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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Trump's First Address To Congress Since Returning To Power; Trudeau Hits Back At Trump's Tariffs: "A Very Dumb Thing To Do"; Trump Hits Canada, Mexico, China With Steep Tariffs; Rep. Jason Crow, (D- CO), Is Interviewed About Peace Negotiation, Ukraine, Afghans; Afghan Interpreter For U.S. Stuck In Afghanistan Amid Aid Freeze. Aired 5- 6:00p ET

Aired March 04, 2025 - 17:00   ET

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

KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: More and more interesting as days go by. According to a local environmental group, the San Francisco Baykeeper, the city already dumps millions of gallons of, quote, "combined sewer discharges every year and big storms make that number higher. Boating season right around the corner.

All right, thanks so much to my panel for joining us today. Really appreciate it. Hope you'll all come back. Thanks to all of you at home for watching as well. Don't go anywhere. "The Lead" with Jake Tapper starts right now.

[17:00:34]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: A historic night ahead on Capitol Hill. The Lead starts right now.

Tonight, the president's first address to Congress for Trump 2.0. What to expect, what special guests will attend and who is boycotting the speech. And Trump's long threatened tariffs against Canada and Mexico took effect at midnight today. Concerns of a global trade war as the Dow fell 670 points.

Plus, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy now calls his Oval Office showdown with President Trump last Friday regrettable and says Ukraine is ready to negotiate peace. This comes a day after Trump paused U.S. Military aid to Ukraine. Will this latest move by Zelenskyy move the needle at all in this three plus year war?

Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper.

We're going start our politics lead with President Trump's address to Congress, a joint session of Congress just hours away. The focus is in on Pennsylvania Avenue. The president currently at the White House is expected to depart with first lady Melania Trump at about 8:30 p.m. Eastern heading to the Capitol. Just 44 days into his second term, Mr. Trump's robust pace has supporters cheering, opponents seething and plenty of average Americans just trying to keep up. And those average Americans, many of whom of course voted for Mr. Trump to lower prices and strengthen the economy, woke up to some opening shots of what could, could be a trade war with the United States closest neighbors Canada and Mexico. The 25 percent tariffs which went into effect at midnight led the conservative Rupert Murdoch owned Wall Street Journal to publish this House editorial today titled "Trump Takes the Dumbest Tariff Plunge," unquote, and garnered these strong words from Canada's outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

(BEGIN VT)

JUSTIN TRUDEAU, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: Now, it's not in my habit to agree with the Wall Street Journal, but Donald, they point out that even though you're a very smart guy, this is a very dumb thing to do.

(END VT)

TAPPER: A major goal of tonight's address on Capitol Hill is for the president to connect his early frenetic pace of moves to the lives of everyday Americans, according to one adviser. Will that include the gutting of many governmental agencies by Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency or DOGE? We'll have to see.

Beyond domestic issues, how will President Trump explain his strategy with Ukraine and Russia? Ahead of the speech, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy wrote a conciliatory note on social media and released a video late today appealing for, quote, "respectful dialogue with the United States." The White House announced that theme of tonight's speech is the renewal of the American dream. Aides have said the president has been focused on a few moments intended to resonate with the audience in the chamber and the T.V. audience at home. Of course, the president promised to tell it "like it is," quote, unquote.

Joining us now from the White House, CNN's Chief White House Correspondent, anchor of "The Source with Kaitlan Collins." Kaitlan Collins.

Kaitlan, what are we expecting to hear from President Trump tonight?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, Jake, right now he's putting the finishing touches on that speech. He's been reviewing it this afternoon with senior aides as he personally likes to get involved with a big speech like tonight where he mostly stays on the prompter as he's addressing one of the biggest audiences that any president gets from when they are in office, when they are speaking on Capitol Hill. Certainly this White House and this president who knows his ratings well, is aware of that as he'll be up there on Capitol Hill speaking to the lawmakers in the room, but also to Americans back at home who have been watching the last six weeks of his presidency. He'll tout what he's done so far, what they believe are his biggest accomplishments. But Jake, also what he wants to do with the next four years, the cornerstones of his campaign and what the White House is going to look like with that and how he's trying to put those promises that he made on the campaign trail into action. And so that is something that everyone will be watching closely.

Immigration, obviously will be mentioned. But also there's a big question of how he'll address these tariffs that have gone into effect at midnight last night and what that looks like. As you've seen, some congressional reaction to that, including from Republicans who say at best they are uneasy with what the impact of these tariffs are going to be on a lot of their home states.

