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CNN International: Trump Holds First Official Cabinet Meeting Of Second Term; Trump Confirms Meeting With Zelenskyy Set For Friday; Hamas Expected To Release Bodies Of 4 Israeli Hostages; White House Now Deciding Who Can Cover Trump; Vatican: Pope Francis Continues To Receive Oxygen, Mild Kidney Failure Has "Receded"; Mikaela Shiffrin Speaks To CNN After 100th World Cup Win. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired February 26, 2025 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:34]

LYNDA KINKADE, CNN HOST: It is 8:00 p.m. in London, 3:00 p.m. in Atlanta. I'm Lynda Kinkade. Thanks so much for joining me today on CNN NEWSROOM.

Let's get you right to our top stories.

From tariffs to tech support, Donald Trump held a wide ranging first official cabinet meeting. The U.S. president is moving forward with his plan to offer a 25 percent tariff on all Mexican and Canadian imports. However, Mr. Trump is moving the rollout date to April 2nd.

Take a listen to his response when asked about possible retaliation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We are the pot of gold. We're the one that everybody wants and they can retaliate, but it cannot be a successful retaliation because we just go cold turkey. We don't buy any more. And if that happens, we win.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Well, President Trump also said everyone around the cabinet table must follow his orders, no exceptions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: Is it your view of your authority that you have the power to call up any one of, or all of the people seated at this table and issue orders that they are bound to follow?

TRUMP: Oh, yeah, they'll follow the orders. Yes, they will.

REPORTER: No exceptions?

TRUMP: No exceptions. Well, let's see, let me think. Oh, yeah. Yeah. She'll have an exception.

Of course. No exceptions. You know that. (END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Well, he wasn't officially at the table, but tech billionaire and adviser Elon Musk took the spotlight early on. Over the weekend, Musk blasted out an email telling federal employees to explain their work or risk losing their jobs. One million federal workers have responded to that email. One million haven't.

Earlier, President Trump offered more conflicting guidance on whether or not those responses were mandatory.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I'd like to add that those million people that haven't responded, though, Elon, they are on the bubble. You know, I wouldn't say that were thrilled about it. You know, they haven't responded now. Maybe they don't exist. Maybe we're paying people that don't exist.

So yeah, those people are -- right now, we're trying to find out who those people are that haven't responded.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Well, President Trump also downplayed the controversy around Elon Musk's directives to federal workers and said some of his cabinet members only, quote, disagree a little bit.

Well, earlier he made this joke about Mr. Musk's involvement.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: And, Elon, let the cabinet speak just for a second.

ELON MUSK, TECH BILLIONAIRE: Yeah, exactly.

TRUMP: Is anybody unhappy with Elon? If you are, we'll throw him out of here.

(LAUGHTER)

TRUMP: Is anybody unhappy?

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Well, that laughter in the room is stark contrast to the reality of the thousands of federal workers having have been placed either on administrative leave or laid off, or have been issued immediate termination.

Well, today, Elon Musk laid out his objective with a Department of Government Efficiency.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MUSK: The overall goal here with the DOGE team is to help address the enormous deficit. We simply cannot sustain as a country, a $2 trillion deficits.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Well, CNN's senior White House reporter Kevin Liptak has been keeping a close eye on that first cabinet meeting of Donald Trump. He joins us now live from Washington outside the White House.

Good to see you, Kevin.

So he's unelected but in charge. And Donald Trump certainly made it clear that anyone who disagrees with Elon Musk can be shown the door, right?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yeah. It was very clear where the center of power is in this administration. And it was not around the table. It was not among the Senate confirmed members of Trump's cabinet. It was with the man in the corner, the billionaire, Trump's largest campaign donor, Elon Musk.

And I think just, you know, the atmospherics and visuals of this meeting told the story. He was not at the table. He was off to the side.

He's operating outside of the typical apparatus of the federal government. He's not playing by the same rules, just, you know, in his dress alone, all the other male members of Trump's team were in dark suits and ties. He's wearing a long black overcoat and a t-shirt.

He's speaking somewhat in half shadow. The lights weren't on him. His team has been operating in a certain amount of secrecy. So, you know, I think it's possible to dwell too much on these atmospherics, but I think they did tell kind of the story here. As you heard, Musk kind of take control of the first several minutes of the meeting.

You know, a lot of these cabinet members had come in today with their own little sets of prepared remarks of what they wanted to talk about in this meeting, but none of them were called on.

