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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Trump: Putin's Response "Promising" But Incomplete; Trump: Instructed Aide To Discuss "Concepts Of Land" With Russia; Rep. Mike Turner, (R-OH), Is Interviewed About Ceasefire, Ukraine, Russia; Judge Orders W.H. To Reinstate Thousands Of Fired Employees; Trump: Economic Disruption "Won't Be Very Long"; Search For Missing College Student Enters Seventh Day; N.C. Voters Line Up To Voice Concerns At GOP Town Hall. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired March 13, 2025 - 17:00   ET

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

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Is getting dumber and dumber and dumber every day. Idiocracy was supposed to be a comedy, not a how to manual. I do not know what's going on.

KASIE HUNT, CNN HOST: Yes, I just -- I don't know. I think it's outrageous and really sad. And social media clearly makes people worse, not better. Jake.

TAPPER: Agreed. I mean, you're preaching to the choir. I mean, I don't know what else to say except amen. Amen, sister.

HUNT: All right. Well --

TAPPER: I'll see you back in "The Arena" tomorrow. Thanks, Kasie.

HUNT: All right. See you soon. "The Lead" starts right now.

TAPPER: Yes.

[17:00:31]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: How much can the world really trust Vladimir Putin? Well, we're about to find out. The Lead starts right now.

A top Trump administration official is in Moscow tonight trying to get a Russia-Ukraine ceasefire deal closer to the finish line. President Trump says the progress is, quote, "promising." But the big question is, is Putin really just stringing everybody along?

Plus, agencies across the federal government are facing a deadline today to explain how they plan to carry out mass layoffs, exactly how many employees are at risk and how soon. And a fundraiser for accused murderer Luigi Mangione, setting a new record as Mangione sits behind bars charged with the assassination of a United Healthcare CEO. What we're learning about this mysterious, if not disgusting, donation.

Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper. We start with our world lead. Is Russia really ready for a ceasefire? And will Ukraine accept a deal that includes giving up land and how much land? Today, President Trump and Russian leader Putin said they're ready to talk. They laid out their visions for a workable ceasefire. But Putin also signaled he still has a few questions.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRES. VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIA (through translator): The Ukrainian side should certainly get a ceasefire for 30 days, and we are for that. But I have reservations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: One Putin aide says there will be no deal unless it is a long lasting agreement, an agreement that ensures Ukraine will not use the pause in fighting to regroup. In just the last hour, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said Putin's response was, quote, "very manipulative." He said he thinks Putin is just, quote, "Afraid to tell Trump that he wants the war to continue."

This as Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, is meeting with top Kremlin officials in Moscow. Back in Washington, President Trump shared his mandate for Witkoff's chat with the Russians.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: What I instructed everybody, including Steve, what we're looking for, to discuss concepts of land, concepts of power plants, because it's complicated. You know, you have a whole -- you're sort of creating the edge of a country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Those comments during an Oval Office meeting earlier today with the leader of NATO, a military alliance that Putin casts as an aggressor and Trump has called, quote, "obsolete." Today's meeting, President Trump struck a much friendlier tone as he gushed over NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. Trump took credit for NATO's strength given his largely successful push in his first administration to get European member countries to up their defense spending to the commitment that they had made.

Let's start with CNN's Kaitlan Collins at the White House.

Kaitlan, President Trump mentioned more than once his vision for Ukraine needing to give up land that Russia had seized.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, Jake. And despite what we had heard from the Russian leader earlier, sounding skeptical that they are anywhere close to a ceasefire and saying he's open to one, but obviously stopping far short of actually agreeing to one, and didn't really sound like he was in any hurry to necessarily get toward that truce that President Trump has been seeking. The president himself sounded much more optimistic in the Oval Office. He was kind of dismissive of statements that we had heard from Vladimir Putin's top aides and was talking about the importance of what the Russian leader himself said directly and the president clearly very trying to work towards a much faster and more aggressive deadline on all of this than President Putin sounded like he was earlier. Trump saying it said that he believes this all needs to get over with sooner rather than later and even talking about what those final agreements could look like when it comes to what Ukraine gets and what Russia gets, Jake.