And Jake, given that front, we just heard something really interesting from the Commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, who said he's been on the phone with his Canadian and Mexican counterparts throughout the day talking about these tariffs after the president said yesterday there was no chance that Canada and Mexico could negotiate their way out of them going into effect. And Lutnick had this to say about what could be in store for these tariffs.

[17:05:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOWARD LUTNICK, COMMERCE SECRETARY: Both the Mexicans and the Canadians were on the phone with me all day today trying to show that they'll do better. And the president's listening because, you know, he's very, very fair and very reasonable. So I think he's going to work something out with them. It's not going to be a pause, none of that pause stuff. But I think he's going to figure out, you do more and I'll meet you in the middle some way. And we're going to probably be announcing that tomorrow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Lutnick teasing there that an announcement could come as soon as tomorrow, suggesting that it maybe not be an outright pause on the tariffs that went into effect, but potentially rolling them back, Jake. Obviously, that would be incredibly significant if that is an announcement that does happen tomorrow. We're still checking with our sources to just see what the likelihood of that is or what the terms of that could be. But obviously, you saw the reaction from Trudeau. We've seen the reaction from Mexico as well. And so, a real question of what the future of that looks like.

And that is certainly one thing those lawmakers who are sitting in front of Trump from both parties will be listening closely to see what he has to say about that.

TAPPER: There's so much going on right now swirling around the White House, the fluid situation with Ukraine, the growing trade war with Canada and Mexico, not to mention China. Do you think President Trump feels energized by all of this?

COLLINS: Yes. One thing that the White House is going to be watching, Jake, tonight, obviously there will be Republicans in that audience in front of him, but he'll also be speaking in front of Democrats. We saw how President Biden handled that when he would be heckled at times during his congressional addresses, sometimes going off prompter to respond to those in the room. And the White House is certainly preparing for a Democratic response when President Trump is speaking to those lawmakers tonight.

But also he is returning, Jake, to a Capitol Hill where the Republican Party is almost made entirely in his image, where he faces almost no resistance, not only from Republicans who obviously confirmed almost all of his Cabinet picks that he wanted to be in there, but also they haven't faced a real resistance from Democrats like they did in his first term, at least not so far. Obviously, it's still incredibly early on in his presidency. And so, just seeing how he navigates that and how he handles that on Capitol Hill tonight, Jake, will also be worth watching. But as well as for what is going to happen for the future of the conflict in Ukraine and the very tenuous relationship that has been between the White House and Zelenskyy since that blow up that we watched happen inside the Oval Office on Friday. And you noted the acknowledgment from Zelenskyy earlier that it could have gotten better than it did, which I think is saying the least.

The question is how President Trump is going to respond to that and if he'll acknowledge that during tonight's speech.

TAPPER: All right, Kaitlan Collins, thanks so much.

Our panel now, Vice President of the PUSH Digital Group, T.W. Arrighi, former chief of staff to former Vice President Pence, Marc Short, Democratic strategist Alencia Johnson.

T.W., let me start with you, if I may. President Trump would obviously like his speech to be something of a victory lap for his first five or six weeks. He feels very positive about it. Well, the markets have not been positive the last two days. And I think, in fact, they've gone down roughly 1200 points total in two days. And there was, I think there's a tweet -- there's always a tweet for it --

T.W. ARRIGHI, VICE PRESIDENT, PUSH DIGITAL GROUP: Right.

TAPPER: -- from several years ago that if the Dow goes down more than a thousand points in two days, the impeachment proceedings should begin. I think Trump said that.

ARRIGHI: I remember that.

TAPPER: I'm sure he doesn't mean it anymore. But do you think this over risks overshadowing and whatever trouble might be brewing with the economy?

ARRIGHI: No. Look, first of all, there is an illusion right there to a possible agreement coming down the pike. I think Donald Trump even admitted himself that there would be some bumps in the road. But look, Donald Trump has been pretty consistent on his thoughts on tariffs since the '70s. He believes people have taken advantage of the United States in trade and he wants to rectify that.

