in effect, Putin is now backed into the corner?
STEVEN PIFER, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO UKRAINE AND AFFILIATE, STANFORD UNIVERSITY CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL SECURITY AND COOPERATION: Yes, I think that's right. I mean, if you look over the last four or five weeks, the focus has really been on Ukraine. You know, we had President Trump, Secretary of Defense Hegseth saying Ukraine has to make concessions on territory and couldn't join NATO. You had the unfortunate meeting in the Oval Office where the vice president provoked a blow up. And Moscow's had something of a free ride.
I think now the pressure is going to be on Russia to see if they are serious about trying to negotiate something, or if in fact, as Matthew Chance said last week, Putin said, we're going to make no compromises, no concessions.
SCIUTTO: In your commentary, you raised the question that if Moscow does at least embrace the idea of a ceasefire that Ukraine should be concerned Russia might then use that to regroup, rearm for an assault afterwards, and in fact take advantage of the ceasefire. How to manage that concern?
PIFER: Yes. No, I think that is a concern. Now, having said that, I think, from the Ukrainian point of view, the question is, can they then move from this ceasefire very quickly into a negotiation that would get into the broader terms of a settlement, which would include things like a security guarantee for Ukraine. And it was good to see that in the statement issued by Secretary Rubio and his Ukrainian counterparts. It talked about addressing important questions for Ukraine when the United States talks to Russia. Things like an exchange of prisoners of war, returning (INAUDIBLE) civilians, and returning children who have been removed from Ukraine to Russia over the last three years.
SCIUTTO: Can one look at this? I mean, listen, in the 10 days or so since that awful Oval Office encounter, after which there were questions about the future of Zelenskyy's leadership in Ukraine, he gets a ceasefire, which, by the way, he wanted, you know, on his terms to some degree, right, to stop Russian fire on his country, the return of children, as you mentioned, intelligence sharing and U.S. military assistance has started again, and his popularity has only grown in this country for not backing down.
Can one say that Zelenskyy, at least for now, and of course this could change tomorrow, at least for now win this standoff?
PIFER: I'm not sure if he considered it a victory. I think we've got to the point where the damage is repaired and the U.S.-Ukraine relationship is now back on a positive track. My guess is that if that blow up in the Oval Office could have been avoided, Zelenskyy would have preferred it. And really, the steps that were taken by the White House last week to pause the intelligence sharing and pause the (INAUDIBLE) I think were really unnecessary overdone. And I'm glad to see and it was important to see that now is behind us.
SCIUTTO: The question about how Russia would handle a ceasefire is the same question Ukraine, European leaders and others have about how Russia would handle a broader peace agreement, that is, would it sign something and just break it? And recent history has shown that Russia has broken multiple ceasefires and agreements through the years in the midst of invading Ukraine twice, in 2014 and 2022. What could give Ukraine and its allies confidence that any ultimate agreement is held to?
PIFER: Yes. Well, Jim, you're exactly right. I mean, the history in the Donbass in Eastern Ukraine from 2014 up until the beginning of 2022 is just a history of ceasefires regularly broken by Russian and Russian proxy forces. So -- and I think that gets question at the Ukrainians, I'm sure raised in some detail today, talking about what kind of a security commitment there is to Ukraine as part of an overall settlement.
[18:10:00]
And to my mind, the ideal commitment would be actually bringing Ukraine into NATO in terms of creating such a deterrent impact that Russia would not start another war. And I think that's really Zelenskyy's concern right now, if you do a deal today, what assurance does he have that three years from now Vladimir Putin, having regenerated his military, doesn't start a second round of warfare?
So, he's going to be looking for some security guarantees that would give Moscow a very strong disincentive to go to war again.
SCIUTTO: Yes, it's important to look at the Ukraine war really as lasting more than a decade, right? Because it goes back to 2014, here we are in 2025, and those concerns are understandable. Ambassador Steven Pifer, thanks so much for joining.
PIFER: Thank you.
SCIUTTO: Breaking news, just moments ago the U.S. House passed a stopgap funding bill to avert a government shutdown. The bill aims to fund the federal government through September 30th. It now goes on to the Senate ahead of the Friday deadline.
