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Erin Burnett Outfront
Trump Backtracks As Markets Set For Worst Week In 2 Years; Ukrainian Ambassador: United States Is "Destroying" World Order; Trump Nephew Speaks To OutFront About Trump's Return To White House. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired March 06, 2025 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:41]
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:
Breaking news, Trump retreats as the markets tank, new jobs numbers showing a bleak picture, prices going up. Still, Trump and his wealthy allies, though, say it is a small price to pay.
Plus, a top Ukrainian official accusing the U.S. of destroying the world order as the Kremlin makes it clear Putin is not interested in peace.
And Trump's nephew speaks out, no longer just taking on his uncle, but also Elon Musk. Fred Trump is our guest.
Let's go OUTFRONT.
And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett.
OUTFRONT tonight, the breaking news, Trump backing down as the markets nosedive. The president pumping the brakes on his trade war as major concerns about the U.S. economy grow tonight. The Dow losing 428 points, right now on track for its worst week in two years. And the Nasdaq is now in correction territory. That means it's down 10 percent from its peak, 7 percent since Trump took office.
And they are down even as Trump gave in to Mexico and Canada today, pausing his 25 percent tariffs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: Some of these exemptions that have been announced and some of these temporary delays. Have you been influenced in those decisions because of the market reaction?
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, there are no delays at all. No, nothing to do with the market. I'm not even looking at the market.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Of course, there was delays, right, because they were going to do them. Then you had the calls with the Trudeau and Sheinbaum and delayed them a month. And now here we are and now they're delayed again.
As for not looking at the market, that would be new, because for years Trump has been aggressive about touting just how well the markets do when he's in charge.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Since the election, the stock market has broken one record after another.
The stock market is good because a lot of people think were going to win the election.
We had a great stock market.
We're hitting record stock market numbers.
Another great all time stock market record.
The stock market is up again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Well, now, it's down. We're not hearing about it.
And his on again off again trade war is setting alarms off around the world. I mean, heads of state, investors' consumers. Nobody really knows whether to take Trump seriously because he does continue to say he's going to do them.
And there's no way he won't. And then he delays it, pauses it. The question is whether he's crying wolf. Nobody is -- is clear at this point where this is.
One thing is for certain, though, underneath all of this is that prices have gone up, prices have gone up at least 3 percent over the past month, egg prices and housing. Obviously prices have gone up. The thing is though, if you listen to Trump and some of his wealthier allies, these price increases are a small price to pay for the MAGA agenda.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MARKWAYNE MULLIN (R-OK): As the American people ready to get the country back on track and do what it do, what it needs to do, what it takes to make that happen, absolutely. We're going to have to adjust some prices for it now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: We're going to have to adjust some prices for it.
Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin -- I mean, look, that's his point of view, but it may be easier for him than others. He's reportedly worth at least $31 billion, one of the wealthiest members of Congress.
This is what Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had to say about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCOTT BESSENT, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: Access to cheap goods is not the asset -- is not the essence of the American dream.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Access to cheap goods is not the essence of the American Dream. Well, that's actually a really big topic of conversation, but it may be true for Secretary Bessent. He is a former hedge fund manager. He is worth at least $521 billion.
So it is true for him. And then there's Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: There'll be a little disturbance. But we're okay with that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Perhaps a little disturbance to somebody who says he's a billionaire. But to most Americans his disturbance is serious turbulence, surging prices are hurting Americans. And it is not what they expected.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Under my plan, incomes will skyrocket. Inflation will vanish completely.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Vanish completely.
Well, not only is inflation not vanished, it's obviously been going up, but incomes have been hit. A new report out today reveals that U.S. employers cut 172,000 jobs last month. That is double. It is double, 103 percent increase from a year ago, double the number of job losses.
It is the highest monthly total in job losses -- now just wait for this -- since COVID, COVID in 2020.
[19:05:07]
That is incredible. And it may be why today, Trump appears to be trying to backtrack, suggesting that he is reining in Elon Musk and his ability to take a literal chainsaw to the federal government, posting online, quote, we say the scalpel rather than the hatchet when it comes to the DOGE job cuts.
Of course, hatchet has been what it has been thus far.
Jeff Zeleny is OUTFRONT, live outside the White House. So, Jeff, I just want to start with one thing that Trump said here,
among -- among others. But this one really stood out to me. He says he doesn't watch the markets. That would be a first if it's the case.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: I mean, Erin, skeptical eye rolls, even from the president's advisers and admirers over those seven words: I don't even watch the market.
But the market is watching the White House and the uncertainty that has been here at the White House really over the last several days over this threat of a trade war, an actual trade war, a reversal of a trade war, all left to what is next. And the president, again, in the Oval Office today said he is not going to make exemptions for the April 2nd round of reciprocal tariffs.
That, of course, is an open question because he has made exemptions when the automakers came calling, he made exemptions again today when the president of Mexico said that they are cracking down on fentanyl, and she showed him some data that does show that fentanyl production was down.
