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Early Start with Rahel Solomon

Trump Announces New Auto Tariffs In Trade War Escalation; The Atlantic Publishes Messages Detailing Attack Plans; Ukraine: Russia Launches "Massive" Drone Strike On Kharkiv. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired March 27, 2025 - 05:00   ET

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

[05:00:24]

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning and welcome to our viewers joining us from the U.S. and all around the world. I'm Rahel Solomon. It is Thursday, March 27th, 5:00 a.m. here in New York.

And straight ahead on EARLY START.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is very modest, a 25 percent tariff on all cars that are not made in the United States.

MARY LOVELY, SENIOR FELLOW, PETERSON INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS: Americans will keep their cars longer. They'll have to. They won't be able to afford them.

MARK CARNEY, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: This is a direct attack. We will defend our workers. We will defend our country.

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: There was no classified information transmitted.

PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY: No classified information.

REP. JOAQUIN CASTRO (D-TX): The idea that this information would not be classified, you all know, is a lie. That's ridiculous.

MARCO RUBIO, SECRETARY OF STATE: Obviously, someone made a mistake. Someone made a big mistake and added a journalist.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Instead of Coke, I've bought no sugar cola made in Australia.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're owned by PepsiCo, an American company. So, not for me. Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC)

SOLOMON: U.S. President Donald Trump is escalating his global trade war, threatening Canada and Europe with further tariffs. Just a few hours ago, he posted this to his social media. This was

just before 2:00 a.m. Eastern, Thursday morning. He threatens, quote, large scale tariffs far larger than currently planned if the European Union works with Canada, quote, to do economic harm to the U.S.

This comes just hours after the president announced new 25 percent tariffs on all foreign made cars. They're set to take effect in one week on April 3rd and are aimed at boosting American auto manufacturing. But experts warn that the cost of new cars could rise by thousands of dollars for U.S. consumers.

Now, the tariffs will apply not just to imported cars, but also to car parts, with some exceptions no later than May 3rd.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: This is very modest, and what we're going to be doing is a 25 percent tariff on all cars that are not made in the United States. If they're made in the United States, there's absolutely no tariff. Business is coming back to the United States so that they don't have to pay tariffs.

This is something that people have wanted to do. Presidents have wanted to do for a long time. A lot of them didn't understand it. It wasn't a priority for them.

But foreign countries understood it very well and they've really ripped us off at levels that nobody's seen before. But that's not going to happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: The European commission president condemning the new tariffs, writing: Tariffs are taxes. Bad for businesses, worse for consumers in the U.S. and the E.U.

Ursula von der Leyen saying that Europe will wait to announce any retaliatory actions. Canada, on the other hand, is ready to push back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK CARNEY, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: And this is a direct attack to be clear, a direct attack on the very workers that I stood in front of. We will defend our workers. We will defend our companies. We will defend our country, and we will defend it together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: Meanwhile, Ontario Premier Doug Ford says, quote, Canada must minimize the pain for Canadians, maximize the pain for Americans. President Trump likes telling people you're fired. I didn't think he meant autoworkers in the U.S. when he said that, end quote.

The head of the United Autoworkers Union, meantime, says that he supports the new tariffs. He praised the Trump administration for addressing what he called, quote, the free trade disaster, although one economic analyst says that the new tariffs will have a chilling effect on consumers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LOVELY: He is going to really disrupt the auto industry rather than help it. Americans will keep their cars longer. They'll have to. They won't be able to afford them. They'll also have a lot less choice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: All right. Let's go to CNN's Kristie Lu Stout, who is joining us live from Hong Kong.

Kristie, good morning to you.

A swift reaction from investors and some lawmakers. What's the response been like in Japan and Asia?

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rahel, in Japan, the prime minister there has said all options are on the table after the U.S. President Donald Trump announced 25 percent tariffs on all auto imports targeting the world's largest auto suppliers, including key allies here in the Asia Pacific region like Japan and South Korea.

These new auto tariffs, they kick into gear next week with collection beginning on April the 3rd. They will target trucks. They will target passenger vehicles, sedans and cars.

We also learned that auto parts, certain auto parts, including engines and electronic components could be subject to up to one-month reprieve.

Now, overnight, we heard from the U.S. President, who took to social media to flex his tariff man might.

[05:05:00]

I want to show you this post that he put on Truth Social just a few hours ago, saying this, quote: Liberation day in America is coming soon. For years, we have been ripped off by virtually every country in the world, both friend and foe. But those days are over. America first, unquote.

And with that post, the U.S. president is teeing up what's also going to happen next week, April the 2nd, which is when a day of reciprocal tariffs are expected to kick into gear.

Now, earlier today, we've been watching investor action in the Asia pacific region as investors mull over what these tariffs mean for key economies. Here we saw shares in South Korea. Shares in Japan fall lower.

