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Erin Burnett Outfront
DHS Slashes 300 Staffers, Claims Divisions "Obstructed" Enforcement; Trump Digs In On Standoff With Judge Over Deportation Flights; Report: Musk Briefing At Pentagon On China War Plans Called Off; "Buffoon On Ketamine": Politician Rises After Trashing Trump, Musk. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired March 21, 2025 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:38]
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:
The breaking news, mass firings, Trump shutting down three divisions in DHS. Two employees purged tonight break their silence to OUTFRONT as Trump is ramping up his battle tonight with the federal judge.
And inside Elon Musk's very cozy relationship with China. A very rare partnership as Musk was reportedly about to receive a Pentagon briefing on America's top secret war plans against China.
And his strong words about Nero's court and a, quote, buffoon on ketamine, referring to Trump and Musk have made him an international superstar. See how one French senators fan base is suddenly exploding.
Let's go OUTFRONT.
(MUSIC)
BURNETT: And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett.
OUTFRONT tonight, we begin with breaking news.
A new mass firing tonight. Trump just now shutting down three divisions at the Department of Homeland Security. Those departments are part of DHS immigration enforcement. The White House calls them roadblocks.
And we just got the statements here OUTFRONT. Just moments ago here at OUTFRONT, one DHS, DHS employee who just lost her job giving us this exclusive statement saying, quote, this is not just about me -- it's about the principles I fought for every single day in my work. To see those values undermined by an administration that disregards fairness and the rule of law is heartbreaking on a level I never imagined possible.
And then we got this exclusive statement from a senior staffer at DHS who's been put on leave as part of the purge. He tells us, and I'm quoting him: The closure of the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties will harm homeland and national security. The sudden shutdown without a plan to meet even our most basic legal responsibilities, shows a callous disregard for the rule of law and care for people who can be harmed by government overreach.
Now, the impacted departments, we understand looking at them, have more than 300 employees combined. This Friday night, mass firing massacre coming as the Trump administration is now caught in the middle of another immigration standoff demanding the deportation of another university student involved in pro-Palestinian protests.
A lawyer for Cornell University grad student Momodou Taal says ICE is now demanding he surrender to be deported. Now, he's in the United States legally on a student visa. We actually spoke to him and we saw -- he said he saw this coming a couple of months ago, he told our reporter, Elle Reeve that he's living in fear because of his views.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MOMODOU TAAL, PHD STUDENT, CORNELL UNIVERSITY: Of course, there's like a fear for many international students right now, but that's the intended effect with the levels of repression that the university has meted out on their students. It was done in such a way to lull and bring down the protesters. And I think what Trump is trying to do now is a continuation of that kind of policy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Well, that is now playing out in court. They're demanding his surrender.
And in another courtroom tonight, the federal judge who told Trump to turn around those planes of migrants vowed to get to the bottom of whether the president defied a court order. It was a tense hearing tonight, and the judge demands the Trump's DOJ, quote, show cause as to how those flights did not violate his orders because, of course, his written order came out before even one of them took off.
Moments ago, Trump was asked about the judges comments in that hearing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: It doesn't sound like this, judge, who the DOJ is arguing with today about the deportation flights. He wants to know why the proclamation was signed in the dark, his words, and why people were rushed on to planes.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Because we want to get criminals out of our country, number one. And I don't know when it was signed because I didn't sign it. Other people handled it. But Marco Rubio has done a great job and he wanted him out. And we go along with that. We want to get criminals out of our country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: So now he's just going along with Rubio? It does not add up.
Jeff Zeleny is OUTFRONT live outside the White House. And, Jeff, how important is this to Trump as this fight with the
judge? I mean, just looking at this, as you pointed out, the order that he just what he said there, he said he didn't sign it, that is -- I'm sorry, that is his signature, right?
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Erin, that is his signature. And that is in the federal register. And that is where all of these executive orders that the president signs goes.
So they did sign it last weekend. The White House talked about that openly on Saturday evening. So the president was just asked a short time ago, as you said, about this.
[19:05:01]
And he's definitely standing behind the broader decision here, but sort of distancing himself from the fine print of it by saying he didn't choose who would be on these planes, which, of course, he's the president of the United States. He's not choosing these people individually.
But what he is doing, at least the White House has been saying all week long, he is the one who signed this law from 1798. Or, you know, it's been only used three times.
So it's interesting that he mentioned Marco Rubio. He brought up Secretary of State Rubio's name on his own there and said you know, he's doing a good job on this. Whatever -- he said, other people handled it. But Marco Rubio has done a great job and he wanted them along. So we go along with it.
