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First of All with Victor Blackwell

Trump: "I Think We've Won" War; Officials: More Marines Deploying; Trump Lashes Out At Allies For Failing To Help Open Strait: "Cowards"; Cesar Chavez Tributes Removed After Abuse Allegations Revealed; Tons Of Aid Flow Into Cuba As Humanitarian Convoy Arrives On The Struggling Island; Thousands Of Truckers Losing Licenses Under New Trump Admin Rule. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired March 21, 2026 - 08:00   ET

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

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[08:00:44]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: First Of All, war has a cost. It has a cost in lives, in attention, in money. President Trump says that he's now considering winding down the military efforts in the Middle East. But that's not before the administration asked Congress for $200 billion for the war with Iran.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE HEGSETH, DEFENCE SECRETARY: As far as $200 billion, I think that number could move. Obviously, it takes money to kill bad guys.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: And so what's the money for? To restock weapons. Keep the military in top shape. Tippy top, as the president says. Two hundred billion dollars, he says, is a small price to pay for that.

Small price. That's good to know, because when we think about what the country could do with $200 billion, it can seem like monopoly money. So let's see if we can now wrap our heads around what $200 billion can accomplish. How could that $200 billion help you if the government put it into federal programs instead?

So one of the biggest fights in Congress over the past year was extending enhanced health care subsidies for about 23 million people in the U.S., $200 billion could fund more than half of the projected cost until 2035. Food assistance, SNAP benefits to serve more than -- almost, rather, 42 million people every month. How much does that cost? Two hundred billion dollars could fully fund SNAP for two years.

What about paid family and medical leave? The U.S. is one of the few developed countries that does not provide paid leave after major life events. We're talking things like childbirth. Two hundred billion dollars would cover the cost of up to four weeks a year of that kind of leave for nine years. Health care, food, time off to take care of yourself or your family, you get what you pay for. The White House seems to change their message daily, maybe even hourly. But right now, the president seems to be aiming for a two for one deal. That Truth Social post where he's now considering winding down military efforts was just posted after he said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, look, we can have dialogue, but we don't -- I don't want to do a cease fire. You know, you don't do a cease fire when you're literally obliterating the other side. They don't have a navy, they don't have an air force, they don't have any equipment, they don't have any spotters, they don't have anti-aircraft, they don't have radar. And their leaders have all been killed at every level. We're not looking to do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Here with us for the conversation, retired Lt. Gen. Walter Gaskin Sr. He's a former deputy chairman of the NATO Military Committee. Rodney Hall is a lieutenant colonel in the Army National Guard. He's also a current Republican state representative in Mississippi. And Ambassador Bonnie Jenkins is a former undersecretary of -- for a State for Arms Control and international security, retired U.S. Naval Reserve officer and founder of Women of Color Advancing Peace and Security.

Welcome to you all.

And Colonel Hall, let me start with you. The president said on social media that he is considering winding down military efforts in the Middle East. I want you to listen to one more thing the president said as he left the White House on Friday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Oh, I think we've won. We've knocked out their navy, their air force, we've knocked out their anti-aircraft. We've knocked out everything. We're roaming free. From a military standpoint, all they're doing is clogging up the strait.

But from a military standpoint, they're finished.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Colonel, has the U.S. won? And if so, how do you reconcile that with the thousands of service members en route to the region?

LT. COL. RODNEY HALL, MISSISSIPI ARMY NATIONAL GUARD: Hey, good morning, Victor. It's great to be with you and thanks for having me on. You know, you asked a very important question. Have we won? We are winning, but we aren't there yet.

We have to remember that Iran is the leading state sponsor of terrorism around the globe. And so the government's number one responsibility is to protect the homeland. And freedom isn't always free. We're either going to invest now and ensure that Americans stay safe or we're going to sit on our hands and wait for it to come to our shores, and we cannot accept that.

[08:05:13]

BLACKWELL: General, your thoughts? Has the U.S. won?

LT. GEN. WALTER GASKIN, FORMER DEPUTY CHAIRMAN, NATO MILITARY COMMITTEE: Well, we have to define what winning means, and that's -- and that's what we have seen from a military perspective that you have to have it in state. You have to determine what your objectives are clearly defined from a military perspective so that you can see that. So the air campaign, usually a phase of it, but we -- if you're saying that we won, yes, we've won the air campaign, but we haven't achieved the ultimate goal of getting someone sitting down deciding whether or not they can abide by the warfare that you've created. So I think we are -- we're far from winning that perspective.

BLACKWELL: Ambassador, let me come to you on this and I'm going to play a sound bite from the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations from our town hall in just a moment. But the U.S. lifted sanctions on 140 million barrels of Iranian oil now, which means more money into the coffers of the Iranians with whom obviously we are at war now, the question was put to him is how does that make the U.S. safer? How does this not support their war effort? Here's Ambassador Walz.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL WALZ, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS: The measure is targeted towards oil that's already out there on ships, already out there in storage. And to the previous question is very temporary to allow to basically defeat the Iranian strategy of driving energy prices so high, causing pain on consumers all the way -- you know, all over the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: So Ambassador Walz seems to suggest that allowing Iran to sell this oil legitimately actually hurts them instead of helps them, would you agree with that?

AMB. BONNIE JENKINS. FORMER UNDER SECY. OF STATE FOR ARMS CONTROL AND INT. SEC.: Well, thank you for inviting me today. I'm not sure how that really is going to be helping them because in that sense, it is allowing them to be able to pick and choose who they want to provide oil to. And it really is not helping our situation and what it is that we want to achieve in the region. So it's hard to say how that is really going to be helping in this situation.

