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Trump Officials Accidentally Text War Plans to Journalist; FBI Launches Task Force Targeting Anti-Tesla Domestic Terrorism; Hopes of Buying a Home Fade Among Renters. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired March 25, 2025 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: This morning fallout from a stunning breach of national security after Trump officials accidentally added a journalist to a group chat Detailing the highly sensitive military strikes on Yemen. In hours, the nation's top intel leaders will be on Capitol Hill to answer questions.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: A special task force to investigate attacks against Tesla, the FBI announcing a new crackdown on people targeting Elon Musk's company.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: A plane crash in the remote Alaskan wilderness, how a man and his two children survived on an icy lake.

I'm John Berman with Kate Bolduann and Sara Sidner. This is CNN News Central.

SIDNER: This morning, the White House in damage control over a stunning intelligence leak, and growing questions over whether Trump administration officials broke the law by discussing sensitive military plans over Signal, an unclassified texting app. We know about it because the team mistakenly added a journalist, The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg. Also included in the chat, Vice President J.D. Vance, defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The subject strikes on the Houthis in Yemen just hours before those strikes were actually carried out on March 15th.

The White House confirming that the chain appears authentic, but Hegseth still issuing denials.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: Why were those details shared on Signal and how did you learn that a journalist was privy to the targets, the types of weapons used and the timing?

PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY: I've heard I was characterized. Nobody was texting war plans, and that's all I have to say about that. Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP) SIDNER: The White House though, did confirm that those texts with war plans in them were sent to a journalist. But the journalist included on the text, Goldberg, of course, disputing Hegseth's remarks on CNN last night. Here is what he said.

JEFFREY GOLDBERG, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, THE ATLANTIC: No, that's a lie. He was texting war plans. He was texting attack plans when targets were going to be targeted, how they were going to be targeted, who was at the targets, when the next sequence of attacks were happening.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: And Goldberg has the receipts, the Atlantic publishing some of the texts between Hegseth and Vice President Vance.

This all sets the stage for a potentially fiery day on Capitol Hill. Two other officials included in that chat, the director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, and CIA Director John Ratcliffe, they are set to face lawmakers at a previously scheduled hearing on worldwide threats.

CNN's Alayna Treene is joining us now from the White House. Boy, I am curious how the White House is going to deal with this one.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes. Look, I mean, one, you just mentioning that hearing today, the timing of that is truly incredible. They're, of course, going to be facing a series of questions on this. But, look, I mean, this was a very bad day for the White House. No one will deny that. This is embarrassing for them, but there's also major security concerns about how they are running some of these really highly sensitive operations.

We know that after the story was published, many people, including many that I spoke with, Trump administration officials, White House officials, very concerned about the idea that you have the most high level people in this administration, cabinet officials, the vice president, the defense secretary, national security adviser, the CIA director, the list goes on, engaging and sharing sensitive information in a Signal chat.

Now, there's a couple things though, Sarah, to really keep in mind and take away from this. One is, of course, what I just said, the implications of why were they using a signal chain, one that many people warn, could be hacked is not in line with protocol. Why were they using that to share sensitive information about plans for strikes in Yemen?

But then other questions as well as, of course, how did a reporter get inadvertently added to that group chat? How did people who were in that chat not check to see who was that number that they maybe did not recognize?

And then the other part of this, of course, and this is more of a personal thing for the president himself, is, I heard this from many people, is that Jeffrey Goldberg is someone that the president very much dislikes personally, many people telling me he was one of the worst journalists that could have been added to this.

[07:05:07]

That's them trying to disparage him. And that is really the strategy just to get into now what to look for next, what is the fallout of this. One is we've already seen this playing out in public. They're trying to disparage and discredit Jeffrey Goldberg, even though, of course, he was the one who was inadvertently added by someone else, by Michael Waltz, into this text chain. And then also though, of course, questions of who is going to really face the repercussions of this.

There is a lot going around that perhaps Michael Waltz, because he was the one who apparently added the reporter to this chain, could be the fall guy for this. I will tell you, Sara, when I talk to White House officials, they tell me, as of now the president is not quite there. Of course, that can change depending on how this story continues to evolve over the next few days.

Now, I do want to read for you though a statement from White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt really kind of, again, emphasizing that they still support Michael Waltz through all of this. This is what she wrote. Quote, as President Trump said, the attacks on the Houthis have been highly successful and effective. President Trump continues to have the utmost confidence in his national security team, including National Security Adviser Mike Waltz.

Now, I will tell you as well, Sara, we did hear from the president yesterday, reporters asking him directly about this. At first, he said that he hadn't seen the story, but I do know from my conversation so, with sources familiar with this briefing is that the president was briefed on this. But, again, I was told at this time, no current plans, no imminent plans to fire Mike Waltz, but that could change.