So, very interesting. We've asked the White House for some clarification on the fact that he said he didn't sign it. We've not yet heard back. We'll let you know if we do. The bottom line to all of this, though, the administration is standing by the decision to deport these gang members.
But the question is, were all those people on the planes actually, convicted of crimes or a suspect in crimes? So the White House is ending this week in a bit of a muddled position here over this, these questions that the judge has been raising and the judge is still ruling on this. He is not issued a final order on this. So that will become clear next week. Erin.
BURNETT: All right. We're obviously going to be crucial and put that that real test of whether they abide and what happens if he says that they did formally violate his ruling.
Jeff Zeleny at the White House, thank you.
And everyone is here with me now.
Ryan, okay, I mean, just to be -- what -- what -- what Jeff found just is the -- this is the order, and there's the signature. So he said, I don't know when it was signed because I didn't sign it. That's false.
RYAN GOODMAN, JUST SECURITY CO-EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Right.
BURNETT: That's false. Okay. So just being clear, that's a black and white, literally black and white sharpie. That was false.
So this is a complicated question. Who do you think will ultimately prevail, Trump or the judge? And I guess I'm not really asking you what the judge is going to rule. I'm asking you who's going to win the outcome?
GOODMAN: So I think the judge wins in many ways the facts aren't there for the government. The law is not there for the government. One of the arguments that the judge made in a courtroom today, I think, was very embarrassing for the government.
He said, based on your theory of the case, isn't it the case that the president of the United States, whoever that might be, Donald Trump this time, but maybe somebody in the future could say that Chinese fishing vessels were invading the United States and then deport -- detain and deport all Chinese fishermen.
And the government answer is yes, he could do that without any court review. He could do that. And he said, surely, you don't mean -- you don't want to say that? And the government lawyer said, well, well, that's the way Congress wrote the statute.
That's just not where they want to be. That's in a deep hole.
BURNETT: Yeah. And that's -- and that's where they are. I mean, Lulu, when you see this back and forth with the judge, I mean, on the one hand, Trump saying, oh, Rubio did it and I didn't sign it, both of which are one patently false, the other laughable.
Here is more of Trump's ramped up attacks against Judge Boasberg today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Marco Rubio has a lot of big decisions to make, and he's got the authority to get bad people out of our country. And you can't stop that with a judge sitting behind a bench that has no idea what goes on, who happens to be a radical left lunatic.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Juliette, just to make a point here -- Judge Boasberg is the guy -- not the guy -- the judge who ordered 14,000 Hillary Clinton emails to be released. That was this radical leftist judge. He's the guy who rejected the effort to have Trump's tax returns released. He preserved Trump's tax return privacy for Trump, this radical left lunatic. And he was actually first appointed by George W. Bush.
So does this argument about a radical left lunatic hold any water?
JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Yeah. No, and it's sort of beside the point at this stage. The government -- I mean, it is shocking to me, even how the government does not have even a sort of what we call a colorable -- colorable argument that these men were even put through any kind of review to determine whether we should send them to El Salvador. So we're sort of fixated on the law and -- and the timing.
I am shocked by these proceedings that, that that I mean, it's like you're sort of your worst nightmare. Like these people were -- yes, some of them were outside of status, others were trying to cure their status. So your -- your incentive structure is now to make every person who's trying to make lawful their status now not come forward. And we're taken basically based on tattoos.
I mean, it's sort of -- it is -- it is sort of your, your worst nightmare for anyone. And you're seeing the impact of it across the board. The government has no case. I -- I'll just tell you, I interpret Donald Trump and what he just said, that, you know, Marco Rubio get a lawyer. Department of justice lawyers get a lawyer.
He is -- he seems to be throwing them under the bus because this case is not about criminal aliens.
[19:10:04]
It's not about war. It's not about our borders. It is -- it is -- it is just -- it was pure, you know, cruelty. And they thought and they thought they could get away with it.
BURNETT: So, Lulu, you know, Trump has just posted something that just read you what he posted the 14th Amendment right of American citizenship never had anything to do with modern day gatecrashers. Illegal immigrants who break the law by being in our country, it had everything to do with giving citizenship to former slaves.
Our Founding Fathers are spinning in their graves at the idea that our country can be taken away from us. No nation in the world has anything like this. Our lawyers and judges have to be tough and protect, America.
I mean, that just came out and said it there, right? There is some remarkably little ambiguity in that, Lulu.
LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: There is. And I think that's the wider context within which, you know, all of this is playing out that were seeing Donald Trump, his administration really just trying to go at this in as many different ways as they can. I mean, I don't know what your group chats look like, but anyone who's traveling internationally is being told, now, don't -- you know, take a burner phone, you know, make sure that you don't have anything on there that the government can look at.
I mean, that is stuff that I that used to happen to me when I was a foreign correspondent, when I go to Venezuela, when I went to Russia. This is not something that would happen in the United States of America. And the reason it doesn't happen here is because we have protections for people to have dissent. And so the question is, why is all this happening? And, you know, most Americans would say, well, what does it matter if these people get put on a plane? What does it matter if these purges happen? What does it all mean?
But it matters because what is happening is the government is really trying to take a lot of power for itself, and its trying to intimidate people and make sure that they don't speak out. And so this is kind of what you're seeing across the board.
BURNETT: And, Ryan, you know, you have we mentioned the man from Cornell. And without even knowing the specifics of his case right there, they're saying if someone was involved in those protests that would put them suspect of just definitional antisemitism or supporting terrorism that could allow them to be kicked out of the country regardless of their legal status, which is pretty stunning in and of itself.
All of that context is part of what we saw even in that hearing today. So there was something else I know that stood out to you there.
GOODMAN: It actually dovetails with what Juliette just mentioned. So in an affidavit that the government submitted on Monday, the government official says, quote, agency personnel carefully vetted each individual alien to ensure they were, in fact members of TDA -- of the TDA.
What we learned today --
BURNETT: Tren de Aragua gang.
GOODMAN: That's right, the Venezuelan gang.
And then what we learned today in the courtroom is that the ACLU said that, in fact, flights have returned from El Salvador because they sent the wrong people and that one of them is actually not even Venezuelan. And this is a Venezuelan gang and is not El Salvadorian.
And so, they have mistaken identity of some of these individuals, and some of them were women, and they were only supposed to be giving men over to the -- to the prison. So that's a deep concern about are they even identifying the right people that were on the first planes out.
BURNETT: Which brings me, Lulu, to what we just saw out of DHS, right? This mass -- this mass purge, right. You're seeing this mass purge tonight of -- of units that were in charge of.
And I know, Juliette, I want to ask you more about this as well, but civil rights and civil liberties, these issues of mistaken identity that happen at TSA, that happened when you come into this country, that happened when you're deported and people say you're a gang guy and you're not, that just got wiped out tonight.
So --
GARCIA-NAVARRO: Yeah.
BURNETT: Yeah. Go ahead, Lulu.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: Yeah. I mean, these are the people that are supposed to be the internal watchdogs. I mean, if you think about, you know, in police, you have the same type of thing where you have internal investigations. This is supposed to be the people that especially that they have two ombudsmen offices that have been dismantled as well, that people from the outside citizens, right, can come and say, this happened to me or this happened to somebody else. I want this to be investigated.
They're the voice of the people inside the government, and that is being taken away.
BURNETT: Juliette, obviously you are very familiar with the divisions that got purged today in the DHS. You've worked in them, you've overseen them.
What's the significance of this purge tonight?
KAYYEM: Well, the office of civil rights and civil liberties is much like an inspector general's office. It's sort of is assessing the behavior of federal law enforcement to keep it out of trouble.
So the idea that, you know, somehow they hinder investigations is, is just a sort of a gross lie coming out of the White House. They are not involved with individual cases. They are not involved with deportation.
They are a -- a place for complaints or systemic abuses, racial profiling, whatever else to -- to be assessed, to make law enforcement better. So that's the -- you know, that's the reality here.
They -- the Trump administration doesn't want to make law enforcement better. In other words, more accurate, more decisive against true criminals, really protecting the American people. They want to loosen write those rules that make for better law enforcement so that you're getting these broad mass deportations.
And I just want to end with this. If you think this has only to do with immigrants, then -- then look around you.
[19:15:03]
This country has a lot of people who do not fit the -- the white profile. These offices assess African -- racial -- racial discrimination against African Americans, Arab Americans, Muslim Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Americans like Puerto Ricans.
This is not about the other. This is about American citizens.
BURNETT: Right. Not about the other. About us. All of us.
All right. Thank you very much, all of you.
And next, Elon Musk briefed at the Pentagon after "The New York Times" and "Wall Street Journal" reported he was heading there for a briefing on top secret war plans against China. So what actually went down in that meeting?
