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Trump Asks Supreme Court to Allow Him to End Birthright Citizenship; Trump Threatens Steep Tariffs on European Alcohol; Stocks Sink as Trump Threatens to Expand Global Trade War; Trump: "We Hope" Russia will Accept Ukraine Ceasefire Proposal; 98 Arrests After 120 Plus Protesters Storm Trump Tower Lobby; Schumer: Senate Dems have the Votes to Block GOP Spending Bill; Sources: Trump to Invoke Wartime Law for Mass Deportations. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired March 13, 2025 - 15:00   ET

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

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[15:01:55]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: We do have some breaking news into CNN. After several judges rejected President Trump's attempt to end birthright citizenship, he's now asking the Supreme Court to step in. CNN Senior Legal Affairs Correspondent Paula Reid is with us now.

Get us up to date here, Paula.

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: So, here the Trump administration is asking the Supreme Court to allow it to proceed with its policy ending birthright citizenship. Now, on Trump's first day in office, he signed an executive order ending this policy, which for the previous hundred years had meant that if you were born here in the United States, you are a U.S. citizen even if your parents are not. Now, this executive order set off nearly a dozen lawsuits and so far federal judges have sided against Trump and blocked him from being able to implement this policy.

Now, the Trump administration certainly expected these legal challenges. Sources tell me they even expected to lose many of them. Their hope was to eventually get the larger question in front of the Supreme Court, this larger constitutional question of whether you can be a U.S. citizen. This all hinges on an interpretation of the 14th Amendment. And the Trump administration is arguing that for the past hundred years that amendment has been misinterpreted and they argue that if your parents do not have legal status in the U.S., then they are not subject to the jurisdiction of the U.S. and their children are not entitled to U.S. citizenship.

They've also made other arguments in favor of ending this policy, arguments about National Security and also abuses of the system, so very wealthy people coming to the U.S. just so their children can have U.S. citizenship. So far, none of this has prevailed in federal court. So, they are asking the Supreme Court to lift the blocks that have been put on this policy by lower courts, allow them to implement this policy. It is unclear if and when the Supreme Court justices, though, will consider the larger constitutional question. Here the administration is just trying to remove the blocks on this executive order.

KEILAR: All right. Paula Reid, our chief legal affairs correspondent, thank you so much for that update. We appreciate it. Boris?

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: More breaking news this hour. We're keeping an eye on Wall Street with just under an hour until the stock market closes. Right now, the Dow is sliding roughly 1 percent or so, down some 375 points. The NASDAQ is in correction territory, as is the S&P 500, down 10 percent from its record high in February, all this as President Trump escalates his trade war.

Today, Trump threatened a 200 percent tariff on all alcohol from countries in the European Union because he says the E.U. slapped a levy on American spirits like bourbon. The E.U.'s move, though, was retaliation for Trump's sweeping 25 percent levy on steel and aluminum. Let's get the latest from CNN's Matt Egan.

Matt, stocks have been seeing some sweeping losses over the last few weeks because of this on-again, off-again trade war. What's the latest?

[15:05:00]

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Well, Boris, this trade war continues to heat up, and investors are getting increasingly concerned. As you mentioned, the Dow is off by about 400 points, a little less 1 percent. The S&P 500 in the red, too. The key number to watch for the S&P 500 is 5529. If it closes below there and it's trading just above there, but if it closed below there, this would represent a correction for the S&P 500, meaning a 10 percent decline from previous highs.

Keep in mind, those record highs were hit just three weeks ago. This is the second time in a row. Well, we've actually got some good economic news, better than expected inflation numbers that are being completely overshadowed by the more pressing issue right now, which, of course, is tariffs. Investors want stability and clarity, and they're not getting that. They're getting a lot of uncertainty, a lot of escalation.

Think about what's just happened in the last 48 hours. The President's 25 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum kicked in yesterday. The European Union retaliated by saying they're going to put tariffs on items made in America, including whiskey. The President came out and said, well, if you do that, we're going to put a 200 percent tariff on European wine and champagne.

And so you can see how this could just kind of quickly get out of hand and turn into an escalatory cycle, not good for the market. It's not good for consumers either. I mean, a 200 percent tariff, that would be prohibitively expensive. Economists tell me that what would likely happen is you would have a situation where a lot of liquor stores just would not stock the European wine and so people would have to find alternatives. But it's not like Napa can suddenly ramp up production dramatically

enough to meet that supply, so you could have domestic wines also increase in price. RSM chief economist Joe Brusuelas, he told me that this shows how trade wars are a classic lose-lose situation where everyone ends up paying more and buying less. Boris?