But make no mistake, he sees tariffs as a game of chicken and he sees Canada and Mexico driving a Fiat and him driving a Mack truck. Let's put this in perspective for just a second, 20 percent of Canada's GDP comes from trade with the United States, about double that is from Mexico, if you took both combined, in America's perspective, it's only about 3 percent. So we have the economic heft to survive any sort of trade battle with those two countries. President Trump believes that they will acquiesce to it soon enough. And history proves out that's right, and we're seeing companies onshore. TAPPER: And Marc, we just heard Prime Minister Trudeau, the outgoing prime minister of Canada, strongly criticizing the tariffs. Trump just fired back on social media against Prime Minister Trudeau. This will not surprise you. Writing quote, "Please explain to Governor Trudeau," because -- governor, because it's the 51st day, get it, "of Canada, that when he puts on a retaliatory tariff on the U.S., our reciprocal tariff will immediately increase by a like amount," end quote.

I guess one of the questions I have here is about just the instability and the uncertainty. I mean, there are brokers out there, Trump supporters, conservatives who are like, I don't know what the economy is going to look like. Not that they're against Trump, not that they doubt the end results, but just there's a lot of unknowns.

MARC SHORT. FORMER CHIEF OF STAFF FOR VICE PRESIDENT PENCE: Yes, I think that this protectionist trade policy really offsets the pro- growth policies of deregulation and tax reform the president's looking to advocate. It kind of works counterbalancing to the things that are actually good, Jake.

And to T.W.'s point, I think the reality is in the first administration, there was a lot of negotiating with tariffs. I think what's different is that in Trump 2.0, it's a very different set of economic advisers, and as you know, it's a very different set of national security advisers who in many cases would, you know, commend the president for negotiation tactics. But the team he has around him now really believes in tariffs as a strong economic policy. And I think that the markets are finally coming to realization that this isn't just a negotiating tactic. This is where his second administration is going.

[17:10:25]

And I think that you -- it is going to be, I think, a big challenge for him because I think a lot of Americans voted for him to secure the border and to fix the inflation and fix the economy. And the border is going well, but the inflation and the economy part of it, the reality is it looks like we have a retraction in the first quarter and his trade wars are not helping. And that's what a lot of people are counting on for him was a fixed economy.

TAPPER: You're 100 percent right. This isn't a gambit. He believes in tariffs 100 percent, as you noted. This is part of his philosophy.

Alencia, the president very clear that this was what he was going to do, that he was going to run on. What do you think Democrats should be doing? There's a -- I think even some debate within the Democratic caucus right now should some of them get up and storm out? Should some of them not even be there? Should they just sit there and be polite?

What would you recommend?

ALENCIA JOHNSON, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, I don't recommend them sitting there and being polite, but I do hear the frustration. I was talking about this with some former -- some other strategists earlier today. Where Democrats are losing right now is an optics game, which is what Donald Trump continues to win on. The optics, the theater, the show that helps encourage voters to feel as though the electeds are fighting for them. But what you do have Democrats doing tonight, as we know, they're bringing some federal workers who have lost their jobs, people who have been extremely impacted by these campaign promises. But in the reality, they are harming people.

Democrats have to use tonight, whether they are there and they stand up and turn their backs. I think some of them actually shouldn't go. I think it actually has to be this show that we do not believe that this is OK and that we should not normalize this behavior. But for those that will be there, they have to actually not embrace anything that he says, especially the Democrats who are in swing districts, their voters, their constituents are going to be looking at them. And they've got to actually stand strong against some of the things that are impacting those voters, including some of the Trump voters who, as we've seen over the last week, you know, the GOP members of Congress have shut down their town halls because GOP voters are feeling the impact of these layoffs and all these policies that they don't like being enacted the way that they have been.

TAPPER: T.W., I want to play some more of what Prime Minister Trudeau had to say today about the additional ways that Canadians might respond to the tariffs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUDEAU: We're going to choose to not go on vacation in Florida or Old Orchard beach or wherever. We're going to choose to try to buy Canadian products and forgo bourbon and other classic American products. And yes, we're probably going to keep booing the American anthem.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Foregoing bourbon is not -- that's -- no. What did you think of that?

By the way, just for people who aren't paying attention, in a lot of hockey games that have been going on, hockey tournaments that have been going on, Canadians have been booing when they play the O Canada then they play the Star Spangled Banner and Canadians booing the Star Spangled Banner. And a lot of Americans get very offended by that. But he's saying we're going to keep doing it.

ARRIGHI: I think Canadians will soon be choosing the Conservative Party to run their government instead of Trudeau's. That's their first big selection coming up. And as for booing at hockey, win a world Stanley cup in Canada, then we'll worry about that.