[15:05:08]

Musk was the only member of Trump's team that he actually specifically called out and asked to deliver a presentation. It was, you know, only 56 minutes into this meeting that he called on his vice president, J.D. Vance, and he only spoke for 36 seconds.

So I think it gives you a sense not only of how much power Musk has within this administration, but how much backing from the president that he has been given. You know, there had been a lot of questions in Washington over the last month or so, whether the relationship between Musk and Trump would sour somehow. And I think, you know, to a lot of people, its proven more durable than many expected.

He does have Trump's full backing. And in putting his cabinet members on the spot, I think Trump was really kind of making a power play here, telling them that if they were unhappy with Musk, you know, go ahead and speak up. No one spoke up. They all just sort of laughed nervously.

And I think that sort of gives you every indication that you need of where Musk stands in Trump's mind at this moment in time.

KINKADE: Yeah, the optics certainly absolutely fascinating.

But, Kevin, I want to turn to Ukraine because Donald Trump also spoke about the need to make a deal with Russia and Ukraine to stop killing people. What more can you tell us about the details regarding this minerals deal and Zelenskyy's upcoming visit to the White House?

LIPTAK: Well, at this hour, I think this is all still up in the air. Despite what Trump said in that meeting, saying that Zelenskyy would come and sign the deal, saying that he would be here on Friday in the hours before he was speaking, there had been some questions. Zelenskyy had a press conference sort of characterizing this agreement as incomplete, as a framework agreement, as a next step to something bigger.

That is not how the White House necessarily saw it. They thought that this was kind of a done deal for Ukraine to provide the United States significant amounts of its mineral revenues, essentially as back payment for assistance that had been provided to Ukraine over the course of this war. But Trump making clear in there that he does expect this deal to be signed.

I think it was notable when he said that as part of all of this, that Russia would also have to make some concessions as part of a peace deal. We had not actually heard him state that until today, until this point, when he was pressed on what exactly those concessions were, I think it was the vice president who said, look, we're not going to negotiate this deal through the media. We're not going to negotiate it in public, which I guess is not an unreasonable position to take.

If they had not already laid out in specific detail what the concessions that Ukraine will have to make. They wont be able to join NATO, they'll have to make some land concessions. So I do think it was interesting sort of how that played out in these meetings. This will continue to play out over the next two days here at the White House.

We'll see the British prime minister, Keir Starmer, here tomorrow, talking more about the European security guarantees. You heard Trump in that meeting today, say that the United States would not play a significant role in providing those guarantees to Ukraine.

And then on Friday, we'll see Zelenskyy here in Trump's telling. We'll have to see if that actually materializes. But as of now, he's on the books.

KINKADE: Yeah, exactly. You point out -- you make a good point there as to whether or not Zelenskyy is even close to signing this deal, given that he has referred to it as a framework. I want to just ask you about the tariffs. Trump spoke about tariffs on

Mexico and Canada, these blanket tariffs that were suspended. Now he's saying that they could be implemented as soon as -- as next month -- as April, April 2nd.

LIPTAK: Yeah, which is beyond the 30 days. I'll remind you and the viewers that he initially suspended these tariffs by. He said that they would go into effect earlier this month. He said that he had gotten an agreement from both countries from Ottawa and Mexico City about curbing the flow of fentanyl and migrants across the border.

And he said that they would be on hold for 30 days. April 2nd is well beyond 30 days. So some of the timing here, I think, is a little loose. We'll have to see exactly what he comes up with.

The other, you know, tariff story and issue that is still sort of in the ether is these reciprocal tariffs. Trump asked about that today as well, saying the plan is still to apply these tit for tat tariffs on other countries. But again, no specific timing and no specific tariff rate that he could point to specifically today.

KINKADE: All right. Kevin Liptak outside the White House, good to have you there for us. Thanks so much.

LIPTAK: Sure.

KINKADE: Well, as Kevin mentioned, President Trump said in that cabinet meeting that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will visit the White House Friday. Well, Mr. Zelenskyy is expected to sign an agreement with the U.S. on natural resources and reconstruction in war torn Ukraine. That's according to Donald Trump.

Now, this is part of an effort by Kyiv to get future American military assistance in the war against Russia. But the text of a draft deal seen by CNN stops well short of providing Kyiv with concrete security guarantees, something President Zelenskyy has previously demanded.

