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Trump Admin Faces High-Stakes Week Of Diplomacy; No Cause Yet Of Deadly Iranian Port Explosions As Toll Rises To 40; Over 100 Immigrants Arrested In Raid On Colorado Underground Nightclub; New Poll Shows Trump Approval Rating Sliding At 100-Day Mark; Backlash Over FBI Arrest Of Wisconsin Judge Who Allegedly Obstructed ICE; Conclave To Select Next Pope Expected To Begin In May; The Trump Effect On Canada's Election. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired April 27, 2025 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:00]

DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT HOST: Divisions in three years, which means they're now just one step short of the Premier League, which is absolutely extraordinary that they've been able to do it and do it this quickly.

I spoke to McElhenney a couple of years ago, and he was like, people were sort of doubting the vision, and he was saying, well, why wouldn't this be the plan? Like, if you can do it, why wouldn't you try to do it? And he did say, at some point they're going to run into sovereign nation wealth like those are the kind of teams that they're going to be up against. And I would say they're getting close to that point now. But, I mean, it's an incredible story. And everybody that's a part of it just is still pinching themselves, I think.

ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: I mean, it really is. And I love, I mean, I love a good story like that, too, so not irrelevant there either.

RIDDELL: Yes.

HILL: Don, I appreciate it. Great to see you. Thanks.

RIDDELL: All right.

HILL: I'm Erica Hill joining you from New York in today for Fredricka Whitfield. Thanks for joining us for the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM here.

We do begin this hour with what is said to be a week of high stakes diplomacy for the Trump administration. That, coupled with some pretty tumbling poll numbers for the president as he closes in on the 100-day mark of his second term. That comes on Tuesday. You see here the new CNN polling just out today. It shows President Trump's approval rating at 41 percent. That is a drop. And not only is it a drop for the president, it's actually the lowest for any newly elected president at the 100-day mark in at least seven decades.

It's not just this overall approval numbers, though, on the decline. The president's handling of foreign affairs now stands at 39 percent. That's dropped, as you can see, from 42 percent just last month. And all of this happening as Trump's top diplomat, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, says that this will be a, quote, "very critical week" in determining whether the U.S. will continue its efforts to broker peace between Russia and Ukraine.

CNN's senior White House reporter Kevin Liptak joins us now.

Those comments from Secretary Rubio coming this morning, of course, just a day after President Trump and President Zelenskyy met one on one around the funeral of Pope Francis.

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And I think it's clear now that the president and the president's advisers now do believe that time is of the essence to try and get this conflict resolved. Of course, President Trump had wanted to resolve it by 24 hours after taking office. Obviously, that wasn't able to happen.

Now that he's butting up on the 100-day mark of his presidency, it's clear that there is some concern by the president, by his team that they could potentially just be wasting their time in trying to resolve this war. And so when you hear Marco Rubio say today that this upcoming week will be critical, he's essentially setting a deadline as they try and determine whether they will continue this path forward, trying to pursue a negotiated settlement, or whether they'll essentially cut bait and move on to other areas of focus.

And you know, it was interesting, you know, for so long the president has been directing his frustration at Zelenskyy. Obviously, there is that Oval Office meeting. He has said that Zelenskyy could be prolonging this conflict because he hasn't signed on to some of the proposals that the U.S. has put forward to end the war. But yesterday we heard him direct his frustration at Putin for going after Kyiv and the worst bombardment in nine months last week, saying that he thought he could potentially, in Trump's words, be tapping him along, essentially playing for time as this war goes on and raising the possibility that he could apply new sanctions on Russia if this all doesn't work out.

Now, this morning, Rubio was asked why the president hasn't done that yet. Listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCO RUBIO, SECRETARY OF STATE: We're still hoping to see that this effort works out in diplomacy, and that we can bring these two sides closer together. I mean, the minute you start doing that kind of stuff, you're walking away -- you're walking away from it. You've now doomed yourself to another two years of war, and we don't want to see it happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIPTAK: So essentially saying there that putting on new sanctions towards Moscow could be the effective end of these peace talks. Now, how this all resolves I think remains to be seen. There has been some renewed hope among the Europeans and among the Ukrainians that this conversation that the president held yesterday with Zelenskyy inside Saint Peter's Basilica could have provided him, you know, greater insight into the Ukrainian point of view of this conflict. Perhaps potentially encouraging him not to walk away from these efforts.