So look, the bottom line to all of this, you can just see the competing advice coming from advisers. Peter Navarro, for example, the top trade expert here has been really leaning into these tariffs. Howard Lutnick, the commerce secretary, has been sending signals to the market that the president is going to change his mind hours before he does so.
But the market clearly has been rattled by this. So the question is, what comes next in all of this? There's a lot of concern on Capitol Hill from Republican lawmakers and others. Yes, they still deeply support this president. He has a big control of the House and Senate, there's no doubt.
But the markets are one thing he is always loved and watched. The markets are giving their thoughts to the president. And it certainly is not an A-plus grade, Erin.
BURNETT: Certainly not at this moment.
All right. Thank you very much, Jeff Zeleny.
Jared Bernstein was chair of President Biden's Council of Economic Advisers, and former Republican Governor Mark Sanford, also a former congressman, and served on the Budget Committee.
So I appreciate both of you very much.
Governor, can I start with you? You see the markets responding. You know, there was a day -- actually, there was a day a month ago when the president said he's going to do tariffs. And then when he backed down, then the markets go back up.
But that wasn't the case now, right, there's been this kind of whiplash of I'm going to -- I'm not going to -- I'm going to maybe one too many times. What do you think the effect of this on again/off again trade war is going to be? Governor, can you hear me?
MARK SANFORD (R), FORMER U.S. CONGRESSMAN & GOVERNOR OF SOUTH CAROLINA: Oh, I thought you said Jared. I apologize.
BURNETT: No, sorry.
SANFORD: What do I think the effect is going to be? I think it's going to be disastrous.
You know, people go down to the local bank because it sends signals that there's stability there. And what the president right now is doing both domestically and internationally, is sending a signal that there is not stability, and people don't invest into instability. It's the reason that a lot of money doesn't pour into third world countries, because they have no idea what's going to happen next.
And if that's the operating environment that businesses have to look at, they're going to put the brakes on and you're not going to see the domestic investment that he's talked about, and you're not going to see the jobs he's talked about, and you are going to see inflation. So I'm quite worried. And I think the markets obviously are too.
BURNETT: And, Jared, you have one chart that actually speaks to exactly what the governor just said. The uncertainty index.
JARED BERNSTEIN, FORMER CHAIR OF PRESIDENT BIDEN'S COUNCIL OF ECONOMIC ADVISERS: Yeah. The governor is spot on. If you look at the spikes in that chart, it's a chart of uncertainty caused by trade policy that lurches the way we've seen. And markets and investors really don't like that.
As you said, the market, the Dow is down 1,500 points this week. Today, the Nasdaq down 5 percent over the week, as you said in correction territory, I think the one reliable force that can protect American consumers from the price increasing impact of these harmful tariffs on Canada and Mexico is, in fact, the stock market. The president doth protest too much when he says otherwise. We know the record on that.
I also think we should be clear, as Jeff was, that the call with President Sheinbaum and the progress they've made on fentanyl, that's good news. But the markets are the dominant force here.
BURNETT: So, Governor, I'm also curious. You know, when you look at you got a layer in this, what we saw on jobs. Now you have a more than doubling in the number of layoffs this February from last February.
And overall, the biggest number of -- of job losses in a month to month basis since -- since COVID in 2020.
[19:10:04]
I mean, when you layer that in here, that is very -- you talk about unsettling or destabilizing for sure.
SANFORD: Yeah. I mean, again, I go back to very simple principles, which is investments go to where they're loved and where they have a sense of what's coming next. And inasmuch as people don't, they're not going to add, you know, small businesses. I think I will hold off on hiring that extra person, and cumulatively, that really begins to add up.
More worrisome, though, I think, is the inflation component, which I think could really -- I mean, you talk about something that would bite the Republican Party in the midterms. Oh my goodness. I mean, think about this, half of the fresh produce that you see in grocery stores across the country in the wintertime comes from Mexico. A quarter of the lumber supply that goes into the houses that are being built comes from Canada.
You begin to put walls up to our immediate borders and a lot of bad things begin to happen from the standpoint of inflation, which is the flip side of what will hurt people. They can lose their job or they can see prices go crazy. Either way, they get hurt. And I think there will be a political consequence.
BURNETT: Jared, what do you think about the fact that it's being called by -- Trump called it a little disturbance. You heard Bessent. You heard Markwayne Mullin.
And look, I'm not trying to mock them specifically. I'm merely pointing out. When money isn't an issue for you. It is hard to see how a price increase that is -- is massive for many is so significant.
I mean, you heard Bessent say, you know, cheap goods is not the essence of the American dream. Many may beg to disagree on that, on that fundamental point, but what do you think about the fact that -- that -- that this is how they're saying, well, it's just -- it's just a little bit of price for now?