TAPPER: And --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We've been discussing with Ukraine land and pieces of land that would be kept and lost and all of the other elements of a final agreement. So a lot of the details of a final agreement have actually been discussed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Now, obviously, Jake, it's hard to know what details of the final agreement could look like if Russia is not party to that and on board with it, because the president, as he was asked earlier, said he believes once there is a ceasefire that it is going to hold. That is not what we had have heard from the Ukrainians who have noted the dozens of ceasefires that Russia has broken in the past. But very critically right now, what is happening, Jake, with President Trump's top aide there, Steve Witkoff, inside Moscow right now having that meeting with President Putin, we are waiting to get a readout of that, a sense of how that meeting went between those two men because that could obviously be incredibly critical for what the next steps are here.

[17:05:23]

And the president also making clear earlier that if Russia does not get there, he said it would be incredibly disappointing for the entire world on this front.

TAPPER: All right, Kaitlan Collins at the White House for us, thanks so much. And don't forget to check out Kaitlan's show. It's on in just a few hours. "The Source with Kaitlan Collins," that's weeknights at 9:00, every night here on CNN.

Let's go to CNN's Fred Pleitgen in Moscow.

And Fred, Putin mentioned what he called reservations about the ceasefire. What are those reservations?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Yes, he certainly did. And he certainly didn't say that he believed that a ceasefire is going to happen anytime soon. It seems as though the Russians seem to want to do things exactly the other way around than the Trump administration does. Of course, we know that what the Ukrainians and the Trump administration have signed on to is to have a quick ceasefire in place and then to sort out all of those issues that have been talked about after that.

For instance, who gets to keep what land, what are the security guarantees, who's going to enforce the ceasefire? Are there going to be foreign troops on the ground as security guarantees for the Ukrainians? Now, the Russians say they want all of that to be sorted out before there can be a ceasefire agreement. And those are the major reservations that they still have, that a lot of those points have not yet been talked about. I want to listen in to a little bit of what Vladimir Putin said earlier.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PUTIN (through translator): We agree with the proposals to end hostilities, but we proceed from the fact that this end should be such that it would lead to long term peace and eliminate the root causes of the crisis. But I think that we need to talk about this with our American colleagues, partners, maybe call President Trump and discuss it with him. But the idea itself to end this conflict by peaceful means is supported by us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN: Maybe call President Trump was one of the things that Vladimir Putin said. It was sort of floated if that call might actually happen tonight. However, the Kremlin telling me earlier that that call was actually not going to happen today. That coming from Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokes, and you guys were already mentioning that Steve Witkoff, of course, is on the ground right now. It's unclear, however, whether he's met Vladimir Putin yet, Jake.

TAPPER: And Fred, Russian officials say that they have made progress in retaking Kursk. That's the western Russian region that Ukraine invaded and seized in a shock offensive last summer. What can you tell us about that?

PLEITGEN: Yes. Yes, that little foothold that the Ukrainians have on Russian territory and that Volodymyr Zelenskyy had said that he wants to use as a bargaining chip possibly to get back some Ukrainian territory if and when there were negotiations. The Russians now are, though, saying that they are on the cusp of taking almost all of that territory back. They say they've taken the largest town in the area that the Ukrainians were holding, a town called Sudzha, and that they've taken further villages as well.

One of the interesting things that we've been picking up here on the ground, Jake, from the Russians is that they said from the very beginning that they do not want the Kursk region to be part of any negotiations. They want to take all of that territory back militarily to expel the Ukrainians from that. The Russians now saying they are on the cusp of doing just that, Jake.

TAPPER: All right, Fred Pleitgen in Russia, thank you so much.

Joining us now to discuss the Republican from Ohio, Congressman Mike Turner, former chair of the House Intelligence Committee, currently on the House Armed Services Committee. Congressman, good to see you. So President Trump said he instructed his envoy, Steve Witkoff, to discuss, quote, "concepts of land" with the Russians. Is it just a given that Ukraine is ultimately going to have to cede land to get peace? And are you concerned at all about what kind of message that sends to the rest of the world?