But, you know, how the president feels about this on his 100-day mark I think is one of frustration that this war continues to grind on -- Erica.

HILL: Yes. And frustration on the part of a number of people.

Kevin Liptak, appreciate the reporting, as always. Thank you.

We are getting some new video here of Iranian Red Crescent Society workers dropping what appear to be bags of fire retardant, as you can see here, through the hatch of a helicopter. This to help to hopefully douse flames from Saturday's massive explosion.

[16:05:00]

Iranian authorities have still not revealed the cause of that explosion. It happened in the country's southwest. State media, though, is now putting the death toll at 40. Nearly 1,000 people injured. The blast itself sent a huge fireball into the sky on Saturday. Eyewitnesses say chemicals in an area housing shipping containers caught fire, and that set off a much larger explosion.

CNN's Larry Madowo has more now on new surveillance video, which shows the moments just before the initial explosion.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LARRY MADOWO, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We're learning a bit more about this massive explosion in southern Iran in the Bandar Abbas Port, including from this new CCTV video that appears to show the moment this explosion took place. What appears to be a warehouse explodes. Some people can be seen running from the scene and a fire ignites. This fire we now know spread a thick gray smoke rose up in the sky and was up there spreading for hours.

Authorities were forced to declare a state of emergency, asked people to stay indoors and lock their windows, avoid any outdoor activities because of the risk of the pollution from the air. The main question is what was the cause of this fire. Iran's national oil refining and distribution company said none of its facilities were involved here. None of its pipelines or fuel tankers were involved.

One theory is that it could have come from a section where chemicals, sulfur was being stored. That is still under investigation. And authorities in Iran have been scrambling to correct what they see as misinformation.

On Sunday, just after Iranian officials said that the fire was 80 percent contained, some containers are reported to have exploded, reigniting a part of that fire. Vladimir Putin, president of Russia, says he has sent several aircraft with experienced professionals to help put out the fire. The big investigation will be about what caused this fire, and this is especially important because of the speculation about the timing of this explosion happening as the United States and Iran had begun a third round of talks about the country's nuclear program in neighboring Oman.

Larry Madowo, CNN, Nairobi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: Joining us now to continue the conversation, Josh Rogin. He's the lead global security analyst for "Washington Post Intelligence."

Josh, always good to have you with us. I mean, picking up on what Larry said there, I think the biggest question in this moment is what caused this explosion. We are not hearing much from authorities. There are certainly plenty of speculation out there.

Do you think we will, in fact, get an answer to that question in the coming days?

JOSH ROGIN, LEAD GLOBAL SECURITY ANALYST, WASHINGTON POST INTELLIGENCE: Yes, I think this is one of those situations where over the course of 48 to 72 hours, at least, indications of, of an explanation will become clear. We're just going to have to wait and see what those are.

HILL: And what do you make of the timing, right? So we're looking, of course, at Iran and the U.S. wrapping up this third round of nuclear talks. There was some optimism there, apparently. How does this figure in if at all?

ROGIN: Well, we just don't know. You know, we don't want to speculate that it's related to the ongoing talks between the U.S. and Iranians in Oman and also in Rome. It might be a coincidence, it might not. But, you know, to speculate this close without any evidence would just be guessing.

HILL: When we look at where things stand, I do think it's notable in terms of what we've heard from President Trump and what we haven't heard from President Trump backing off a little bit from the threats to attack Iran if they don't agree to a nuclear deal. President Trump always says he doesn't like to do too much in public as we know. And a number of diplomats will tell you that's a better way to do things, right, is not do all of your negotiating in public.

Do you see this, though, as President Trump actually backing off at all, or is this more perhaps a positive sign of where talks could be going, that there could be progress?

ROGIN: Right. My analysis is that this is -- President Trump has talked about this recently. I would direct your viewers to his recent interview with "TIME" magazine. He talked about this quite a lot. What he said was that he prefers to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue peacefully, and he reserves the right to use the military to do that if these negotiations fail.

Through my reporting and other reporting, it's pretty clear that what's going on inside of the top level of the Trump administration is a factional battle between some officials, like Secretary Hegseth, director of National Intelligence Gabbard, Vice President Vance on one side, and people like Mike Waltz, National Security adviser, on the other side as to what the right path should be. It's pretty clear that the Israeli government wants to start taking out Iranian sites now, and they need the American support. Specifically, President Trump's support to do that.