Manu Raju is live on Capitol Hill. So, two questions for you. One, how did this get across the finish line of the House? Then I'm going to ask you what your thoughts are on what happens when it hits the Senate.
MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this came across this past, Jim, in no small part because of the pressure campaign from Donald Trump himself. He was on the phone with some of these key holdouts on the Republican side who did not want to vote for what's known as a continuing resolution, a stopgap measure, who tend to philosophically oppose such bills.
But Donald Trump put the pressure on urging these members to fall in line, promising that this will help him enact his larger agenda to try to avert a government shutdown. The final vote was 217 to 213 by the narrowest of margins. This is approved. Only one Republican voted against it. That is Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who Trump threatened to back a primary challenge against for his opposition to this plan.
And the Democratic side, one Democrat did vote for it. That is Jared Golden of Maine. He is, you know, someone who's in a swing district, someone who is a moderate members, often breaks with his party. But that's it. Other than that, it was basically a party line vote.
And now, that this past the House, a big question is what will happen in the United States Senate, because in order to avoid a government shutdown, this needs to be passed by 11:59 p.m. Eastern on Friday night. But the Senate Democrats will have a key choice. They have the power to actually block this bill in the United States Senate. It requires 60 votes in the Senate to get there. There are 53 Republican seats. We expect one Republican in the Senate to vote against it. That means they need eight Democrats in the Senate to break a filibuster and get this plan moving.
But a lot of Democrats are concerned with the spending cuts that are in this proposal, including to domestic programs, many of them that Democrats support, and they want constraints on Donald Trump and on Elon Musk and the like. This bill has none of that. This is pushed through by Republicans alone.
So, the question Democrats will have, Jim, is will they vote for this plan to avoid a government shutdown, or will they block it because they're concerned about it, which could then lead to a government shutdown, and who knows how long that that could go on for.
Those are some complicated calculations for Democrats here. This is their first piece of leverage to fight back against Donald Trump since he came into power in his second term here. Will they use it? What will they do? Big questions in the hours ahead, Jim.
SCIUTTO: No question. A lot to follow up there. Manu Raju on the Hill, thanks so much.
Coming up, President Trump's trade adviser, Peter Navarro, he's going to join me live to discuss the many trade wars we're witnessing underway.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:15:00]
SCIUTTO: It's been another day of fast-moving developments in the Trump administration's trade war with Canada. They began with President Trump threatening 50 percent tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum imports. This after threats by the Canadian province of Ontario to hike prices on the electricity it sends south to the U.S.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced late in the day that he will suspend those price hikes after he spoke with the U.S. commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick. Ford also said the U.S. has agreed to renew trade talks with Canada later in the week. President Trump said he appreciates Ford's about-face. He made the comments at an event outside the White House with Elon Musk, where he is promoting Tesla cars. And soon after the event, the White House said that 50 percent tariffs against Canadian steel and aluminum will not go into effect on Wednesday. They will instead go up by a previously planned 25 percent, still significant. Tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from other U.S. trading partners are also going up by 25 percent.
All these new trade uncertainties helped trigger another drop in the stock market. Trump says he's not worried about market weakness. He played down as well the risks of a recession.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Markets are going to go up and they're going to go down. But you know what? We have to rebuild our country. Our country has been stripped of its jobs, of its factories. And I'm tired of seeing where they build apartments, cheap apartments in an old broken-down factory. But you have factories all over the place that are empty from many decades ago, and we're going to change it around.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: Joining me now is Peter Navarro. He is President Trump's senior counselor for trade and manufacturing. Peter, thanks for coming back.
PETER NAVARRO, WHITE HOUSE COUNSELOR FOR TRADE AND MANUFACTURING: Good to see you, man. It's been a long time.
SCIUTTO: Nice to see you again. It has been a long time. First, I want to talk about what the goal is of the trade war, because you've called it a drug war, a terrorist war, a border invasion war. Trump has also at different times talked about drug trafficking, migration, but also a desire to return jobs to the U.S. Which is it? Well, what is the goal?
