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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Trump Delays Auto Tariffs On Mexico & Canada For One Month; Memo: Trump To Cut 70,000 Plus Jobs At Dep. Of Veterans Affairs. Fired Employees Say NOAA Layoffs Will Affect Storm Preps; 40-Day Target Boycott Begins Over Changes To DEI Policies; Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-NM), Is Interviewed About Holding Up "This Is Not Normal" Sign At Trump's Address. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired March 05, 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 HOST: First in James completely dominant career. OK, so the guy on the left is 20-year-old LeBron. He averaged 27 points a game. The guy on the right, 40-year-old LeBron, he is currently averaging 25 points per game. When asked about his latest milestone, King James simply replied, I'm not going to sugarcoat it.

It is a hell of a lot of points. There you have it.

A great way to end the show today. Guys, thank you very much for being with us. All of you at home, thanks for being with us as well. But don't go anywhere, "The Lead" starts right now.

[17:00:40]

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A special request granted to hold off on some tariffs, at least temporarily. The Lead starts right now.

After an urgent call with Canada's prime minister, in conversations with America's big three carmakers, President Trump is delaying auto tariffs only. But what about everything else from electronics to gasoline. We're starting to learn exactly how you, the consumer, could be hit hard.

Plus a weather scientist who flew into hurricanes now out of a job, a product of the DOGE cuts. How this eliminated roll and others like it could hurt lifesaving forecasts when the next storm rolls in. And a boycott against Target stores. Why the protests couldn't come at a worse time for the retail giant.

Welcome To Lead. I'm Phil Mattingly in for Jake Tapper.

We start in our money lead with President Trump's tariff chaos sending shockwaves through the U.S. and the globe as a trade battle escalates. Now this afternoon, President Trump announced an exemption for auto tariffs on Canada and Mexico, but just for one month. This after Trump's 25 percent tariff on key goods coming from those two countries went into effect yesterday. Now, today, the president spoke with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in an attempt to calm rising tensions. The prime minister's office calling the conversation, quote, "constructive."

President Trump framing it in a different manner, writing on Truth Social that the prime minister's efforts to stop the tariffs are, quote, "not good enough," although Trump noted the call ended in a "somewhat friendly manner." We start off with CNN's Kaitlan Collins at the White House.

Kaitlan, you had a fascinating exchange with the White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt about the decision to hold off on these auto tariffs for one month. What you learn?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, Phil. Obviously this is a huge relief for those three automakers who very much did not want to have to deal with these tariffs because they were going to have massive consequences on them. Obviously, as you know, these cars at times could go and cross borders multiple times during the production process. And so this was really going to have to change things for these automakers. And it shows you it's a relief for them.

But it also reveals how capricious these tariffs really have been. Whether a phone call like this one that happened with President Trump and his senior aides and Stellantis and GM and the other companies on this, how that can change that as they made their case to the president into the White House and were granted this one month reprieve. The question is, why one month and what happens when the one month is up? That's what I asked the press secretary earlier today here at the White House. And this is what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: On the reprieve that is being granted to these three automakers for one month on the tariffs on Canada and Mexico, how did the president settle one month?

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The reciprocal tariffs will go into effect on April 2. And he feels strongly about that no matter what, no exemption. So that's where the one month comes from.

COLLINS: So, does he expect them to be able to shift production within a month?

LEAVITT: He told them that he -- they should get on it, start investing, start moving, shift production here to the United States of America, where they will pay no tariff. That's the ultimate goal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Now, Phil, essentially what the argument there is that because these are tariffs on Canada and Mexico for what they bring into the United States, that it would then put these companies at an unfair advantage because right now these tariffs aren't in place on Europe or Asia. They were saying that until those reciprocal tariffs that the president has pledged are coming in about a month from now are in effect, that will happen. But of course, you know, shifting production is not easy for these car manufacturing companies. And so what happens in just one month? What does that look like? Essentially, it's really trying to buy time for these companies as they are trying to figure out how to navigate the White House and the president and his threat of tariffs that he is moving on but clearly willing to grant at least part of a reprieve. And that comes, of course, after a phone call with the Canadian prime minister, who the president is referring to as the governor in his post. That is a derisive way of referring to him as he has said that Canada should become the 51st state in the United States. But it just speaks to the layers of diplomacy and complication and conversation that are part of what these tariffs look like.