Also, analysts and economists have been pointing out that these tariffs will be driving home very negative impacts to the economies of both countries, South Korea and Japan. South Korea, we learned that the country there is preparing an emergency response for the auto sector. And meanwhile, Japan has stayed at the very top. The prime minister saying all options are on the table.

Look, last year, 2020, for the United States imported some $474 billion worth of auto parts and auto products and automobiles. Where do those autos come from?

I want to show you this list now, in terms of the top suppliers of auto parts and automobiles to the United States on the list, you have countries including Mexico, Japan, South Korea, Canada, Germany -- Germany, excuse me.

And, Rahel, got to point out the obvious here. All the countries on that list are close U.S. allies. Back to you.

SOLOMON: Yeah. Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong -- Kristie, thank you.

And Trump's tariff threats and calls for the U.S. to annex Greenland have sparked an international backlash against American products overseas. Later this hour, I will speak with a Danish man who is organizing boycotts of U.S. goods in Europe. That conversation is coming up in just about 25 minutes or so, so stick with us.

Also to our other top story this morning, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is heading to the Philippines today amid growing fallout from the so-called Signal-gate scandal.

"The Atlantic" magazine has published now additional text messages from that now infamous group chat on the commercial open source app. The messages lay out U.S. military plans to attack Houthi rebels in Yemen, and they include what type of aircraft, drones and missiles would be involved, in what time they would strike.

Now, the Pentagon acknowledges that Hegseth shared the details while the operation was underway, but Hegseth and many others from the Trump administration insist that none of it was out of line.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEAVITT: There was no classified information transmitted.

HEGSETH: No classified information.

REPORTER: Was it classified, the information?

RUBIO: Well, the Pentagon says it was not.

TULSI GABBARD, DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: No classified information was shared.

JOHN RATCLIFFE, CIA DIRECTOR: I didn't transfer any classified information.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: The White House says that President Trump has confidence in his national security team, but he now says that he's not sure if classified information was shared in the Signal chat. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Mike Waltz, I guess he said he claimed responsibility. I would imagine it had nothing to do with anyone else. It was Mike, I guess I don't know. I was told it was Mike.

REPORTER: Should Secretary Hegseth consider his position over the Signal?

TRUMP: Hegseth is doing a great job. He had nothing to do with this.

Hegseth -- how do you bring Hegseth into it? He had nothing to do. Look, look, it's all a witch hunt.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: Now, "The Atlantic's" editor in chief, who was mistakenly included in the chat, says that he held off publishing the full details revealed by Hegseth. But now that the administration insists that none of it was classified, he wants the public to see for itself.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEFFREY GOLDBERG, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, THE ATLANTIC: You know, at a certain point, the administration is saying that there's nothing classified or secret or sensitive in these. So, at a certain point, I just felt, you know, let -- let our readers decide for themselves, read these texts that I got sitting in my car, on my phone in a Safeway parking lot two hours before the attack launched, and you tell me if this seems like good operational security.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: Democratic lawmakers, meantime, demanding firings, resignations and apologies from Trump officials involved in the Signal group chat, the director of national intelligence and the CIA, both appearing before House committee on Wednesday where they got an earful.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JASON CROW (D-CO): Nobody is willing to come to us and say this was wrong. This was a breach of security and we won't do it again. It is outrageous and it is a leadership failure. And that's why Secretary Hegseth, who undoubtedly transmitted classified, sensitive, operational information via this chain, must resign immediately.

CASTRO: The idea that this information, if it was presented to our committee, would not be classified, you all know, is a lie. That's ridiculous. I've seen things much less sensitive be presented to us with high classification. And to say that it isn't is a lie to the country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: And later this hour, I'll speak with Democratic Congressman Jonathan Jackson about the Signal-gate controversy.

[05:10:00]

That is coming up in about 30 minutes.

Still ahead, as European leaders discuss security in Ukraine, the country is once again rocked by a massive drone strike. We will have a live report from Moscow.

Plus, surveillance video shows the moment a Turkish student was arrested by federal agents in Massachusetts. We'll have those details straight ahead.

And later, opening day is here. Shohei Ohtani and the Dodgers walking off with the world series last year. Now the season begins to see if anyone can topple the champions.

We'll be right back.

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SOLOMON: No country should have to go through this, those words from the Ukrainian president after what authorities call a, quote, massive drone strike on a residential area of Kharkiv.

[05:15:07]

Emergency personnel say that at least nine people were injured, including a 12-year-old girl.

And Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy is in Paris right now for a meeting of the so-called Coalition of the Willing. This is a group of some 30 Western nations that have pledged to help defend Ukraine against Russia. That summit is underway right now at the Elysee Palace. The French president lashed out at the Kremlin earlier, saying that it should not dictate the conditions for peace after Russia demanded some sanctions be eased before halting the fighting on the Black Sea.