And Putin's so-called merchant of death speaks to CNN, and he's singing Trump's praises.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VIKTOR BOUT, FORMER RUSSIAN ARMS DEALER: Trump, representing the, you know, American people, who said enough is enough.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: And J.D. Vance making history for the wrong reasons tonight.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:20:24]
BURNETT: Tonight, Elon Musk and America's top secret war plans against China. So Musk visited the Pentagon today. And according to both "The New York Times" and "The Wall Street Journal", it was originally for a briefing on those top secret war plans.
But that briefing didn't happen. Maybe because the media did its job shining light on something Musk and Trump wanted hidden, because, of course, Musk would have a lot to gain from such a briefing. His interests in China are massive. His factories there produces one out of two Teslas in the world, half the Teslas in the world are made in China.
And Musk is reeling from Tesla's global implosion. Just before his visit to the Pentagon, he called a surprise late night, all hands on meeting of Tesla employees. He urged them not to sell their Tesla stock, which has lost half its value, the worst performing stock in the S&P 500 this year.
And he also told employees that he's building, quote, legions just like the Roman army, legions of robots, all showing just how much is at stake and perhaps why "The Wall Street Journal" reports Musk asked for this briefing on Chinese war plans.
Will Ripley is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Taiwan does its own war simulations.
We're inside a top military think tank in Taiwan's capital, tracking Chinese warships just 24 nautical miles off the coast. If China invades Taiwan, it could mean war with the U.S.
Are there Chinese warships around Taiwan right now?
SU TZU-YUN, DIRECTOR, TAIWAN'S INSTITUTE FOR NATIONAL DEFENSE AND SECURITY RESEARCH: Yep.
RIPLEY: Always. Are they always there?
SU: Yeah. RIPLEY: So they could theoretically fire at any time.
SU: Yeah. Conduct a so-called new kind of missile surprise attack.
RIPLEY: A new round of Chinese military drills. The People's Liberation Army says are meant to suppress, quote, Taiwan separatist forces. The island is responding with its own military exercises, preparing for the possibility of war. How likely would a surprise attack be with no warning.
SU: From their missile to the target, just three minutes.
RIPLEY: Three minutes warning is all you'd have.
SU: There are three stages.
RIPLEY: Taiwan runs constant military simulations, the same kind of planning Elon Musk was reportedly expected to be briefed on at the Pentagon, according to "The New York Times".
ERIC SCHMITT, REPORTER, THE NEW YORK TIMES: The kinds of targets that you might hit in China, the timing of these -- these kind of strikes. So it can get into very technical detail.
RIPLEY: Trump pushed back on that reporting.
In Beijing, the official response, silence.
But on China's tightly controlled social media, censors are allowing comments like this. Musk will brief the military on this week's layoff plan. Is this meant to have him pass the message to China? Shanghai Tesla could switch to making shells for China during wartime. Don't worry, Musk is one of us.
The billionaire mogul's close relationship with Chinese officials helped him build this, Tesla's massive gigafactory in Shanghai finished fast with state support, now producing more than half of Tesla's global output.
Musk has publicly praised China's leadership, raising alarm here in Taiwan. He once questioned whether Taiwan's status is similar to Hawaii's in the U.S., even suggesting it could be a special administrative zone under Beijing's control.
Taiwan's former foreign minister criticized his comments and said the island is not for sale.
Do you think the PLA is preparing for war with Taiwan and even with the U.S.?
SU: Yeah, I do believe that China will conduct a war.
RIPLEY: China is developing tools to move tanks and troops across the sea fast. CNN obtained MAXAR's satellite images taken Friday. China testing a new method to rapidly transport military vehicles and personnel using three stacked barges and a civilian ferry that could be loaded with tanks. Analysts say this kind of drill may be used in a Taiwan invasion scenario, where speed and surprise would be critical.
Why is China building such a large navy? What do they need it for?
SU: It's not only just for unification Taiwan. The real answer is China trying to become a sea power.
RIPLEY: And he says a power in the air and in space for Taiwan, who the U.S. chooses to trust, it could mean the difference between peace and war.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
RIPLEY: Elon Musk's SpaceX is now seen as so critical to the Pentagon that China actually considers it part of the U.S. military, Erin. A Chinese military university, even published a paper on Starlink and its militarization.
[19:25:01]
Now, Starlink is not active here in Taiwan because the company won't comply with rules requiring 50 percent local ownership. That means that Elon Musk could turn it off at any time, even during wartime, as we saw in Ukraine, a risk that Taiwan is not willing to take.
BURNETT: Certainly seeing what happened there. Thank you very much, Will.