MATTINGLY: Yes, not an auto supply chain expert, but 30 days seems tight, I think, to transfer all manufacturing into the U.S. You mentioned the phone call with Prime Minister Trudeau and President Trump is highly anticipated. Did the president reveal at all what he -- what the rationale for these tariffs in that call?

[17:05:03]

COLLINS: You know, we've heard so many different things from the president himself, but also from his top aides. They've talked about fentanyl being a huge part of why they are doing this, why they felt that they put these tariffs in place now after they waited a little bit on Mexico and Canada. They've also talked about the president making the argument that he believes the United States is being ripped off by Canada and Mexico and that's why he put them into place. And so there have been -- and also said that they want to boost U.S. manufacturing. So there are kind of multiple different reasons.

And the reason that matters is because these countries are left wondering what do they need to do to essentially avoid these tariffs, if anything. And when it comes to fentanyl, you know, as was pointed out in the White House briefing today, 0.2 percent of fentanyl that is seized has done so at the Canadian border with the United States. And so, yes, of course, that could be lower, it could be zero. But Canadian officials have said that they were perplexed by that given how low that number is, especially compared to what is seized at the southern border. And so, it's a real question and a real dance that these officials are doing with President Trump inside the White House and a question of what one month is going to buy these companies and what it looks like in a month from now, Phil.

MATTINGLY: Yes, capricious. That's going to be rattling around in my head for the next couple of weeks. Perfect word choice.

COLLINS: My vocabulary word for the day. Thank you.

MATTINGLY: There it is. Kaitlan Collins, thanks so much. And of course, you can look out for Kaitlan in just a few hours on "The Source." That's weeknights, 9:00 Eastern here on CNN.

I want to go now to CNN's Paula Newton who's in Ottawa.

Paula, the prime minister's office calls today's conversation between the two leaders, quote, "constructive." What else are you hearing from your sources in the Canadian government? PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That they continue to speak. And mainly it's the finance minister here along with the commerce secretary in the United States. What they're looking for is to see if they can come to some kind of agreement on other carve outs. Perhaps that will happen in the next few hours, perhaps in the next few days. But what they are looking at is the original trade agreement, Phil, that the president signed in 2020 with both Canada and Mexico.

At the time he called it the best trade deal ever. They want to go back to the bones of that and say, look, if companies are compliant with that, if they're following all the rules in that trade agreement, could we just leave those industries alone? It might be for a month, it might be for longer. There is no indication at this point in time, Phil, that they have made any progress to get any more carve outs for any other industry. And in the meantime, that means that Americans right now at this hour are still paying that 25 percent charge on everything that goes into the United States that's exported from Canada.

MATTINGLY: Can I ask -- you know, one of the most fascinating, I think illuminating parts of this whole process has been remembering or for many people realizing the first time the scale of the energy that is imported from Canada to the United States. Really any sense of what kind of impact these tariffs could have on U.S. gas prices?

NEWTON: Yes, in fact, GasBuddy, their analysts there did, you know, a comparison as to what would happen if -- right now we've got a 10 percent tariff now. I won't get into the complications. The price of oil is down, the Canadian dollar is down. But in general, all things being equal, because that refined oil from Canada goes to the Northeast. Listen up, Phil, the gas could go up by as much as 20 to 40 cents a gallon in the Northeast because that refined gasoline, that refined oil is coming from Canada into the United States.

It's not going to be equal everywhere in the country. But believe me, it is going to hurt. And that's if President Trump sticks to 10 percent on energy. And again, if Canada doesn't put a surtax on that because that is something that they are talking about, they don't want to do, but it is on the table.

MATTINGLY: Yes, it'll be fascinating to watch. Paul Newton, as always, great reporting. Thanks so much.

Joining me now is Ontario Premier Doug Ford.

Sir, appreciate your time. Your reaction, I guess to start with this 30-day reprieve on auto tariffs that are compliant with that trade deal that were just hearing about, the USMCA?