But look, I think, again, it goes to the broader point. This is a game of economic chicken that Canada cannot afford as much as the United States can. I get what he's saying, that there's discernment, but there's a lot of ranchers that would love to sell more beef to Americans. There's a lot of farmers who are facing heavy duties from Canada who would love to turn to the U.S. market. We have Honda coming over and building a plant here with Apple putting $500 million. We have chip manufacturers coming back, putting additional pressure on China. So we have choices to make, too. And companies are choosing America over anywhere else.

TAPPER: Thanks one and all. Appreciate it.

President Zelenskyy now says his Oval Office meeting with President Trump was quote, "regrettable." But is his admission enough for a president who said Zelenskyy needed to be more appreciative? We're going to talk to Democratic Congressman Jason Crow, who has visited Ukraine next.

And later, how will tariffs affect your grocery bill? The secretary of Agriculture will join us just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:18:44]

TAPPER: In our world lead, President Zelenskyy of Ukraine extended an olive branch toward President Trump on X or Twitter this morning. This comes a day after Trump paused U.S. military aid to Ukraine. And it follows of course, those 10 minutes of fireworks on Friday in the Oval Office where President Trump and Vice President Vance said that Zelenskyy needed to be more appreciative and more willing to negotiate a cease fire deal. Zelenskyy writes today, quote, "I would like to reiterate Ukraine's commitment to peace. None of us wants an endless war. Ukraine is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace.

Nobody wants peace more than Ukrainians. My team and I stand ready to work under President Trump's strong leadership to get a peace that lasts." And quote, he also writes, quote, "Our meeting in Washington at the White House on Friday did not go the way it was supposed to be. It is regrettable that it happened this way. It is time to make things right. We would like future cooperation and communication to be more constructive," unquote.

About 30 minutes after that posted, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham responded with a thumbs up tweet saying better days are ahead. So much conveyed with an emoji. Zelenskyy also published a video message in Ukrainian. He said he wants respectful dialogue with the U.S. but also that when it comes to what's happening with U.S. aid, quote, "people should not have to guess."

This morning, Vice President of Vance was on Capitol Hill. This is what he said about peace negotiations.

[17:20:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We think the Ukrainian troops have fought very bravely, but we're at a point here where neither Europe nor the United States nor the Ukrainians can continue this war indefinitely. So it's important that everybody comes to the table. And the president is trying to send a very explicit message. The Ukrainians have got to come to the table and start negotiating with President Trump.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: I'm joined now by Democratic Congressman Jason Crow. He's a U.S. veteran who has been to Ukraine several times. He's a Democrat represents Colorado.

Congressman, how hard a line do you think the president will take tonight on Ukraine, given President Zelenskyy's latest outreach? And what's your basic take on the idea that there does -- I understand you're going to disagree with the way it's been done, but there does need to be some sort of effort to arrive at a peaceful negotiation here of the end of the war.

REP. JASON CROW (D-CO): Well, Jake, I don't think anyone knows that the president's going to stand up and do. And I think the disastrous meeting in the Oval Office on Friday is a clear case in point. You know, in any given day, President Trump can send out a tweet, he can engage in a fight, you know, a lunchroom brawl in the Oval Office with one of our closest partners and allies. And this is no way to run a country. And it's certainly no way to build alliances to keep America safe.

You know, my entire adult life, and yours, too, America has been the leader of the free world, and that has been beneficial to Americans. It has made us more safe, more prosperous. It has helped build alliances. Every time we have to send our troops somewhere, we do it with friends and with allies. And he is in a matter of weeks, Donald Trump is in a matter of weeks squandering all of that.

TAPPER: What signal do you think, this uncertainty around U.S. aid to Ukraine, what signal does that send to Europe, to Moscow?

CROW: Well, the message is really clear at the Trump administration, and that is you can't count on us. We won't be reliable. Our policy might change daily, or in some cases hourly, depending upon the emotions of the president. What Donald Trump can never understand, either because he's unwilling or incapable of understanding it, is that this is not about him.

When you are the commander in chief and the president, it's not about your emotion, it's not about your ego. It's not about whether or not somebody has thanked you enough. This is about the American people and what needs to be done to keep the American people safe. And in this case, Ukraine support is not charity. We are doing this because it will make America safer and more prosperous.

It will help secure our economy. It will help secure food prices, and it will keep Europe, our largest trading partner, safe and secure as well.