[15:10:08]

President Trump today suggested it's still up to Europe to take the lead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Well, I'm not going to make security guarantees beyond very much. We're going to have Europe do that because it's in -- you know, we're talking about Europe is their next door neighbor. I don't want to have to pay any more money because we've -- Biden has spent $350 billion without any chance of getting it back. Now we're going to be getting all of that money back, plus a lot more. And we provided a great thing. I mean, we provided something very important.

And we'll be working with Ukraine. And because we'll be taking that, we're going to be taking what were entitled to take.

(END VIDEO CLIP) KINKADE: Well, President Trump also said Russian President Vladimir Putin will have to make concessions to end the war. But he didn't say what they might be.

CNN chief international correspondent Nick Paton Walsh joins us live from Kyiv.

Good to have you with us, Nick.

So Trump says this deal on rare earth minerals is close. He says we're going to get our money back from Ukraine, while Zelenskyy is calling it just a framework at this point in time. What are you learning about the details in this deal?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, we've seen a version of the draft that was current as of this morning, and it is clearly a framework agreement for Ukraine's reconstruction and investment in Ukraine. And it talks in the same way that the Trump administration wanted it to. About 50 percent of relevant revenues is the phrase from Ukraine's resources and natural resources, rare earth minerals potentially as well being put into a fund which will be used to potentially rebuild parts of Ukraine, but also send money back to the United States.

The sticking point, really, I think has been two issues. One, President Zelenskyy was at pains to suggest that he would be totally rejecting the idea that any of this money would be a reimbursement to the United States for previous aid that had been offered. He said he wouldn't allow even 10 cents to be construed that way.

He also wanted to be sure there were security guarantees, and he said in a press conference today that he felt that point ten of the agreement was edging towards that kind of idea. We've seen point ten in the text. And it does appear to be suggesting that the United States will support Ukraine in its bid to obtain security guarantees, but doesn't remotely suggest that the U.S. will actually supply those security guarantees.

So, big distances, I think, between what both sides would like the document to say. What the document seems to do is to try and find a way between those two particular positions that enable these two men to essentially have a meeting on Friday. It's important that Trump has confirmed that. I think that was something that we got a sense from hearing Zelenskyy talk that Zelenskyy wasn't 1,000 percent sure was necessarily going to happen.

He said he was going to London after that particular meeting to meet with European allies. But a lot now hinges on exactly how these two men interact in the White House on Friday. We've seen a very acrimonious week to ten days between them, where they traded falsehoods leveled at Zelenskyy by Trump and Zelenskyy, saying that Trump was living in a disinformation circle.

So they may be able to heal that personal relationship. But ultimately, the ask for Ukraine of U.S. security guarantees. You heard Trump there. They're not going to get exactly what they want. They may be able to persuade Trump to provide what the Europeans want.

The Europeans have offered potentially a European peacekeeping force if there is a ceasefire and a verifiable peace deal, that would probably involve a lot of French and British troops, but they can't do it, say the British, without a backstop, from the United States of technical and logistical support. Maybe that was what Trump was referring to when he referenced beyond very much in terms of security guarantees.

But a lot is in flux here. The two sides are quite far apart, but I think they're trying to pretend to keep this relationship moving forward. So there's a lot of common ground -- Lynda.

KINKADE: Yeah, certainly. And of course, Nick, as you mentioned, Trump very noncommittal about any sort of security guarantee for Ukraine. He did initially ask about $500 billion. That figure, in regards to revenue from these rare earth minerals.

Was there a figure mentioned in the draft deal that you saw?

WALSH: No. And its interesting that one of the key sticking points for Zelenskyy was half a trillion. That is what was initially, I think, floated by Trump officials as to the total value they felt they'd be recouped in this deal. Zelenskyy then talked about $100 billion and said that even wasn't in the deal when he spoke at a press conference today. There is no overarching total figure.

And indeed the kind of assets that are part of this deal are left for a future what's called a fund agreement, which the work on which will begin as soon as this first framework agreement is signed.

[15:15:03]

So as we reported for three days now, it seems as though this framework is about trying to take the difficult stuff, park it and leave it for future negotiations and deals. But at least there enable there to be an overarching umbrella that symbolically says the U.S. and Ukraine agree on some issues enough to move forward.

Really, if Trump meets Zelenskyy and feels and his extraordinary interpersonal, transactional world that he wants to help the Ukrainian leader, then I think we'll see positive results from it. But it's the final haggling. I think we'll see in the next 24 hours until they finally meet in the White House. That's key -- Lynda.

KINKADE: All right. Nick Paton Walsh for us in Kyiv, great to have you there for us. Thanks so much.