NAVARRO: OK. All of those things can be true at the same time, and you have to like pick what the objective is. The action we've taken against Canada, Mexico, and China is done under what's called IEPA, the International Economic Powers Act, to address an emergency. And the emergency that we're facing is a border invasion which created a great strain on our economy because it drives down wages and takes jobs and people. It leads to the robbing, raping, and murder of our citizens. And most important is it has led to a fentanyl crisis that kills over 100,000 Americans every year.
And it's not just -- Jim, it's not just that fentanyl, pure fentanyl kills people when they take it, the drug cartels use it to spike cocaine and heroin, ecstasy, MDNA, and they kill people that way, but the worst thing is like there's a lot of Americans who don't know that when they go to the internet to save money on prescription drugs and they try to buy Xanax or Valium or Oxycodone or Ambien, they are spiking that as well. So, you might have somebody die. It's like all they took was an Ambien and such. So, the point is that those tariffs are designed to do the emergency.
[18:20:00]
Now, with respect to what's coming on April 2nd, the reciprocal tariffs, that is to deal with a decades long problem of unfair trade that's characterized across every major trading partner as higher tariffs and higher non-tariff barriers than the United States.
SCIUTTO: OK.
NAVARRO: And I can give you some examples, but that's kind of where we're at.
SCIUTTO: There's a lot of things to unwrap there. First question is this, when you look at Canada specifically here, 1.5 percent of migrant encounters outside legal ports of entry at the northern border. It's a tiny fraction.
NAVARRO: Yes.
SCIUTTO: In terms of fentanyl coming across the border, that also, 0.2 percent of illegal imports of the drug coming to the U.S. from the northern border. We've covered the fentanyl crisis on this show and in that work broadly. So, I'm not going to say that any amount is small.
NAVARRO: But let me address that, just -- let me just address that point. OK?
SCIUTTO: But why attempt to collapse the Canadian economy to address issues that it seems that two allies can work on?
NAVARRO: But let me address the point. When you say that it's a small amount of fentanyl, it's about 4.8 kilograms that were seized. OK. Now, that's about 10 pounds. Four pounds, kill a million -- hang on. Four pounds, kill a million people. OK. 10 pounds kill -- the kilograms kill almost 12 million.
But there's the rule of 10, Jim. I don't know the rule of 10. For every pound you get of a drug at the border, 10 get away.
SCIUTTO: I understand.
NAVARRO: And so, when you're talking about a tiny amount, Jim, it could kill 100 million Americans.
SCIUTTO: I know. But here's the thing, it's a small percentage of where this is coming from. And the president is using tactics that the prime minister of Canada said are intended to collapse the economy.
NAVARRO: But did you just hear what I said?
SCIUTTO: I did, I'm not saying it's --
NAVARRO: There was enough fentanyl to kill a hundred million Americans. So, it's --
SCIUTTO: Coming across the Canadian border?
NAVARRO: Yes. I just did the numbers for you.
SCIUTTO: I know, but --
NAVARRO: I can do them again.
SCIUTTO: Well, you're doing a math -- you're doing a math problem here.
NAVARRO: But that's what I do.
SCIUTTO: There aren't a hundred million Americans who are dying from fentanyl coming across the northern border.
NAVARRO: I know, but there are over a hundred thousand. And it -- that amount of fentanyl can put a hundred million at risk and some percentage will die.
SCIUTTO: Canada, as you know, has improved trafficking security across the border. They've also --
NAVARRO: They've doing --
SCIUTTO: They're investing a great deal. Why isn't that the issue given the fractional numbers we're talking about of the broader trade? Why isn't this an issue that you cooperate with an ally? By the way a NATO ally, a treaty ally, they fought in wars together. And it's an issue that Canada wants to address as well, rather than attempt to bring down the economy as what feels to Canadians like extortion.
NAVARRO: It's a fair question, but I can tell you that so far in the negotiations, Mexico has been much more helpful than Canada, both of them --
SCIUTTO: Also, bigger -- way bigger numbers on migrants and drugs.
NAVARRO: I'm just saying the attitude is a lot different, OK, in Mexico. It's a big -- look, it's a political season in Canada. But here's the point. It's like we still have Mexican cartels in Canada with these very elaborate fentanyl operations and these fake pill presses (ph).