BERNSTEIN: Yeah. Look, the governor is the politician here, but let me offer a little free political advice, and I suspect he would agree with it. If you're a millionaire, especially if you're a billionaire, you should never tell people not to worry about higher prices, all right? That should just be something that's kind of etched on everything you -- you think about.
This is -- we know that the American consumer has been dealing with this -- this problem, this challenge, these pressures for a while. And when I was in the Biden administration, we were doing what we could to help cut costs. We can argue about how far we got, but -- but we certainly never thought about doing anything that would raise costs. And here we've -- we've talked about, they're on pause for now, but they're on pause for only a month.
We're talking about tariffs that could raise the price of a vehicle by between $3,500 and $9,000. You're talking about avocados, which still probably will be tariff. That's -- the White House was unclear about that today, adding 50 cents per -- per item there.
The price of gas -- I've seen estimates could go up 20 cents per gallon. That's real money for real people. And if you're a millionaire or a billionaire and you're dismissing that, you're -- you're -- you're making a big mistake and frankly, you're insulting people.
BURNETT: Governor, what do you think? You know, access to cheap goods is not the essence of the American dream. We're going to have to adjust some prices for it, what we were hearing today from some close to Trump.
BERNSTEIN: If that was the case, Walmart would not have grown as it did out of Arkansas. In fact, it became a phenomenon again, some dislocation in fairness in the process and small businesses that were hurt. But it was a phenomenon because people did indeed want cheaper goods. Everybody's struggling to make it.
And you're -- not the millionaires and billionaires to Jared's point. But most folks are out there struggling to make it, and if they could save a little bit at home, they want to do so.
I think the administration is playing with real fire here. You know, you look at what happened in, you know, the 1930s with Smoot-Hawley tariffs, you know, world trade imploded by two thirds during that time period.
I mean, if you set off the match that lights a trade war again, there will be hell to pay politically and there will be real consequences in peoples lives.
BURNETT: And there are consequences on war and peace, perhaps, too, as in that historical time frame.
Governor, Jared, thank you both very much. I appreciate it.
And, you know, Trump has repeatedly claimed that Putin wants peace, but the Kremlin gave some extremely revealing comments today that show the opposite.
Plus, Trump's next target. "Wired" reporting tonight that the administration is looking at potentially cutting experts at the Pentagon whose job it is to stop the spread of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons.
And he called his former party toxic. So what does he think they have to do now? Former Senator Joe Manchin will join us live.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:19:19]
BURNETT: Tonight, America is destroying the world order. That is the direct and specific stunning accusation from Ukraine's former military chief. Now, Zaluzhnyi is the ambassador to the United Kingdom, warning of the disastrous consequences of a U.S.-Russia alignment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VALERII ZALUZHNYI, UKRAINE'S AMBASSADOR TO THE UK: It's not just the axis of evil and Russia trying to revise the world order, but the U.S. is finally destroying this order. (END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Destroying it.
As the U.S. wavers, Europe has come out in a show of force for Ukraine and its president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Today, E.U. defense ministers and they were meeting. They approved plans to boost defense spending by a significant amount.
[19:20:03]
But despite Trump's assurances that Putin wants peace, he has said this repeatedly, of course. So far, Putin has not made serious attempts at it. Not only are they continually bombarding Ukraine, of course, with attacks, but Vladimir Putin is demanding that any peace deal must ensure Russia's security. While his foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, categorically today rejected something that's been very clear from Europe, which is the use of any E.U. peacekeepers, said no way, no deal, if that's part of it.
OUTFRONT now, Ian Bremmer, renowned global affairs analyst, the founder of Eurasia Group and GZERO Media.
So, Ian, you hear former General Zaluzhnyi, now ambassador, you know, and obviously he was fired by Zelenskyy. He's got that -- you know, but 100 percent on board here saying the U.S. is destroying the world order. I mean, how significant is a statement like that coming so directly from him?
IAN BREMMER, PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER OF EURASIA GROUP & GZERO MEDIA: Well, it's not just from him. If it was just from the Ukrainians, I think we would recognize with Zelenskyy under the pressure that he presently is and the Americans suspending intelligence sharing, suspending military support, you understand it. But the fact is that there are plenty of Americas closest allies in Canada and Mexico and Europe and other countries around the world that are actually saying the same thing, because it was, of course, America's global order. That is about collective security.
It's about free trade. It's about rule of law. It's about promoting democracy. Not always articulated without hypocrisy, not always executed on wealth, but nonetheless, that was the baseline, and that is absolutely a global order that the United States is presently trying to undo and replace it with an order where the most powerful get to do what they want.
They make the rules, and everyone else has to suffer what they must. It's a much more predatory approach. It's a much more, frankly, Chinese approach to the way we think about the world order.
BURNETT: Except for they -- even they have belt and road. We've gotten rid of USAID.
I'm not saying that because -- I'm not laughing, because I think it's funny. I'm sort of just responding to it.
BREMMER: There's an irony to it.