DOUG FORD, ONTARIO PREMIER: Well, first of all, thanks for having me on, Phil. And I just want to emphasize Canadians love Americans. They love the U.S. There's one person that's causing this problem and that's President Trump. You know, all this gives us is uncertainty again. And in the U.S., the American workers, the hard working people on the assembly lines, if this proceeds on April 2nd, I'll guarantee you assembly lines will shut down on both sides of the border, costing American workers and Canadian workers their job.

Manufacturing facilities will shut down, inflation will happen and gas prices are going to go up. And that's opposite of what President Trump mandate. He said he was going to create more jobs, lower inflation. While he never thought this out properly or his team didn't, because as far as I'm concerned, the tariffs are still on. We will not relent.

And I apologize to the American people. It's not your fault. There's one person again to be blamed, and that's President Trump. But we're going to go full steam ahead, and we have to protect our families, our workers, our businesses.

[17:10:03]

Everything was fine. He keeps saying that, oh, they're stealing office. That's not accurate. You take the 4.3 million barrels of oil we ship down there every single day, take that off the balance sheet, the U.S. has a $56 billion surplus of manufacturing goods here in Canada.

MATTINGLY: The decision on autos, which came after conversations with the executives for the big three automakers, that happened on Tuesday, is there -- do you sense weakness there? Like, is there an opportunity if you learn something from that, as maybe we can just go industry by industry, reaching out to the president, and perhaps these aren't actually about fentanyl or the border as has been placed via the emergency declaration?

FORD: Well, we're the number one customer to the U.S. in buying autos, we buy 400 percent more than Mexico, 200 percent more than any other country in the entire world. The auto pack's been going on since the 1960s. And I always say, you can't unscramble an egg, you have to make the omelet a lot larger. President Trump doesn't believe in that. He believes that they can pop up an auto plant overnight.

It's more likely years to pop up an auto plant. In the meantime, the assembly lines will shut down because these parts go back and forth across the border up to eight times. And if you put a tariff 25 percent every time it crosses the border, you'll be paying $120, $130,000 for a vehicle. This is the craziest thing I've ever seen in my entire life.

You know, we believe in an Am-Can fortress, working together, the two greatest countries in the world. That's what we believe in. And obviously, President Trump would rather attack his closest ally, you know, his best friend in the world. And as China's laughing, watching us, and they're ramping up, ready to take American jobs and Canadian jobs. We aren't the problem, China is the problem right now.

MATTINGLY: President Trump talks a lot about the reciprocal tariffs that he plans on implementing on April 2nd. I'm interested, reciprocal pulling off to some degree of the retaliation that Canada may be planning. You've been threatening to shut off or until 25 percent surcharge on electricity going to homes and manufacturing businesses in places like New York, Michigan, Minnesota. Is this still the plan based on what we've seen today? FORD: Well, as long as these tariffs happen, I have no choice. I have absolutely no choice. And I -- you know, I get along so well with the three governors. I just got off the phone with Governor Walsh, what a gentleman he is. He's an absolute champion.

And right now we have no choice because President Trump wants to continue putting tariffs on Canada. And again, you know, we should be creating an Am-Can fortress right around the U.S. and Canada. And who's benefiting? China's benefiting off this and they're ramping it up and they're costing American and Canadian jobs. It's unacceptable.

MATTINGLY: Ontario Premier, Doug Ford, appreciate your time, sir. Thanks so much.

FORD: Thank you. Thank you so much. God bless America and God bless Canada. Let's get this done. Thank you.

MATTINGLY: Well, Republican lawmakers want answers from Elon Musk and what he's doing with DOGE. What we're hearing about their meetings today with the tech billionaire behind closed doors as we get word of even more federal cuts, including tens of thousands coming from the Department of Veterans affairs. And what Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy calls, quote, "positive progress" after that combative Oval Office meeting last week with President Trump. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:17:48]

MATTINGLY: This just in to our world lead, President Donald Trump has issued an ultimatum to Hamas in a Truth Social post saying in part, quote, "Shalom, Hamas means hello and goodbye. You can choose. Release all of the hostages now, not later, and immediately return all of the dead bodies of the people you murdered or it is over for you. Only sick and twisted people keep bodies and you are sick and twisted."

I want to bring in CNN's Jeremy Diamond.

