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Inside Politics

Inflation Slowed in February Ahead of New Tariffs Taking Effect; Immigration is Trump's Best Issue, Tariffs his Worst; Carney: "I'm Ready to Sit Down with President Trump where there's Respect for Canadian Sovereignty"; Education Department Lays Off Nearly Half its Workforce; Deadline for Agencies to Report Plan to cut Workforce. Aired 12-12:30p ET

Aired March 12, 2025 - 12:00   ET

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

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DANA BASH, CNN HOST: Today on "Inside Politics", a wave of rejection, brand new CNN polling shows Americans overwhelmingly disapprove of President Trump's tariff tug of war, while his newest salvo threatens to drive up prices even more, and it's unleashing a worldwide trade war.

Plus, greasing the wheels as Americans' retirement funds took a nosedive, the president chose to help the richest man in the world with his bottom line by turning the White House Lawn into a car dealership. And the Senate shutdown showdown.

Senate Democrats must decide whether to support what they call a horrible GOP spending bill, because if it doesn't get a handful of their votes, we could see the government shutdown this weekend. I'm Dana Bash. Let's go behind the headlines and "Inside Politics".

We start with some decent, perhaps fleeting economic news. A new report out this morning shows inflation cooled in February for the first time in four months, although still higher than economists prefer. But that progress may be short lived as President Trump escalates his trade war with allies on both sides of the Atlantic.

And today, Europe and Canada are retaliating after the president slapped a 25 percent tariff on steel and aluminum imports from all countries. The EU is striking back with tariffs on $28 billion worth of American products, including clothing, motorcycles and bourbon. Canada is hitting the U.S. with its own 25 percent tariffs on American made metals and other goods, but the Trump Administration is standing firm. Here's what the Commerce Secretary said earlier on Fox Business.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What will it take to get those tariffs removed the 25 percent steel and aluminum.

HOWARD LUTNICK, COMMERCE SECRETARY: So, I think the president views steel and aluminum as fundamental for our national security. I mean, we can't be in a war and rely on steel and aluminum from some other country. I mean, it's just not reasonable. So, the president wants steel and aluminum in America.

And let me be clear, nothing is going to stop that until we've got a big, strong domestic steel and aluminum capability. And by the way, he's going to add copper to that mix too.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Amid all of the economic turbulence, we have brand new CNN polling today, which shows Americans are not happy with President Trump's stewardship of the economy so far. I'm here at the Magic Wall with David Chalian to break it all down. What are we seeing?

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICS DIRECTOR: Well, Donald Trump's overall approval rating stands at 45 percent 54 percent disapprove, according to our brand-new poll by SSRS Dana, clearly upside down underwater. Use whatever word you want. Not unfamiliar territory for Donald Trump.

If you look at over time, 45 percent as an approval rating number was actually his high-water mark. He hit it a couple of times in his first term, he ended at the low water mark, at 34 percent approval. So, 45 percent not terrible for Donald Trump, but nowhere where a president wants to be at the start of a term.

And in fact, if you look historically at all of his predecessors in our lifetime, Dana, at the start of their terms, you see here that 45 percent that Donald Trump was at in March of 17th, 8 years ago, and matches March of 25 now. That's the low point that's the bottom everyone else was above 50 percent at this point in their term.

Now there is some decent news for Donald Trump on one of his major issues, immigration. He has majority approval in the country according to a new poll, 51 percent approve of his handling of immigration, and he splits pretty evenly the country does over his managing the federal government and the federal budget.

But look here, I mean all of these other issues, the economy, health care policy, foreign affairs, tariffs, that's all below his overall job approval. And I just want to dig in here to this 44 percent on the economy, because that is issue number one. Overwhelmingly in our poll, Americans say it's the most important issue.

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Look at this here. He's at 44 percent approval right now on the economy, 56 percent disapproval. That is minus 12 percentage points there that he's upside down even its normally a huge strength for him, approve has usually been over disapprove for him. Even if you go back to the one point in his first term where his disapproval was higher than his approval, it was much narrower. This is the largest gap we've seen -

BASH: It's really striking.

CHALIAN: -- between his disapproval and approval on the economy. BASH: That's really, really striking, particularly since that was what brought him to the dance for a second time. You showed on that list of issues, tariffs being at the bottom. What are Americans specifically saying about that, especially given the fact that this was not a secret. He has been running on tariffs since he before he even got into politics?

CHALIAN: -- forward to politics in public life, he's been a supporter of tariffs. There's no doubt. So, there's that 39 percent number. 61 percent Dana, more than 6 in 10 Americans in our poll disapprove of how he's handling tariffs, which has been the issue he's been talking about the most.

I want to point out a couple of other potential warning signs here for Donald Trump. We asked the way he's using presidential power. Let me tell you what's breaking through. It's that he's doing a different than -- differently than everyone was before him. 86 percent of Americans say he's using a completely different approach to presidential power. Only 14 percent say in line presidents.

