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Employers Cut More Jobs Last Month Than Any February in 15-Plus Years; Zelenskyy, E.U. Leaders Hold Critical Meeting on Ukraine; Any Moment, House to Vote on Whether to Censure Rep. Al Green (D-TX). Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired March 06, 2025 - 10:00   ET

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

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[10:00:00]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Pamela Brown. Happening now, breaking news, dismantling the department. New CNN reporting about President Trump's plans to begin eliminating that agency as soon as today. We're talking thousands of jobs at the Department of Education. The head of the largest teachers union says this shows President Trump doesn't care about opportunity for all kids.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: And, quote, thankful we are not alone. That's the message from the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to European leaders, as Zelenskyy gathers support in Brussels right now.

Meanwhile, the war rages on, Russia conducting deadly and brutal strikes in Zelenskyy's hometown.

Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in The Situation Room.

And we begin with the breaking news. Jobs slashed, layoffs soar. A brutal new report just out, painting an ugly picture for our U.S. economy. Right now, the stock market is reacting quickly. The Dow is down already, more than 500 points, this after that truly shocking report showing a recession-level spike in job layoffs. We haven't seen this many job cuts in a February in more than 15 years.

Let's go live now to CNN Reporter Matt Egan, who's joining us from New York. Matt, so what's behind all of this?

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Wolf, this is the DOGE effect. Those mass layoffs being presided over by Elon Musk, Department of Government Efficiency, they're starting to show up in the real economy. Challenger Gray and Christmas reports this morning that the number of layoff announcements in February surged to 172,000, that is twice as much as what we saw at this point last year. It's the most for any month since COVID 19 and the most for a February since 2009 during the Great Recession.

And when we look at the trend here, you can see there's been a clear acceleration. This figure was hovering at around 50,000 or 60,000 late last year, and now it has surged. Challenger says that the number one reasons to the layoffs was in fact DOGE.

And when we look at where the layoff announcements are occurring, you can see that it's really two sectors that stand out. One, it's retail. There's been a big uptick there as consumers have started to cut back a bit on spending and as consumer confidence has come back. But the real big impact here is government. At this point, last year, there were less than 200 government layoffs that were announced. Now, it's nearly 63,000.

Look, we know that DOGE and the Trump administration, they're trying to make government more efficient. They're trying to cut costs, address concerns about the very high federal deficit, but, look, this is a -- there has a real impact here for the economy and these are real people whose lives and careers have been turned upside down over the last few weeks.

BLITZER: They certainly have. I'm Matt Egan reporting for us, Matt, thank you very much.

BROWN: And we have some more breaking news this hour, the White House now preparing an executive order to officially dismantle the Education Department. Sources say President Trump could sign the document as soon as today. The president has vowed to close the department since his days on the campaign trail.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: You know, I'm going to take the Department of Education, close it in Washington, let the states run their own education.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: All right. Let's go live now to CNN White House reporter Kevin Liptak. Kevin, is this even legal?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, Democrats say it's not. And even Linda McMahon, the president's new education secretary, said during her confirmation hearings that this would require an act of Congress. They would need 60 votes in the Senate to break a filibuster. They don't have that right now.

So, what the plan appears to be is to dismantle this department piece by piece, to move some of its essential functions, like enforcing civil rights laws, managing student loans, like Pell grants, moving those to other areas of the federal government.

But at the end of the day, no president before has tried to unilaterally dismantle an entire federal agency, So, I think it's clear that this is going to end up in court, like so many other of the president's executive orders.

[10:05:01]

BROWN: All right. Kevin Liptak. Thank you so much for the latest there. Wolf? BLITZER: The next government agency, Pamela, on the chopping block right now, Veterans Affairs, hard to believe. According to an internal memo obtained by CNN, the Trump administration is now planning to cut more than 70,000 federal employees. That's a 15 percent cut of the Veterans Affairs workforce.

Let's go live to our Pentagon Correspondent Oren Liebermann right now. Oren, what will be the biggest impact from these V.A. cuts?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, it looks like no part of the Department of Veterans Affairs will be exempt or immune from these cuts. The chief of staff of the V.A. wrote in a memo two days ago obtained by CNN that they will work to, quote, aggressively restructure Veterans Affairs across the entire department and, quote, resize its workforce.

Well, how big of a resizing will that be? They're looking to get back to workers to the numbers in 2019, right about 400,000 employees, which means more than 70,000 workers, many of whom are veterans, will be fired or dismissed by this administration. The chief of staff of the Department of V.A. wrote that the V.A. is working with DOGE to make these cuts happen.