BURNETT: There's an irony to it. So, so Zelenskyy is talking about practical steps towards a ceasefire. He's saying, okay, well if you do air and sea, you know, they're having a practical conversation.
Europe has said that they want peacekeepers. Russia says no NATO troops in Ukraine, no peace, no peacekeepers from Sergey Lavrov, adamantly, no peacekeepers or we won't do a deal.
What? What does that mean for any, quote/unquote, negotiation?
BREMMER: Well, it may be that we don't get a deal. It's possible.
It's -- look, it's very interesting that in this war, the Americans are saying you Europe need to take a leadership role. You need to do it. It's going to be your troops, not our troops. It's going to be your money, not our money. Your defensive capabilities, not our defensive capabilities.
And what we have seen over the course of the last week is that the Europeans are standing up dramatically compared to where they have been to do precisely that. Now, if it turns out that the Europeans are the ones doing the backstopping, then they're going to be the ones that will be around the table of the ceasefire deal.
BURNETT: Why are we the ones doing the deal?
BREMMER: Well, it's not true. It's not clear that we are.
BURNETT: Right, yeah.
BREMMER: I mean, you know, Trump is the one that said that he wants the war to be over. But ultimately, if the Europeans are supporting the Ukrainians, if they're embracing Zelenskyy in London, as we saw over the weekend, it's a little bit like the Middle East situation, right?
I mean, Trump says he's going to do Gaza. The Palestinians are all leaving Gaza. He's not making Gaza Riviera. Now we have the Saudis and the Egyptians coming up with the deal, and they will -- if they're the ones putting in the money and the security, they will end up being the ones doing the deal.
BURNETT: So. All right. So I want to play you something. This is a center-right French senator. Okay? Center-right French senator caught my attention yesterday. He's talking about Trump and Elon Musk. And he said this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLAUDE MALHURET, FRENCH SENATOR: Washington has become the court of Nero, an incendiary emperor, submissive courtiers and a jester on ketamine tasked with purging the civil service.
Trump has done more damage to America than in four years of his last presidency. We were at war with a dictator. Now we are fighting against a dictator supported by a traitor.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: I mean, as those last words really, you know, stuck with me and we were at war with a dictator. Now were fighting against a dictator supported by a traitor, referring to Trump as the traitor, this center right politician.
I mean, is the damage to Americas standing with Europe, it's -- I know this is hard to answer in the moment we're in, but do you think it's permanent?
BREMMER: Some of its clearly permanent. I think it is. I think, first of all, you said you center right, and he is center right in the French context. In the American context, that probably makes him center left, but nonetheless.
BURNETT: So, I'll put a center on it. Yeah.
BREMMER: It's -- it's very clear that the Europeans now feel like they are dealing not with an ally that is trusted, but an adversary. The Europeans have had a gun to their head from Russia for years now.
[19:25:01]
They haven't acted adequately on it. But they -- they do feel that national security concern. Now, they also feel a gun to their head from the United States.
And that that started in Munich. It started with first Elon Musk and then J.D. Vance saying, actually, you're the problem, not the Russians, not the Chinese.
You're the problem. You aren't Democrats. You don't support rule of law. You don't support free speech.
And we want your adversaries to be taking over like the AFD in Germany, who they consider a neo-Nazi party. And then the Americans throw Zelenskyy under the bus, and they don't do it by engaging with the Europeans. They do it unilaterally.
So if you're Europe, you feel like both domestically and internationally, you're being threatened by the country that used to be your closest ally. That is a pretty existential feeling, and that's why you're getting the kind of statements that you just saw from that senator in France.
BURNETT: Yeah, an existential moment that were living in. Thank you so much, Ian.
And next, the breaking news, Elon Musk's SpaceX spacecraft exploded shortly after takeoff. This is the second consecutive test failure. Look, it happens, but you got to ask the question in this context now, is Elon Musk spread too thin?
Plus, Trump's nephew speaking out, he previously had called his uncle, quote, incredibly cruel. What does he think of Trump's first days in office?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:30:56]
BURNETT: Tonight, a key agency at the Pentagon that works to stop the spread of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons now reportedly facing potential cuts by the Trump administration. This is according to "Wired", which reports that Secretary Pete Hegseth asked agencies for an assessment about the consequences for potential staffing cuts at the Pentagon.
Now, "Wired" obtained the draft response from the agency that deals with chemical and nuclear threats. They reportedly warned that a 60 percent reduction in funding would, quote, fundamentally eliminate America's role in preventing the spread of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons and increase the likelihood of a lab accident or theft of potentially dangerous biological material.
That's pretty terrifying. Now, to be clear, of course, no final decisions have been made on cuts. What the level will be.
A Pentagon spokesperson responding to "Wired's" reporting, saying they would not comment on, quote, internal deliberations.
Katie Drummond is OUTFRONT now, global editorial director at "Wired".