Well, to stay on this story, Yuriy Vitrenko joins us now from Munich, Germany. He's the former CEO of Ukraine's largest oil and gas company, Naftogaz. He was also Ukraine's acting minister of energy.

Good to have you with us.

YURIY VITRENKO, FORMER CEO, NAFTOGAZ UKRAINE: Hello, Lynda. KINKADE: So I want to ask you first, obviously, about this, the draft

of this deal. We've seen so far, the U.S. obviously wants access to Ukraine's rare earth minerals, which can be used in aerospace, defense, nuclear industries and also energy, including batteries for electric cars. What do you know about this particular deal, especially given that we're just talking with nick about the price tag that Trump initially mentioned, $500 billion. That's no longer in that deal. What can you tell us?

VITRENKO: First of all, lets hope that the draft that was published in the Ukrainian media is the final draft that is like fully agreed between the sides.

I would say that this draft is very different from the first draft presented by the U.S. side. And this first draft had a very bad press in Ukraine, in Europe, in other countries. It was very poorly perceived by investment professionals and unrealistic and by lawyers containing some unconscionable provisions. And people of Ukraine saw that it was anti-democratic.

And the latest draft is basically some kind of heads of terms and these terms are, I would say, acceptable for Ukraine, given the circumstances. And they are good for the U.S. government and people of the United States, at least we think so.

Speaking of the value of this deal, it can be from zero to trillions because it really depends on it, depends on the territorial scope. If it includes territories currently occupied by Russia, because they are rich in minerals, and we believe that stronger Ukraine, with the help of great U.S. will be able to again at least eventually to get all these territories under control. And it will allow it to produce minerals over there.

But it also in general depends on the security situation, because, rare minerals and in general natural resources, they require some huge investments and huge investments require some security, long term security. Otherwise, it's impossible to expect such investments, especially to be sustainable. So that's why, again, it really depends on the security situation, either directly or indirectly. It also depends on the integration of Ukraine into the West, into the European Union market reforms on the rule of law. That includes, first and foremost, this protection of property rights.

But in general, again, so probably that's not the best thing to do, but it depends on many factors.

KINKADE: And, Yuriy, when we heard Donald Trump speak about Ukraine at the cabinet meeting a short time ago, he said, NATO, you can forget about that. Why would he give that leverage away?

VITRENKO: Again, I don't know, probably because Russians were like to some extent manipulating that NATO was the real reason for this war. It's actually the opposite. Russia neighbors, they were like, witnessing, this very aggressive behavior from Russia. They understood that Russia was a real threat to their sovereignty and territorial integrity, and that's why they wanted to be a part of NATO, so that together they can defend again against Russia aggression.

So for Russians currently for like this kind of very false narrative, it's important that Ukraine is not a part of NATO. At the same time, again, NATO, at least for the last decade, it was a mechanism that people believed at least that it was reliable. It can defend countries from such aggression as, again, for example, Russia's invasion into Ukraine.

So it remains to be seen what if there are any other mechanisms that can provide this kind of sustainable security. And we're talking about this investment deal for investors as well.

[15:20:03]

KINKADE: Yuriy Vitrenko, we appreciate your time today. Thanks so much for joining us.

VITRENKO: Thank you.

KINKADE: Well, still to come tonight, the very fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas remains intact for now. We'll have details on a new exchange as we near the end of the first phase of the truce.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KINKADE: Welcome back.

Within the next hour, sources tell CNN that Hamas will return the remains of four Israeli hostages in exchange for the release of some 600 Palestinian prisoners and detainees. Israel says it will send a team of forensic experts to identify the bodies of the four hostages expected to be handed over. An Israeli official says Palestinian prisoners won't be released until their remains are identified. The first phase of the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel is set to expire this weekend, and talks to extend the truce have yet to begin.

Well, a national outpouring of grief in Israel today. The funeral for the three members of the Bibas family was a private one, but thousands lined the streets to mourn the loss of a mother and her two young sons killed in Gaza after being taken hostage by Hamas on October 7th. The remains of mother Shiri, nine month old Kfir and four year old Ariel were returned by Hamas last week. Husband and father Yarden Bibas was taken hostage separately and released earlier this month.

Well, more details now from CNN's Jeremy Diamond in Israel.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): His voice trembling with emotion, Yarden Bibas summons what strength he has left to say one final goodbye. His wife Shiri, and their two children, Kfir and Ariel, are finally being laid to rest, 16 months after they were all abducted from their home near the Gaza border.

(SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

[15:25:03]

DIAMOND: Apricot, Yarden says, calling his wife by her pet name, who will help me make decisions without you. Do you remember our last decision together in the safe room? I asked if we should fight or surrender. You said fight, so I fought. Shiri, I'm sorry -- I couldn't protect you all.

Yarden was also taken hostage on October 7th, but held separately. Now, just weeks after regaining his freedom, heartbreak.

I'm sure you're making all the angels laugh with your silly jokes and impressions, he says to his eldest, Ariel. I hope there are plenty of butterflies for you to watch, just like you did during our picnics.

I'm sorry I didn't protect you better, but I need you to know that I love you deeply and miss you terribly. I miss nibbling on you and hearing your laughter.

Yarden Bibas is not alone in his grief. An entire nation joined in mourning the deaths of the youngest Israeli hostages and their mother, who came to symbolize the horrors of October 7th. Their bodies carried to their final resting place in a single casket, surrounded by Israeli flags and the orange balloons evoking those red headed babies.

Thousands of Israelis have been lining this entire procession, as we now see these vans coming through, carrying the bodies of Kfir, Ariel and Shiri Bibas, their mother.

As Shiri, Kfir, and Ariel are laid to rest, their family are not done asking questions.

(SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

DIAMOND: Our disaster as a nation and as a family should not have happened and must never, ever happen again, the voice of aunt Ofri says, they could have saved you, but preferred revenge. We lost our image of triumph will never happen.

As one hostage family buries their loved ones. Another reuniting after 491 days of captivity, Or Levy is back in his brothers arms.

MICHAEL LEVY, BROTHER OF OR LEVY: He's getting stronger. He's finally eating.

DIAMOND: His brother Michael, now sharing what he has learned about why he emerged emaciated from Hamas captivity.

LEVY: They were intentionally starved. It's as simple as that. And they're -- the terrorists next to them ate all the time. They ate next to them.

DIAMOND: Really?

LEVY: Yeah.

DIAMOND: Next to them. LEVY: Next to them. They even laughed when they saw them looking.

DIAMOND: So their captors were eating full meals.

LEVY: Full meals.

DIAMOND: And what were they getting?

LEVY: Chicken, meat. They had everything. They were getting nothing.

DIAMOND: Those conditions now driving both brothers to push for the urgent release of the remaining hostages.

LEVY: It is right now concentrated in on two things. One is Almog, his son, getting back to being a father. The second is to bring back all the hostages.

DIAMOND: Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Tel Aviv.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:31:30]

KINKADE: Welcome back. I'm Lynda Kinkade.

A short time ago, U.S. President Donald Trump wrapped up the first official cabinet meeting of his new term. And among the items discussed was his gold card visa program, immigration and the war in Ukraine. He confirms that Ukraine's president will visit Washington this week and is expected he hopes to sign an agreement on natural resources and reconstruction.

The other big focus was the presence of Elon Musk, his role as head of the Department of Government Efficiency has been divisive in Washington. Last week, he sent an email blast to government employees telling them to outline their job accomplishments in the previous week or risk losing their jobs. Musk says his request has been misinterpreted.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MUSK: To be clear, like the -- I think that email perhaps was best interpreted as a performance review, but actually it was a pulse check review. Do you have a pulse? Do you have a pulse and two neurons? So if you have a pulse on two neurons, you can reply to an email. This is, you know, I think not a high bar is what I'm saying.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Well, joining us now is CNN contributor Maria Cardona. And also with us is senior political analyst Scott Jennings.

Certainly a lot to unpack after that press conference at Trump's first cabinet meeting this term. I want to start with you first, Scott, because the unelected official

at the cabinet meeting was, of course, Elon Musk, who took up the most air time. And he described his role in his terms. I just want to play some sound.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MUSK: As crazy as it sounds, that that is almost a literal description of the work that the DOGE team is doing is helping fix the government computer systems. Many of these systems are extremely old. They don't communicate. There are a lot of mistakes in the systems. The software doesn't work. The -- so we are actually tech support.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: I mean, pretty much just dismissed his role in the government as simply tech support.

What is Musk's role?

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, he's an advisor to the president, and he's got a portfolio that's built around making the government more efficient. And that's taken on a number of forms.

I mean, this whole idea that you could make the government more efficient and root out waste, fraud and abuse by simply upgrading our computer systems and our technology is a good one. I think if you talk to people who work in the government, they would tell you we have outdated systems and a number of agencies.

