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Trump To Address Joint Session Of Congress Tuesday; Bus Crash In Bolivia Leaves At Least 38 Dead, 35 Injured; "Anora" Triumphs At Oscars: Best Picture, Director, Actress. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired March 03, 2025 - 05:30   ET

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

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[05:31:30]

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back.

U.S. President Donald Trump will face lawmakers on Tuesday addressing a joint session of Congress for the first time in his second presidential term. It's an opportunity for Mr. Trump to reassure voters about his leadership.

Since he took office, we have seen the president's indiscriminate firings of federal workers, threats of massive tariffs on U.S. allies, and his explosive White House meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

A CNN poll taken before that meeting with Zelenskyy shows that a majority of Americans are unhappy with how President Trump is doing his job. Fifty-two percent disapprove of his performance; 48 percent approve.

Now, Trump's speech will give critics a chance to voice their opposition to his actions and policies, but as Arlette Saenz reports it's not exactly clear how they plan to do it.

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ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Democrats will face a fresh test this week as they are looking to counter President Trump's joint address to Congress. Democratic leaders are hoping to present a united front as they are trying to argue that Trump's actions in his first six weeks in office and the plans that Republicans want to pursue in the coming months will not help but, instead, will hurt the American people.

One way they are trying to highlight that is by bringing guests to the State of the Union who are individuals who have been negatively impacted by Trump's early moves. That could include fired federal workers and other individuals who might be involved with programs that were subjected to those funding freezes in these early weeks.

Now, Democrats have also chosen Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan to deliver the official rebuttal to Trump's remarks. It's an interesting choice because Slotkin is a freshman senator who was one of only two freshman senators to actually win in a battleground state that Trump won back in November. She has often talked about the need for Democrats to talk about kitchen table issues in order to win back voters in the upcoming elections.

Now, while that is a big focus of the Democratic response there are some who are considering not attending this speech at all. One of those is Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy who has really been a leading voice in the pushback against Trump. Here is why he has decided not to attend that speech on Tuesday night.

SEN. CHRIS MURPHY (D-MI): I think that State of the Union speech is going to be a farce. I think it's going to be a MAGA pep rally, not a serious talk to the nation.

We're going to stop that billionaire takeover -- that destruction of our democracy -- only by fighting them every single day. A lot of Democrats think maybe you should fight every third day. You should reserve your power and jump out of the bushes at the right moment. I just think that we have to be on the offensive 24/7.

SAENZ: Now for the Democrats who are in the House chamber on Tuesday night they will also have to decide whether to try to respond or react to Trump in real time on the spot.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi who famously ripped up the speech that Trump delivered during his last State of the Union as president -- she is urging Democratic lawmakers to exercise some caution, saying in an interview that they should essentially just "let Trump stew in his own juice."

It all comes as Democrats really have struggled to stop Trump's actions in the first six weeks of his presidency. And they also have yet to settle on a cohesive message and strategy for how to push back on those actions. But the varying tactics of Democrats will be on display during this speech as Democrats are still trying to find their way out of the political wilderness.

[05:35:10]

Arlette Saenz, CNN, Washington.

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SOLOMON: OK, let's welcome in Margaret Talev, a senior contributor to Axios, and also the director for the Institute of Democracy, Journalism and Citizenship at Syracuse University. She joins me now from Washington. Margaret, always a pleasure to have you.

Before we get to the Dems there, what Arlette was sort of responding to there -- how they disagree over the best strategy for them right now -- let's just speak about Trump and what you're expecting to hear from him from tomorrow coming off of that really explosive event with Zelenskyy on Friday.

What does he say tomorrow? MARGARET TALEV, SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR, AXIOS, DIRECTOR, INSTITUTE FOR DEMOCRACY, JOURNALISM AND CITIZENSHIP, SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY: Look, Rahel, I think the joint address is going to be an opportunity for the president to try to explain his actions so far, and we've seen him do a few before. So we know he will declare victory, whatever victory means, in his first couple of -- his first month in office -- first month in a couple of weeks.

So I would expect to hear his analysis of the negotiations so far with Zelenskyy framed in what he will see as a positive light. And you could certainly see that being previewed with the Sunday show tour of many Trump administration officials and allies across government sort of solidifying his message over and over again.

You know, it's interesting that you mention the Democratic response from Slotkin because not only is this someone who won in the swing state but think about her background. Remember, she got her start as a CIA analyst and then went on to work at both the Department of Defense and Department of State. So I think as Democrats try to figure out what their overall message may be and sort of how to play it as you played there in your comments, she is someone whose sort of resume and experience at least can tell that story.