TAPPER: President Trump's executive order on foreign aid, as you know, is causing confusion and delays for Afghans who worked for the United States military during the 20 year war in Afghanistan. Afghans who were promised safety in the U.S., I recently interviewed one of them, a recipient of a Special Immigrant Visa, or SIV, who right now is stuck in Afghanistan. He and his family were supposed to get out, but then the order to end the aid put a hold to that because of travel expenses. And he told me he's afraid the Taliban is going to find him and kill him. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HASIB: If they discover my past, there will be no trial, no mercy, only imprisonment or death.

TAPPER (voice-over): That's Hasib (ph) talking to us from Kabul, Afghanistan. Hasib is not his real name. And that, of course, was not his real voice.

HASIB: I have no job, no income, and no way to provide my family. And my children go to bed hungry. And I cannot look them in the eyes without feeling like I have failed them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: You're a combat veteran. I know this issue is something you care about deeply and meaningfully. Your former colleague, former congressman, now National Security Advisor, Mike Waltz. This is something that he cared about a great deal when he was in Congress. I assume he still cares about it now because a different job. We asked him for comment. He hasn't yet commented.

But Hasib says he's not asking for favors, simply the promise made to be honored. What do you think of all this?

CROW: Yes, any American who put on the uniform and served overseas, you know, in my three combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, what service members know is when you deploy downrange and you're in the thick of it. We always work with local folks. You know, they interpret for us, they help us understand the geography. I might not be here today and countless of other Americans may not have come home to their families during our 20 year war on terror had it not been for these Iraqis and Afghans who fought with us and served with us at great personal risk and expense to them because we made a promise to stand with them. And if we break that promise, not only will that be a moral travesty, but the next time we have to send our soldiers into harm's way, guess what?

Who's going to be willing to work with us? Who's going to be willing to stand with our men and women and help them survive that environment and help them come home if we don't keep our promises. This is very, very basic stuff. And it's a moral stain on our country if we're not able to stand by them and keep that promise.

[17:25:05]

And I pushed the last administration on this. You know that. I don't think we did enough, and I don't think we did it fast enough. But this administration is completely, so far, completely turning its back on our partners. TAPPER: Congressman Jason Crow, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

President Trump threatened more tariffs today just hours after this 25 percent tariffs against Canada and Mexico kicked in. As a result, Target now said it may have to raise prices on fruits and vegetables as early as this week. We're going to take a look what all of this tariff stuff means for your grocery bill next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:30:02]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: In our Money Lead today, markets finished down a second day in a row after a promising rally that gave up the ghost late in the day. Fears of tariffs are still spooking investors. Big declines in both the Dow and the S&P with a smaller drop in the Nasdaq. This comes one day after the major indexes fell sharply in response to President Trump's decision to place 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico and to double the one on China to 20 percent.

As we touched on earlier, the President threatened more tariffs on Canada today if Canada follows through with plans to retaliate with their own tariffs. In response, two of America's biggest retailers, Target and Best Buy, said that President Trump's tariffs will force them to raise some prices, Target's CEO said possibly as soon as this week.

Joining us now from the White House, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins. Secretary Rollins, welcome to The Lead. Thank you so much for having us. I've never spoken to you in my life. Congratulations on the new gig. So let me ask you --

BROOKE ROLLINS, AGRICULTURE SECRETARY: Thank you Jake.

TAPPER: -- the CEO of Target, a retailer where obviously millions of Americans get their groceries and -- and so many other things. Target warning that customers will likely see price hikes on produce over the next couple of days. Was that factored into the president's plan? Did you know that was coming?

ROLLINS: Listen, President Trump has a vision for this country. He has never held back the idea that tariffs are a very important part of his toolkit. I support him 100 percent. Clearly, there's going to be some concern in question, which makes sense. But at the end of the day, this fight for a better America, to make America great again, to bring our jobs back to America to produce within our own country's borders is really, really important.

And I think what Governor Trudeau said today about bringing on more tariffs is just part of the back and forth that's going to happen. But at the end of the day, the President's vision and what he will effectuate and what he stands for is fighting for this country. And the tariffs will work. They work before they will work again.

TAPPER: So, Prime Minister Trudeau, if you were a governor, you wouldn't be implementing tariffs on him. Prime Minister Trudeau said retaliatory tariffs are going to come. How far can this trade war potentially go?

ROLLINS: You know, it's the art of the deal, right? I mean, we only -- not only have to look at Mexico and Canada, we have to look at China, but we also have to look at expanding markets. And I think one of the silver linings of the current trade war that we're moving into is that hopefully we do end up with new trading partners like India, like Vietnam, like Great Britain, you know, across the world.