But for now, President Trump is siding with his more cautious officials. And that's why the negotiations are being emphasized. And if you look at the people doing those negotiations, it's special envoy Steve Witkoff and Michael Anton, also a very sort of restraint minded official in the State Department.

[16:10:01]

They have the ball. And so that's why diplomacy is prevailing, at least for now.

HILL: There's also, you know, it's notable. And Secretary of State Rubio brought this up this morning in an interview on "Meet the Press." Just talking about how much is actually happening, right? Especially when you're looking at foreign affairs in this moment.

How much concern is there, you know, based on your sourcing, based on your reporting, within the administration that there are maybe too many plates in the air at this moment? I mean, Steve Witkoff alone, he's got a lot going on.

ROGIN: Right. No, I mean, on the one hand, you know, there's a genuine belief inside the administration that President Trump wants to resolve these issues. Fair enough. You know, he seems to be authentic in his desire to find resolutions to the Iranian conflict, the Israeli- Palestinian conflict, the Ukrainian conflict.

The problem, of course, as anyone can see, is that not only by trying to do it all at the same time, but by trying to do it all on the fly without a real thought-out strategy, often taking the talking points of the Russians as a starting point for negotiation, applying pressure to Ukraine and not to Russia, as you were talking about earlier, that all of these things are likely to make his actual chances of success much lower.

So it's not just that they're doing too many things at once, it's that they're doing each of these things poorly, or at least in a way that's not organized and that anyone who's experienced with diplomacy could recognize it's a problem.

HILL: Yes. Josh, always good to have your insight. Thank you.

ROGIN: Anytime.

HILL: Still to come here, drug trafficking, prostitution and crimes of violence. That is what officials say led to the arrest of more than 100 immigrants during a raid in an underground club in Colorado. Plus a peer of the Wisconsin judge just arrested for allegedly helping an undocumented immigrant avoid arrest is now speaking out to CNN. The message he believes the Trump administration wants to send with her arrest.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUDGE PEDRO COLON, WISCONSIN COURT OF APPEALS DISTRICT I: They want to create circumstances and a culture where people are unsettled about their rights, about their duties, and about the way we go about our jobs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:16:47]

HILL: More than 100 immigrants have been detained after federal authorities raided an underground nightclub in Colorado overnight. Active duty military members were also at that club. Federal officials say they seized guns and drugs, including cocaine and so-called pink cocaine, during the raid. The DEA and other agencies have been surveilling the club for months and say they documented drug trafficking, prostitution and a number of gang members there.

CNN correspondent Julia Vargas Jones is following these developments for us.

So what more are we hearing specifically from officials about why they were targeting this club in particular, and what actually went down in this raid?

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Erica, as you mentioned, they had been surveilling this location for months they said and this raid happened about 3:45 this morning. Take a listen to how this all played out when they got there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Exit the front door one at a time with nothing in your hand.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: Around 200 people that were inside now ushered out that you can see in the video that the DEA, Rocky Mountain DEA posted on social media today of officers trying to break what seems to be a window of that nightclub in a strip mall there in Colorado Springs. Around 100 immigrants taken now into ICE custody that the DEA also says were in this country illegally.

Aside from that, those 12 plus members active duty of the military. Now, the Army saying that they are in custody of the Criminal Investigation Division, that they are investigating this matter. In that seizure officials saying multiple handguns, firearms, as well as multiple dozens of baggies of drugs including cocaine, methamphetamines and pink cocaine, which is a mixture of methamphetamine, ketamine.

I apologize, and caffeine and MDMA, that's what they encountered there. They said they're still testing all of those drugs to have a better sense of what was in there.

Erica, months long investigation, various different gangs had been observed according to the DEA, operating in this location, including Hells Angels, Tren de Aragua, as well as MS-13. They did call this an underground nightclub. It's unclear what that language means. If this means that it was an abandoned location that was taken over by a group of people to throw these events, if they didn't have a license or a liquor license.

We did reach out to several people associated with that address to try and get a better understanding of what exactly was going on there, what was the nature of the people that were there, as well as those active duty Army officials who were there. Some of them, the DEA said, as security -- working security for this event. In total, about 300 officers participated in this raid, including from other federal agencies.

So not just the DEA and ICE, Homeland Security, U.S. Marshals, as well as sheriff's offices from both El Paso County and Douglas County.

And, Erica, I will say that we are expecting even more arrests to take place as the investigation continues.