So, Katie, what stands out to you? You get this draft response the memo. So you've seen it. What stands out to you?
KATIE DRUMMOND, GLOBAL EDITORIAL DIRECTOR, WIRED: You know, I think the most notable piece of this to me is that that the request actually was for an assessment of cuts up to 75 percent. Now, the agencies that were responding to this request from Secretary Hegseth actually came back and said, we cant even go that far because 60 percent is as far as we can go without essentially destroying the entire thing.
BURNETT: Wow. So they asked for assessment of cuts up to 75.
DRUMMOND: Up to 75.
BURNETT: And they came back and said, were only going to 60 because at 60 were done.
DRUMMOND: Anything more than 60 percent was described as a red line for domestic and global security. Yeah.
BURNETT: Okay. So -- so which is pretty unbelievable. So if -- so obviously if you're being asked to look at cuts like that, that shows that the scale with which they want to approach this, right, right, and obviously, they're looking to see what these results are. What happens if you go 60 percent like you know when you talk about lab leak and you what happens do they say?
DRUMMOND: Yeah, I mean, we're essentially taking the United States out of any kind of role, preventing, you know, the spread of, as you said, as was quoted in the piece, you know, chemical, biological, nuclear weapons, we're talking about an increased risk of, you know, things like a lab accident, the theft of dangerous biological material, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, of nuclear arms around the world, without the United States having the ability to essentially monitor and safeguard for those kinds of significant risks to the entire planet.
BURNETT: Right. And there are things they can do. I mean, they have radiation detectors. I mean, there's a lot of things that are being done that people don't realize.
DRUMMOND: Oh, absolutely.
BURNETT: That, you know, that -- that -- that matter a lot.
So, you know, we did just get some video in of that SpaceX debris that I mentioned in the tease. I'll show you, Katie. It's lighting up the sky over Jamaica. That's the -- that's the light up there. That's the after the failed launch of the SpaceX starship, it had lifted off from their facility in south Texas less than an hour ago. And it and that failed.
FAA had to halt flights to Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach and Orlando because of this. And it's the second consecutive failure for SpaceX.
Now, look, failures happen. And Elon has always been clear that he doesn't care. Like just go shoot it off okay. So that -- within that context though, is he maxed out right now in terms of the one person only has so much time.
DRUMMOND: Well, look, its very clear that he's -- that he's doing a lot. You know, he has operatives going into agencies with essentially, you know, machetes making sweeping cuts to -- to these various agencies. We know that he is essentially living, sleeping in D.C. while also running a lot of, you very high touch companies, SpaceX included.
So it's impossible to tell. We know that this is someone who works around the clock, but certainly nothing that we're seeing from -- from inside the federal government is particularly reassuring about what he's doing right now. And, you know, now we have, again, more questions being raised about the company that need, I remind everyone, the FAA is actually overseeing while we have DOGE operatives inside the very agency that is overseeing exactly the incident that you just showed.
BURNETT: And so you use the word machete. You know, Trump had his cabinet meeting with Elon today. But, you know, in it he said, we're going to do this every two weeks, but we're learning. He told the secretary, say, but you guys are the ones making the decisions, you know, not Elon.
[19:35:01]
DRUMMOND: Right. BURNETT: Elon's recommending. And then he used the word, we say the scalpel rather than the hatchet.
DRUMMOND: Sure.
BURNETT: Of course. That's what they say. What we see is a hatchet.
DRUMMOND: We're seeing a hatchet.
BURNETT: Yeah.
DRUMMOND: Let's be honest.
BURNETT: What do you make, though, of this softening from him?
DRUMMOND: Well, look, it's certainly an interesting commentary on Musk's position relative to the secretaries, right, relative to the administration. I think that's certainly notable.
But I think one thing we see with this -- with this Pentagon request, right, with Secretary Hegseth making this request, look at up to 75 percent of cuts. The president clearly doesn't need Elon Musk to be wielding the machete or whatever other, you know, weapon metaphor we want to use. He has his own members of the administration who are clearly ready and willing to do that for him.
BURNETT: All right. Katie, thank you very much.
DRUMMOND: Thank you.
BURNETT: And as I mentioned, President Trump told his cabinet members that they and not Elon Musk are the final voices on potential cuts. But Trump seemed to suggest later today that Musk will be able to cut if his cabinet members don't.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I want the cabinet members go first. Keep all the people you want, everybody that you need, and it would be better if they were there for two years instead of two weeks, because in two years, they'll know the people better.
But I want them to do the best job they can, when we have good people, those -- that's precious. That's very important. And we want them to keep the good people. And so, we're going to be watching them.
And Elon and the group are going to be watching them. And if they can cut, it's better. And if they don't cut, then Elon will do the cutting.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: OUTFRONT now, former Democratic and independent senator, Joe Manchin.