So I actually think its one of those common sense ideas that when you hear it out loud, you think, why didn't someone think of this before? And so I think that's sort of the appeal of this whole effort. But as a macro political matter, you know, one of the things Donald Trump did run on and Republicans have wanted to do for a long time is simply make the federal government a little smaller, a little more efficient, and eliminate some of the waste, fraud and abuse that most Americans acknowledge is happening.

It's just the problem is, most people never get around to doing it. Trump is doing it at lightning speed. He's unleashed Elon Musk to work on the project. And I think that's why they're enjoying some political support for the effort, even if they run into a speed bump here or there.

KINKADE: A speed bump here or there. I mean, under his directive, there have been many people that have been sacked only to be rehired when they figured out that they're actually needed in the federal government.

Maria, I want to ask you about how Musk described the cabinet. He's starting to sound a little bit more like Trump. Let's just take a listen.

[15:35:01] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MUSK: President Trump has put together, I think, the best cabinet ever, literally. So -- and I do not give false praise. This -- this is an incredible group of people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: I mean, he described it as the best cabinet in history. Is it?

MARIA CARDONA, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: If by best cabinet you mean the most unqualified cabinet in history, then yes, because that's exactly what they are, Lynda.

And look, I think what you saw today was a demonstration of what the government has become under Donald Trump for him and for Elon Musk, which is something to play with, something performative, something theatrical, something that has a very circus like atmosphere.

For them to show off and you know, I love Scott, but destroying people's lives and livelihoods is a little bit more serious than speed bumps. And Republicans are feeling it right now at every town hall that they go to, their offices are being inundated by their own voters, by Trump supporters who are pissed off at the kind --

JENNINGS: That's false.

CARDONA: -- of wrecking ball that has come into their own lives thinking, oh my gosh, Trump is not going to do anything bad to me. And he has destroyed them.

And so I think from a macro perspective, you are going to see Republicans pay a political price for this.

And then from a realistic perspective, you are going to see Americans actually become less safe because what they're doing is they're firing people willy-nilly. It's not strategic. Its taking a wrecking ball to something that should have -- that should be a scalpel, and you are destroying services and you are destroying ways of doing things that actually keep Americans safe, like the people who protect our food supply, the people who protect us from nuclear disasters, the people who protect us from pandemics.

Elon even said, yes, we're going to make mistakes. We fired the people who protect us from Ebola. Oops. They fired the people who protect us from nuclear disasters. Oops. And they didn't even have their emails.

It has been a disaster. You are already seeing it in the polls. Americans do not like the way that it's being done. We are all for going after waste, fraud and abuse. The Clinton administration did it skillfully and successfully. This is not the way to do it.

KINKADE: And, Scott, Donald Trump picked a health secretary who is a well-known anti-vaxxer. Right now, there is a measles outbreak in Texas. And RFK, Jr. was asked about that. I just want to play some sound.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT F. KENNEDY, JR., U.S. SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: We are following the measles epidemic every day. We're watching it. We put out a post on it yesterday, and we're going to continue to follow it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: That sound wasn't the clearest, but it basically dismissed it, saying were going to keep an eye on it. This is a measles outbreak, which has led to dozens of people being hospitalized, the death of a child, all of those -- nearly all of those unvaccinated.

Texas health officials say this is the biggest measles outbreak in 30 years. Do you think they need to take it a bit more seriously, the federal government?

JENNINGS: Well, of course, any -- any outbreak of any kind of disease should be taken seriously. I mean, people should listen to their doctors and their pediatricians about the health care of their children and themselves. And I have no doubt that the government is monitoring it and taking it seriously.

I think, you know, whenever something happens, there's always a rush in this country to blame Donald Trump or blame somebody that Donald Trump appointed for whatever happens to be happening right now. But the proper thing for the federal government to do is to monitor it, and sort of see what the contours of it are and see what federal resources need to be deployed.

That's -- that's the correct role of the agency. I'll be candid with you. I'm not educated enough about who is being afflicted with measles and why they were unvaccinated in the first place to tell you where I would lay the blame. But I do think the federal government should -- should pay close attention to it. I agree.

KINKADE: And, Maria, just finally, Donald Trump we know loves tariffs. He spoke about the fact that Mexico and Canada are going to face these tariffs. Blanket tariffs come April 2nd.

We know that last time he announced these he suspended them. And it was the same day that Rupert Murdoch visited the White House, the same day his paper, "The Wall Street Journal", called it the dumbest trade war in history. Who are these tariffs going to hurt?