So I think why Trudeau and Mexico and this President, our President, is -- is negotiating this out. And I believe that they'll get to a good place. But while they're doing that, we're going to be moving out across the world to -- to look for new export partners. And I -- I think we'll get there. I also think that, again, what this President has shown and what the -- what the people voted for last November was real significant change and bringing real work and change to the American shore. And that's what -- that's what we're going to do.

TAPPER: Well, I think one of the main reasons President Trump won, and obviously there are any number of them, but one of them is high prices. I think President Trump, in an interview after he won with "NBC," I believe, said that groceries and the high cost of groceries was one of the reasons he won. But we're -- we're hearing from Target that grocery costs are going to go up. I mean, surely that's a concern.

ROLLINS: Well, there's no doubt. I mean, the American people are hurting. And -- and when the American people went to vote, when the President was talking about securing the border, bringing down grocery prices and -- and -- and peace through strength across the world, they knew that they would vote for a leader and hopefully get a leader in the White House that could make real change.

So the short term, what we're doing right now with the short term tariffs and effectuating his vision is for the long term, ensuring that we're setting ourselves up. Jake, if I may, I know, and listen, I'm the Ag secretary. I'm really focused on the price of eggs, amongst other things right now. But what I want to show you in this chart is you can see for 30 years, the price of eggs was pretty stagnant. Then under Obama went up a little bit. That's the first blue. Then under Trump went down right here. Then under Biden absolutely skyrocketed.

So it isn't just avian flu, although that's a driver. It's the cost of doing business. The cost of inputs went up 30 percent under this last administration. We have to deregulate. We have to roll back the rules. We have to make it easier for our producers to produce for America. And that's all part of the same conversation.

TAPPER: Let's talk about eggs, if I may, just because you brought it up. You wrote in that "Wall Street Journal" op-ed. We also want to make it easier for families to raise backyard chickens. Democratic leader of the Senate, Chuck Schumer, pounced on that. He put on social media how embarrass -- quote, how embarrassing for them. Can't wait to hear Trump's chickens in every backyard riff at tomorrow's speech. This is not a solution. What's your response?

ROLLINS: Well, of course, Chuck Schumer would resort to basically poking fun at the average American family who's looking to ensure that they can feed their family, that their children have what they need to perhaps live the American dream. And tonight, the President, I've read the speech. I got a preview copy of it. Tonight at the State of the Union, he'll be rolling out what his vision for America is and how we do restore the American dream to everyone.

[17:35:12]

Listen, the cost of eggs is today's urgent issue. We rolled out a five point plan last week. It includes biosecurity, repopulating the flocks very, very quickly, deregulating importing eggs from around the country and then putting more money into therapeutics and research. So we have a plan. Biden, hello, never had a plan. And you can see that here and you can see that in so many of the other areas that he felled in over the last four years.

TAPPER: Secretary Brooke Rollins, thank you so much. Appreciate your time.

President Trump promised to tackle high prices on day one, but will his tariffs send them in the wrong direction? Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers joins us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:40:19]

TAPPER: As rising tariffs roil the markets, Trump Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick signaled in an interview this afternoon that the White House may be considering a change in strategy, perhaps less than 48 hours after the tariffs were announced. Here's what Secretary Lutnick had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOWARD LUTNICK, COMMERCE SECRETARY: Both the Mexicans and the Canadians were on the phone with me all day today trying to show that they'll do better. And the President is listening because, you know, he's very, very fair and very reasonable. So I think he's going to work something out with them. It's not going to be a pause. None of that pause stuff. But I think he's going to figure out you do more and I'll meet you in the middle some way. And we're going to probably be announcing that tomorrow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Whether that's real or a ploy to try to calm a stock market and sell off mode to be determined. Joining us now, Larry Summers, the former Treasury Secretary during the Clinton administration, the former director of the White House National Economic Council under President Obama. And as I mentioned, was sounding the alarm about inflation pretty early into the Biden presidency. I'm quite sure Kamala Harris wishes they had been listening to him more. Secretary Summers, you heard Secretary Rollins, the Ag secretary, discuss the administration's approach to tariffs. What do you say to the argument that inflation in this case will be temporary and in service of a larger goal that will produce a more economically healthy America?

LAWRENCE SUMMERS, FORMER TREASURY SECRETARY, CLINTON ADMIN.: First of all, given the contribution to inflation psychology, I'm not sure that any increase in inflation will be temporary. And God knows with the price level up 35 percent in the last four years, the last thing we need is another inflation claiming to be transitory. But more important, I don't understand what this is in service of.