A key question here, why has the department grown since then? And that answer lies in the PACT Act, which President Joe Biden signed into law in 2022, with overwhelming bipartisan support. The goal of that was to expand medical coverage for veterans who were suffering from exposure to toxins and burn pits. And that's why it had that bipartisan support. So, this part may be particularly hard hit.

In terms of where these firings stand now, two members of Congress from Maine wrote a letter to V.A. Secretary Doug Collins just a couple of days ago saying they wanted an explanation for the 2,400 employees that had already been fired, and asked questions about what the intent is from here. Why were they fired? Are there more firings coming in the next 90 days? They're looking for those answers by Friday. We will certainly see if they get them.

In terms of how soon the firings at the V.A. could happen, the plan, according to the memo obtained by CNN, is to have a plan for these firings by mid-April. So, they're moving fast, Wolf.

BLITZER: What are you hearing where you are, Oren, right now over at the Pentagon, inside the Pentagon from a lot of veterans who are obviously working there, and a lot of the people who are working in the Pentagon know a lot of veterans? How concerned are they?

LIEBERMANN: Absolutely concerned. Look, veterans make up a large part of the civilian workforce here. They are also beginning to go after with expectations that 5,400 employees, probationary employees, could be fired here soon, but also veterans make up a very large part of the workforce at the V.A. So, there is absolute concern over what this means for them, their livelihoods, and perhaps crucially the care they receive for their own life.

BLITZER: Yes, I'm sure it's very, very devastating right now. I'm a former Pentagon correspondent. I know people are not very happy right now with what's going on.

Oren Lieberman over there at the Pentagon, thank you very much. Pamela?

BROWN: We're tracking some new developments related to staffing cuts made by the Trump administration. A workers board is reinstating at least temporarily nearly 6,000 USDA employees. That move could signal the board will reverse other mass firings made under the Trump administration. And that's in addition to nearly 200 employees at the CDC who have been told they should come back to work this week. A source tells CNN those staffers work primarily with flu and other respiratory diseases.

And happening right now in Brussels, a special summit is underway as E.U. leaders look to forge a new path forward for Ukraine following President Trump's decision to pause aid to the war-torn country. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is meeting with and thanking European leaders just one day after French President Emmanuel Macron proclaimed Europe is, quote, entering a new era, one in which they may not be able to rely on the U.S. to stand by their side.

Let's go live now to CNN International Diplomatic Editor Nic Robertson in Brussels. Nic, what is the latest that we're hearing out of this crucial meeting right now?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes. President Zelenskyy came and he gave that real debt of thanks that he said was really heartfelt from the Ukrainian people that the Europeans were standing by them. He said, look, this is not just words. This really helps to have this support at the moment, support that is really felt that he needed after that bruising meeting at the White House less than a week ago.

The second now summit of European leaders, different leaders this time, what they're talking about today massive generational almost shift in defense spending, and they're talking about how to finance it. Look, the reality here is that the White House can make really pretty instantaneous decisions on how much support they're giving to Ukraine. The European Union obviously is now looking to fill that, but they're also concerned that the European Union, that because President Trump doesn't appear to have the same security commitments to Ukraine, they're worried those commitments to the wider European defense is also at stake.

[10:10:06]

So, they're standing up their own defense, but they just can't work as fast as the White House can in decision-making.

The tap that has to be turned on to get that defense procurement going is the money. And they're talking about $861 billion worth of funding, figuring out today, discussing how to get that funding. And this is even ahead of when they decide to spend it, what they decide to spend it on, how they, how they sort of divvy up the money between the different European nations. So, this is a step in a process, but this is a massive step shift in European thinking and European action. They are working with speed on this.

BROWN: All right. Nic Robertson, thank you for bringing us the latest there. Wolf?

BLITZER: Yes, lots going on there, a lot's going on in the Middle East as well as the delegate truce in Gaza is hanging by a thread right now. President Trump is issuing a very stark ultimatum to Hamas, release the hostages now or there will be hell to pay. And now Hamas says that that threat could upend ceasefire talks, as the White House has also confirmed a rather surprising revelation. The U.S. has been in direct negotiations, yes, direct negotiations with Hamas.

CNN Jerusalem Correspondent Jeremy Diamond is in Tel Aviv with the latest.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: President Trump issuing a new ultimatum to Hamas, release all of the hostages now or there will be hell to pay. The president also vowing that he will send Israel everything it needs to finish the job against Hamas in Gaza.