Jeremy, the president also said, quote, "This is your last warning" and Hamas has just responded. What are you learning?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's exactly right, Phil. This is not the first time that President Trump has made these kinds of threats directed at Hamas, talking about all hell breaking loose, all hell to pay if you do not release the hostages. But this time it certainly takes on added meaning because of the fragile point at which we are at. With phase one now concluded, uncertainty around phases two and three, Israel already blocking humanitarian aid to Gaza to pressure Hamas. And now Trump comes in here with this threat to not only let all hell break loose, but to send Israel everything it needs, quote, "to finish the job."

And indeed, we have gotten a response from a Hamas spokesman who says, quote, "These threats complicate matters regarding the cease fire agreement and encourage the occupation government that means Israel not to implement the agreement." And he then goes on to urge the U.S. administration to pressure Israel to enter the second stage as stipulated in the agreement that was indeed backed by the United States. But I think it is very clear at this stage that both the Trump administration and the current Netanyahu government, neither of them seem interested in proceeding with the cease fire agreement as it was prepared and expected to go down. Meaning phases one, which has now concluded, but then going to phases two and three, which would ultimately lead to an end of the war and the withdrawal of all Israeli troops. Instead, it seems that Trump is leading another maximum pressure campaign on Hamas.

We will see this time if he actually puts action behind this. And critically, I should note, Phil, that this tweet came after the president met with several former hostages who were recently released during the ceasefire. They asked him during that meeting to pressure for the release of the remaining hostages all at once. Phil.

[17:20:07]

MATTINGLY: And he's certainly done that. Jeremy Diamond, great reporting. Thanks so much.

Well, today's other big question in our world lead, will President Trump and Ukrainian President Zelenskyy dust themselves off and go for perhaps a friendlier round two after last week's Oval Office blow up? Today, Zelenskyy says there's, quote, positive progress in relations after Trump received what he called a, quote, "important letter from Zelensky." CNN's Nick Paton Walsh is in Ukraine's capital, Kyiv.

Nick, the U.S. has paused both intelligence support and weapons shipments to Ukraine. At this point, how does the deal get back on track?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: Yes, it is hard to see exactly what is being demanded of Zelenskyy to heal this relationship. He's certainly giving the positive signals. He used the word regrettable yesterday talking about the Oval Office meeting. But even after the letter which Trump spoke about in his speech last night, saying in positive terms how he received a letter in which Zelenskyy said he'd sign up to the railroad earth minerals deal and was committed to peace. Even in the morning after that, the CIA director, John Radcliffe announced that intelligence sharing had been paused, suggestions it might be started.

But National Security Adviser Mike Waltz said he wanted to see more commitment to negotiations from Zelensky. The real question for Ukraine is what exactly is the peace process they're being asked to sign up to. Is it the U.S. Russia one being negotiated without them? Is it what the Europeans are trying to put together that has Ukraine involved? Or is it a more general feeling from Trump's inner circle that the Zelenskyy is more on their side.

The intelligence sharing is so vital on top of the departure of military aid, the days in which they lose this information cost Ukrainian lives. And just now, Zelenskyy's hometown hit by a ballistic missile, the kind of thing that Patriot missiles supplied by the U.S. would stop. At lease two dead and many other injured. Phil. MATTINGLY: Nick, there's a big European defense summit in Brussels. Zelenskyy set to attend tomorrow. You've been doing a ton of reporting about basically foreign officials, European officials burning up the phone lines, conversations about how or whether they can pick up some of the United States slack. When it comes to European security, what are you learning?

WALSH: Yes, I mean, look, there's scramble here, but there's also a recognition that without the U.S. they're not sure what they can really pull off. A European official I've been speaking to filament to these talks says that the British, the French and the Turkish may indeed contribute significant numbers to any reassurance force that's deployed on the ground inside Ukraine to try and monitor events if indeed there is a cease fire. There is talk of maybe a prisoner swap and then maybe a limited cease fire of sea air and then stopping attacks on energy infrastructure as a confidence building measure, something that's easy to monitor. They know really that they can't put that force on the ground without U.S. psychological support and logistical support. The source I spoke to said it would be high risk, if not impossible.

Europe's doing all it can to step into the void here with a big public speech just now from French President Emmanuel Macron to the French public saying that Russia's aggression won't stop at its boundaries, even suggesting that France's nuclear umbrella might have to be extended to cover Germany. They're rewriting the rule books of European security right now, but there's a real fear that they don't really quite know where Trump is on that, if he's still on their side or if, remarkable to say this, Phil, whether U.S. alliances are heading more towards Moscow. Phil.