I don't know if you noticed, Jim, but they can make a pill that looks just like a Xanax. Put it in a box. And the pharmaceutical companies themselves can't tell the difference. And that can come across the border and kill somebody.
SCIUTTO: I get it. Listen, I got kids. I'm worried about drugs. But --
NAVARRO: But do you know how long this has gone on?
SCIUTTO: I'm not saying drugs aren't a problem. I'm saying --
NAVARRO: Jim, do you know how long the fentanyl crisis -- SCIUTTO: I do. I've done a lot of stories. I'm just asking whether
tanking the U.S. stock market and destroying a relationship with a treaty ally that has fought and died alongside American soldiers for years, our economies have benefited from trade for years, why that is necessary to address that issue?
NAVARRO: Let's acknowledge that's a little bit of hyperbole.
SCIUTTO: Is it? I don't know.
NAVARRO: Markets -
SCIUTTO: There were 40,000 Canadian troops in Afghanistan. There were 14,000 Canadians to storm the beach at Normandy.
NAVARRO: I'm referring to -- with respect to the -- let's talk about the stock market for a minute. The arc here, right, the arc of what we're trying to do is move from an inflationary, stagflationary environment created by Bidenomics, which was basically a program based primarily on suppressing oil production and driving oil prices up.
SCIUTTO: There wasn't stagflation under the Biden administration. The economy was growing.
NAVARRO: No, but they built stagflation into it by definition because what we inherited is they did a Keynesian over stimulus, they created an unprecedented historical amount of debt, which at some point, this music has to stop and that's what's happening now. So, what we have to do --
SCIUTTO: Are you saying the Trump administration is going to reduce debt? Because tax cuts are going to add to the debt, they're not going to reduce the debt.
[18:25:00]
NAVARRO: I am saying, unequivocally, that the Trump administration will reduce the debt. And by the way, tariffs will be tax cuts, a key part. It was a big deal today for Congress to make that small move on the bill that they passed so that we can go on to the tax cut deal, Jim.
That tax cut -- I mean, the -- what's interesting about this is we have a history now, everybody said the same thing back in the first term that somehow the tax cuts were for the wealthy and it was going to create all sorts of problems. In fact --
SCIUTTO: (INAUDIBLE) that that's where the bulk of the --
NAVARRO: My statistics show, and you can talk to Kevin Hassett, the NEC director, and he'll tell you that it was middle class people making thousands of extra dollars a year on that tax cut, and that will happen again.
The point is that the tariffs are an important tool for the tax cuts, because they're going to provide the revenues to score the bill to get it passed. They already have attracted almost $2 trillion in investment, Jim. And when we get more investment, that's more machines per worker, that's higher productivity, that's higher wages. And ultimately, we'll have more production here.
And at V.O., you had the voiceover, or the B roll, with the president talking about all the empty factories. We lost over 90,000 factories to the Pied Pipers of globalism and 5 million manufacturing jobs. We're going to get them back and more.
SCIUTTO: Before we go, just on the issue of Canada is a 51st state. You know the Canadian people do not want this, and it's actually a unifying issue of both conservative and liberal voters in Canada.
NAVARRO: I don't know that.
SCIUTTO: Are you or the president serious about pressuring Canada to become a 51st state?
NAVARRO: I don't know that. If you look at the tax burden of the Canadians --
SCIUTTO: I'm saying what the Canadian people are expressing that they want for their country.
NAVARRO: Well, I -- some of them are, but I can assure you there's some of them who are tired of the higher taxes and the lower standard of living. And then we have south of their border. I mean, we're better off here. Americans have a higher standard of living and a lower tax burden --
SCIUTTO: I will check the polling numbers in Canada on how they feel about it or go to a hockey game.
NAVARRO: OK.
SCIUTTO: Peter Navarro, thanks so much for coming on.
NAVARRO: Good to see you again, Jim.
SCIUTTO: Appreciate it.
NAVARRO: Yes.
SCIUTTO: And we will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCIUTTO: Returning now to one of our top stories, U.S. and Canadian officials say they will meet on Thursday to discuss the trade war. All this comes after another day of threats with President Trump warning that he would double tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum to 50 percent before he backed down. This after Ontario suspended its own surcharge on electricity it exports to three U.S. states.