REP. MIKE TURNER (R-OH), ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: Well, I think in the president's message today, the first thing that's the most important is that he continues to, you know, focus on the fact that thousands of lives continue to be lost, that this is a war that where the result of the front line continuing to be a loss of life is a tragedy. And with that, we're not seeing that line move. Even with an unbelievable amount of effort by the United States, where even where there's been spring offensive, there's been tanks, there's been additional weaponry, there's been advanced weaponry, that line has not moved. If this was just set to continue, we would see a war of attrition and perhaps ultimately Russia marching across Ukraine and an ultimate loss by Ukraine, which again would have a greater threat to Russia and -- excuse me, a greater threat to both the rest of Europe and to NATO itself.

So what the president has said is the goal here is the preservation of Ukraine, the stopping of the loss of life. So when he talks about the issue of land, it's a realization here of stopping the conflict itself.

[17:10:01]

Now, what we also see is that Zelenskyy here is no longer the impediment, and Putin is now in a place where he understands that he doesn't have a whole lot of options. Trump has said openly that he is willing to put pressure on Putin, increase sanctions, increase the support for Ukraine, so that Putin now understands that he's dealing with it with President Trump in the United States in a manner which he is going to have pressure on Russia where Russia is going to have to accept that both ceasefire and peace negotiations are going to occur and he's going to come to the table.

TAPPER: So let's listen to a little bit more from the Oval Office meeting today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some of our allies have said that they're worried that they could be the next to be attacked by Russia. You've spoken directly with the Russian president. Do you think those fears are justified?

TRUMP: No, I don't. I think when this gets done, it's done. They're going to all want to go home and rest. I don't see it happening.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Do you think they're going to go home and rest?

TURNER: Well, I think it's back to what I just said and how I was portraying what he was saying is that if you continued this conflict where there's this pressure on this line and Russia marches across Ukraine, that, yes, there is a threat to the rest of Europe and the rest of NATO. And the president sees that if you bring an end to this conflict, that it lessens the overall threat to Europe because you don't have an ongoing war, an ongoing threat to Europe from a aggression from Russia.

But that doesn't mean that Russia is no longer a threat to Europe. And I don't think he's saying that. I mean, I think that's why you continue to have NATO, you continue to have a strong alliance. You certainly see that Russia, the evil empire, is still a threat to the United States and Europe. But it does mean that you have turned down the overall threat and you've ended an active military conflict in Europe.

TAPPER: Let's listen to one of your colleagues on the Armed Services Committee, Republican Congressman from Nebraska, Don Bacon, said on CNN earlier this week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. DON BACON (R-NE): Ukraine is our ally. They want to be part of the West. Russia is our adversary. And it's time that this administration gets this in their brain. They're treating Putin with velvet gloves and they're being harsh to our allies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Do you agree with Congressman Bacon?

TURNER: Well, I think, you know, as you saw in the conflict that occurred with Zelenskyy and Trump in the Oval Office, where the president was saying, look, you know, I could, you know, sit here and say bad things about Putin, but it's not going to get us anywhere closer to peace. There certainly are those who have angst about the manner in which the rhetoric is that comes out of the White House. But I think if you look at the plotting of the policy that's coming out of the White House and certainly how this is unfolding. I mean, you have right now Vladimir Putin saying that he is, you know, leaning towards a 30-day ceasefire and that he's leaning toward entering into peace negotiations, the closest that we've gotten, and that we have ongoing negotiations as to what the elements would be of those peace negotiations. And those are incredibly important both to Europe, Ukraine and the United States.

I think this is the beginning of a breakthrough that could be incredibly important. And it certainly for those -- and I am as strong as, you know, Jake, I'm a huge supporter of Ukraine, huge supporter for peace in the region, and certainly understand the threat that Russia poses both to the United States and to Europe. This is important and I think it's certainly something that this administration, Trump administration, if they achieve it, will be incredibly important for security in the region.

TAPPER: All right, Republican Congressman Mike Turner of Ohio, thanks so much. Good to see you, sir. TURNER: Thank you.