This is not the first time that we've heard these kinds of threats from the president, but it does come at a critical time as we've learned not only that the United States is actually negotiating directly with Hamas officials, but also as this ceasefire really does seem to be hanging by a thread. Israel has now decided to block all aid going into Gaza and a return to war very much seems to be hanging in the background.

What's clear is that the president's words here were very much impacted by a meeting he had yesterday with eight released hostages. They credited him with their release and they urged him to do everything he can to free the remaining hostages. The president said he is working on it very hard.

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Tel Aviv.

BLITZER: And thanks very much to Jeremy Diamond in Tel Aviv for that.

Meanwhile, President Trump has issued what he's calling his last warning to Hamas to release all the remaining captives in Gaza and to do so immediately. That statement came soon after the President met with these eight freed hostages over at the White House, as Jeremy just reported. Listen and watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Well, we said you better let us have those people back. You better let them out. We did say that. Something happened, right? Yes, we're going to get the rest of you again.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BLITZER: The Trump administration is now talking directly with Hamas over the hostages and the Gaza ceasefire. Traditionally, the United States does not negotiate with groups it considers to be terror organizations like Hamas, but the White House says the president believes it's, quote, in the best interest of the American people right now. Pamela?

BROWN: All right, and still ahead, President Trump's self-induced trade war is having real impacts on Americans. We're going to speak to the founder and president of the National Black Farmers Association on how farmers are bearing the brunt of these retaliatory tariffs.

BLITZER: And the House is expected to vote this morning to censure Congressman Al Green for his protests during President Trump's joint address to Congress. We're live up on Capitol Hill.

Lots going on this morning. We'll be right back.

BROWN: Very, very busy.

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BLITZER: And there's more breaking news we're following here in The Situation Room. In just a few moments, the House of Representatives is set to vote on whether to censure Democratic Congressman Al Green of Texas, this after he was kicked out of the House chamber after protesting President Trump's speech to Congress.

Let's go live right now to our Chief Congressional Correspondent Manu Raju. Manu, first of all, what are you learning about this vote? I take it, it could be starting any minute now.

MANU RAJU, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, any minute this vote will happen. And we do expect that Al Green will get censured and it will be approved along straight party lines in the United States House. We'll see if any Democrats decide to vote for this. Yesterday, Democrats voted to try to block this measure. They were unsuccessful in doing so.

This, of course, came in the aftermath of what we saw on the House floor when Donald Trump gave his speech to a joint session of Congress earlier this week, Green standing up, waving his cane, criticizing the president, being told by the speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, to stop his protests. He would not do so. And then ultimately was ejected from the chamber, something that really almost has really not happened in so many years and a lot of members that I've spoken to said they've never seen anything like this happen before, even people who have served in Congress for a very long time.

But what's going to happen here, this vote is essentially a public admonition, a reprimand. It doesn't carry any severe consequences, but it's meant to essentially embarrass or punish a member for doing something that's out of line. Censures for a long time have been extremely, extremely rare. It's something that would happen really only in the most egregious of offenses. But in the last several years, in particular, they've been used much more often and on a wide variety of matters, some -- with one Republican, when the Democrats were the majority, and several times when the Republicans took the majority.

[10:20:01]

So, expect that to happen here in a matter of minutes. Then Al Green will go to the well of the House floor, be publicly reprimanded along party lines because of what he did on Tuesday, Wolf.

BLITZER: Any other punishment if someone, a member of the House, Manu, is censured? What specifically will happen to that member?

RAJU: Really in nothing a whole other than this public admonition, Wolf. I mean, what the -- there are different levels of punishment that the House can bring to a member who violates the House rules. It can go everything from a letter of admonition. It could do a public censure, like we're seeing today, actually a vote of the House, like we're seeing today, which used to be a rare situation happening more frequently, and then in the most extreme situation, the actual expulsion of a member of Congress. Of course, we saw that in the last Congress, when former Congressman George Santos was kicked out on a bipartisan -- actually two thirds majority in the United States House to do just that.

So, right now, Wolf, it's sort of just a way to embarrass a member for what they did, what one party, at least here, thinks that he did was wrong, which was that extended protest on the House floor.

BLITZER: All right. Manu Raju up on Capitol Hill, as he always is. Manu, thank you very, very much. Pamela?

BROWN: And up next, concerns on Capitol Hill over DOGE. We're going to ask the former chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence if Elon Musk's reach is going too far. What do Republicans really think behind closed doors?