CARDONA: They're going to hurt Americans and they're going to hurt American families, and they're going to hurt workers. The same people that supposedly Donald Trump said he cares about.

But we know that's not true. He doesn't care about American workers. He doesn't care about American families. He only cares about lining his own pockets and those of his billionaire best friends. And that's what you are seeing play out now, Lynda. And in fact, economists have said across the board that Donald Trump's

tariffs, Donald Trump's mass deportation initiatives are going to do anything but bring down the costs of groceries, gas and rent and lower inflation, which is the reason why so many non-MAGA voters actually supported Donald Trump, because they believed him.

[15:40:12]

And they believed him I think now to their peril and to the peril of the American economy. We're seeing consumer confidence is down. We're seeing that Americans now are looking forward to perhaps a recession. We're seeing economists now say that moving forward in the months and years ahead, there is the kind of uncertainty that businesses hate.

And so I think that you're going to see politically on this point as well, that Donald Trump is going to pay a price if he doesn't start paying attention to inflation, to the economy, which was one of the, if not the biggest reason why he got elected. And everything that he's doing is doing everything to explode inflation and make American families pay more.

JENNINGS: Can I -- can I respond to some of this? I've sat here patiently for this long speech.

So it seems to me that Democrats are taking a three pronged approach at attacking Donald Trump. One is openly rooting for the failure of the United States by wishcasting a recession, which is just an insane political strategy. Number two, wanting to pin their entire political future on keeping government as large or larger than it is now. And number three, continuing -- continuing to claim that mass deportations or that getting the border under control is somehow a bad policy idea for the United States.

I wholeheartedly hope that Maria is appointed to run the Democratic midterm strategy, because if you're rooting for a recession or for illegal immigration and for a larger government, you're going to take a bath next November.

CARDONA: See this. This is the problem because none of that is true. Scott. You know --

JENNINGS: I just repeated back to you what you said, and I don't know why you don't agree with it. Those everything you just said.

CARDONA: No, honey, I did not say that I'm rooting for a recession. Economists are the ones who are saying that a recession is coming because Donald Trump has done nothing about it.

JENNINGS: Get your get your pom-poms. Keep rooting. Keep rooting for American failure. It served you well last November.

CARDONA: Donald Trump is the one who's causing American failure.

KINKADE: We will chat again soon. I know no one is against a more efficient government, but we will see how this plays out over the couple of weeks. CARDONA: Democrats actually know how to do it, right, because they did

it once. Yes, they did it under Clinton administration.

(CROSSTALK)

KINKADE: We'll chat soon. Thank you.

CARDONA: Thanks, Linda.

KINKADE: We're going to take a quick break. Much more after the break. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:45:28]

KINKADE: Welcome back.

President Trump has a new plan to help pay down U.S. debt selling visas to wealthy foreigners for $5 million apiece. The U.S. commerce secretary says the card will replace the government's EB-5 immigrant investor visa program. The president says the U.S. will start selling this type of visa in about two weeks, and all potential applicants will be vetted.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: Would a Russian oligarch be eligible for a gold card?

TRUMP: Yeah, possibly. Hey, I know some Russian oligarchs that are very nice people. It's possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Well, the White House Correspondents Association is being stripped of its role in managing its own press pool. In previous administrations, the independent WHCA rotated the representatives from television, print, radio and other outlets. They typically travel with the president on Air Force One and in other small settings like the Oval Office or the Roosevelt room.

But on Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced that future pools will be determined by the White House press team and not the White House Correspondents Association.

Well, Hamas is calling an A.I. generated video shared by U.S. President Donald Trump disgraceful. The video shows a re-imagined Gaza as a luxury resort. I would like to warn you, this is a fake promotional video that we are about to show you.

So it appears to be the transformation of Gaza from a war torn region to a glittering tourist hotspot. Belly dancers, Elon Musk eating in a gold Trump statue. The song lyrics say: no more tunnels, no more fear. Trump Gaza is here. The president has previously said he wants to remove Palestinians from Gaza, and for the U.S. to take over and rebuild it. Hamas says it strongly condemns the video. Well, CNN's chief media analyst Brian Stelter joins us now to discuss

all of this.

Great to see you, Brian.

So let's start first on the fact that the White House is now saying that we're going to choose which press will have access to Donald Trump. Is that a violation of the First Amendment?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: This was a two-pronged plan. And what we're seeing from the White House is one piece of it. On the one side, we see the White House punishing traditional news outlets, traditional journalists who asked tough questions. On the other side, we see the White House promoting a parallel universe of pro-Trump media outlets.