TAPPER: A judge orders the White House to reinstate thousands of fired federal workers. But who is included? And how soon might they be back on the job? Plus, President Trump threatens a massive new tariff on European wines and champagne and other alcohol and spirits. The real world impact that could stretch way past happy hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:18:06]

TAPPER: We're back with some sad breaking news. Democratic Congressman Raul Grijalva, who represented congressional district in Arizona, has died. His office says the congressman passed away due to complications from cancer treatments. He announced his diagnosis last spring after saying he had been seeking treatment for a persistent cough. Congressman Grijalva served in Congress since 2003. I know I spoke with him several months ago.

And he was always a gentleman. And he tried to be candid and he tried to work hard for his constituents. May his memory be a blessing.

In our politics lead, two major legal cases involving the Trump administration today. One is considered to be a loss for the administration and a win for some federal workers. The second involves President Trump's effort to end birthright citizenship. Let's go straight to CNN's Paula Reid.

Paula, first on this attempt to end birthright citizenship, why is President Trump getting the U.S. Supreme Court involved? And what does that mean for the existing legal challenges against Trump's executive order to get rid of birthright citizenship, the idea that if you're born in this country, you are automatically a citizen?

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, in order to implement this policy, he is eventually going to have to go to the Supreme Court and get them to agree with him because he is trying to overturn more than a century of interpreting the 14th Amendment to mean that if you were born here in the United States, even if your parents aren't citizens, you are a U.S. citizen. On the first day he was in office, he signed this executive order ending birthright citizenship. And in court, the Trump administration has argued that the word jurisdiction, which you see right there in the 14th Amendment, has been misconstrued. They're saying, look, if your parents weren't born here, they're not subject to the jurisdiction of this country, and therefore, that this has just been a misunderstanding about the 14th amendment and they want the Supreme Court to uphold this policy by correcting this interpretation. The Trump administration has other arguments for ending birthright citizenship, including concerns about national security and abuses.

[17:20:07]

For example, very wealthy people coming here to the U.S. to have their babies so they have that citizenship. But so far, Jake, federal judges are not buying this, and they have, across the board, blocked this policy. So the Trump administration is going to the Supreme Court and asking it to remove those injunctions. And eventually, likely months from now, the larger constitutional question could come before the high court.

TAPPER: Meanwhile, let's talk about this other case. The federal judge today ordering the Trump administration to, quote, "immediately reinstate" those fired probationary workers from the Departments of Agriculture, Defense, Energy, Interior, Treasury and Veterans Affairs. Tell us more about the judge's ruling.

REID: So that ruling came from this Clinton appointed judge after a lengthy hearing this morning in San Francisco, where the judge made it clear he was not happy with the Trump administration. He said, quote, "It is a sad day when our government would fire some good employee and say it was based on performance, when they know good and well that's a lie. That should not have been done in our country. It was a sham in order to try to avoid statutory requirements."

Now, the judge was also not happy that the government did not make available to testify the director of the Office of Personnel Management. He was expected to face likely very difficult questions from lawyers representing unions, but he did not appear. The Justice Department did not make him available. So the judge ordered that another top official from that department be deposed in the next two weeks. The judge said he wants someone to answer questions under oath about these firings.

Of course, Jake, the administration has the opportunity to appeal this decision. The judge said if they want to do that, quote, "God bless you."

TAPPER: All right, Paula Reid, thanks so much.

Let's bring in the president of the American Federation of Government Employees, Everett Kelley.

Everett, thanks so much for being here. We appreciate it. So the union you represent was part of this legal effort to get these probationary workers reinstated. I think a lot of people don't necessarily understand. They think if you're probationary, you were just hired. It's not necessarily true. It might be that you were just put in a new job, but you came from that same agency or came from a different agency.

In any case, what is your reaction to today's ruling? And do you think the Trump administration is going to abide by it or are they going to appeal?

EVERETT KELLEY, PRESIDENT, AMERICAN FEDERATION OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES: Well, I would say, first of all, today is a good day. It's a good day for justice. Now, I think that the Trump administration should abide by the judge's ruling because, you know, no one is above the law, you know, even the president of the United States, you know. So I expect that this administration will abide by the judge's ruling. But it's such a good day today for all of America. TAPPER: There's a deadline today for federal agencies to submit plans for more sweeping layoffs or reductions in the workforce. What's your take on that?