He would say, great, I promise disruption. But I do want to note, 49 percent of Americans, nearly half of Americans say that different approach is a bad thing. Fewer Americans say that different approach is a good thing. And then this is one that will keep people up at night at the White House.

Does President Trump have the right priorities? Right now, in our polling, overwhelmingly, 57 percent of Americans say no. He's focused on the wrong things only 43 percent of Americans say yes; Donald Trump has the right priorities. And again, they've said the economy is the most important issue to them, and he is just not rating well on that issue with Americans, Dana.

BASH: So, fascinating. David, thank you so much for bringing that to us. And I'm joined here at the table by a terrific group of reporters today. John Bresnahan of Punch Bowl News, Laura Barron-Lopez of PBS News Hour, Michael Warren of "The dispatch". Michael Warren, what do you make of the polling that we just saw from David?

MICHAEL WARREN, SENIOR EDITOR, THE DISPATCH: Donald Trump has got the country on his side on one issue immigration, and it's the one issue that nobody is really talking about anymore. And in fact, down further in the poll, 12 percent say that's the most important issue immigration.

So, it seems to me that he's up on this major reason that he's now president, and yet he's squandering it by pursuing these tariffs, pursuing this kind of chaos with tariffs.

BASH: And you just mentioned he's doing well what you're looking at now, if we can put it back on the screen? This is a question of what Americans think is the most important issue. David touched on this. It is far and away, far and away the economy.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yeah, I mean, and also, it's not just the tariffs that are making Americans nervous about their ability to pay for the price of goods. It's also these wholesale spending cuts that they're seeing across the board, from DOGE, from the different agencies.

Especially as they start to see the effect of it more in their states, in their districts, whether that's their ability to get social security checks, and we saw this week that Republicans were vocalizing their concern about the ability for the people in their districts to get health care, to get social security and the benefits that they need.

Well, Democrats are not necessarily having that same line to the White House or having that same line Elon Musk that Republicans are?

BASH: Yeah. We're going to talk it's really an interesting dynamic. We're going to talk a little bit more about that later in the show. In the meantime, I believe we have some new sound from our neighbors up to the North, the incoming Canadian Prime Minister. Let's play that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK CARNEY, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER-ELECT: I'm ready to sit down with President Trump at the appropriate time under a position where there's respect for Canadian sovereignty and we're working for a common approach, a much more comprehensive approach for trade. We're all going to be better off.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: John Bresnahan the numbers on the tariffs and the lack of support for these tariffs among the American people that we saw in this new poll, given the way that that is really helping to drive the uncertainty in the economy, probably isn't surprising, but this is -- you know, Hallmark Donald Trump?

JOHN BRESNAHAN, CO-FOUNDER, PUNCHBOWL NEWS: Yeah. I mean, this is how Trump governs. I mean, we saw how Trump govern in the first term. I do think a couple points here, and to echo what Laura said, I do think I spent a couple days trying to talk to like border state Republicans about tariffs and a lot of more, talking about immigration. They wanted to shift to immigration. They didn't want to talk about -

BASH: Drug war -

BRESNAHAN: -- drug war, fentanyl. It's about fentanyl.

BASH: Right.

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BRESNAHAN: Even the northern border, you know where fentanyl has not been -

BASH: Less than 1 percent.

BRESNAHAN: -- exactly. It's not -- and I was surprised by that. But the other part is, is that there's no -- if you're outside and you're watching this, you can't really see the rhythm of what Trump's doing. Now, Trump is always about a deal. Everything he wants to do is making a deal, and he -- you know he applies pressure, and then pulls back, and everything.

But like, if you're standing the outside, this just kind of looks chaotic, like the DOGE layoffs from the outside, it looks chaotic. There may be a rhythm to Trump's pattern here, but it's hard to see, and it's hard for the Hill to see it. It's hard for Republicans to see it.

So, there is definitely concern. I do think the CPI number, the inflation number today, that gave them a little bit of breathing room, because if that had been bad move -- bad news, and the markets really tanked, then they would -- then that would -- I think that would have been really a problem for them. I do think they have a little bit of a time, but I think the White House is aware of the just jump it all over.

BASH: Yes.

WARREN: These numbers -- I mean, if they continue the way they are going, it drowns out any -- you know political capital that Donald Trump may have, again, going back to the immigration issue, like he can't get anything done. We saw this just -- you know, in the last administration, once the economy kind of takes over and people feel like this president is handling the economy, it really zaps up all of that political capital.

What is he going to be able to do on any of these other issues where he may have some room to grow or may have some capital to spend, it just the economy overall?