A 25 percent tariff on steel and aluminum imports will still go into effect, or at least it's set to on Wednesday. That will apply to all U.S. trading partners, including Canada. President Trump has also threatened tariffs on Canadian vehicles coming to the U.S. and warned that higher tariffs could completely shut down the entire Canadian auto industry. Sounds something like a threat.
[18:30:00]
Flavio Volpe is the president of Canada's Automotive Parts Manufacturers Association. He's also a member of the Canadian Prime Minister's Council on Canada-U.S. Relations. You're a busy man if you're doing Canada-U.S. relations these days. Thanks so much for joining.
FLAVIO VOLPE, PRESIDENT, AUTOMOTIVE PARTS MANUFACTURER'S ASSOCIATION: Thanks for having me.
SCIUTTO: I want to begin because we just had the president's trade and manufacturing representative there. I asked him about the 51st statehood that President Trump keeps proposing. I used to live in Canada. I know a lot of Canadians. I know Canadians don't like that idea. He said, well, actually maybe more would like to be a 51st state than we know. Can you respond to that?
VOLPE: Well, as Peter Navarro. Peter Navarro says things that he likes to be true, you know, that he wants to put into ether, so it helps them with negotiations. There isn't a Canadian who thinks that. And polling in Canada shows that over 80 percent of Canadians say absolutely not. And that's with our biggest and most trusted partners. A lot of Canadians come back and forth here. I coach baseball in this country. It's a great place. But we got a good one, and we're keeping it.
SCIUTTO: OK. Let's talk about trade. Tell us about what happened just in the last 24 hours and just the character of this trade war with wild swings back and forth. It's going to be 50 percent, then it's 25 percent. At the end of the day though, we are -- and I've spoken to the Canadian foreign minister who said, this is a trade war. What does that mean for your industry?
VOLPE: Well, you know, we make cars together between these three countries and we make about 2 million cars in Canada. There's about 12 million made in the U.S. and 4 million in Mexico. 50 percent of the parts in all those cars in Canada come from U.S. factories. Half of the cars are made by U.S. brands. 55 percent of the raw materials are from the U.S.
You can't undo the omelet. And we've built it together over the last 120 years. You want to drive a hard bargain? Sure, we've all been in hard negotiations, but if you stop -- if you try to stop parts coming from Canada, or cars coming from Canada, or raw materials back and forth, the biggest loser is going to be the U.S. auto sector. We're so integrated, you can't do what they're talking about.
SCIUTTO: The president seemed to be threatening Canada, to say, we're big enough to crush your industry. How do you respond to that?
VOLPE: Well, it's his negotiating style. And so, I think, we take what he says seriously, but you don't take it literally. If he crushes Canada, he crushes General Motors and he crushes Ford. Last time I checked, they're headquartered in Detroit and Dearborn. He crushes Lear. He crushes all of those steel producers in Pennsylvania that sell steel, millions of tons of steel to Canadian operations. And those resin companies down in Texas that are the basis of a lot of those plastic components in those vehicles.
We've done everything well together. You know, there isn't a cost advantage to doing things in Canada. We've had no border in automotive since the 1965 auto pact. And from a satellite, Michigan and Ontario look like the exact same place.
SCIUTTO: Yes.
VOLPE: It's -- he's trying to drive a hard bargain. He's using tough language. You have to try not to get offended and understand, you know, where are we going here in the net? Do we want to go to a USMCA renegotiation? Well, they just say it.
SCIUTTO: Right. Do you think you could end up in that place? In other words, do you think that there is a negotiation to be had where both sides come out happy?
VOLPE: Yes. I think, you know, we're in automotive, there was a tough negotiation all the time. Single digit returns, whether you're in materials, parts, or cars. And we're always grinding it out. And we're all fighting the Chinese, who are dumping product into all of the major markets around the world.
I think the president and his team, when we get down to math and science, and beyond the art of this dance here, and you understand that 60 percent of the aluminum that the U.S. uses comes from Quebec, and that all 900,000 of those F series trucks that are made in Missouri, that are made in Dearborn by the U.S.'s oldest car company and most successful car brand, Ford, rely on that interchangeability, access to those raw materials and those people. I think we'll get somewhere where we should be.