[16:20:01]

HILL: All right. We know you keep us posted on those if and when they happen.

Julia, appreciate it. Thank you.

Still ahead here, a new CNN poll shows President Trump with the lowest approval rating for any newly elected president at the 100-day mark in at least seven decades. We'll take a closer look at what's behind the decline in those numbers, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: As president Trump prepares to mark his first 100 days of his second term, a new CNN poll just out this morning shows his job approval at levels never seen before. At just 41 percent, in fact, his approval marks the lowest approval rating for any newly elected president at this point, dating back to the days of President Dwight D. Eisenhower administration.

[16:25:03]

Trump's poll numbers dropping seven points since late February.

Joining me now to dig in, Washington bureau chief for the "Chicago Sun-Times," Lynn Sweet.

Lynn, good to have you here this afternoon. So, I mean, it's important to note, as always, these are polls offering a snapshot in time, as we know. Given that we've seen, though, down seven points from February, down another four points since March, there are real concerns about what this could mean for the president. The White House not necessarily biting when asked about the polls, different officials asked about the polls.

What do you make of the drop and what we're seeing at this point, heading into that 100-day mark?

LYNN SWEET, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, CHICAGO SUN-TIMES: Well, thanks for having me. I see two buckets here. Bucket one is that people are paying attention. People are looking at policies on immigration and the economy and looking at perhaps their wallets and the services they expect from federal government, and they kind of put the ratings down lower. Bucket two is the Trump White House is not reacting to this in any particular way and they're still more or less going at breakneck speed ahead with trying to get as much done as they can, as fast as they can get it done, without paying attention to what now is a body of polls showing that his popularity is waning.

HILL: Yes, absolutely. You mentioned immigration, the economy, and I do want to dig into those two specifically. Immigration has really been for this president an area of polling where he's done pretty well over the last several months. What we're seeing where, you know, he's getting a majority. As we look at these latest numbers overall, 45 percent now approve of what the president is doing in terms of handling immigration. That's down six points from just March. 53 percent expressed confidence in his ability to handle the immigration issue. That's down from 60 percent in December.

That one is still a little bit above water. But given what we're seeing here, it's fascinating to watch that drop, especially as the White House is really doubling down.

SWEET: Well, and that's why this, in my analysis, the whole Trump phenomenon is continuing to unfold, that he is immune to political forces that might otherwise impact a presidential administration. But, here's the but here, not all Republicans are immune from this. And I think what we'll see here is how far does the absolute following of Trump go? Maybe there'd be a crack. Maybe not.

Here's another thing to note. In the first 100 days, Trump has had no signature legislation that he passed. It is all governing by executive order. You know, almost every day on his schedule, there's a time slot signing orders on this and that. His legislation record is basically zero for 100 days. That is something that may have more of an impact because the Congress can weigh in on laws and take votes. Right now by just doing these executive orders, he's making it easy for Republicans to, in a sense, get away with. They're just rubber stamping the Trump administration executive orders.

HILL: It is fascinating to see and also to see some of the legal action that some of those orders have ignited as well.

Really quickly on the economy, too. This was such an important part, as we know, of the election. And Donald Trump has promised that prices were going to go down. You know, he is saying that certain prices are down when frankly, they are not, as we're seeing. This is also a real issue for him. Just 35 percent approve of his policy on tariffs. And there's such a concern about the broader impact that that will continue to have.

As we watch the economy, to your point, we're also watching what really isn't happening in Congress. We're seeing Democrats today holding a sit-in on the steps of the Capitol. I know you've been seeing this as well. So many Americans across the country want their lawmakers, whether they're Democrats or Republicans, to step up, if they're unhappy with what they're seeing coming out of the White House. Is this going to be effective?

SWEET: I think it's -- the Democrats are searching for ways to communicate with people that are effective. Cory Booker's marathon speech making on the floor of the Senate had some impact because it was sliced and diced in real time for all kinds of social media, so people had a chance to get it. I think Democrats want to do something, and this is part of their innovating, experimenting to see what can break through in terms of their describing some of the downsides of this chaotic beginning of the first 100 days of the Trump White House.

HILL: Lynn Sweet, always good to talk to you. Thank you.

SWEET: And thank you.

HILL: Well, the Justice Department facing mounting backlash now following that FBI arrest of a Wisconsin judge. Protesters gathering outside the FBI's Milwaukee headquarters on Saturday. They're demanding answers.