SOLOMON: Yeah, and which side of that do you think her comments fall on? Because as Arlette pointed to there and as we've heard over the weekend from top Dems and from top Democratic strategists, there seems to be a real division in the party about whether to just sort of sit back and in the words of some, just sort of let Trump self-destruct in their words, or whether to go on the offensive.

What do you think we hear from her?

TALEV: Yeah. When it comes to Ukraine, in particular, what you saw initially was almost sort of rock solid support among Republicans for the president's tactics at that meeting on Friday, but as a little bit more time has passed you see some divisions.

And Ukraine has the potential not because of the country of Ukraine but because of what it would mean for the U.S. to split from Europe after 75 years -- what it would mean for the U.S. to realign more closely to Russia, you do see a split among Republicans. You saw Murkowski -- Sen. Murkowski say that she was sick to her stomach. You saw Sen. Lankford say that a forced -- you know, a push to force out Zelenskyy, which is what you're beginning to see the Trump administration play with, could create chaos in Europe.

So if Ukraine does become an issue that divides Republicans you can understand why Democrats would want to get out of the way.

But on the other hand, when you're looking at tariffs, you're looking at DOGE -- these mass firings -- many Americans do want to see some leadership from Democrats. Sort of a counterpoint to the Trump administration's point. So how they articulate that and who articulates it, I think we're going to see in the tone that Trump sets in those remarks on Tuesday may set the pace for the Democrats' responses. SOLOMON: And what about how Trump articulates his plans on the

economy? I mean, obviously there are clearly pressing foreign policy issues at the moment -- Ukraine being just one of them. But for a lot of Americans their most pressing issue is the economy. And on this, voters say they're not seeing enough progress.

You had the CBS News poll suggesting that, at least according to this poll, some 52 percent of respondents say that Trump's policies are actually making prices go in the opposite direction -- go up.

So Margaret, how much does he lean into this tomorrow? How much does he need to?

TALEV: Right. And the polling is always sort of a lagging indicator on this because it takes some time for most Americans who are not as immersed in the news -- it doesn't -- Americans who don't wake up every day consuming news and go to sleep every night consuming it, take some time for the impacts to be felt.

What we saw in the early weeks of the administration was Americans -- the Americans who voted for Trump being quite happy. But as time has gone on, many weeks later you're seeing eggs coursing upwards, not downward.

I think this is a real -- it's going to become his problem. He has hung it on President Biden but now will become President Trump's responsibility what happens to the economy.

[05:40:00]

So I think we will hear him make a case that anything good that's happening he should get credit for and anything bad that's happening the former administration should get credit for. But in the end, how you spin it only goes so far. Americans are experiencing what they're experiencing. And as Joe Biden learned in his term, they will -- they will blame the administration that's in charge if they don't like the way their pocketbook experiences go.

SOLOMON: Yeah. Their experiences and how they feel about those experiences.

Margaret Talev, great to have you. Thank you.

TALEV: You, too. Thank you.

SOLOMON: All right, on to Bolivia. Yep. At least 38 people are dead and more than 35 injured after two buses collided in southwestern Bolivia on Saturday. The crash happened when one of the buses swerved into oncoming traffic. The incident is under investigation, but authorities believe that speeding was a factor.

A big night for "Anora." We'll have more on the Oscars and what's special about that film when we come back.

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[05:45:23]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILLY CRYSTAL, ACTOR: And the Oscar goes to --

MEG RYAN, ACTRESS: "Anora."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And the Oscar goes to "Anora" -- Sean Baker.

EMMA STONE, ACTRESS: And the Oscar goes to Mikey Madison.

MIKEY MADISON, BEST ACTRESS, "ANORA": I grew up in Los Angeles, but Hollywood always felt so far away from me. So to be here standing in this room today is really incredible. This is a dream come true. I'm probably going to wake up tomorrow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: For more on all things Oscars let's go live now to Michael Musto here in New York. He is an entertainment journalist with The Village Voice. Thanks for waking up nice and early for us, Michael.

Let's talk about just -- I mean, that category. You predicted last night that Demi Moore would win best actress. How surprised are you that Mikey Madison took it home?

MICHAEL MUSTO, ENTERTAINMENT JOURNALIST, THE VILLAGE VOICE: I was hoping you wouldn't remind everyone of that mistake. I was insistent. I really felt like it was a lock for Demi Moore -- not only for her performance but for the trajectory of herself as a person who had come into this great recognition all of a sudden after having been deemed a washout.