SCIUTTO: Understood. And do you -- when you look at broader threats about changing the border, right? I mean, apparently Trump told Trudeau that he wants to renegotiate the border. I mean, is that the kind of threat short of 51st statement for Canada that Canadian industries take seriously?
VOLPE: Well, it's not helpful and it's insulting to Canadians. And I think we're all trying to understand the political environment here and we understand that the people that support the president, the MAGA movement is a movement, and you have to think of it in a different way.
Well, there's a new movement in Canada and that's a Canada First movement. And everybody from coast to coast, if you watch the polling that's happening, is that everybody's coming back around to this one piece. Look, is this a -- is he serious? Is it an existential threat?
[18:35:00] How might we think about east, west, and other markets? And how are we going to make it very clear that it's not a joke to us? And that if you want to work a better deal, and we want to work better deals, you know, this is a long marriage, let's -- we want to stay in it. You don't insult your partner with things like that.
SCIUTTO: Yes. Flavio, thanks so much for joining. We appreciate it.
VOLPE: My pleasure.
SCIUTTO: China's rubber stamp legislature wrapped up a weeklong series of meetings on Tuesday as trade ties with the U.S. worsen. Chinese officials announced policies they hope will strengthen their economy and lead to more robust consumer spending at home. Spending slowdown helped contribute to a sharp drop in prices. Numbers show costs plunging to their lowest levels in more than a year. What's happening in China could also have an impact on the rest of the world.
Marc Stewart joins me now from Beijing. And I wonder, listen, you have a number of countries, allies and adversaries trying to adjust to this new global tariff policy of the Trump administration. Tell us what -- first of all, what other challenges China facing at home.
MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, China faces a really big challenge, Jim, in the sense of the prices that you just talked about. We hear so much about inflation around the world, where prices are rising. China is dealing with deflation, where prices have fallen so low on everyday products, it's very concerning. It's sending this signal that Chinese consumers do not want to spend money. They don't feel confident enough to spend money.
China is still dealing with unemployment issues. It's dealing with the fallout from a housing crisis. And this really could become a global problem in the sense that American companies, I'm thinking of some of the popular fast-food brands, they depend on Chinese consumers to help with their sales. Well, if consumers right now are afraid to spend money, that could be a potential obstacle.
And then, if we look at other economies from around the world, smaller economies that are investing in China, they're putting money in, they're not necessarily getting what they want to in return. When you have deflation, when these prices go so low, something happens that's even more concerning, people perhaps wait even further to spend money with the hope that prices go down even further.
This has been an ongoing problem, Jim, but these numbers that we last saw in February show that it has still persisted, it's still on the decline, and it is one of the many issues that has officials here in Beijing very concerned.
SCIUTTO: Markets in Asia, they're going to open of course, quite soon. They sank Tuesday after Wall Street's tumble. Are they expected to go down further?
STEWART: Actually, at the end of the day, the markets here in Asia saw a pretty strong rebound. We saw big declines earlier, but now, the losses -- as we start this new day, the losses have been made up. Interesting to note, all the markets were in the red except the Shanghai Composite, the Shenzhen Composite, which are the Chinese stock indexes. They actually showed some gains, perhaps it's because of messaging from the government that we've heard over the last few days.
As you mentioned, this meeting of the rubber stamp legislature that China's really going to focus and double down on tech investment and A.I. Perhaps some investors see some optimism there despite this trade and tariff back and forth that we're seeing around the world, Jim.
SCIUTTO: Marc Stewart in Beijing. Thanks so much. Coming up, Greenlanders vote for their parliament. What this election dominated also by president Trump could mean for the world's largest island. And also, that ongoing pressure from Trump to take it over. We'll have that in just a moment.
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[18:40:00]
SCIUTTO: Greenlanders voted today in the territory's parliamentary elections. Usually, those elections fly under the radar. Greenland might be the world's largest island, but it's home to fewer than 60,000 people. However, the Danish territory has been forced into a spotlight after President Trump said, and he's repeated this, he wants the U.S. to annex it.