BASH: And right. So, it's the economy overall. People not spending because they're not sure what's going to happen with the economy. Business is doing the same, and then you have the display at the White House yesterday where the president had his friend Elon Musk, who was having problems with Tesla for lots of reasons, and he decided to have a car show at the White House. Let's listen to a little bit of that and talk on the other side.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: People should be going wild, and they love the product, but because he's finding all sorts of terrible things that have taken place against our country, they want to penalize them in an economic sense. And I just think that's very unfair. So, I just want to make a statement. I'm going to buy one now. I love Tesla.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Which one did you buy?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Which one did you buy?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President which color are you going to buy?

TRUMP: The one I like is that one -- (END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: So again, people are struggling. People are kind of -- a lot of people are frozen in place, and we get the reason why he wanted to support Elon Musk there. But the disconnect between him and his friend, who is the richest person in the world, and saying, I want to help him out and help his country out, and doing it on the Lawn of the White House.

There has often been, and long been an unusual situation where Donald Trump is obviously richer than everybody else, almost everybody else in the world, certainly his supporters and people have kind of been OK with that, because they were aspirational and they thought that he understood them. I wonder if it translates to this kind of moment with Elon Musk.

BARRON-LOPEZ: Well, the poll shows right that Elon Musk's favorability is worse than Vice President J.D. Vance's. I mean, a high number of people disapprove of Elon Musk. So, you're right, Dana, that I think two things are happening here. It's the disconnect in terms of people still feeling as though they can't make ends meet, and the president appearing on the Lawn of the White House with the richest person in the world. There's also a bit of you scratch my back. I scratch --

BASH: Yeah.

(CROSSTALK)

BARRON-LOPEZ: -- because -

BASH: -- look at as you're talking it's -- want to put up where the Tesla stock is now versus where it was a month ago.

BARRON-LOPEZ: So, it's going up a little bit again, right in response to that.

BASH: Yes.

BARRON-LOPEZ: And also, after this is happening, or the same day that this is happening, then we see the report from "The New York Times" that Elon Musk is looking to donate some $100 million directly to Trump's political operations. So, there's -- I mean, the conflicts of interest -

BASH: Definition of quid pro quo, right.

BARRON-LOPEZ: Right.

BASH: Yeah.

BRESNAHAN: And top of the 275 million he put in -

BASH: Yeah. And just really quick, Chris Murphy, just because the corruption plays out in public doesn't mean it's not corruption. Daniel Goldman, this administration is a massive corruption scheme, the DCCC, the most corrupt administration in American history. Is that dog going to hunt? I mean, it seems like a very logical no brainer political?

WARREN: He'll keep hammering it. You know, it didn't play as well as they had hoped in the last election, but they'll keep praying the cryptocurrency he launched. I mean, since he's been in office, I mean, Murphy has been just -

BASH: Yeah.

WARREN: -- hammering this, and he's a potential presidential candidate, so we'll see it's going to be an issue in the 2026 elections, that's for sure.

BASH: Yeah, no question. OK, everybody stand-by. Coming up, DOGE turns its chainsaw to the Department of Education, slashing nearly half of its staff. We'll get to that next.

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BASH: The Federal Education Department is firing half of its workforce today. It's another notch in DOGE's belt. And the biggest move yet in President Trump's push to shut down that department altogether. Education Secretary Linda McMahon, who has been in the job for barely a week, defended the decision and what it means for schools.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAURA INGRAHAM, FOX NEWS HOST: The criteria for keeping that 50 percent is related to expenditures and key programs.

LINDA MCMAHON, EDUCATION SECRETARY: Correct, Congress appropriates the money that is going through, Title One to IDA programs.

INGRAHAM: What's that stand for?

MCMAHON: Well, do you know what? I'm not sure. I can tell you exactly what it stands for, except that it's the programs for disabled and -

INGRAHAM: OK.

MCMAHON: -- needs.

INGRAHAM: Individuals with Disabilities Act.

MCMAHON: Yes.

(CROSSTALK)

INGRAHAM: I'm guessing I don't know all my acronyms. I've been here for 30 years.

MCMAHON: This is my fifth day on the job, and I'm really trying to learn them very quickly. INGRAHAM: Right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Tomorrow is a deadline for all federal agencies to submit their layoff plans to Budget Director, Russ Vought, who has been coordinating with DOGE. My panel is back. John Bresnahan, I think ever since you and I have been covering Washington, certainly Republicans in Congress, the abolish the Department of Education has been a talking point.

Linda McMahon has made clear that she understands that you need Congress to actually do it. But cutting half the workforce might not be abolishing it. It is certainly crippling it.

BRESNAHAN: I mean, it's stunning, which is stunning when you see the headline. And you know there had been talk about this. We had heard about this, like 6 or 8 weeks ago, I remember the Democrats actually were feeding into and I was like, when I first heard it, I got a tip on it. I was like, this can't be true. And then it broke, and they're actually following through with it.