[16:30:00]

The FBI, as you know, is accusing Judge Hannah Dugan of helping an undocumented immigrant avoid arrest. She is now facing two charges for obstruction and concealing the individual from arrest.

CNN's Kyung Lah is following some more of the developments here.

And, Kyung, one of the questions, right, is -- is how this all unfolded and what's happening. There's also the question of what is the broader impact of this arrest? And you addressed that specifically with another Wisconsin judge. What was the reaction?

KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: Well, the reaction is not that different from that protest that you're seeing there, but it is certainly much more targeted. There is this growing sense of alarm and outrage among at least one judge I spoke with in Milwaukee who knows Judge Dugan very well.

I want to first lay out what we know so far about this case, and this is basically coming Friday morning from the federal complaint. There are a number of things that the federal government has laid out, and some of this was tweeted by the FBI director that it was interfering with the arrest of an undocumented immigrant, helping this Mexican national, that all of this is about, you know, to some cases, you know, being viewed as having bias.

Now, what this Milwaukee judge told me is that this doesn't sound like the woman he knows at all. And he is very concerned about the message that this sends, while saying that he simply cannot comment on the facts of the case. He is worried about that larger impact.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUDGE PEDRO COLON, WISCONSIN COURT OF APPEALS - DISTRICT 1: I think they're trying to send the message to chill the judiciary, to punish someone uneven with, with an uneven hand, with a lot of force, with a lot of might, to the extent that she has she has this person I just described to you who is one of the nicest people in this in this city and this county to be handcuffed and to be brought into -- into this situation. It's just a -- it's just appalling.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAH: Another word that Judge Colon used is he simply flabbergasted. He has known Judge Dugan for almost two decades. And he is speaking, understanding that he is risking the fact that he may become a target of the Trump administration. But he says it is so important right now for people in Milwaukee, especially those who know her, to speak up because of the overall impact this could have, especially on constitutional matters -- Erica. HILL: Yeah, absolutely. And so interesting and important to hear his

perspective as well. Kyung, appreciate it. Thank you.

LAH: You bet.

HILL: Just ahead this hour, as tributes pour in remembering Pope Francis, the attention is also shifting to the cardinals, who, of course, will be picking his successor. One of them will be his successor. What we know about that upcoming conclave, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:37:16]

HILL: The Catholic faithful gathering at the Vatican again today, just one day after saying their goodbyes to Pope Francis. Vatican officials celebrating mass at St. Peter's Square this morning. The same place, of course, hundreds of thousands packed in to pay their respects to Pope Francis for his funeral mass on Saturday.

The College of Cardinals, also in attendance for today's religious ceremonies, they are meeting daily in the lead up to their secretive conclave, which of course, will decide who among them will become the next pope.

CNN Vatican analyst Elisabetta Pique joins me now. She's the author of "Francis: Life and Revolution".

Elisabetta, it's nice to talk to you again today.

As we wait for that conclave to begin. We're also -- we're waiting for the Vatican to tell us when in fact, it will begin. Could be as early as May 6th, I believe. What are you watching for in these coming days ahead of the conclave?

ELISABETTA PIQUE, CNN VATICAN ANALYST: Well, what we have seen is that tomorrow, for instance, we saw that what -- who could be the next -- the successor of Pope Francis. There was this big mass that was the second of this mass of -- of mourning of Pope Francis. These are the. Novemdiales, nine days of mourning, and the cardinal that celebrated this big mass that was also a very big mass with a lot of young people because today was the jubilee of young people.

Today should have been canonized Carlo Acutis, this a new a -- blessed young, but of course, this couldn't happen because there is no pope. But there were a lot of young people. And everybody was watching Cardinal Parolin. Cardinal Parolin was the second -- the secretary of state of the Vatican. He celebrated this big mass he seen as a candidate of continuity with Pope Francis. And in his homily his -- his, of course, spoke about the legacy, about the mercy of Pope Francis, like giving some idea of what would be the mandate of the next pope.

Tomorrow, we expect that in the -- in this, a general congregation that the pre-conclave meeting the cardinals that are already in Rome that are more than 100. We saw today, more than 100 are going to the basilica of. Santa Maria Maggiore to venerate the time of Pope Francis, to pray for him. They should decide tomorrow when the conclave will begin. As you said, everybody thinks that could be the 5th or 6th of May.