So, Senator, you know, basically, you know, he softened a little bit. You know, you guys make the decisions. But basically but if you don't do it, he will. It sounds like a parent talking to kids. So do you see any scenario where Elon Musk should be the final voice over cabinet secretaries in these cuts?
JOE MANCHIN, FORMER U.S. SENATOR: No, no, I think what I'm understanding is the president made some adjustments today. And here's the thing, if I was going to be a secretary for any president, Donald Trump or anyone else, I would say, tell me the job you want me to do. Tell me what you're trying to do in that agency and what your goals are. And I'll put a staff together and make it happen.
And then what they'll say is, well, well talk about that. And what they want to do, they want to put the people from the White House to watch over what you're doing so that you do what they want you to do. And I think he has a lot of strong willed people in his cabinet are saying, wait a minute, I've been very successful in business. I've done pretty well in life. I can pick the right people.
Tell me what you want.
BURNETT: I don't need -- I don't need Elon doing it.
MANCHIN: Tell me what -- tell me what you need, and then we'll make the decisions. Now, if we don't, and there's waste and fraud and abuse that we don't get rid of, then that bring Elon, bring anybody in.
But I know some of the people he has and they're good people. They can do their job, let them do their job. And I think that's what they got through. And he's doing that.
BURNETT: So you think they did push back? One of the fired workers was actually sitting where you were sitting right now a few days ago. Luke Graziano, a 20-year army veteran, he had done multiple tours in each, two in Iraq, two in Afghanistan, and he got fired from Bronx veterans hospital.
And five weeks before his probationary period ended. And again, I always want to say probationary, not because you're on probation just because you hadn't been there that long. I got you, and here's something he said that actually really stood out to me. Here it is, Senator.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LUKE GRAZIANO, U.S. ARMY VETERAN: I'm very privileged to have the job that I have or had.
BURNETT: Yeah.
GRAZIANO: I very much like to get back to it. I think no one -- no one deserves a job. But if they're willing to, you know, raise their right hand and swear the oath and become a federal service employee, I think that they have every right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: So one in three federal workers or veterans, 75 -- 70,000 workers from the V.A. are expected to lose their jobs.
Senator, I know this is something you -- you know, you spent a lot of your career working with veterans. What do you -- what do you think about that?
MANCHIN: Erin, and let me just say, first of all, from the veterans, I have a state that's highly populated with veterans.
BURNETT: Yes.
MANCHIN: We have we fought more wars and conflicts and shed more blood than most states have on a percentage basis. So our -- the veterans and the veterans care is very near and dear to me and all of us, and I'm just hopeful that they understand the people that are depending on the care they've been receiving, that that is not going to be deterred or basically reduced.
Next of all, anybody that has a job, the greatest thing a person can have in life is the respect and dignity of a job, to take care of yourself and support your family. And that should be taken with great, great, great concern and pride. And when you have to make adjustments and changes, make sure there's a soft landing. Make sure there's something else, try to help.
And that's all I'm saying. A little bit of empathy would help an awful lot. And there's been changes in government before. There's fraud, waste and abuse. There's a way to go through that. It might take a little bit longer. They want to do things very, very much up front.
But do you understand there's going to be a correction. Either this is the right thing, the way to do it, or it's not going to be the right way.
[19:40:01]
The big correction comes on the midterms, the 2026 elections. So I think you've seen President Trump, he makes adjustments pretty quick.
If something's not working, he'll come back. And he's not afraid to come back and do something different such as tariffs, you know, Canada and --
BURNETT: Well, they're on, they're off. They're on, they're off. I mean, that's -- you know as I said the other day, I said I don't know what's worse, knowing that the tariffs are not good.
MANCHIN: Well, it's tough for the markets, it's tough for the markets. Yeah, it's tough for the markets, have any security.
BURNETT: But you mentioned the midterms. But I just want to ask you about where we are right now, okay, for the Democratic Party. And you had, you know, Democrat and independent, but you called the brand of the Democratic Party toxic.
MANCHIN: It's toxic. BURNETT: All right. Is there anyone out there in the Democratic Party
right now as you look and you watched that, you know, address to Congress anybody who can lead that party?
MANCHIN: Well, I think there will be. First of all, the leaders you have right now, you have Hakeem Jeffries leading the Democratic caucus and the Democrat party in the House, and you have Chuck Schumer.
They're responsible for the legislative branch. Is there someone else going to take over the executive or will come within the legislative branch? Who knows? But I think midterms will be shuffling things out quite a bit. And whatever happens and how strong or weak it may be.
The only thing I've said about Democrats and the Democratic Party, they better figure out how they lost people like me. They better figure out how they lost moderate, centrist, fiscally responsible, socially compassionate.
I love my Republican friends. I want to work with them. But I'm not afraid to respectfully disagree. You don't have to hate everybody. You don't have to demonize the other side. I belong to the American party now because I couldn't take it any longer.