So it's push out the real journalists. Pump up the propagandists. And that is exactly what we are witnessing in real time. Today was the first day that these new rules went into effect. Instead of having journalists decide among themselves who is in these events, who is at these photo ops and Q&A's, the White House is deciding who is allowed in. For example, to today's cabinet meeting, the "AP", "Reuters", "HuffPost" were excluded, but Fox News, Newsmax, the Blaze were all allowed in. Those are pro-Trump outlets.

Now, some of these journalists from pro-Trump outlets might be asking sharp and important questions, but there is still a concerted effort underway to control who gets in and what kinds of questions are asked. This is, as I said, part of a larger plan to punish real news and to promote pro-Trump media.

KINKADE: And, Brian, let's talk artificial intelligence. Yesterday we saw that video of this A.I. video of Trump kissing Elon Musk's feet. Today, we're seeing this reimagined Gaza turned into this Riviera of the Middle East.

Talk to us about the reaction you're seeing.

STELTER: Well, bizarre, offensive, disgusting. Those are some of the words I've seen used today to describe this Gaza video. Elon Musk is being showered. He's showering people with money in this A.I. video, Trump is lounging by the pool with Benjamin Netanyahu. There are bearded men doing belly dances. Kind of confusing.

Look, Trump is trying to move the Overton window here. He's trying to make this real estate development idea feel real and normal and compelling, even though its been widely condemned. His talk about taking over Gaza and redeveloping it has been likened to ethnic cleansing.

It's also a really striking situation. The difference between a digital video and the real world reality. You know, generative A.I. prompts are really easy. Anyone can make a video like this. Now you can go online, type in a few words, create a really fancy looking video. A.I. videos are easy.

Actually moving families and bulldozing rubble and rebuilding society is painfully hard, if not impossible.

[15:50:02]

But you know, this is an example of Trump really trying to set the agenda and using -- we don't know where this video came from. We don't know who created it. We don't know where the origins are.

But use a video on his social network to try to push and make something that sounded implausible, maybe feel more possible.

KINKADE: Brian Stelter, our media analyst, good to have you with us. Thank you.

STELTER: Thanks.

KINKADE: Mikaela Shiffrin is used to winning, and now the American skier can get used to being called a legend. She spoke with CNN about her latest historic win and what it means.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KINKADE: Welcome back.

The Vatican says Pope Francis is showing more improvement today and that his mild kidney failure from last weekend has receded. It adds that he is sitting up after another peaceful night in hospital. He remains in a critical but stable condition. The 88-year-old pontiff is receiving treatment for double pneumonia and that includes oxygen. He was originally admitted for a respiratory infection about two weeks ago.

Prayers are pouring in from around the globe, with a nightly service beginning early this week in St. Peter's Square.

Well, less than one second. That's how long it took. American skier Mikaela Shiffrin to beat her competition, winning her 100th World Cup race over the weekend. The two time Olympic gold medalist finished just 0.61 seconds ahead of the athlete, coming in second place in the women's slalom event.

That makes her the first downhill skier ever, man or woman, to reach 100 wins.

Well, the victory comes only three months after Shiffrin suffered major injuries from a crash on the slopes.

Coy Wire spoke with her after her historic win.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS: Mikaela, the first downhill skier to reach 100 wins. The tears were flowing. What sort of things were racing through your mind after you raced into the history books?

MIKAELA SHIFFRIN, AMERICAN SKIER WHO WON 100TH WORLD CUP: Oh, man. Well, immediately, and this is me being just a little too literal, but I was immediately just trying to find where my time was, and I couldn't actually see the scoreboard, which is, you would think after.

Yeah, a hundred times doing it, I would think to know where the scoreboard is. But -- but anyway, I thought I was in fourth for a second. I was like, is that first or fourth? And that is green or red?

[15:55:00]

Didn't really want to celebrate. If it wasn't, that would be really insensitive.

Anyway, that's -- that's me being literal. But, yeah, overall, it's been quite a journey this season after the crash in Killington and the injury and working back to getting my oblique to be functioning and work through the wound care and the whole puncture situation was that's been wild over the last few months. And then just to work to get back into the start gate and back on skis.

So it all kind of came bubbling to the surface. And I was yeah, no shortage of tears on Sunday, that's for sure.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Well, that does it for this edition of CNN NEWSROOM.

Our thanks to Coy and congratulations to Mikaela.

I'm Lynda Kinkade.

"QUEST MEANS BUSINESS" is next.