MATTINGLY: Yes, remarkable. And yet also the reality at this moment is people try and figure everything out. Nick Paton Walsh, great reporting as always, my friend. Thanks so much.

To the politics lead in Elon Musk back on Capitol Hill after high praise from the president last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: DOGE, perhaps you've heard of it.

We appreciate it. Everybody here, even this side, appreciates it, I believe. They just don't want to admit that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: Perhaps you've heard of it. Soon, Musk will meet with House Republicans. Some tell CNN they'll raise concerns about feeling out of the loop with the massive cuts across federal agencies.

Let's bring in CNN's Rene Marsh and CNN's Lauren Fox, who's on Capitol Hill for us.

Lauren, this comes on the heels of Musk's meeting with Republicans in the upper chamber, the senior chamber, the senators who don't necessarily want to acknowledge their House colleagues sometimes. How did that go behind the scenes?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, Senate Republicans really introduced this idea to Elon Musk that appeared to be a new one for him. Essentially, Senator Rand Paul in this private meeting suggested to Musk that in order to enshrine these cuts, he should send them up to Capitol Hill in a package that would allow Congress to claw back money that was already appropriated by Congress. And what that would essentially do is it would be a simple up or down vote in the House and then it would actually just be a 51 vote threshold in the Senate. That means Republicans could do this on their own.

Now, according to Republicans in the room, Musk was really receptive to this idea. He didn't know that it was a possibility. Here's what Senator Lindsey Graham said after this meeting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): It's just political theater until it becomes a law. So we're not going to capture these savings until we have legislation passed by Congress. If the White House put together a decision package encapsulating the really egregious stuff DOGE just found and brought it to the floor of the Senate, I think it would pass.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[17:25:21]

FOX: And here's where things get interesting. Obviously, what you are reading between the lines there is Republican senators want to say over what DOGE is doing. This is a way to give them an opportunity to enshrine these cuts and also avoid what's already happening in the courts, which is striking some of these cuts down. There's also another element here, though, and that is the fact that you have Republican senators who are then going to have to vote on whether or not they want to make these cuts. It's always a lot easier to say in theory you want cuts than to actually vote on what those cuts are. So Republicans essentially asking for something that may turn out to be pretty difficult down the road. Phil.

MATTINGLY: That is such a good point. Look, I am here for more people learning about rescissions, right? That's our jam, Fox, and I love that. But careful what you wish for. Lauren Fox, thanks so much.

Rene, I want to turn to you. You are the person I go to learn all of the millions of things that are happening every single day with DOGE, because you're tracking all of them, breaking a bunch of news on them. Few big headlines in the DOGE space today, notably the looming massive cut to the VA workforce. What are we learning?

RENE MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, huge cuts there. So, CNN obtained this internal memo at Veterans Affairs where essentially we've learned that this agency plans to cut some more than 70,000 employees there. Again, this was coming from the chief of staff to key leadership. And I spoke with several, you know, employees, career employees there at the Veterans Affairs who are aware of this memo. And the first thing that many of them said to me is that this agency has struggled with being understaffed to essentially meet the moment for veterans that need services. So they worry about the probationary firings that have already occurred.

On top of that, these more than 70,000 people who will also potentially be fired from the agency. As this one career employee put it, he says right now we're failing. If more than 70,000 people are fired from this agency, he says, we will be in a position of critical failure. And what that means is his point was we will not be able to have the people on the ground that essentially help these veterans get the services that they need.

The PACT Act for those not familiar with that, this expanded the ability for veterans to get certain care and benefits if they were exposed to certain toxic substances. And because of that law, the Biden administration increased the number of people and employees at VA. What many are saying, including the union, is that if you do get rid of all these employees, how can you ensure that these veterans are going to get the expanded care that they should be allowed to have and by law says that they are entitled to. So, huge concern there. The president of AFGE, very strong words calling this un-American and calling for Congress to step in.

MATTINGLY: The Bipartisan PACT Act, I would note as well.

MARSH: Yes.

MATTINGLY: Rene Marsh, as always, thanks so much.