KELLEY: Well, you know, if they follow the policies and procedures that's outlined in the contracts that they have already signed, you know, we'll be fine with that. You know, however, if it's injustice anywhere, we're going to fight injustice every opportunity that we get, not just for the workers, but for the American people. Because the services that we provided, we provide it for the American people. And to cripple these services is just not right.

TAPPER: What do you say to those who argue that this is the way that -- the government's too big, it's too bloated, our deficit and our national debt are just too huge. This needs to happen. It will make the government more efficient and it will identify jobs that are inessential.

KELLEY: Well, first of all, I think that's misinformation. And this administration is very good at putting out false information. The government today is the same size it was in the 70s. OK? You know, the population has exploded, but the amount of federal workers has not.

So that's just a false information about it being too big. It's the same size as it was in the 70s.

TAPPER: All right, Everett Kelley, thank you so much.

KELLEY: Thank you.

TAPPER: Thank you for your time today.

KELLEY: All right.

TAPPER: Nearly 100 people were arrested today after protesting inside Trump Tower in New York. What they were demanding is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:28:30]

TAPPER: In our law and justice lead today, protests escalating over the detention of anti-Israel, non-citizen activist Mahmoud Khalil, nearly 100 people were arrested after protesters swarmed the golden lobby of Trump Tower in support of Khalil. He's still in ICE custody. Khalil was born and raised in Syria. He's currently a green card holder. The Trump administration wants to revoke his card and deport him for what they call pro Hamas activity during the Columbia University protests that he helped lead last spring. CNN's Omar Jimenez was on the scene today.

Omar, tell us what you experienced.

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so when we got to the scene, protesters were being led out, essentially zip tied with their hands behind their backs as they were being led onto buses to then be taken to be processed for charges. Around 100 people were arrested in total, according to police, and they were protesting inside Trump Tower behind me in support of Mahmoud Khalil, who as you mentioned, former Columbia University student who helped lead some of the protests that we saw happen in that campus or on that campus over the course of last year. He's currently being held in an ICE detention facility in Louisiana.

But when these protesters were actually led out in those zip ties by police after being in there for quite some time, there was actually a pretty good crowd outside here where police had put up barriers to try to keep them at bay. And we heard them chanting things like fight Nazis, not students, of course, in -- in relation to Khalil. But we also heard many of them rally. The -- the -- the group that was leading them is known as Jewish Voice for Peace. They often rally in support of some Palestinian causes. Take a listen to what one of the leaders told me about some of why they wanted to protest here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[17:30:21]

SONIA MEYERSON, DIRECTOR, JEWISH VOICE FOR PEACE COMMUNICATIONS: We ourselves are Jewish. And we know what happens when a government, be it the Israeli government or our own government, when an authoritarian government starts scapegoating and targeting and making threats and or genocidal actions against people, we know where that leads. As Jews, we know our history and we are here to say never again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: She also said she believes President Trump and the Trump administration are violating Khalil's civil rights in the current legal proceedings against him. But overall, Khalil's attorneys have said that they believe this is all retaliation for the protest activity he did last year and that it's infringing on his First Amendment rights, which we do know green card holders generally do have access to. Jake?

TAPPER: Yes. And we should just note that according to the Anti- Defamation League, Jewish Voice for Peace is, quote, a radical anti- Israel, anti-Zionist activist group that does not represent the mainstream Jewish community, unquote. Omar Jimenez, thank you so much. Appreciate your time.

Turning now to our Money Lead, President Trump refused today to back down on imposing tariffs against Canada just hours before Canadian and U.S. officials met to discuss the escalating trade war. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We're not going to bend. We've been ripped off as a country for many, many years. We don't need their cars. We don't need their energy. We don't need their lumber. Now there'll be a little disruption, but it won't be very long. But they need us. We really don't need them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Meanwhile, you might want to stock up on Bordeaux because President Trump's threatening to impose a 200 percent tariff on European alcohol, such as wine, champagne and other alcoholic products from France and European Union represented countries, unless the E.U. rescinds its 50 percent proposed tariff on sweet, delicious American whiskey. Let's bring in CNN's Phil Mattingly, as well as global business columnist and associate editor at The Financial Times, Rana Foroohar. Phil, inflation actually slowed more than expected in February, and it cooled for the first time in four months. But is it anticipated that Trump's trade war here is going to upend any of that progress?