SANCHEZ: Yes, the Dow Jones going down even further in just the last few minutes. Matt Egan, thank you so much for the update. Brianna?

KEILAR: Today, while meeting with NATO's secretary general at the White House, President Trump said he hopes that Russia will, quote, "do the right thing" and agree to the U.S.-backed ceasefire proposal for Ukraine.

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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We'd like to see a ceasefire from Russia and we have, you know, not been working in the dark. 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. There's a power plant involvement. You know, a very big power plant involved, who's going to get the power plant and who's going to get this and that. And so, you know, it's not an easy process.

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KEILAR: President Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, arrived in Moscow earlier today to brief Kremlin officials on the ceasefire plan. Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he had reservations ahead of this visit, he said this, about a temporary ceasefire, adding that much more needs to be discussed.

We have former U.S. ambassador to NATO, Ivo Daalder, who served during the Obama administration with us now to talk a little bit more about this.

Just as you looked, Ambassador, and watched what Trump was saying in the Oval Office today, what did you make of his reaction to what Putin has said about this proposal?

IVO DAALDER, FORMER U.S., AMBASSADOR TO NATO: Well, I think he's right to say that this is complicated. Indeed, it's very complicated, which is why the war didn't end in 24 hours after he became president. But here's the reality, war reflects the idea that two countries, in this case, have different views about the - what needs to happen. And the President is approaching this as if you can just declare a ceasefire, declare a peace and things will be just fine.

The reason there is a fighting going on is because the Ukrainians are trying to fight for their lives, they're trying to fight for their country, they're trying to fight for their sovereignty, and the Russians are trying to take it all away. And until and unless the Russians come to the belief that the cost of continuing this war and the failure of their ability to achieve what they are trying to achieve, we will continue to have a fight. And President Putin made clear that he was interested perhaps in a

ceasefire, but he was also interested in an agreement and he seek an agreement, which in effect means Ukraine surrenders and Ukraine is not willing to do that. It's complicated, as they say.

KEILAR: Yes. He said he has reservations. He tried to paint some positivity in his reaction, right, by saying that the idea is great and correct, and that he supports it in theory, but he said he has reservations. He talked about dealing with the root causes, which we know one of which has long been said by the Kremlin to be the current leadership of Ukraine, because it is not aligned at all with the Kremlin.

[15:10:07]

What are you looking toward now, as we heard Trump hinting that a meeting with Putin - between Trump and Putin seems pretty imminent?

DAALDER: Well, what I'm looking for is the kind of pressure that the United States has been putting on Ukraine to have that kind of pressure on Russia. Because after all, this war was started by Russia, and until Russia comes to its senses and says that this is no longer its goal, this war will continue.

You're right that the root cause for Russia is the existence of Ukraine. Well, as long as Ukraine exists, they will try to figure out a way to erase Ukraine from the map. And the only way this war ends is how it is going to end from the very beginning, it is for everyone to stand with Ukraine, to make clear to Russia that it will not, and cannot and won't be allowed to achieve its goal. And that means rather than talking about lifting sanctions or normalizing relations or engaging diplomatically as if Russia is a normal country, it's putting pressure on Russia.

The President threatened sanctions the other day. He should implement those sanctions. And unless Russia withdraws its troops and ends this war, we're going to have a problem. And I think the President needs to understand that the issue here is not Ukraine. It's not President Zelenskyy. The issue is Russia.

It's Russia that started this war. It's Russia that needs to end this war. And the only way to do that is to put significant pressure on Russia to do so, and the United States has the power to do so. Rather than cutting off aid to Ukraine or cutting off intelligence sharing, we should send more aid, more capabilities to the Ukrainians to make clear to the Russians that they will not and never will be able to achieve the goals they have set out, which is in effect to erase Ukraine as an independent, free, sovereign nation in Europe.

KEILAR: And Ambassador, since the U.S., and they've reinstated it now, but for a critical period of time, cutting off that military and intel aid, we have seen Russia really capitalize on that in Kursk, which was part of Russia that Ukraine had actually managed to take. Russia is now saying that they have almost entirely taken it back. The Ukrainians are admitting that they've had some adjustments there. So they are also hinting at the fact that they have lost some of this territory.

Do you - when you draw a connection between the loss of American aid and that outcome, and Trump saying that Ukraine doesn't have the cards, that was one of the cards that Ukraine held in this. So without this, what is their negotiating position?