I think this is -- you know it's stunning from afar. I do think there is, like the Department of Energy. This is criticism, long standing Republican criticism that is just a pass through for money that goes to the states or goes to individuals, and that there's not real need for this huge bureaucracy.

I think you could make that argument, but again, the way you're just laying off half the staff, I think this is going to be a problem for folks on the Hill. We'll see how any moderate Republicans, or anybody you know in swing districts handles this, because it's just a bad headline. It just looks bad.

BASH: It looks bad.

BRESNAHAN: Yeah.

BASH: I mean, we should know that already, no matter who is president, the way that education funding works is that the vast majority and policy, but both is done at a local, state and local level.

BARRON-LOPEZ: That's right. I think some 900 billion is spent across the states and local level on public education, though the government, I think, spends about 100 billion or so in public education. And so -- you know to me, you see this pattern occurring, whether it's the Education Department, Social Security Administration or other agencies.

An attempt to privatize these functions, which is to essentially say, we want to turn to private corporations to do the work of public education, which means that public education could take a huge blow. And yes, the vast majority of that is decided by state and local governments, but they see the -

(CROSSTALK) BASH: But it's -

BARRON-LOPEZ: -- federal government doing that, then state governments are going to follow suit and feel emboldened to create a more privatized system of education versus public education, and who ultimately suffers from that poor and people of color.

BASH: So, let's just broaden it out beyond the Department of Education and look more at DOGE and Elon Musk in particular as part of this new poll that we have today, the question about his qualifications to reshape government experience has it only 38 percent does not have it, 62 percent. And judgment, 38 percent does not have it 61 percent.

So again, 6 in 10 Americans are not thrilled with the Elon Musk of it all. And as we were speaking in a hearing looking at whether or not probationary employees can be fired, whether or not it is legal. This is what a federal judge just said, fast move fast and break things. Move fast fine. Break things. If that involves breaking the law, then that becomes problematic. This is as part of a lawsuit by 20 Democratic Attorneys General to block these probationary firings.

WARREN: I mean, there's the sort of legislative branch aspect of this right. Can DOGE actually do this constitutionally, or does Congress actually need to act to cut spending? There's also the practicality of it. This money has been appropriated. These grants have to be distributed. Who is going to do it if you cut the Department of Education or whatever department in half, somebody's got to actually administer these programs.

But I've been talking to a lot of people who have been talking for a long time about reducing the size of government, looking for ways to cut spending. And the message that I hear from them is they look at the way in which Elon Musk and DOGE are approaching this.

And they think this is the worst advertisement for our position, for what we would like to do because of this move fast and break things mentality. The way to do it would be systematic. Would be working with our allies in Congress, would be trying to actually get public support for this. That's difficult that takes a lot of time. I don't think that's something Elon Musk is used to waiting around for public opinion.

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But again, Republicans run into this all the time. They think if I could just run government like a business, government isn't a business. Maybe there's some business strategies and tactics that could be effective -

BASH: Yeah.

WARREN: -- but it just doesn't work that way. Maybe Elon Musk will blow it all up, and I'll be proven wrong on this, but I think that even advocates for reducing government are frustrated by all this.

BASH: So, interesting that you're hearing from people who have been wanting to do this for a long time, and they're saying not like this. You mentioned earlier, the fact that what is happening now is that members of Congress are in some areas and in some cases, finding success in getting some of the money back, getting some of the jobs back that are being eliminated in their districts.

And it just so happens that they are Republicans, and powerful Republicans. One example, our Annie Grayer did a piece on this recently, talking about House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole said after working closely with the Trump Administration and DOGE, he was able to keep open offices in his district that provide key social security, health care and weather services that had been at risk of shutting down.

Meanwhile, Democratic Rep Steven Horsford of Nevada told CNN that when DOGE moved to end a Social Security Services location in his district, he wasn't notified and didn't have the information needed to help his constituents. So bottom line is, Republicans are having success with their red districts and getting the jobs back. Democrats, not so much.

BARRON-LOPEZ: Yeah, it looks like a bit of a modern spoils system, in that Republicans are essentially who are loyal to Trump, who vote when they are requested to vote to fund the government through the CR even though that same funding bill took their powers away to stop tariffs by the president, so took some of their legislative powers away.

They appear -- Republicans appear to be going along with what looked like potential violations of the impoundment law, which is the president just clawing back money as he sees fit, spending it how he sees fit, regardless of whether or not Congress specifically appropriated it for a certain purpose.

So, yeah, I mean, Republicans appear to be getting what they want from Musk. Well, a lot of blue states are not getting any ear from the White House or from Elon Musk.

BASH: OK, we're going to sneak in a quick break. We're going to come back straight in your wheelhouse press questioning whether or not to fold or to fight. That is what Senate Democrats are gaming out as we speak with what their next move could be. Just three days left to avert a government shutdown. We have the latest on negotiations next.

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