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN ANCHOR & CHIEF DOMESTIC CORRESPONDENT: I think a good window into this moment, what we're seeing in the markets for the correction today is better than expected inflation numbers. The weekly jobs numbers were, unemployment were, fell below expectations, which is a good thing. Last week's February jobs report was solid by all accounts.

And yet we're in a moment where a combination of uncertainty about the direction of Trump's policies related to tariffs, but also the potential for tariffs increasing prices, which historically, based on economics, they increase prices on goods, has created a lot of problems, I -- I think, on some level. And I think when the President makes very clear there will be some disruption, it'll be small, there'll be issues, but it's kind of part of the process. The question now has become in the market, I was talking to a Wall Street executive earlier today, how long is the disruption? But perhaps more importantly, what do your tariffs and the tariff regime you want to put in place actually look like when it's implemented?

TAPPER: Right.

MATTINGLY: And that has seemed very scattershot.

TAPPER: And how long?

MATTINGLY: Yes.

TAPPER: And small for whom? I mean, small for a billionaire, sure, but anyway. Rana, Trump did acknowledge there would be the disruption because of the -- the tariffs. He said it's not going to last long. Trump has, of course, voiced support for tariffs long term. So will it not last long?

RANA FOROOHAR, CNN GLOBAL ECONOMIC ANALYST: I think tariffs are going to continue to be a carrot and a stick throughout the Trump administration. I mean, it's one of the few things that a President can do unilaterally. And we know that the President, this President likes to act unilaterally. And there's just incredible uncertainty and worry about it.

You know, business leaders, it's interesting, there was a big GAIL Summit a couple of days ago, business leaders are finally speaking out. They'd been privately behind the scenes saying, gosh, we're worried, but they were publicly to each other voicing concerns. And, you know, hearing the clip that you played of the President saying, you know, we don't need their energy.

Well, you know, factories in the upper Midwest, factory owners there would argue, actually, we do need their energy. And if Ontario decides to -- to cut off parts of the -- the -- the Midwest and make them pay spot energy prices, that is going to totally dis -- derail large swaths of the economy in those areas. So I think this is lasting. And I think it is a real concern that we haven't heard a clearly articulated strategy for what does winning look like? What does that look like? And why are we fighting allies and adversaries at the same time?

TAPPER: Rana, Trump also said he would not bend on these tariffs just hours before U.S. and Canadian officials met to talk about the ongoing trade war. So how does that impact the re -- the renegotiation of the USMCA, which is otherwise known as NAFTA 2.0, the free trade treaty with the U.S., Mexico and Canada that -- that Trump created in his first term?

[17:35:09]

FOROOHAR: Well, you know, I mean, you just said it right there. This is a deal. And if you go back to his State of the Union speech in 2020, he said this is the greatest deal. It's the fairest deal. It's wonderful. And now he's just throwing all that -- all the pieces up and saying, no, this isn't good. That tells business there isn't a strategy here, that this is about politics. This is about ego.

I mean, that's what I'm hearing from a lot of people, that, you know, consumers may pay higher prices for certain things, but businesses, and Jamie Dimon has said this, businesses may not invest because of the uncertainty. That will have a bigger, quicker effect on the overall market, on jobs, on confidence. It's a big worry.

TAPPER: Phil, you agree?

MATTINGLY: I think the problem right now, when you talk to Trump officials, one, they point to the economic data and say, look, it's not, this is an overreaction. This is a correction. The market was overpriced to begin with on some level, but they also make clear there are other elements of an economic strategy here.

Unfortunately for them, those other elements rely on Congress for an extension of the tax cuts or adding new tax cuts to them. Their deregulation efforts are very much underway right now. They're sometimes difficult to quantify, but you can see how many rules have either been stopped, pulled back, or certainly won't be moving forward. That does have an impact, particularly uncertainty for businesses, large and small.