BURNETT: That's it. The American party, I mean. But, you know, you look out there, Gavin Newsom has been doing interviews with conservatives. He did one with Charlie Kirk, and they were talking about Democrats, you know, that -- which kind of Democrats? Charlie Kirk is a conservative liked, and he was raising questions. Oh, we talk about Joe Manchin or Bobby Kennedy or --
MANCHIN: We're talking about common sense, just common sense. If I can go home to my beautiful little town of Farmington, West Virginia, where I grew up, of 500 people, on a good day, holiday was 500, but if I can look them in the eye and if it makes sense and I can explain it, I can vote for it. If it doesn't make it make sense and I can't go home and explain, I can't vote for it or support it.
So you can put all the pressure you want on me. You can't change me because I am who I am, and that's who most of Americans -- give them a job, an opportunity. Make sure that they're able to take care of their children, things of the sort. Make sure its safe.
The president came in and he did exactly what he was saying, what he said. You did not elect the comforter in chief. You elected a basically commander in chief, and he's hit the ground running. He basically went after the border, which I beg the Democrats, you can't have asylum at the border. You can't have catch and release. And it was horrible.
But you know what? Nobody can say we made a mistake. We made a mistake. We miscalculated this. And we want to work with our Republican friends, secure the border. But we have to have legal immigration because we're going to have to have a workforce that's here for the right reason.
There's a lot of things they can do. But to make a spectacle of the president and his address to the -- to the nation, what I saw was shameful.
BURNETT: Al Green.
MANCHIN: Was shameful. The whole thing was shameful.
And not even be able to stand when this young little man who basically wants to be a police officer and protect us all, couldn't even stand and clap for that. What happened to you? What happened to the decency and humanity in all of us?
And I've said this when I was there, I was the only one standing. One time in 17, when the President Trump said some things I agreed with and people were hissing and booing, and I'm thinking, that's so disrespectful to hiss and boo the president speaking, they were hissing, booing me. They weren't booing him.
So I know what it's like. Come on, people, lets put some respect back in and the dignity and decorum in the life of this great country of ours, lets be Americans first and put the -- put the country before the party. I'm begging them all to do that.
BURNETT: All right. Well, Senator, I appreciate and it's good to see you in person.
MANCHIN: It's good to be back.
BURNETT: I know, it's good to see you.
And next, Donald Trump's nephew joins me live. He's making a plea to his uncle and Republicans tonight on behalf of his son.
Plus, is Trump giving Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau a, you know, something that nobody would have seen a couple of months ago? Major popularity boost. Harry Enten tells us something we don't know.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:48:14]
BURNETT: Tonight. Are Medicaid and Medicare about to get cut? The Congressional Budget Office says Republicans cannot reach President Trump's goal to cut at least $1.5 trillion in spending over the next ten years. They cannot do that, says CBO, unless Medicaid benefits are cut.
My next guest, Fred Trump, the president's nephew, says Medicaid cuts would be devastating to millions of disabled Americans, including his son William, President Trump's great nephew. William has a rare genetic disorder requiring a lifetime of care.
And Fred Trump is OUTFRONT with me now.
So, you know, Fred, this is you know, you're putting William is a face to this.
FRED TRUMP III, PRESIDENT TRUMP'S NEPHEW: Yes. BURNETT: A face to understand this. You know, they're saying there's no way to get to your uncles goal of cuts that he's put out there without touching Medicaid, which would be catastrophic for people like William.
F. TRUMP: Yes, and it's not -- it's tens of millions of people like William. And I mentioned to the senator that he was a great lead in, because what I think is lacking is the humanity and decency in the way the administration is going about these cuts. And I will stick with the disabled community because it's a daily part of my life, and again, for the tens of millions.
So, yes, these cuts could be devastating to families, and again, tens of millions of people. I have had the pleasure of surrounding myself with very smart people over the years to give me the information I need to go out to a just the people at large in this country and other countries for that matter.
BURNETT: Yeah.
F. TRUMP: And what I've learned is a system called value based care.
[19:50:01]
And it is something that I mentioned and spoke with in the Oval Office, with Donald in 2020.
BURNETT: You talked to him about this.
F. TRUMP: And I talked to him about this and what it is basically simply is spend less money but get better results for it, have preventative care. I have a very good friend, Dr. Matt Holder, who runs -- was a founder of two clinics in two very red states, and his clinics have found great savings by doing this model.
So I implore people who are doing these cuts to understand it sounds great to just cut costs, but what they're not realizing is by cutting those costs in the back end, the expenses could be so much more.
BURNETT: So I mean, were 46 days into president Trump's second term here. Are you surprised with -- with what's happened? And you know what he's done?
F. TRUMP: Oh, not at all. I mean, as well as I know him. And if anybody didn't think this was happening going to happen, they weren't listening. He has all the energy in the world. I wish he could dial it back a bit and be a little more thoughtful. And the people who are working with him on these things, and we could, as somebody said, use whatever metaphor you want to for cuts.