That said, we should note, polls show most Greenlanders do not want to be either American or Danish. Instead, they want independence. Fred Pleitgen has this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): A high stakes vote in the high north. People lining up in Greenland's polling stations for an election they feel is decisive and could determine whether they will seek independence from Denmark soon, as President Trump wants.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We don't want to be a part of the USA for obvious reasons like health care and Trump.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): But President Trump does very much want Greenland to become part of the U.S.
TRUMP: And I also have a message tonight for the incredible people of Greenland. We need Greenland for national security and even international security and we're working with everybody involved to try and get it.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): Fewer than 60,000 people live in Greenland, a semi-autonomous region of Denmark. But underneath the vast Arctic ice shield lie vast quantities of oil, gas, and rare earths. And global warming is causing that ice to melt fast. Greenland also hosts a radar for America's missile defense shield. President Trump saying its strategic location between America and Europe means the U.S. must have it.
Trump even deploying his son, Don Jr., on something of a fact-finding mission in January, with a documentary filmer showing him speaking to some local folks, most of them wearing MAGA hats.
DONALD TRUMP JR., DONALD TRUMP'S SON: So, you like the U.S.?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I like the U.S.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): Even putting his dad on speakerphone.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're right.
TRUMP: I just want to thank everybody.
TRUMP JR.: You guys like that, right?
PLEITGEN (voice-over): But most here don't actually seem to like it that much. None of the major political parties favor joining the U.S. and threats from the Trump administration against Denmark, an important U.S. ally, including a reportedly fiery phone call between the president and Denmark's prime minister caused a stern rebuke from Copenhagen.
METTE FREDERIKSEN, DANISH PRIME MINISTER: Greenland is today a part of the Kingdom of Denmark, it's a part of our territory, and it's not for sale. The chairman, the leader of Greenland has been very clear that they are not for sale.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): Both the Danes and the Greenlanders making clear Greenland's future will be decided at the ballot box and not in the White House.
Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Berlin.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCIUTTO: Joining me now is Kuno Fencker. He's a member of Greenland's Naleraq Party. Thanks so much for joining.
KUNO FENCKER, FORMER MEMBER OF GREENLAND PARLIAMENT, MEMBER OF GREENLAND NALERAQ PARTY AND GREENLAND PARLIAMENTARY CANDIDATE: Thank you.
SCIUTTO: So, first, I have to ask you, before I get into the elections, as a Greenlander, what was your reaction to see the U.S. president stand before the U.S. Congress just a few days ago and say with a smile, the U.S. will find a way to take Greenland, with smiles behind him from the vice president and the speaker of the house, how do you -- how do Greenlanders react to that statement?
[18:45:00] FENCKER: Well, that statement doesn't make us at ease, but the first statements that he made were actually quite OK. And his rhetoric has changed with his statement on Truth Social on the 9th of March. So, that he respects our right to self-determination and he's welcoming us to the United States, which is not what we want in Greenland. We want to be a sovereign state, but a state that is able to make bilateral or trilateral agreements with other nations and countries and international organizations.
So, our right to external self-determination, which is our authority of Greenland is non-negotiable. So -- but we can negotiate in any other terms. And we know that the U.S. has a military base in Pituffik Space Base and the area is within the Monroe Doctrine. So, we know that it's about the national security and also international security. But most important for Greenlanders is the security of the Greenlandic people.
SCIUTTO: OK. Let me ask you this, are you saying that these elections are likely to push Ukraine towards independence from Denmark as opposed -- and from the U.S. as opposed to any kind of, you know, absorption into the United States of America?
FENCKER: I think it's not Ukraine, but the Greenland.
SCIUTTO: Greenland.
FENCKER: So, yes, I think that we are -- we have always been working on our independence or if you can call it sovereignty because we don't really believe that we can be fully independent because we like the people, we like the military strength or we don't even have a military. So, we need a partner within security and defense. And also, we need to reform our economy and diversify our economy so that we can become more sovereign and also economically self-sufficient.
SCIUTTO: Has -- have the president's comments about taking Greenland made Greenlanders like the U.S. more or has it pushed them in the opposite direction? Has that pushed them further away from that kind of closer association?
FENCKER: I think the initial statements has pushed Greenlanders a little bit away from the U.S. But it is, of course, inevitable that we need the U.S. for security and nobody can take out the United States from their placement in Pituffik Space Base. It's about the national security.