DAALDER: Well, their biggest negotiating position is the reality that they're not going to give up without a fight, that they are going to continue no matter what happens to engage Russian forces until Russia understands that Ukraine needs to be, will be an independent, free and sovereign country. But you're absolutely right. Ukraine needs the help of the United States. It needs the help of countries around the world in order to continue to do so.

And we just saw, as you rightly point out, the consequences of the United States choosing to align with Russia rather than with Ukraine. Russia was able, with the support of North Korean forces who were fighting inside Russia, to regain a large swath of the territory that Ukraine had gained inside Russia, a critical piece of territory that the Ukrainians were hoping to swap, the card, as you mentioned, to swap for territory that the Russians occupy in Ukraine.

And until the President realizes that the only way the war ends is to address the fundamental cause of the war, which is Russian aggression, and to stop putting all the pressure on Russia and to start putting it on - sorry, to stop putting all the pressure on Ukraine and start putting it on Russia, we're going to be going back and forth, as we have seen. Or Russia's just going to be able to achieve its objective because the United States decides that it's more important to have a peace at the cost of Ukrainian independence than it is to stand up for the security of Ukraine and, indeed, of Europe and the United States.

That's what's at stake here, and we will see in the next few days whether the President cares more about peace and security in Europe and in Ukraine or more about having a good relationship with Vladimir Putin.

KEILAR: Yes, those are some very high stakes.

Former Ambassador Ivo Daalder, thank you so much for being with us.

DAALDER: My pleasure.

KEILAR: Boris?

SANCHEZ: Now, for the other story breaking this hour in New York, a major protest inside Trump Tower. Nearly a hundred people were arrested after storming the building's lobby and second floor atrium today. A law enforcement official says roughly 125 protesters were involved rallying for detained Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil.

[15:15:03]

He's a Columbia University graduate student facing deportation after leading last year's on-campus protests against the war in Gaza. Khalil is now in a detention facility in Louisiana. The Trump administration accuses him of being a Hamas sympathizer. Let's take you live with the scene just outside Trump Tower with CNN's Omar Jimenez.

Omar, what's happening now?

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. So, right now, the police have essentially gotten the scene back to normal at this point. But it wasn't long ago that this entire area was completely blocked off with protesters that were being let out of Trump Tower just behind me, not long after they had entered this building, which as we understand from law enforcement source, the protesters entered the building wearing coats and jackets. And then once inside, they opened their shirts to reveal the red shirts. They were there representing Jewish Voice for Peace protesting in support of Mahmoud Khalil, who, as you mentioned, was the now former student at Columbia University who helped lead the many protests we saw on that campus over the course of last year.

Now, police say about a hundred people were arrested as a result of this. And we got on scene just as they were being let out of Trump Tower, zip tied in the back and loaded onto buses where they were then taken to central booking where they face some minor charges at this point. But as we understand, they were initially asked to leave. They did not. Some left voluntarily. Others did not. And those were the folks that were let out primarily in those zip ties.

Now, I asked one of the organizers for the protest why they decided to do so. And in her words, she said she believes that Trump and the Trump administration are infringing on Khalil's civil rights, specifically his First Amendment rights, as he, of course, goes through potential deportation proceedings legally that we're continuing to monitor, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Omar Jimenez, live for us in Manhattan. Thank you so much.

Still to come, the race against the clock to avoid a government shutdown. Senate Democrats saying they will block a Republican- approved House funding bill as Republicans plan to blame Democrats if the government shuts down. Will that stick?

Plus, thousands of federal workers who lost their jobs are now having a tough time trying to sign up for unemployment benefits.

And later, why Australia's prime minister and many more are slamming an American influencer on vacation down under. What is she doing picking up a baby wombat? We'll explain. That and much more coming up on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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[15:21:57]

KEILAR: Now to Capitol Hill ahead of tomorrow's government shutdown deadline, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson already blaming Democrats tweeting this late last night, quote, "If Senate Democrats block an up-or-down vote on this, then it's crystal clear: They want to shut down the government. Period. Full stop."

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is calling on Senate Republicans to cut a deal with Democrats on a shorter-term spending bill instead, saying he has the votes to block the GOP House version, which would go until September. Let's go now to CNN's Manu Raju on Capitol Hill.

All right. Manu, tell us about your reporting, what you're learning about the Democrats' plan.