Well, as spring storms start to heat up, who's there to alert you of the danger? Up next, the future of forecasting according to a weather scientist who flew into hurricanes but now out of a job because of federal cuts.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN HOST: In our National Lead, a massive storm system is sweeping across the eastern half of the country. At least a 150 million people are under weather warnings from this nearly record- breaking March storm. Virginia and the Carolinas today have faced severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings. Meanwhile, a blizzard roared across the Midwest last night, creating white-out conditions, you can see them there, for drivers in at least five states.

Now, over the past few days, that disastrous storm system killed three people and injured six in Mississippi. High winds and thunderstorms also left a path of destruction in their wake in North Texas. Wind gusts tore the roof off a high school in Plano, Texas, and caused part of a warehouse to collapse. More than 70,000 homes and businesses don't have power in the state.

Also, in our National Lead, a different type of weather warning. The Trump administration mass layoffs hit NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, last week. Now, scientists and politicians alike are voicing fears about potential interruptions to the nation's weather forecasts.

CNN's MJ Lee met with one terminated weather scientist who worries about his own future and the future of his field.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDREW HAZELTON, TERMINATED NOAA HURRICANE SCIENTIST: Right now, the winds 13 miles an hour.

MJ LEE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Andy Hazelton is a hurricane hunter.

LEE: And you were saying there's like a version of this on the plane.

HAZELTON: Oh, yes, much more sophisticated version of it. You know --

LEE: OK.

HAZELTON: -- there's anemometers and all sorts of instruments, radar and things like that.

LEE (voice-over): As a physical scientist working at the National Hurricane Center in Miami, he has flown into the eye of the storm countless times, including catastrophic hurricanes, Helene, Dorian and Ian.

HAZELTON: You basically fly through the storm three to four times, and then the forecasters are getting that data in real time. They're using that for their advisories to tell people, hey, this is where the storm is, is how strong it is.

LEE (voice-over): But as of last week, Andy is out of a job.

LEE: And your last day was Thursday?

HAZELTON: Last Thursday. Yes, ma'am.

LEE (voice-over): He was one of the hundreds of employees at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or NOAA, whose roles were abruptly terminated as part of the Trump administration's sweeping efforts to drastically slim down the federal government. And it's not just hurricane forecasting. Most divisions of NOAA, which researches everything from the weather to oceans to biodiversity, were affected by the cuts, raising alarm bells across the scientific community about the potential impacts on public safety and the economy.

[17:35:18]

HAZELTON: This is Biscayne Bay we're out of the Black Point Marina. Right there, at that point, there is right where Hurricane Andrew, the center of it, made landfall back in 1992.

LEE (voice-over): Andrew was the strongest hurricane to hit South Florida in 1992, only the fourth category five hurricane that century to make landfall in the U.S. leaving in its path catastrophic destruction.

HAZELTON: This is the track forecast error.

LEE (voice-over): In the 30 plus years since Hurricane Andrew, Andy and scientists like him have helped make huge improvements to hurricane modeling and forecasts.

HAZELTON: Your five day here is only 100 miles off.

LEE (voice-over): When he wasn't out on storm flight missions, Andy built codes and graphics that helped predict the path and strength of future hurricanes.

HAZELTON: A five day forecast now is as accurate as a one day forecast in Hurricane Andrew. So think about that. You know, you have five days to prepare versus one. You can convince people to evacuate. You can do a lot more things to prepare your home.

LEE: So we've really come a long way.

HAZELTON: We have.

LEE (voice-over): Right up until he was fired, Andy says he and his colleagues had been busy preparing for the upcoming hurricane season just a few months away. Now he is entirely unsure what the mass firings at NOAA will mean for the unfinished work.

LEE: Do you worry that we're about to go backwards on a comes to the science?

HAZELTON: I do. I mean, I hope, you know, I know that the colleagues I still have there, you know, they're going to work hard and do their best. But, you know, when you have a few people in places that were already understaffed, it just gets harder and harder.

LEE (voice-over): And as he wonders about his own future, Andy, like so many Floridians, is also wondering about the next hurricane.

LEE: What does it mean for you that you can't do the work that you want to be doing?