It's in service of making consumer prices higher. Why is that good? It's in service of making inputs that American firms use, for example, when they produce cars, more expensive. So they're less competitive against Asia and producers from other places. Why is that good? It's in service of making enemies of our traditional allies. Why is that good?

I mean, just ask yourself, could you have imagined that there'd be a U.S. economic administration trying to put it to Canada economically, while at the same time we were building better economic relations with Russia? What kind of strategy is that? What is our beef with Canada? Apart from oil, we actually run a trade surplus with them. We cooperate with them. For example, when we're producing cars, they go back and forth across the border half a dozen times. And that makes us much more competitive against the rest of the world. So I don't see what the benefit of this strategy is.

And I see a lot of costs, some $2 trillion of wealth have been destroyed this week in the stock market. And all the analysts say that it's in response to these trade policies. Yale's budget lab estimates that it's going to take over $1,200 out of the paychecks of the average family in higher prices. So I don't see -- I see the costs. I just can't see any benefit to this strategy.

TAPPER: So I think what you'll -- what you would hear from the President, or he here, and what you'll probably hear later tonight in the speech, is because of these tariffs, chips are going to be manufactured in Arizona. Because of these tariffs, car manufacturers are closing in Mexico and opening in the United States. Because of these tariffs, automakers are going to be making more parts in the United States instead of in Canada or Mexico. What would -- what would you say to that?

SUMMERS: So you heard all those kinds of arguments in favor of the Smoot-Hawley tariffs, and they contributed to making the depression great. Those are the same arguments that Juan Peron and Argentinian leaders made for 50 years during which Argentina has become poor. But the simplest answer is no.

We now have a world where it is regions that compete. And by cooperating with Mexico and Canada, we cooperate more effectively to compete with Asia and Europe. And some of it's done here. Some of it's done in Mexico. Most of it's done here now. And if we make that cooperation impossible, it's not that we're going to be more competitive. It's that Europe and Asia are going to be more competitive against us. President Trump doesn't understand the way in which global trade has changed.

[17:45:16]

It used to be that you imported whole products from other countries. And when that was true, there was a logic that you're describing. But when international trade is mostly about supply change and production of complicated products, whether it's a car or an iPhone, that whole way of thinking about it isn't right. You know, economists disagree on almost everything.

But there's essentially no serious economist who doesn't get his check paid for by Donald Trump, who believes that these kinds of tariffs are good for the American economy.

TAPPER: Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, thank you so much. Good to see you.

There's also Elon Musk's and DOGE's mission to slash the federal workforce and cut spending. What do Trump voters have to say about that? Our Ellie Reeve headed to Georgia to get some reactions. Stay with us.

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[17:50:52]

TAPPER: The White House tells CNN that Elon Musk, the world's wealthiest man, will attend President Trump's address tonight before Congress. Our Ellie Reeve returned to one of the most pro-Trump counties in the state of Georgia to get voters' take on DOGE and Musk.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOSH EVAN KIRKLAND, NAHUNTA, GEORGIA RESIDENT: Do you know somebody smarter?

ELLE REEVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Than Elon Musk?

KIRKLAND: That's right.

REEVE: You can be smart and immoral. You can be smart and make bad decisions.

KIRKLAND: You are 100 percent right about that. There's no doubt about that. It does not give me pause. I'm 100 percent team Musk.

REEVE (voice-over): Josh Evan Kirkland is one of the people we spoke to at a Hob show in Nahunta, Georgia. We first came to Brantley County right before the election, because it was the most pro-Trump county in a swing state in 2020. People had had a strong emotional connection to President Trump, and they thought Trump was for them instead of the elites. So we wanted to see what they made of billionaire Elon Musk.

KATHY HENDRIX, BRANTLEY COUNTY, GEORGIA RESIDENT: There's a lot of if, ands, and buts about Musk. And he's a brilliant man himself. I think a lot of people are scared that the two of them have teamed up.

REEVE (voice-over): Last time we were here, Kathy Hendrix sold Trump merch in a corner of her boutique.

HENDRIX: I sold out of everything. I sold out of all my Trump stuff. I have sold the daddy's home.

REEVE: Why do people like that, calling Trump daddy?

HENDRIX: There is a security in daddy. Mama is the one that runs everything. Mama's the one that does everything. But there is a security in daddy. When daddy wraps his arms around you, you feel like the whole world is just, you're safe. And everything is -- everything's going to be OK.