We will have to see, because also the big problem that they that they see everybody is that they don't know each other.

[16:40:04]

Because this time, the big difference with the 2013 conclave that elected Pope Francis is that the college of cardinals has been in has become more and more international. There are 71 countries represented, and so they don't know each other. So, this is a big problem. And so, everybody thinks that, this congregation could last more days.

HILL: Yeah. And that will be that's a big part, right, to get to know one another, because they're going to have to understand who they may be voting for, right. Whose name they ultimately write down on that ballot. You talked about the questions of continuity, given the fact that Pope Francis appointed 80 percent of the cardinals who will be voting in that conclave, how many of them do you believe align with Pope Franciss view of where the Catholic Church should go?

PIQUE: Well, this is a big question because a lot of it's true. Its more than 80 percent are almost 90 percent. The cardinals chosen. And this is something that didn't happen in the last conclave. But the reality is that Pope Francis did a lot of new cardinals of countries never represented in the college of cardinals, cardinals of countries of the peripheries, very poor that they were pastors, as he would say, with -- with the smell of the shepherd. But this doesn't mean that in a some question would think like -- like

him. So. Of course, the fact that almost 90 percent of the of the cardinals, electors were chosen by Francis should mean that we should expect something similar, but is not is not a -- we could -- we cannot be sure about this because there are different dynamics. We know Francis was a was a very disruptive pope in terms of style. But also, there are some that want maybe would want after this very disruptive pope to go back a little in a more formal pope.

HILL: Yeah.

PIQUE: So, there will -- we will have to see. What we know is that we have two very big favorites in this, in this scenario in which all these 133 cardinals, they don't know each other now they will have. But there are some that are very well known. And between them there is cardinal Parolin that I mentioned before and also cardinal, the Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, that was also considered a papabile in the -- in the last conclave. And they are very well known.

HILL: Those are two names certainly that do keep coming up.

We're going to have to unfortunately leave it there for time, Elisabetta. But the good news is we have several days to keep talking about this as we wait for that conclave.

PIQUE: Absolutely.

HILL: Appreciate it as always. Thank you.

PIQUE: Thank you.

HILL: Well, tomorrow, Canadians will head to the polls. Why some voters are really planning to use their vote this time around to send a message to the United States.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you put your vote where it counts a little more in this situation?

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And is that just because of Donald Trump?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Unfortunately.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:48:07] HILL: Canadians go to the polls tomorrow in a critical election. Prime Minister Mark Carney trying to hang on to his job and keep his power -- party in power. Of course, he's only been in the job for a few weeks. There's some powerful outside factors, though. One in particular really looming over the vote, and that is U.S. President Donald Trump.

John King made his way across the border for a new all over the map. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Rock Maple Lodge spans 200 acres, more than 2,000 maple trees, 11 miles of lines to carry the syrup back to be boiled, filtered, and bottled.

PETER HAMILTON, CANADIAN VOTER: There we go.

KING: This is Peter Hamilton's business and his escape.

HAMILTON: Every year, we've got to drill another hole.

KING: He also farms wheat, soybeans and corn, sells some timber.

HAMILTON: So, to be here 54 years and absolute just thrilled that we're able to do this. KING: Sounds like you're working harder now though.

HAMILTON: I would like to go back one more time to play some hockey.

KING: A proud Canadian now more than ever. Yes, a lifelong Conservative but "Canada first" is Hamilton's motto as voters here pick a new parliament and a new prime minister.

HAMILTON: The bottom line is the liberals and the conservatives got to work together here. They can't be nit-picking and arguing amongst each other. We have to work together to make this country go ahead.

KING: Work together he says because suddenly the United States feels so far away. Rock Maple Lodge is in Ontario just 65 miles from Toronto. It's just 100 miles to the border and Buffalo, but it doesn't feel that close with Donald Trump in the White House.

HAMILTON: There is no friends, no more. The biggest thing in Canada is we have friends all over the world. How many friends does Americans have right now?

KING: The Trump effect on Canada's election cannot be overstated.

[16:50:00]

You see more Canadian flags now. More of these signs too.

Federal elections here are often defined by East versus West. Urban versus rural. English versus French. Liberal versus conservative. But Trump versus Canada defines this one. Just weeks ago, some of the flowers here at Lola Blooms came from the United States. Not anymore. Sisters-in-law Lindsay Smith and Kaitlynn Strain are buying elsewhere now. Their answer to Trump's threats of tariffs or making Canada the 51st state.