I'm more on the scalpel side because I can see having again, living through this every day, that cutting something arbitrarily, not considering what the after effects could be to that could just absolutely devastate families.
BURNETT: So he spent obviously the time on cuts and things of that nature. Obviously, there's Ukraine. There's also Gaza.
And Gaza, you know, I want to ask you about this because you've known him your whole life, right? He's your uncle. He tweeted that image of himself as a king, right? And then he shared that A.I. generated video of Gaza. And in Gaza, you know, there's the golden Trump statues and things that are lining the streets.
Again, A.I. generated he shared it. Child holding a giant golden Trump balloon. I mean, you know, I understand on a certain level he's not being serious, but on a certain level, you know what? What do you take away when you see that?
Again, you've known him your whole life. You've seen him to such an extent that he has changed. You've seen the arc of his life.
F. TRUMP: What I say about this issue, and again, certainly no expert on the Middle East or the intricacies of it, but to your question, I just have to say, if it weren't so serious, it would be laughable. But were talking about 2 million people who the administration wants to basically take out with no guarantees that they'll come back. And is there a part of Donald that says in his mind, and believe me, it wasn't just now. It was years ago that he thought, what a great piece of property. This could be amazing.
But how you could displace 2 million people from their rightful land and not have the guarantees to have them come back? That to me again just belittles the seriousness of the issue to me.
BURNETT: Belittles the seriousness of it. It's obviously very well said.
Thank you so much, Fred. It's good to see you.
F. TRUMP: Good to see you again.
BURNETT: And next, is Trump throwing Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau a political lifeline, a major bailout. Harry Enten tells us something we don't know.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:57:31]
BURNETT: Tonight, Trump versus Trudeau, the president trolling the outgoing Canadian prime minister, accusing Trudeau of exploiting the, quote, tariff problem for his own political advantage, writing on social media, and I quote, I think that Justin Trudeau is using the tariff problem, which he has largely caused in order to run again for prime minister. Trump meant it as an insult, but Trudeau -- Trudeau, I'm sorry, his popularity is surging right now thanks to Trump.
And Harry Enten is OUTFRONT to tell us something we don't know.
So, Harry, Trump and Trudeau in this little tussle of sorts. Yeah, they're in this fight. How do Canadians feel about Americans? HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: They -- oh, my goodness
gracious. This number was just shocking to me as I was looking at the polling from Canada. Those that want to treat Canadians who want to treat America as -- as a friend, treat them friendly. Look at this drop from February. That's a 50-point drop from before the Trump presidency to the Trump presidency. Now it's just 23 percent.
Something has clearly happened. And what has happened is Donald Trump and these tariffs that he is trying to or not trying to enact on Canada. They don't like it.
BURNETT: Okay. That's incredible. So how is this benefiting Trudeau who was sort of you know, he was done. He was out.
ENTEN: He -- he was dead in the water.
BURNETT: Yes.
ENTEN: Justin Trudeau was facing his lowest net approval ratings on record. Way, way down. Enter Donald Trump. What happens to Justin Trudeau's net approval rating in Canada goes right up. What are we talking about? Look at this rise since January, a 28 point rise, he has managed to take a politician who is dead in the water and turned him into a politician that is a fighter, and one that Canada, at this particular point, is backing far more than they did before. Donald Trump entered the White House and entered the picture.
BURNETT: I mean, it's incredible because he was dead on arrival. In fact, he's stepping down. But now there's this whole standoff. And so his party is getting a lifeline.
And I mean, tell me something I don't know.
ENTEN: Yeah, I'll tell you something you don't know. And that is the liberal party in Canada. Justin Trudeau's party looked dead in the water heading into the 2025 Canadian elections. What happened now?
Well, since Donald Trump became president, look at their chance of winning the most seats in the Canadian parliament went from less than 1 percent to now, 37 percent. You don't have to be a genius to know that. That gives them a real fighting chance in order to win a plurality of seats.
There was nobody, no political expert that was out there that thought that the liberal party had any sort of a shot. That is why Trudeau stepped down. And then look at that right up. And now they're quite competitive with conservatives.
BURNETT: And you know what that would mean? A 51st state would get you two Democratic senators.
ENTEN: Yes.
BURNETT: But joking aside, who are the 27 percent of Canadians who didn't like Americans three years ago?
ENTEN: I don't --
BURNETT: Who are those people?
ENTEN: I don't know. Sometimes our neighbors to the north, they're funny people, but they're funny people on both sides of the border.
BURNETT: I guess that's true.
ENTEN: The bottom line is Donald Trump though --
BURNETT: I've always loved Canada.
ENTEN: I always loved Canada as well.
BURNETT: All right. Well, thank you very much, Harry.
ENTEN: Thank you.
BURNETT: And thanks so much to all of you for joining us -- Americans, Canadians, anybody else.
ENTEN: Coming together.
BURNETT: We're grateful for all.
And Anderson starts now.