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. You know, they just met for another meeting behind closed doors. They've had three straight days of an hour - 90 minutes or longer meetings to talk about their strategy. And I can tell you that Democratic sources are signaling that Senate Democrats are actually willing to go along and allow the Republican plan that passed the United States House, the same plan that they have been criticizing for the last several days, allowing that to advance to become law. Why? Because there is a belief here that Democrats really have no choice. Their backs are against the wall.

And a lot of Democrats are concerned that if they do, in fact, block that House GOP plan, that there could be a prolonged government shutdown with disastrous consequences and potentially even more - giving Donald Trump even more power to shutter federal agencies, as he has done so far. So this strategy is still fluid. It's still a bit uncertain how this ultimately play out.

But what we are learning is that it does seem like there is more of a willingness, more of an appetite for Democrats. Only at least eight Democrats to vote to break a filibuster. And that could happen as early as tomorrow morning. And that is much different than what Chuck Schumer, the Senate Democratic leader, said yesterday, that they did not have the votes to advance this plan.

But there is a warning, a stark warning from a number of Democrats who say that they should not give in and say that would amount to capitulation to Donald Trump.

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SEN. CORY BOOKER (D-NJ): This is saying, let's just give up even more of our constitutional authority because, hey, he can do a lot worse later on. And so to me, that's capitulating to someone who is already showing that he's reckless and willing to do a lot of destruction. We are in a perverse bizarro land where we're having to decide between letting Donald Trump wreck the government this way or wreck the government that way. So, at what point do you say I'm going to stand and fight?

RAJU: If you guys block this, it's going to be a shutdown and you essentially could be playing with fire here.

SEN. JEFF MERKLEY (D-OR): Well, it would be a Republican shutdown.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: But not all Democrats are on that same page. Senator John Fetterman, for one, has been the most outspoken in supporting the Republican plan because he wants to avoid a government shutdown. Democrats are concerned that that plan cuts domestic spending, does not rein in Donald Trump, does not rein in Elon Musk. But with the House out of town, the Senate and Republicans in charge of the House and the Senate, that may be their only choice to avoid a government shutdown, which is why we are hearing that there are a growing number of Senate Democrats willing to allow that House plan to become law and avert a shutdown by tomorrow night. Brianna?

[15:25:08]

KEILAR: All right. Manu Raju, live for us on the Hill. Thank you for that report. Boris?

SANCHEZ: Some new developments to tell you about in President Trump's immigration crackdown. Multiple sources tell CNN the White House is expected to invoke a sweeping wartime authority to speed up mass deportations. CNN's Priscilla Alvarez joins us now with more details.

Priscilla, this is something that's been invoked only a few times in U.S. history. How would it work?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Only three, actually. And it is a little-known law - 18th century law. It's called the Alien Enemies Act. That may sound familiar to viewers because it was something that President Trump raised multiple times during the campaign trail. Essentially, it gives tremendous authority to the administration to arrest and deport undocumented immigrants.

Sources tell me that the primary target here is that Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua. Remember, the administration recently designated them as a foreign terrorist organization. Now, this is in some ways linked to that because it is a way, not only targeting them, but also removing them swiftly. This is - when you look at it all together, a way to speed up deportations and, in this case, do so with this particular gang.

Now, there are concerns here from two parties. Immigrant advocates who say, how do we know that someone is linked to this gang? Could it be that this would also capture other Venezuelans and that could cause - that could be quite problematic. Now, another one is legal experts. Legal experts say, how is the administration going to back up the fact that we are in war, because, ultimately, this is a wartime authority.

As you mentioned, we talked about there at the top, it has been used three times before in World War I and World War II, including with the Japanese internment camp. So, it is a sweeping authority. It's going to be quite controversial, but it is one that Trump officials have been eyeing for some time now, including the President himself.

SANCHEZ: And to your point about legal questions, inevitably, this is going to face challenges.

ALVAREZ: It is. And like many of what - many of the actions the administration is doing, they're really pushing the bounds of the law. And in my time covering immigration, government - the federal government often does have extraordinary authorities on issues of immigration. We saw this during the first Trump term with the travel ban.

And certainly, that's going to be part of the strategy here, is seeing how far they can push this. And all of this has been largely tied to deportation. And as you had, Paula, there earlier, also with birthright citizenship.

SANCHEZ: Yes. We'll see where this legal fight winds up.

Priscilla Alvarez, thank you so much.

Coming up, why some of the thousands of newly laid off federal workers are struggling to sign up for unemployment benefits. The details, just moments away.

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