HAZELTON: I worry for the safety of, you know, the people here, my -- my friends, my neighbors, our family and across the board. I mean, here in South Florida, like I said, you know, we've been pretty lucky since -- since Andrew. But, you know, if you look historically, that luck won't last forever.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEE: And still, you know, talking to some of these recently fired federal workers, many of them do really specialized work. They're quite passionate about what they do. And in Andy's case, I mean, he's really young. He's 34. He grew up in Florida, had these major storms coming through his home state. They were sort of formidable -- formidable experiences for him. And he's known since he was a kid. He's interested in hurricanes, interested in meteorology.

So there is an entire generation of scientists that are right now quite uncertain about their future, the future of their fields. And he would love to continue growing at NOAA if he could.

MATTINGLY: The latest really important piece of reporting from you. MJ Lee, appreciate it as always. Thanks so much.

Well, today some target shoppers kicked off a boycott set to last more than a month. What the pastor organizing this event told CNN about the reason why, that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:42:23]

MATTINGLY: In our Money Lead, Target, one of the largest retailers in the United States faces a 40-day boycott over backtracking on its diversity, equity, inclusion or DEI policies. And it comes at a time when Target already faces pressure from tariffs and declining sales.

CNN's Ryan Young joins us. Ryan, who is leading this boycott? What are they hoping to get out of it?

RYAN YOUNG, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Phil, it's Pastor Jamal Bryant, who leads Missionary Baptist Church outside of Atlanta. I mean, thousands of people attend church service there. But as you understand, because you cover politics all the time, this is a church that has an outside sort of reverberation through the black community, because a lot of times people want to hear what this pastor has to say. He believes Target is pulled too far back and left the DEI policies. And the way they did it, he didn't like it.

So what they're basically saying their own social media, they're very vocal. They want to do a 40-day fast, not calling it a boycott. They're calling it a fast of Target because they want to hit Target where it hurts, and they believe about $12 million a day is spent by African Americans across this country at Target. Take a listen to the pastor talk about why he's so fired up about moving this forward.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PASTOR DR. JAMAL BRYANT, NEW BIRTH MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH: We're asking people to divest from Target because they have turned their back on our community. Black people spend upwards of $12 million a day. And so we would expect some loyalty, some decency and some camaraderie. So to completely walk away and dismantle it is a smack in the face.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG: Yes, Phil, just to go a little deeper into this. After George Floyd died, Target pledged about $2 million to DEI. And they walk that back. He wants them to put that $2 billion back into the DEI programs. He also was hoping to see Target put in money to black banks across this country and wants them to get involved in HBCUs historically backed colleges throughout the country. And this is all this is going to be a part of the pitch they're moving forward.

MATTINGLY: You make a really important point about the pastor's power within the community and the residents in his voice and where he kind of stands on issues. This -- Target is not the only company that has kind of stepped away from DEI policies over the course of the last month or two. Has Pastor Bryant mentioned or others you talked to mentioned boycotting other major companies that have moved away from these policies?

YOUNG: So everyone's getting a bit of this, but there's a reason why they put the bullseye on Target, because obviously that outside $2 billion is a number that a lot of people had big eyes over when it was made. The announcement was made back in 2020. But take a look at this Phil. They believe by just doing Target first that maybe other companies will see what's happening with Target, and they'll pull back some of these or put back DEI programs in place before this fast moves onto them.

[17:45:07]

MATTINGLY: Ryan Young, great reporting. Thank you, my friend.

Well, did that show of resistance from Democrats last night go overboard? Will we see more of it? I'll ask a lawmaker made just about everyone's highlight real. That's next.

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[17:50:19]

MATTINGLY: In our Politics Lead, House Republicans already moving to center Texas Democratic Congressman Al Green for disrupting President Trump's speech to a joint session of Congress last night. Other Democrats protested in different ways, including Congresswoman Melanie Stansbury, New Mexico. She held a sign that read, this is not normal, right as President Trump entered the House chamber.

That is, until Texas Republican Congressman Lance Gooden reached across the aisle. You see it right there and ripped the sign from the Congresswoman's hands. Now, Congresswoman Melanie Stansbury joins me right now. Congresswoman, look, I'm not -- I was there with the Joe Wilson, you lie moment. I'm not pro clutching here. People can do what they want, and Republicans can't act like they haven't done things prior to now, despite the erasure of memory that we've seen, I think, over the last 15 hours. But I think one of the questions I had after last night was Democratic leaders didn't seem too keen on protest disruptions. They weren't really sure kind of what the approach was going to be. How did you decide to go with that sign?