REEVE: And that's the way they mean it?

HENDRIX: And that's the way they mean it.

REEVE: Because you know, on the internet at least, sometimes it has like a sexual meaning.

HENDRIX: Oh Lord.

So what do you think of the job he's done so far?

KANDISS TAYLOR, GOP CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: It's like Christmas morning every single day.

REEVE (voice-over): Hendricks introduced us to Kandiss Taylor, who declared she's running for Congress that very day on Steve Bannon's War Room podcast.

TAYLOR: I want to announce with you, you are loyal to President Trump.

God anoints people. He's anointed President Trump. So if Elon Musk wants to cut trillions of dollars out of this budget, and if my family has to tighten our belt and not go on vacation because of it, I'm down with that.

REEVE: So you welcome some personal financial hardship if you think in the long run it will help.

TAYLOR: Yes, I've already experienced it.

REEVE: Under Biden, with inflation, I mean, were you happy to pay the higher prices or did you think that was a failing of his presidency?

TAYLOR: It was a tremendous failing.

REEVE: All right, how long are you willing to wait for the economic changes you're hoping to see, for the prices to come down?

TAYLOR: Oh, I'm good if President Trump wants to run in 2028.

REEVE (voice-over): In 2022, Taylor ran in the Republican primary for governor with a Jesus Guns Baby slogan and lost.

REEVE: But why run for Congress if some billionaire can just undo whatever budget you passed, whatever laws you passed?

TAYLOR: Oh, he's not undoing everything. He's dealing with stuff that's frivolous.

REEVE (voice-over): Most people we spoke to were enthusiastic about Musk. We did meet three people who had some concerns about the firing of federal workers, but the only one who wanted to say so on camera was Corbet Wilson, one of the rare Trump skeptics we found the last time we visited.

REEVE: Prices of groceries, egg prices haven't gone down since Trump took office.

DAVID HERRIN, BRANTLEY COUNTY, GEORGIA RESIDENT: Give him a little bit of time. When you come back in a year or two years, let's look at the halfway point, because we all know everything takes time.

CORBET WILSON, BRANTLEY COUNTY, GEORGIA RESIDENT: Well, he promised it on the first day.

HERRIN: He promised to take steps.

WILSON: And anybody that believed that's crazy.

HERRIN: He also said that it would probably be a little more painful to start with, but it would get better. We've got to get --

WILSON: Nobody's waiting on that. You're talking about contractors. Elon's a contractor too. Who looks into him?

HERRIN: There needs to be somebody.

WILSON: Nobody questions his bills.

REEVE: Do you trust Elon Musk?

HERRIN: Absolutely.

REEVE: He's a government contractor. He's got business interests, whether in defense, internet, that kind of thing. He's also admitted to drug use. He smoked pot on the Joe Rogan show. Do you trust him as like a stable, rational, and reasonable person to be doing this job?

[17:55:04]

HERRIN: Yes.

WILSON: Hey, he's a Republican. You ain't going to talk him out of that.

HERRIN: There's potheads all over this country. You all sitting here trying to bash --

WILSON: I ain't bashing none.

HERRIN: -- 99 percent of this country, Republican or Democrat, this old dad-gum-tail smokes pot. You're part of the Democrat Party in my book.

REEVE: No I'm not.

REEVE (voice-over): The conversation devolved quickly. We had not anticipated the emotional connection we already felt with Musk.

HERRIN: This is over with.

REEVE: He did it on T.V.

HERRIN: He said on T.V. he smoked pot.

REEVE: Yes, do you want me to pull up the video of it?

HERRIN: I don't care. I'm saying it don't matter.

REEVE: Let me pull up the video for you.

HERRIN: But that makes him unqualified to do a job.

REEVE: Well, I'm just saying, does it --

HERRIN: Yes. I mean, she's coming in here with ignorant arguments. She ain't talking facts.

REEVE: Does it raise any questions about him?

HERRIN: I can prove you a Democrat by the level of ignorance that you portray.

REEVE: Let's just show it.

HERRIN: Donald Trump, Elon Musk, please drain the swamp while you there, get the job done. Please.

WILSON: They'll probably go down the drain with it.

REEVE (voice-over): Elle Reeve, CNN, Nahunta, Georgia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TAPPER: And our thanks to Elle Reeve for that report.

Several Democrats plan to bring fired federal workers as their guests to their President's speech tonight. What else can we expect? We're going to have a live report from Capitol Hill, ahead.

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