But the focus on tariffs is being driven by the guy in the Oval Office. He's the one who just today put on new tariffs, who threatens new tariffs, who's kind of going back and forth. There's a six-hour trade war with -- with Canada last time I was here a couple of days ago. And I think that makes it very difficult, not just for the market participants to understand where this is going to go, how it's supposed to work, but also for Trump administration officials to explain the broader proposals, the broader plan that they would like to implement. And it also makes it difficult for lawmakers who are going to have to vote for the tax cuts that they desperately need as part of this.

TAPPER: There's also a question about whether there is a broader proposal and broader plan, or if it's just kind of ad hoc. But Phil Mattingly, Rana Foroohar, thanks so much.

The new details we're learning today about that surge for the missing college student from Pitt who disappeared on a week ago on spring break. Are investigators any closer to figuring out what happened?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:41:39]

TAPPER: In our World Lead, it's been more than a week since University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki was last seen in the Dominican Republic. After days of searching by land, by air, and by sea, authorities seem today no closer to figuring out what really happened. CNN's Jessica Hasbun is in Punta Cana. Jessica, what is the latest on the search effort?

JESSICA HASBUN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: New information has revealed that other people were on the beach when U.S. college student, Sudiksha Konanki, went missing in the Dominican Republic on March 6th. Law enforcement officials assisting in the investigation told CNN as the search goes into its seventh day, the 20-year-old University of Pittsburgh student vanished at the beach of the Riu Republica Hotel here in Punta Cana early last Thursday, sparking an intense search by land, air, and sea.

Dominican officials had previously said that they were investigating Konanki's disappearance as a drowning, but the general prosecutor's office said Wednesday officials are also investigating whether Konanki's disappearance could extend beyond a possible accidental event. General Prosecutor Yeni Berenice Reynoso said they are examining all variables. Konanki's family and their hometown London County Sheriff Mike Chapman have urged authorities to consider other avenues. Because other people were around the beach early on March 6th, without discovering a body, authorities must allow for the possibility that Konanki may have encountered other people on that beach that day, the sheriff said.

Konanki's parents returned to Virginia this week after flying to Punta Cana with two family members. According to Chapman, Konanki's father has asked authorities to widen the investigation. He told CNN earlier he wants local authorities to also investigate other possibilities, including whether this is a case of kidnapping or human trafficking.

From Punta Cana, Jessica Hasbun, CNN.

TAPPER: And our thanks to Jessica Hasbun. Joining us now to discuss CNN chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst, John Miller. John, authorities are broadening their investigation beyond the person of interest, who's the last known person to have been with Konanki before she vanished. What do we know about that?

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Well, he is somebody who can say, according to the interviews he's given through law enforcement sources, that, you know, he went in the water, he came out of the water, he didn't feel well. He decided to lie down on the beach. But the last he saw of her, she was ankle deep with the waves coming in. And when he wakes up later, she's gone.

So there's always been this assumption that she waded out into the waters, was taken by the current, may have drowned, or that something else happened. The parents just feel that to kind of write it off in that a body hasn't been recovered, so, you know, she must have been swept away is too simple. They want to dig deeper, they want to dig broader. And Sheriff Mike Chapman from Loudoun County has sent two of his detectives down there to kind of look at some of these other angles with the Dominican National Police and the FBI.

So who else was on the beach? Video shows people coming, people going, but how do you figure out who they were? The hotels have videos. In the Dominican Republic, when you check into the hotel, you have to give your passport. They make a copy of it. Foreign guests have to be registered with the hotel and the government. So they have some resources to kind of work to find other people who may have seen something, encountered her, or seen her encounter someone.

[17:45:07]

TAPPER: Switching gears now, I want to ask you about alleged CEO killer Luigi Mangione. He's apparently been receiving donations for his legal defense fund, and most recently an anonymous individual gave the defense fund $36,500, beat -- beating the previous record to this fund of $30,000. Who on earth is giving this money, and -- and where's it going?

MILLER: Well, a lot of people are. And the way -- the reason we know that is because as of 4.30 today, the site where these donations are being accepted said that they were up to 700,000 -- $723,000 and -- and, you know, $596 more. So they're passing three quarters of a million dollars, and most of these, Jake, are $5, $10, you know, the occasional $1,000, $50 or $100. But each one comes with what essentially is this note of admiration and love, and that we will always be here for you.