LINDSAY SMITH, CANADIAN VOTER: It's more Donald Trump. I feel like he's a bully in this situation. We're supposed to be allies. We thought we're on like a friendship level.

KING: Some of the vases and other hardware still come from the states. But Smith and Strain are looking for alternatives.

KING: And when you hear him call your prime minister "governor" or say that, you know, this would make a great 51st state, what's that make you think?

KAITLYNN STRAIN, CANADIAN VOTER: Very insulting.

SMITH: We need a strong leader who won't stand up for bullying.

KING: They both traditionally support the Green Party, but both are leaning liberal this time.

KING: If the Liberals are going to win or the conservatives are going to win, you want them to win by what? A healthy enough margin --

STRAIN: Exactly.

KING: -- so that they're viewed as a strong leader?

SMITH: Yes.

STRAIN: Yes, very much.

SMITH: You put your vote where it counts a little more in this situation.

KING: And is that just because of Donald Trump?

SMITH: Yes.

STRAIN: Yes. Unfortunately.

SMITH: Yes.

KING: Canadians see this as much bigger than who gets the most seats in parliament and gets to pick a prime minister. It's about spending more in the military.

Buying local. Finding new markets and new partners. Dropping any thought the ruts with Trump can just be smoothed over.

TOBY GORMAN, CANADIAN VOTER: I put up a flag myself. I never thought I would put up a Canadian flag. But I think when it comes down to crunch time, Canadians really gather up. KING: Toby Gorman is an environmental journalist and author and a pickup hockey player in the Canadian Beer League. Passionate about the climate crisis but likely to pass on his top choice this election in hopes he can help Liberals win a big enough mandate to counter Trump.

GORMAN: If it was any other election without the U.S. situation, without, you know, the crisis we had going on, I would probably go with green.

Just push it.

KING: Gorman says he is hardly alone here in rethinking everything.

GORMAN: We're just sick of him, you know? And it's only been three months into the term and, you know, he's getting to an excess, he wants to crush us economically. I think, at first, it was kind of like losing your best friend or it's like, you know, what just happened, like, what's happening. But now, I think, we're at the point where it's like, well, we can move on.

KING: That's a big shift.

This election defined by the belief Canada and the United States are suddenly more rivals than neighbors. Suddenly, no longer skating in the same direction.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: And our thanks again to John King for that report.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:57:36]

HILL: This week will mark President Trump's first 100 days back in office. And by all accounts, he and administration are moving with a velocity that hasn't been seen before.

Tonight, in "THE WHOLE STORY WITH ANDERSON COOPER", CNN anchor Abby Phillip takes a closer look at the president's orders.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Ambitious, dizzying, shocking, unrelenting, a political and cultural revolution. Those are just a few of the ways that historians, experts and reporters have described President Trump's second term so far. Since FDR and the New Deal, and new presidents have been judged by their first 100 days in office, and President Trump's first 100 days have been extraordinary in his push to take and consolidate more power into the executive office,

Trump and his administration have taken so many sweeping actions on different fronts, from a whiplash tariff policy that sent markets and retirement funds on a roller coaster to realigning the global order by challenging allies mass deportations seemingly made for social media and widespread layoffs spearheaded by his biggest campaign donor, Elon Musk, and the department of government efficiency. We are going to explore all of these topics and this week's "WHOLE STORY".

Here's a preview.

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Morale is low in the federal government. People don't know when the next round of terminations are going to happen, and that's causing a considerable amount of anxiety.

PHILLIP (voice-over): One of the architects of Project 2025, now a Trump appointee, has said anxiety is the goal.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want the bureaucrats to be traumatically affected. When they wake up in the morning. We want them to not want to go to work.

PHILLIP: What is the reasoning behind not just firing federal workers, but also making their lives difficult, anxiety ridden and uneasy?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't feel, you know, pleasure by people losing their jobs, but the reality is, is government got too big and you can't put that burden on the American taxpayer.

PHILLIP: We are also going to take a look at the balance of power as outlined in the Constitution. President Trump has tested the traditional understanding of the co-equal branches of government. Congress and the legislative branch seem to have ceded the power of the purse, whereas the judicial branch seems to be the only speed bump in Trump's way.

We'll go through some of the high profile legal challenges and the role of the Supreme Court as the ultimate decider in which of President Trump's orders will have long lasting effects.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)