You're in The Situation Room.

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[10:25:00]

BROWN: GOP lawmakers have a request to Elon Musk. Start cluing us in more. The tech billionaire met with House and Senate Republicans yesterday. He want his proposed cuts to go through Congress, marking a potential new phase in Musk's efforts to cut federal spending.

Here with us now to discuss this and much more, former Chief of Staff to Vice President Mike Pence Marc Short. Marc, thanks for being here with us.

I'm curious what you're hearing from Republicans about DOGE and DOGE cuts and, you know, what Elon Musk is doing and how it's impacting the economy right now.

MARC SHORT, FORMER CHIEF OF STAFF TO VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE: Well, Pamela, thanks for having me and congrats on the new show, guys.

BROWN: Thank you.

SHORT: I think for a lot of Republicans, there's excitement that we're at $36 trillion in debt, that we've been anxious for Republicans actually to cut the size of government for a long time, and I think there's excitement about it. But at the same time, I do think there's an interest from Congress to say, if we really want these cuts to be permanent, then it needs to be legislated.

And so I think it was a really good step for Elon Musk to go and speak to House Republicans and Senate Republicans yesterday to basically acknowledge that we want to develop a rescissions package. We want to have legislation that does this. Because I think something that's not appreciated in this, Pamela, is if we think the executive branch can do this unilaterally, what happens in a Democrat administration in the future, if they come in and say, you know what, we're going to eliminate CBP, we're going to eliminate Immigrations and Customs Enforcement? If we've created the precedent that the executive branch can do this on its own, then you're creating a precedent that Democrats could too.

So, I do think it needs to be legislated, and it creates a tough challenge, because not all these votes are going to be popular. But I think in order to make it -- in order to make these cuts really permanent, that is the next step that has to happen.

BROWN: And for our viewers who don't always hear rescission every day, right? That means taking back what has been appropriated by Congress. And it would put some Republicans in a tough position, potentially, because they'd have to go on the record saying I vote for this cut to maybe a popular program, right?

SHORT: And you really could be facing this honestly next week because if Congress is passing a continuing resolution that keeps funding at existing levels, then, in essence, what the president would be signing is legislation that restores the funding to these programs.

BROWN: You know, you're talking about how the way that this has been going so far, all the power of the executive branch and what that can mean for a Democratic administration. I mean, you've seen what President Trump has also done with his executive orders, right? Nearly all of the accomplishments that he touted during his speech were done by executive order.

You know, I'm old enough to remember when Republicans were complaining about President Biden signing all these executive orders early on, saying this is an abuse of executive power. The White House is saying -- bragging now that Trump has signed more than Biden at this time. Is this hypocritical?

SHORT: In some ways, it is. I think in 2016, I remember on the campaign trail, we discussed the imperial presidency of Barack Obama because he got tired of dealing with Congress and decided to sign a bunch of executive orders. And I think -- I do think that President Trump got comfortable recognizing that executive orders can really be messaging vehicles. In some cases, they don't have the same teeth of law. In some cases, they're used to drive a message that helps us to push a narrative for the American people. But there's no doubt that there's some reality that the executive branch continues to get more and more power, and the legislative branch has, I think, ceded a lot of that over the years.

BROWN: Would you -- if this was a Democrat, would you be saying the imperial president argument, like you were saying with Obama?

SHORT: For sure, for sure. To be consistent, I think that we have.

BROWN: You think this has become an imperial presidency?

SHORT: Well, no.

BROWN: Or sliding -- maybe sliding into that?

SHORT: No. Again, I do think that if you look at a lot of the executive orders that President Trump is signing, in many cases, they are done to drive a message. In many cases, they do not have the force of law behind them. It's to set a template to say, we're going to begin such an investigation to allow Congress to act.

BROWN: Well, we could dive into that later, but I want to get to tariffs because I know you have some strong thoughts on this. You were in the White House the first time. This is very different what Trump is doing in regards to his tariff policy. Tell us how you're viewing it.

SHORT: Well, I think that the first administration, the president used tariffs effectively with related to China to actually get them to the negotiating table, to get concessions on some national security issues. This is a whole different ball (ph). I think in this time, the president was frustrated that he felt a lot of his advisers in the first administration constrained where he wanted to go on trade.

He has advisers from an economic perspective and national security perspective now that fully endorse this.

[10:30:01]

And, again, this is another area where the legislative branch has ceded more and more of that authority to the executive branch that allows him to have broad tariff authority.