All to say I think this story is of course going to be evolving very quickly over the next few days. We've heard from Republicans on Capitol Hill and others saying that this is a gross error on behalf of the Trump administration. A lot of people are going to want answers, and we'll start to get some of those, or see some of that really at that hearing with Ratcliffe and Gabbard later today. Sara?

SIDNER: Yes. It starts with using this app that really shouldn't be used for sharing intelligence and then obviously the mistake of adding a reporter to it mind blowing.

Alayna Treene, thank you so much. I appreciate it. Kate?

BOLDUAN: So, the question today is what will the fallout be? The defense secretary says. no one, not he nor anyone was texting war plans, yet the National Security Council acknowledges the text chain authentic, the text chain with targets, operational details and attack sequencing for strikes on Yemen that a respected journalist was sent. So, what is the fallout today?

CNN's Katie Bo Lillis has more on all of this. Katie Bo, what are you learning today? KATIE BO LILLIS, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well, Kate, I think what's really extraordinary here is that no one really does seem to be quibbling with the idea that the content of these text messages were real. Obviously, we see the National Security Council confirming that the messages appeared to be authentic and really seeking to kind of characterize this conversation, this extraordinary conversation happening in between members, top members of Trump's cabinet as normal deliberative policymaking of the kind of consultation that would be expected from top national security officials when the government is deciding to use lethal force overseas.

Of course, as we know from both other Trump administration officials who spoke to CNN, as well as career national security officials that we spoke to, nothing could be further from the truth. This kind of conversation, this sort of consultation about using military force would normally happen in a secure room that is designed for discussions that include classified information. If that wasn't possible to bring all the principles together in person, then the White House has the means to get all of these people on the phone on secure lines that, again, are designed for conversations that involve classified information. There is no instance that any officials that we spoke to could recall in the past that this sort of very sensitive classified conversation would happen over a non-government platform like Signal.

Now, signal is a commercially available messaging app. It is end-to- end encrypted, which means, in theory, people are not supposed to be able to spy on the contents in the middle when it is going from the sender to the recipient. But as numerous intelligence officials said to me over the last few days, look, it's not as good as a classified system. The U.S. government has these systems for a reason, and, in fact, Defense Department regulations specifically state that nonpublic defense information should not be and is prohibited from being discussed on commercial platforms, like Signal.

So, again, the sort of consistent feedback that I heard from U.S. officials was, look, if this had been anybody else, if it had been me who had done this, I would've been fired almost immediately and probably prosecuted for mishandling classified information. Kate?

BOLDUAN: And when it comes to something like this, is it double standard? Is it going to fly? Is it going to be okay if it exists? It's great to see you, Katie Bo. Thank you. Go ahead, Katie Bo.

LILLIS: Oh, I was going to say, I think we will find out at the Senate Intelligence Committee today.

BOLDUAN: That we can never guess exactly what senators are going to ask, but we can be assured something is going to be brought up. Thank you very much.

[07:10:00]

John?

BERMAN: Look, and we're standing by to here from the president on this. We're standing by to hear from National Security Adviser Michael Waltz for the first time on this. Can he survive the day? That is the question being asked by many in Washington this morning.

In the meantime, this morning, a man is behind bars after driving his car into a group of people outside a Tesla dealership. The FBI launches a new task force in a series of Tesla attacks.

A Columbia student and lawful permanent resident is now suing the Trump administration as ICE attempt to detain her over campus protests.

And a conspiracy theory claiming the U.S. government is controlling the weather by spraying chemicals out of airplanes is now being used as the basis for a new law. One top Trump official is helping that conspiracy spread.

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BERMAN: New this morning, a Florida man is in jail charged with aggravated assault after police say he drove his car toward a group of people outside a West Palm Beach Tesla dealership almost hitting them. This as the FBI is launching a new task force to crack down on a string of violent attacks against Tesla dealerships, cars, and charging stations across the country, attacks that FBI Director Kash Patel calls domestic terrorism.

CNN Security Correspondent Josh Campbell is with us for the latest on this. Josh, what are you learning?

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well just look at these lists of incidents. We've seen this wave of attacks on Tesla dealers, Tesla facilities everything from shots fired at one facility in Las Vegas, multiple vehicles set on fire. We've seen Molotov cocktails that have been used in incidents. We've seen dealer owners that have been attacked. And so this has all spurred the FBI to launch this special task force aimed at trying to investigate these threats. And, you know, this is something we saw similar recently in response to all these incidents of swatting around the country.

And what the FBI tries to do is get what they call a common operating picture. What's happening across the country with these threats? There's no indication it's the same perpetrators who are doing these various incidents, but that's certainly something that they want to look into to see if there are any similar devices that have been found in different areas.