REP. MELANIE STANSBURY (D-NM), OVERSIGHT & ACCOUNTABILITY COMMITTEE: Well, I think it's really important in this moment to not normalize what Donald Trump and his administration are doing, because the things that they're doing are not only not normal, they're illegal. He's dismantling federal agencies. He's firing thousands of federal workers. They're laying off veterans, teachers, military, and they're harming our communities. And he's cozying up to our foreign adversaries at the same time.

And I think it's critical that we don't normalize this behavior. And so I'll just say that my sign was an SOS to the world. And I think I communicated what I intended to. Now, I think my Republican colleagues behavior was not becoming at the institution. But welcome to Trump's world. We're living in MAGA land right now.

MATTINGLY: This is a very inside baseball question, but it's tough to get an aisle seat for -- for a joint session of Congress, a speech like that lawmakers get there very, very early for those moments. How did you map this out?

STANSBURY: Well, I'll just say that members of Congress spend a lot of the day during a joint session working to save seats, the Women's Caucus, the Congressional Black Caucus, members of the Progressive Caucus. We all intended to sit together partly because we were wearing pink last night in the Women's Caucus as a solidarity for women across the United States and the world.

And so we took shifts and holding various seats. But I will say that the behavior that we saw during the joint session was reflected earlier in the day. We had Republicans trying to claim seats on the Democratic side of the aisle and bullying members of our caucus. So it was not just in that moment had been going on pretty much all day.

MATTINGLY: One of the striking things last night from the Democratic side was I was talking to senior aid, some lawmakers saying, look, when it comes to the policy, we've got winning issues based on what we heard from the President last night. We can run on these issues. This is 05 Social Security all over again. But on the kind of the way members were acting, people couldn't really make up their minds, whether it was they weren't going too far or they weren't going far enough with their resistance, or they were being too disruptive and making him look presidential as John Fetterman said. Where -- where do you come down on this?

STANSBURY: Well, I don't think he looked presidential from the moment he walked into that chamber. I think it was very obvious that half of the chamber did not even rise to greet him because we were not going to normalize this President, who is so clearly breaking the law and turning our country weaker and more expensive and hurting real Americans.

But listen, I don't think that the words that came out of his mouth were by and large coherent, nor actual set of strategies that are going to make our country better. So, you know, Democrats in different ways and forms found moments and opportunities to do their own acts of resistance, whether it was silence, whether it was holding signs or whether it was turning their back on the President.

And I know that the American people heard the signal loud and clear because we have heard from hundreds of Americans that are grateful that we did not normalize his behavior last night.

MATTINGLY: Lacking coherence and not strategic and yet it feels like controlling all of Washington and moving extraordinarily fast that he's on a at least a powerful role at this point. Do you think that's wrong?

STANSBURY: Yes, I mean, listen, they're projecting power. This is the Donald Trump playbook, right? Is he always projects power and success even when he's failing and he's failing on all counts right now. In fact, as I stand here in the Capitol, Elon Musk is meeting with House -- House Republicans in just a couple of hours because our colleagues are telling us behind closed doors that they're not happy with what DOGE is doing. And I understand that today when he met with senators of the GOP, they told him if you want to make these changes, bring them to Congress because they are violating the constitutional separation of power.

[17:55:03]

So they are losing in Congress. They're losing in our communities. Thousands of Americans are showing up in these communities to protest. And they're losing in the courts. In fact just another Supreme Court decision this morning that ruled against them, so they're losing on all counts and he is moving in ways that break the law and that the American people do not support.

MATTINGLY: Congresswoman Melanie Stansbury, appreciate your time. Thanks so much.

STANSBURY: Thanks.

MATTINGLY: Well as the Congresswoman just noted, Elon Musk just minutes away from a big meeting with House Republicans.

Plus, what folks in the Detroit area tell CNN about President Trump's tariff threats and what it could mean for that region which relies so much on the auto industry.

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[18:00:06]

MATTINGLY: Welcome to The Lead. I'm Phil Mattingly in for Jake Tapper. This hour --