And even this $36,000 donation came with kind of a paragraph about how they felt the case was overcharged, shouldn't be a death penalty, terrorism charges, that due process was being skipped, that the investigation was flawed, and so on. So what you're seeing is still a groundswell for an individual who's charged with shooting a man in the back.

TAPPER: It's so strange. I mean, one can have legitimate concerns and even anger about the health insurance industry in this country and still not support murder. Bizarre. We're in weird times, John. Thanks so much. I appreciate it.

MILLER: Quite -- quite bizarre.

TAPPER: In just moments, a Republican member of Congress is set to hold a public town hall. Will it devolve into chaos like the other town halls we've seen in recent weeks? We're going to go live to that event, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:51:53]

TAPPER: Welcome back to The Lead. In our Politics Lead, any minute now, members of the congressional district ravaged by Hurricane Helene last fall are going to hear from their Republican Congressman. His name is Chuck Edwards at yet another GOP-led town hall about many things, including the rapid cuts to government funding and government staffing, something many people in that district are currently relying on to rebuild their lives after that horrific disaster. CNN's Isabel Rosales is there. And Isabel, you've been talking to attendees outside this afternoon. What are they telling you?

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Jake, many of them are angry and they are showing out in force. In fact, let me walk you around here. This is the auditorium where the congressman is holding this town hall. The max capacity here is 300. Outside, people were lined up three hours before the start of this town hall. The lines snaking around, doubling up, hundreds of people coming out here and making sure their voices are heard. And there's a congressman right there. He's been shaking some of the hands of the constituents.

Now, the folks who signed in had to sign with a zip code indicating that they were part of the 11th district. Outside, I saw signs like, Trump's a puppet. Stop DOGE. Trump is working for the Russians. Stand by Ukraine. So a wide variety of issues that people are really fired up about.

And it's also worth noting that he's holding this town hall here in Asheville, one of the few liberal spots in the 11th district, a ruby red area. Let me now have you listen to a soundbite by one federal worker recently fired by DOGE. And she was working for a partner of USAID. Here's what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATE MCCARTHY, NORTH CAROLINA VOTER: And I think people don't realize what the federal government does for us.

ROSALES: You're worried it could impact the recovery efforts for Helene?

MCCARTHY: Absolutely. So even when I lost my job looking for a job locally, a lot of Asheville businesses have been wiped out and they're barely hanging on. So it's not exactly a hiring spree. CHRIS BOEHME, VIETNAM VETERAN: He volunteered. Nobody forced him to run for Congress. So he took that same oath and -- and he has to decide whether he's going to vote for us, for vets, for the community, or -- or is he going to be a stooge for -- for billionaire oligarchs?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: And Isabel, has Congressman Edwards said why he decided to hold this town hall in person despite the fact that the guy who chairs the Republican Congressional Campaign Committee, Congressman Richard Hudson, told his members to instead do online events so they wouldn't face these angry crowds?

ROSALES: Right, Jake. He is bucking the advice of GOP leadership, telling other Republicans not to hold in-person town halls. Let's zoom in on him right here as I tell you what it is that he said. So he put out a statement. We haven't been able to speak to him before this town hall.

And he says, I've had many constituents ask me lately if I could hold another live town hall. The answer is most emphatically, yes, being accessible, listening and answering questions for the people of Western North Carolina are among my favorite activities, even if we might not always agree. So there you have it. Him saying he wants to be open, accessible, that it's his commitment and obligation to answer to his constituents. Jake?

[17:55:01]

TAPPER: All right. Well, that's a good attitude. Isabel Rosales in Asheville, North Carolina, thanks so much.

Will Senate Democrats support the Republican plan to keep the federal government open and vote for the Republican funding bill? Do Democrats have any strategy for opposing Trump and his policies moving forward? We're going to talk to New York Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is live in moments -- moments. She's joining us in studio. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:59:53]

TAPPER: Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper. This hour, more than 100,000 federal workers have already been fired in Trump's massive cuts to the federal government, according to CNN's tally. And tonight, federal agencies face a deadline to sub plans for even more mass layoffs. The secretary of the Department of Veterans --