So, we are fully aware of that you -- political situation in the world, but I think the latest statements makes us, some politicians, more at ease because, you know, if Denmark had told us that they wanted to invest billions of dollars and they want to make us secure in Greenland and they respect our right to external self- determination, everyone would have been happy.
But I think that everyone starts to be more negative when Donald Trump says it. So, it also amazes me a little bit, but I'm happy that the rhetoric has been changed into something more positive.
SCIUTTO: Kuno Fencker, thanks so much for joining.
FENCKER: Thank you.
SCIUTTO: Coming up, CNN's global celebration of freedom. What Freedom to Learn means to young people around the world.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 12 million children worldwide are denied an education.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Due to forced labor and modern slavery.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Every child has the opportunity to learn.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Grow.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And to break the cycle of exploitation.
CROWD: You take my freedom, but not my voice.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:50:00]
SCIUTTO: This hour, we were wrapping up CNN's 9th annual My Freedom Day, which took place all around the world on Tuesday. Every year, we partner with students to raise awareness of modern-day slavery. This year's theme is Freedom to Learn.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And the students here are working in so many different ways to get that message across on this 9th My Freedom Day.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, we're actually in the middle of a play here at Mbagathi Road Primary School. So, it's illustrating the theme Freedom to Learn, the biggest one coming out of this particular play or biggest message, I should say, is child labor and how it inhibits children from accessing education from going to school because they've been made to work.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sometimes people can't go to school because they have to work or they don't have an opportunity because of other reasons. And I think that everybody in St. Nicholas and in other schools really should be very grateful.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Child labor presents ethical concerns. Exploitation. Children are forced to work long hours in unsafe conditions, which really affects their childhood, since they don't get joy and they don't get happiness in their early stage of life.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Education should be a fundamental right and not a privilege because it empowers youth and it gives them the opportunity to make decisions for society and the world.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 12 million children worldwide are denied an education.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Due to forced labor and modern slavery.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Every child has the opportunity to learn.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Grow.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And to break the cycle of exploitation.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Compassionate.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Merciful.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sensitive.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Benevolent.
CROWD: We believe every child should have the freedom to learn.
CROWD: I solve problems.
CROWD: I work with others.
CROWD: I ask questions.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have 50 or so students right now tasked with screwing on a nut and a bolt for about 20 or so minutes. They're told they can't look at their peers, they can't speak to their peers, they can't smile or smirk.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We've been lucky enough the last few years to learn a lot about how modern slavery is still a massive issue. It's not an issue of the past, like some people think.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At Redhill, we are free to build, learn, and dream. For 12 million children affected by child slavery do not have this freedom.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: With education, we are not bound by the past. The Freedom to Learn gives us the future we deserve
CROWD: My Freedom Day.
CROWD: My Freedom Day.
CROWD: My Freedom Day.
CROWD: My Freedom Day.
CROWD: My Freedom Day.
CROWD: My Freedom Day.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My Freedom Day.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's My Freedom Day. We say --
CROWD: Every child deserves freedom.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCIUTTO: Now, a reminder not to underestimate the full force of nature.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you real? Are you real?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: Wow. That is an incredible view. A woman in Central Florida managed to survive a tornado sitting there in the front seat of her car. Wow. I'm amazed it didn't get lifted up and spun around. Tree branches flew all around her. The National Weather Service confirmed it was an EF2 tornado. That means the winds up to 115 miles per hour. That's a survival story.
And finally, this hour, a four-year-old in Wisconsin called to report an emergency after his mom ate his ice cream. Here's the 911 recording.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My mommy is being bad.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. what's going on?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come and get my mommy.
[18:55:00]
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, this little one got the phone and he's four. And I ate his ice cream. So, that's probably why he's calling 911.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: That sounds like an emergency. Police visited the home just as a precaution. After talking to officers, the boys agreed to give his mom a pass. And said he just wanted ice cream. Two days later, officers returned with two scoops of ice cream, sprinkled with blue sprinkles. I must remind my kids to stay away from the phone. Because I do take their ice cream sometimes.
Thanks so much for your company today. I'm Jim Sciutto in Washington. Please do stay with CNN.
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