And so let's go to Leon Panetta, because he is former defense secretary and CIA director.
So, Secretary, Director, you know, you've seen the Chinese war plans over many years, many years in both of your roles. Should someone like Elon Musk, who builds half of his Teslas in China, half of his company comes from China, should he have access to those?
LEON PANETTA, FORMER DEFENSE SECRETARY: The answer is no, not at all. Not in 100 years. These plans that the Pentagon develops, we -- we develop these plans to deal with every potential crisis that's out there.
They are very intricate. They're very targeted. They're based on very sensitive intelligence, in order to make sure that they're as accurate as possible. And as a result, they are among the most sensitive and classified
documents we have. Because the last thing you want is for any of that information to leak. Not only could it harm our sources for information, it also can harm our national security.
So bottom line is this ought to only be provided to military leadership and to the president, because they're the ones that protect our national security.
BURNETT: You know, your definitive there, not in 100 years. I mean, and this is a person, you know, with so much personally at stake in China, right? He -- he has business there, an incredible amount of business. You know, as a former CIA director, do you think that Elon Musk and I
know the answer is here. I mean, in a sense, we don't know how much information he has access to. We know he has access to a lot, but no one knows exactly what across the government. Do you think he already has too much access to sensitive government information?
PANETTA: Well, I think there's a real problem here, that -- that we're all America is aware of, that we have an individual who doesn't occupy a formal position in the government. He has not been confirmed by the Senate.
And he doesn't really have all of the clearances that would be provided for somebody in a very sensitive position. And yet he is going after very sensitive information. He's going after sensitive information at Social Security. He's going after sensitive information at the IRS. He's going after sensitive information in various agencies that are private information related to individuals.
So the basic problem here is we have somebody who is getting access to very sensitive material, and we don't know exactly what he's doing with that information.
BURNETT: So what does it say to you that and this is according to "The Wall Street Journal", but is a very significant line. I felt that Musk asked to see those Chinese war plans. They weren't offered that he asked, according to "The Journal".
PANETTA: Well, you know, he's -- he's in business with China as you mentioned, half of the Teslas that are made are made in China. His fate depends a great deal on what happens with China and his ability to gain access to that kind of information is the kind of thing that ultimately, he could trade for other benefits or favors from China.
That's -- that's why this is dangerous, because not only should he not have access to this information, but he has a bona fide conflict in his role, both as a businessman and also as an advisor to the president to be able to use that kind of sensitive information to advance his business interests. That's dangerous.
BURNETT: Yeah.
All right. Well, Secretary Panetta, Director Panetta, thank you so much.
PANETTA: Good to be with you, Erin.
BURNETT: All right. And next, a little known French senator making headlines now around the world, getting rock star treatment after slamming Trump and ridiculing Musk as the, quote, buffoon on ketamine, end quote.
Plus, breaking news, Columbia University caves to Trump's demands, banning masks and making it easier for officers to arrest students in order to preserve their federal funding dollars.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [19:34:22]
BURNETT: Tonight, Putin's so-called merchant of death praising Trump. Viktor Bout spent ten years in a U.S. prison. You remember he was released in that high profile prisoner swap for Brittney Griner. He actually spoke to our Fred Pleitgen today as Trump repeatedly sides with Putin.
Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOUT: Trump representing the, you know, American people who said enough is enough, who wont really change. That's why he was elected. You know, and the Biden administration was just, you know, in bed with all this, you know, neocons, you know, warmongers and the global elites who just tried to stage a World War III.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[19:35:07]
BURNETT: Well, Trump is facing growing backlash tonight internationally as one French leader is being declared a star and a hero for his stance.
Melissa Bell has this amazing report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CLAUDE MALHURET, FRENCH SENATOR (through translator): Washington has become Nero's court with an incendiary emperor, submissive courtiers and a buffoon on ketamine in charge of purging the civil service.
MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Words delivered to the French Senate that resonated far beyond, picked up by CNN after they went viral online.
BURNETT: Those last words really stuck with me.
BELL: Senator Claude Malhuret's criticism of President Trump and Elon Musk leading to sudden stardom.
MALHURET: Many of the mails I received are saying the same thing. It's -- why is it a French parliamentarian who makes such a speech? It should be one of our parliamentarian, member of Congress or member of the Senate in the United States.
BELL: The speech was written, Malhuret says, in outrage after watching Ukrainian President Zelenskyy's humiliation by President Trump and his most senior officials in the oval office three weeks ago.
TRUMP: Military equipment.