But I have to admit Mikey Madison was the right choice. You know what? She was the best performer in that category. Mikey Madison is a 25- year-old actress. She plays a stripper from Brooklyn who gets involved with the son of a Russian oligarch. And it's a kind of wild and wooly screwball sex comedy. And this girl -- woman -- Mikey Madison is fearless and really a brilliant actress. I couldn't be happier for her.

SOLOMON: Yeah, it was certainly a great night for her. Maybe not such a great night for Hulu.

MUSTO: Well, what in particular are you referring to?

SOLOMON: Well, I mean --

MUSTO: That they sort of crashed and burned?

SOLOMON: Yeah, basically. I mean, viewers reported having issues --

MUSTO: Yeah.

SOLOMON: -- streaming. Sort of a la Netflix. MUSTO: It was terrible because a lot of subscribers found that the

telecast was over before it was over and they didn't get to see who won actor, actress, and best picture -- and those are the three biggest awards.

SOLOMON: Yeah.

MUSTO: It just happens.

SOLOMON: In addition to Mikey -- yeah. In addition to Mikey Madison, any major surprises of the night for you?

MUSTO: You know what? I have to say everything was extremely predictable. There was one that was kind of up in the air, which was best international film. And it would have been "Emilia Perez," which was my favorite movie of the year. A really thrilling original movie about a trans character -- a musical.

But once the old tweets of the star, Karla Gascon, came out --

SOLOMON: Yeah.

GUSTO: -- and they were very toxic tweets, we knew that star was fading and "I'm Still Here," a Brazilian film, was going to win that category, and it did.

SOLOMON: Yeah.

GUSTO: Other than that you really could have bet on your pool with your friends and won a lot of money. Everything was just exactly the way they said it was going to be.

SOLOMON: How about Zoe Saldana and her speech? I mean, so heartfelt, so moving. Just I think one of the highlights. I mean, you're seeing in the reviews this morning, it's just one of the moments that so many people are talking about.

MUSTO: She won Best Supporting Actress for "Emilia Perez."

SOLOMON: Yeah.

MUSTO: And the controversy about the movie didn't hurt her chances of winning, and I knew it wouldn't because her performance is that strong. She plays the lawyer who works with the trans character on transitioning and creating a whole new life.

And yes, her speech was beautiful and was a lot about her grandmother being an immigrant and a lot about Zoe being the first Dominican, I believe, to win the Oscar.

SOLOMON: Yeah -- um-hum.

MUSTO: Dominican American. I think --

SOLOMON: Yeah. She said she's the first but not the -- not the last, hopefully. MUSTO: She won't be. But it was a very heartfelt speech. I thought she should have talked more about the trans community. There's really not a lot of talk about that at all from the other winners either for that movie.

But it's still -- look, Zoe Saldana is someone who has been in "Avatar" movies and the "Avengers" franchise. But it took this oddball international film for her to get recognized as a great actress.

SOLOMON: Yeah.

GUSTO: So this is a great turn of events for her.

SOLOMON: Yeah. Perhaps well overdue. I was a -- it was a great moment to see.

Michael Musto, appreciate you. Thank you.

MUSTO: Thank you.

SOLOMON: All right. And coming up we'll show you brand new images of the moon. Stay with us. We'll be right back.

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[05:54:00]

SOLOMON: Blue Ghost Lunar Lander is sending back breathtaking images of the moon. The uncrewed spacecraft touched down on the moon's surface early Sunday morning. Firefly Aerospace is now the second private company to score a moon landing.

Bright colors, lively music, and feathers galore. Rio de Janeiro once again reminding the world why it is the place to be for Carnival. The festival encourages all to eat, drink, and be merry before Ash Wednesday when Christians begin the period of Lent for 40 days ahead of Easter. It always looks like such a good time.

And Louisiana's favorite adopted son reigned supreme over New Orleans on Sunday headlining the Big Easy's slate of Carnival parades -- former LSU star and NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille O'Neal. Shaq ruled as King Bacchus from his custom throne specially constructed to accommodate his massive seven foot-one frame. Adoring fans could be seen trying to catch a glimpse and some Mardi Gras beads from the Shaq-us king. Good fun there.

[05:55:15]

And thanks for joining us. I'm Rahel Solomon live in New York. Stick with us. "CNN THIS MORNING WITH AUDIE CORNISH" is up after a quick break.

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