And, of course, as you mentioned, the FBI director as well as the attorney general, have come out so that they will aggressively pursue these actors going so far as to call it domestic terrorism. The FBI issued a statement yesterday. They said that the FBI director taking this very seriously. They say the FBI will be relentless in its mission to protect the American people. Acts of violence, vandalism, and domestic terrorism, like the recent Tesla attacks, will be pursued with the full force of the law. Now, two things, not only is this, you know, providing that common picture for investigations, but this could also serve as a deterrent. Now, people know that there will potentially be federal charges here. Take a listen to the top FBI agent in Las Vegas who spoke after a recent incident there involving multiple vehicles set on fire.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SPENCER EVANS, FBI LAS VEGAS, SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE: Violent acts like this are unacceptable, regardless of where they occur. And specifically to those who might think that something like this is justifiable or potentially even admirable, we want to let you know it's a federal crime. We will come after you. We will find you and prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMPBELL: Now we did want to update you on one additional incident that happened yesterday. This was in Austin, Texas. Police were called after a suspicious device was found at a Tesla facility. I'll read you what Austin Police said in a statement. They said, when officers arrived on the scene, they located suspicious devices and called the APD bomb squad to investigate. The devices were determined to be incendiary. They were taken to police custody without incident. They say the investigation is ongoing.

No indication what type of incendiary device that was there was some type of explosive, whether it was some type of crude, you know, Molotov cocktail, but obviously something that is very serious when you have that type of device at a Tesla of facility, particularly in the wake of all these other incidents that we've seen, John.

BERMAN: Josh Campbell, obviously an area of concern. Thank you so much for your reporting on this. Sara?

SIDNER: All right. New data of this morning, why more and more renters now think they will never be able to buy a home.

And one of the most bet on sporting events of the entire year, you know what it is, it's March Madness. But there's online trading platforms, though, under fire. Why Massachusetts regulators are investigating Robinhood's new prediction markets hub.

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[07:20:00]

SIDNER: New this morning, the American dream of owning a home seems to be fading fast for many Americans. A new survey from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York shows that renters are being more pessimistic about the ability to own a home in the future, and they're bracing for higher rent prices as well.

CNN's Matt Egan joining me now. This is a downer this morning. This is people feeling hopeless about buying a home. What else did the Fed find?

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Yes. Sara, look, barriers to buying a home right now are very high and many Americans fear that they are insurmountable. So, on average, renters see just a 34 percent chance that they'll be able to buy a home. And I don't mean buy a home this year or next year. This is ever. This is the lowest since the New York Fed started asking this question a decade ago. And the trend here has been down, down, down. Ten years ago, on average, renters saw about a 50-50 chance of buying. Now, it's just a one in three chance.

Now, this reflects a few big problems. First off, it is a very expensive time to borrow, right? Mortgage rates have been stuck above 7 percent, above 6 percent rather for the past two years. And Americans are also pessimistic when it comes to mortgage rates. They expect rates to stay at 7 -- go up to 7 percent actually over the next year, and to stay there over the next several years. It's also a very expensive time, obviously, to buy. When you look at home prices, we've seen home prices go up across the country.

Now, I think that here, we can see it right here, you see going up across the country in the south, up 2 percent, the median price, $360,000. Here in the northeast, a 10 percent increase in home prices over the past year. And look at that, out west, the median price now above $600,000.

Now, the good news for buyers here, Sara, is that we have seen inventory come up, still low, but it did increase pretty significantly by 17 percent in February. The bad news is that renters are expecting rent to keep going higher and higher. They're expecting an 8 percent increase in rent over the next 12 months. That's an acceleration from a year ago.

So, look, one of the questions here is, what can policymakers do to attack this problem?

[07:25:04]

And the Trump administration has talked about trying to incentivize builders, right, cutting red tape, tax credits, trying to get at this shortage of homes. But there's also some policies from the Trump administration that could make matters worse when you think about mass deportations that could starve the industry of workers and also tariffs that could increase the cost to build.

So, look, no easy fix here, mo magic wand. This has been a problem years, decades in the making. But, clearly, a lot of Americans are feeling pessimistic.

SIDNER: Yes. The American dream to a lot of people, your numbers are showing, they feel like it's dead for them. That is extremely, extremely sad.

EGAN: It is.

SIDNER: To think about it in those terms.

Thank you so much, Matt Egan. I appreciate it. Kate?

BOLDUAN: So, what will the president say today about the shocking and reckless breach of national security intelligence? And what will we hear from his national security adviser, the man who inadvertently, they say, added a journalist to a group chat, sharing classified information? A lot of questions today.

Also, President Trump selects a new nominee to lead the CDC after withdrawing his first choice. What to know about her this morning.

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