BELL: Outrage shared by all of Ukraine's allies. The nerve struck by the senator speaks to the deep sense of betrayal
currently felt in Europe, France, America's oldest ally, had even gifted the Statue of Liberty to the United States in the 19th century to celebrate their common attachment to democracy, keeping just a smaller version of it here in Paris.
RAPHAEL GLUCKSMANN, FRENCH POLITICIAN (through translator): Give us back the Statue of Liberty. We gave it to you as a present, but apparently you didn't like it. We want the big one.
BELL: A symbolic demand, says Raphael Glucksmann, who's an outspoken European lawmaker who also struck a nerve this week this time in the White House.
KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: My advice to that unnamed low level French politician would be to remind them that its only because of the United States of America that the French are not speaking German right now.
GLUCKSMANN: Actually, for me, it would be even worse. I would not even exist because my family would have been killed. But the truth is, I'm not sure that if Trump was in the White House instead of Roosevelt, we would not be right now speaking German.
BELL: Back in the French senate, it is now into English that Senator Claude Malhuret says he'll be translating future speeches.
MALHURET: We were at war with a dictator. Now were fighting against a dictator supported by a traitor.
BELL: To make sure that he is heard loud and clear across the Atlantic.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BELL (on camera): Erin, what those two French politicians have in common is that what prompted them to speak out was the outrage they felt after watching the meeting between President Zelenskyy and President Trump in the Oval Office. And that meeting appears to have sparked a great deal of outrage, so much so that you're seeing this coalition of the willing, not just Europeans, by the way, now, but Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand coming together to continue to fight not just for Ukraine, but in the name of freedom and democracy -- Erin.
BURNETT: Melissa, thank you so very much.
So odd, right, you hear the coalition of the willing that used to be led by America. Now it is to face America.
Tim Naftali is with me now, CNN presidential historian, former director at the Nixon presidential library.
So the French senators face there. You know, I first saw him when he made the comment about Nero's court and ketamine. Now his face is on newscasts around the world. French media is declaring him a star. You've got an Italian newspaper that says, if only there was someone
in Italy who could express himself with such clarity against the Trump administration. I mean, this is France and Italy, by the way. There's a lot more where that just came from, in terms of those quotes.
How significant is this to see someone like this? Actually, Ms. Leavitt was right. He was little known.
TIM NAFTALI, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: It's not just the language he's using, but look at the actions that Europeans and Canadians and other American traditional American allies are taking. These countries are thinking twice about buying American planes. These countries are talking about how our country is no longer trustworthy. Think about that.
We are no longer trustworthy to defend freedom. Imagine we don't want to be the leader of the free world anymore, in their eyes. So it's not just -- I mean, Senator Malhuret was very eloquent, but he is speaking what a lot of people are thinking around capitals in the world. And this should worry members of the Senate.
It's not going to worry President Trump because President Trump is on a roll. He's getting what he wants. He's getting universities to give him what he wants.
But the members of Congress who think they could put their heads in the sand and this will all go away, and that all these problems are just provocations by the president. They have to do something. They've got to say something.
BURNETT: So -- so now, you know, Trump's you mentioned Canada again today. He says he 51st state and he says he's dead serious about it because they don't have the cards. The last time he talked about don't have the cards obviously was in that infamous meeting with Zelenskyy in the Oval Office.
He dismissed concerns that Canada would actually become a big Democratic blue state. And here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Now, is it liberal? Maybe. But, you know, a conservative. Until I got involved, because I don't care who wins up there. I frankly probably would do better with the liberal than the conservative, if you want to know the truth.
(END VDIEO CLIP)
BURNETT: I mean, 51st state. Okay. That that that's still something laughable. But -- but his math.
NAFTALI: Well, okay, first of all, I want to make clear Canadians do not want to become part of the United States. One of the things that unifies Canadians is the fact that they know they're not American. They like Americans, but they don't want to become American. But if for some reason Canada found itself in the American union,
Canada would get just using California as a basis 60 representatives in the House. Canada's conservative party does have some MAGA elements, but they're very small. So I would argue that most Canadian conservatives are Mitt Romney conservatives, so I'm not sure they would vote for MAGA.
So I would assume Canada would have -- the Democrats would gain about 50 seats in the house from Canada, which would give the Democrats, I think, for two generations, control of the House. In terms of the Senate, Canada has between 4 and 5 different political economies and political cultures. French Canada, for example, is not going to be in the same state as the rest of Canada.
So that would be 8 to 10 senators. Yeah, 2 or 3 might be Republican. The rest will be Democrats, which would mean the Senate will also be a Democratic Senate afterwards. But it's not going to happen.