President Zelenskyy says that sanctions against Moscow must stay in place as long as Russia is occupying Ukrainian territory, and he called on the U.S. to help secure a Black Sea agreement without the Kremlin's conditions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We expect the American side to secure the unconditionality of silence in the sea. This is not the time to reduce pressure on Russia or to weaken our unity for peace. We need more strong joint steps to ensure that there will be peace -- just peace, durable peace. Sanctions must remain in force on Russia and must be increased as long as Russian occupation continues.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: CNN's Fred Pleitgen following all of this live for us from Moscow.

Fred, what's Russia's perspective on these comments from Zelenskyy?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, I was actually in touch yesterday with a Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, and he said, look, from Russia's perspective, they said that the last time there was a deal in place for free navigation on the on the Black Sea, which was from July 2022 to July 2023, until that deal then went out of force.

The Russians are saying that was supposed to be part of the deal as well, that there would be sanctions relief and the lifting of sanctions on Russia's agricultural bank and some other entities that are related to Russian shipping. And the reason the Russians say why they want all of that is because they feel that if the Ukrainians are going to be able to ship their goods, especially, of course, grain through the Black Sea easily. And the Russians still have the sanctions on their sectors that the Russians would then, on international markets, be at a disadvantage compared to Ukraine. And that would only make things more difficult.

So, the Russians are saying its something that was in the last agreement. They say that was not fulfilled in the last agreement. So, it's definitely something that they're not going to budge on. And the Kremlin spokesman certainly making clear that the Russians are not going to enact this deal unless those demands are met.

One of the other interesting things that he also hinted at is that he believes that Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, hasn't yet fully grasped the rapprochement, the new relations that are sort of forming right now between Russia and the United States, where the Trump administration, of course, has taken a lot of Russia's views into account when making some of the decisions as far as the Ukraine conflict is concerned.

So, the Russians are saying that is something, of course, also needs to be looked at. And if we look at the statements that came out after those talks happened in Riyadh at the beginning of the week, the U.S. did then say that they will try to facilitate Russia bringing its goods to the international market. So, certainly, the Russians are saying that's something that they definitely want to happen.

But all of this, of course, also shows how difficult the process is, how difficult it will be to get a full ceasefire to come into effect, where the Russians are saying if the underlying causes -- the root causes of the conflict in Ukraine are not solved, then the ceasefire simply won't go into effect at all.

So that's definitely something where there certainly still seems to be a long and very difficult road ahead -- Rahel.

SOLOMON: Yeah, and certainly a lot of questions. I think as a lot of leaders try to come to terms and fully grasp what this new relationship looks like between Russia and the U.S.

Fred Pleitgen for us in Moscow -- Fred, thank you. Well, still to come, El Salvador agrees to keep taking in deported

migrants from the U.S., but a new court ruling is forcing the White House to hit pause.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:23:24]

SOLOMON: Welcome back.

El Salvador will continue to accept deported migrants from the U.S. accused of belonging to violent Venezuelan gangs. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem made that announcement on Wednesday as she toured the mega prison where those migrants are being kept.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRISTI NOEM, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: The president today indicated that he would be open to working with us in the future and still continuing to receive TDA members and MS-13 members. And so, we are grateful for that. We recognize that we still have thousands of these terrorist organization members in our country, and that we want to get the worst of the worst out so that we can bring more security to the American people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: Now, she did not directly answer whether migrants would remain there, be sent to Venezuela, or whether there is any process to bring to bring them back to the U.S. amid continuing legal challenges to their removal. Noem simply said, quote, we're going to let the courts play out.

But for now, the Trump administration is not allowed to use a centuries-old wartime law to justify those deportations. An appeals court has maintained a lower courts temporary block on how the White House has been using the Alien Enemies Act to deport migrants believed to be members of a Venezuelan gang.

President Trump is so dissatisfied with James Boasberg, the judge who issued the original orders, he has even called for his impeachment. The Trump administration is expected to appeal the latest ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Another international student has been transferred to an immigration detention center in Louisiana after being arrested by federal agents. This video shows the moment the Turkish national was arrested while walking near her home in Massachusetts on Tuesday. She is now the third international student known to be sent to Louisiana after being detained.

[05:25:07]

The Department of Homeland security spokesperson says that the student, quote, engaged in activities in support of Hamas but did not provide any evidence. She did co-write an opinion piece in her college newspaper last year, criticizing the response from Tufts University to the pro-Palestinian movement.

A new poll is shedding light on how Americans feel about immigration enforcement in the U.S., according to the Pew Research Center, about one third of U.S. adults say that all immigrants living in the country illegally should be deported, while 16 percent say none should be deported. About half of those surveyed say that at least some undocumented immigrants should face deportation.

And the search for four missing American soldiers is ongoing in Lithuania after their armored vehicle was found submerged in water. Officials say that the soldiers had been conducting scheduled tactical training on Tuesday near a city near Lithuania's border with Belarus. Their vehicle, an M88 armored vehicle like the one seen here, was found in a training area. The U.S. Army, Lithuanian armed forces and other agencies are taking part in the search.

Still ahead, the international boycott of U.S. products that is growing on social media. Coming up, I will speak with one organizer about the message behind the movement.

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