BURNETT: Finally, I began this segment with Viktor Bout. I know you've written two books about the Kremlin. What do you make of him praising Trump?
NAFTALI: He's not a very good propagandist. You know, he's got to improve his English.
What -- what president -- what's so interesting about president Trump is he doesn't care. What Viktor Bout is saying, what the Kremlin is saying is exactly the language you would expect from people who are very happy that they have a president of the United States who's willing to sacrifice the sovereignty of Ukraine.
And I asked the president, the United States, and more importantly, Republican senators, how is it in our interests as Americans that Moldova, that Ukraine, and that Romania and Slovakia and Hungary are going to be pro-Russian and the balance of power is going to shift in Europe? How does that help our security?
I want to know the answer, because that's the direction that the president's negotiations are taking us.
BURNETT: All right. Tim Naftali, thank you very much.
NAFTALI: Thanks.
BURNETT: Presidential historian.
And next, breaking news, Columbia caves, some reference this, tightening its grip on protesters, banning masks, all in exchange for their federal funding from Trump.
Plus, see what happened to J.D. Vance's approval numbers after that moment when he said this to Zelenskyy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Have you said thank you once this entire meeting? No. In this entire meeting, have you said thank you?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:48:03]
BURNETT: Breaking news, Columbia University caving to President Trump's demands. Columbia tonight announcing a series of drastic policy changes to appease Trump. This came after Trump revoked $400 million in federal funding due to the protests in Columbia over the war in Gaza.
Polo Sandoval is OUTFRONT.
And, Polo, So what exactly did Columbia agree to basically, in exchange for this money.?
POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And many might see these as concessions here. And it was just last week that the Trump administration had sent a letter to Columbia University's interim president rolling out a long list of demands. And here we are tonight with this long list of policy changes that have been rolled out by Columbia University.
I'll list just a few here for -- for you and some of our viewers. That list, including the banning of masks during some protests on campus, also tightening rules over where some of those protests on campus can actually occur.
These new rules also giving campus police added arresting powers as well as more authority for the university provost to basically determine any sort of disciplinary action for their students who may participate in some of these protests and, of course, after an investigation. And then there's this one, the university expected to appoint, appoint an official that will conduct a review of various curriculum at the university and that according to what the school said tonight, will begin with curriculum having to do with Middle Eastern studies.
Now, we should also mention that that review will also include the institute for Israel and also Jewish studies as well. But that is certainly going to be quite controversial here for some of the students on campus.
And really, what we are expecting is some mixed reaction by not just students but staff. Some will certainly see this as caving to Trump's demands. We'll also remember last year being on campus and hearing from some Jewish members of the university there, telling me that they felt that the university was not doing enough to make sure that they feel safe while going to school. During those pro-Palestinian protests.
So, certainly, some mixed reaction that we expect from students and staff when they return from spring break.
[19:50:02]
BURNETT: Yeah. No, absolutely. I remember being on that quad last spring during those protests.
It is, though, simply incredible. I think anybody can say incredible to think that they're going to suddenly do this, this review of their curriculum at the behest of the president. That is a shocking thing.
And that, Polo, is way bigger than Columbia. You've got Vice President J.D. Vance. He's a Yale Law School graduate. He's been one of the most vocal critics of what's going on. I mean, here he is back in 2021.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VANCE: We have to honestly and aggressively attack the universities in this country. The professors are the enemy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Professors are the enemy. I mean, I'm sorry, I just -- I don't know where we are. I mean, Richard Nixon, that those were the words he used with other universities. Is the White House targeting with moves like this polo in order to get their money?
SANDOVAL: Yeah. We've seen a long list of universities that really have felt the need to respond to Donald Trump's crackdown here, really, universities all across the country as well. And Columbia is really its important to remind viewers that's where it all started, right, with these protests, these demonstrations that played out last spring.
And since then, we began to see these crackdowns, crackdowns from the Trump administration directing their attention at various universities throughout the country.
BURNETT: All right. Polo, thank you very much, with that reporting from Columbia.
And OUTFRONT next, the votes are in. J.D. Vance is making history. And you're going to see exactly why Harry Enten is here to tell you something we don't know.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:55:37]
BURNETT: Tonight, I'm just here to watch the show, that's a quote. J.D. Vance tagging along to President Trump's Oval Office event with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.
That is where, of course, Trump praised J.D. Vance today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Mr. Vice President is here. If you have any -- do you have anything to say while you're here? He's a very good vice president. VANCE: I'm just here to watch the show, sir. I think airplanes are
pretty cool.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Okay. Yeah. Well, his comments are getting ridiculed, but, look, he is almost making history tonight as the least liked vice president ever.
Harry Enten is here to tell us something we don't know.
Harry, had not realized there had been polling done on this, that the public so far. It is not a rousing approval for J.D. Vance.
HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: No, I would say it is not. You know, we spoke about it during the campaign as net favorable rating was historically low. As it turns out, as he's become the vice president, it has remained historically low.
So we look at vice presidents at this point, we see J.D. Vance coming in at minus six points. He's underwater. He's got a scuba gear on.
Compare that to the average vice president since 1969, plus 24 points. He is the lowest on record and he is 30 points below the average.
BURNETT: The lowest on record. I mean, okay. Now, I understand your point to the campaign, because that it was low there. But then, that the moment later mattered in the Oval Office, that he did exchange, right, the big moment where he said, you know, have you ever said thank you? How many times did you say thank you? Did that move the needle?
ENTEN: Yeah, I mean, look, look at the difference between the net favorable ratings between President Zelenskyy and J.D. Vance among the American public. Look at this, Zelenskyy comes in on the positive side of the ledger, at plus ten points.
J.D. Vance comes in on the negative side of the ledger at minus six points. So J.D. Vance is 16 points lower than Zelenskyy is in the minds of the American public.
And of course, it is important to point out these polls were taken after the meeting in the White House. And Vance, like Trump, has seen his favorable ratings drop. I don't know if we can assign it to that meeting in particular, but it's very clear that it was not a good outcome for him. And Zelenskyy came out on top.
BURNETT: You can look at that demarcation. And also, as we point out, those are American people.
ENTEN: Those are Americans.
BURNETT: Americans.
All right. Vance is a meme machine, meme.
ENTEN: Meme.
BURNETT: Unflattering images of his face have been all over the Internet for months. Tell me something I don't know.
ENTEN: I'll tell you something you don't know, Erin Burnett. You know, I went to Google, and I was fascinated to learn that during the month of March, one of the most Googled terms, most Googled terms alongside J.D. Vance is internet memes.
Now, you pointed out that some of them are negative, but in fact, some of them are pretty positive. I mean, you can see that right there. That's him. Like as catch me if you can, Leonardo DiCaprio. You can see that one he looks quite dashing.
BURNETT: I mean, the one in the middle. Yes. Dashing.
ENTEN: He looks absolutely dashing. Then there are some mean ones, but it is really something quite interesting to me how the memes have been adopted by the left and the right, and by J.D. Vance himself, because he in fact tweeted out that "Catch Me If You Can" one where he plays the part of Leonardo DiCaprio.
BURNETT: Well, Trump would have tweeted out the one in the middle, the airbrushed.
ENTEN: Yeah.
BURNETT: All right. Thanks very much.
ENTEN: Thank you.
BURNETT: And finally tonight, Jake Tapper is back with his thrilling series looking at the wildest scandals of our time. This Sunday, he's revisiting the chaotic confirmation of a sitting Supreme Court justice -- Jake.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST, THE LEAD: Thanks, Erin.
So, this Sunday, were going to look back at the Supreme Court nomination of Clarence Thomas in 1991. It sparked national debate when one of his former employees, law professor Anita Hill, accused him of sexual harassment. And what followed was a series of unprecedented hearings in the U.S. Senate that left many Americans unsure of what and whom to believe.
Here's a little preview.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANITA HILL, LAW PROFESSOR: It seems to me that the behavior has to be evaluated on its own with regard to the fitness of this individual to act as an associate justice.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She's not just calling out Clarence Thomas, she is calling out an entire cottage industry of sexual harassment of good old boys. It is telling of the reaction of the senators to her testimony.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So you are not now drawing a conclusion that Judge Thomas sexually harassed you?
HILL: Yes. I am drawing that conclusion.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I don't understand.
HILL: Pardon me?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That I don't understand.
HILL: Well, let me try to explain again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: These hearings and Professor Hill's testimony sparked a conversation that started in 1991 and continues to today about the role that gender dynamics play in systems of power -- Erin.
BURNETT: Yeah, I mean, it is incredible just watching that footage.
All right. Jake, thank you so much and I hope everyone is looking forward to watching that.
Don't miss Jake's all new episode of "UNITED STATES OF SCANDAL" this Sunday at 9:00 Eastern and Pacific, only on CNN.
And thanks so much for joining us.
"AC360" begins right now.