BLACKWELL: General, let me come to you with this. The president on social media is saying that "Without the USA, NATO is a paper tiger." And opening the Strait of Hormuz is so easy for them to do with so little risk, calls them "cowards and the U.S. will remember." You were the deputy Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, what's your response to the criticism and also the suggestion of the simplicity of opening the straits?

GASKIN: Two parts to that question. First of all, there's not a full understanding of how NATO is organized. NATO is a political as well as a military organization. And how it's organized to the point where it had -- we have done this before. We have escorted fifth foot on the terrorism in the Mediterranean.

We have done the pirates off the coast of Somalia. So this escorting it is not. The problem with the Strait of Hormuz is that it is a cul- de-sac. There's no exit. Unlike the other choke points that we have, whether it be Suez Canal, Panama Canal, the Straits of Malacca, there is no exit.

So everything has to go in and come out. And so that makes it a very strategically and military problem. And so in order to do that, you really have to have control of the shoreline as well as strategic points (inaudible).

BLACKWELL: Colonel, the president suggests that, and he said this, that at a certain point the strait will open itself. Explain that, how it opens itself.

HALL: Yes. You know, when you talk about what we're going through with Iran, I think he really is talking about putting pressure on them and just defeating their will to fight, defeating their ability to fight back and to respond to America and to freedom. And so as we continue this campaign, which I think will be a quick campaign, if we keep our objectives and our instates very clear, it will force Iran to open back up. They depend on more --

BLACKWELL: But that's not opening itself, right? That requires the U.S. pressure, the Israeli pressure that the president, at least the last we heard from him, was considering winding down and suggesting that other countries now it's your time to take over escorting ships through the straits, if necessary, the U.S. will support. That's not opening itself up, that takes international pressure, does it not?

[08:10:15]

HALL: The pressure is already there. Like the President said, we're annihilating them. And so if we continue that campaign and we continue to put the pressure on them, they will be forced to open it back up if they want to keep their economy operating. And so it's going to take that kind of hard-nosed effort to continue to fight and beat their will in order to get them to eventually open back up.

Now will it be that easy? Probably not. But I do anticipate that our friends and our allies, our partners over there, they see the benefit of defeating terrorism across the globe. And so with that I do think that we'll have some additional help and aid from our allies and partners in order to get the straits back open.

BLACKWELL: Ambassador Jenkins, how do you reconcile, if possible, what we heard from the president, that the U.S. considering winding down now military operations. And what Salma Abdelaziz reported this morning is that Prime Minister Netanyahu says that over the next week they are ratcheting up, they are going to intensify the attacks. When Prime Minister Netanyahu says they're the ally and the U.S. is the leader, how do you put all these in the same narrative when you have these two leaders talking about and going in divergent directions?

JENKINS: I think -- I think it's very difficult and I think what this highlights is the fact that there is no consistent idea between the two regarding what's happening in Iran in terms of what the two countries are actually trying to achieve. And I think it only adds to confusion which already exists regarding why we're there, what we're trying to do and what are the circumstances and that will allow this to really end. So it's getting more and more difficult to reconcile the two. And I think it's just highlighting the differences and highlighting the fact that there may not be real agreement between the two.

BLACKWELL: Colonel Hall, last question for you. Can this war end successfully if Iran still has its enriched uranium?

HALL: We shouldn't allow it. One thing that I want everyone to remember and for us to keep close, you know, when we send our kids to school, they wake up, they go to school, they pray, they say the Pledge of Allegiance over there in some of these extremist states, they wake up and they say death to America. And so we have to ensure that we're setting the conditions to ensure that they cannot reach us on our shores. America is great because we're able to project power across the seas so that --

BLACKWELL: Yes.

HALL: -- that fight never comes to our shores.

BLACKWELL: Last thing here, if you say the U.S. shouldn't allow Iran to keep its enriched in ranium (ph) -- uranium, I don't know any military service person, veteran expert who says that they -- that the U.S. can take custody of that without ground troops.

HALL: No, no, that's very true. What I -- the way I see this ending is that we continue to pound them, we obliterate them. And then they open up and say, hey, we're done. We tap out. We no longer have mission missile capability.

We no have -- no longer have reach capability.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

HALL: They say you can come in, you can take it out. Please end the war. Please stop. And that's the way that we get back to defending America and defending freedom.

BLACKWELL: All right, Ambassador Bonnie Jenkins, Lieutenant General Walter Gaskin, and Lieutenant Colonel Rodney Hall, thank you all.

Iran is not the only regime in the crosshairs of the U.S. right now. Cuba is under a lot of economic pressure and a convoy is heading now to Havana to help take aid to people struggling as a result. We'll talk about that and see how the exile community in Miami feels. Also later, the K pop HBCU connection, you probably never knew about it. I didn't know about it either.

[08:14:03]

But I'm going to share with you what I learned. This history lesson courtesy of BTS, that is not without some controversy.

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BLACKWELL: In just days, Cesar Chavez has gone from being one of the most celebrated names in American history to becoming one that few want to be associated with. He was a leader of the movement for Farm Workers Rights, a heroic civil rights figure in Latino history. And since his death three decades ago, his name is grey schools and streets across the country. There are statues of Cesar Chavez. A holiday on his birthday. Well, that's changing quickly.

You see in San Francisco, I want you to check out this artist painting over a mural of Chavez. We're seeing scenes like this across the country. In Milwaukee, we saw this statue of him covered with a trash bag. In San Fernando, California, this statue of Chavez was wrapped and then taken down. Cities are trying to balance removing imagery of Chavez while still preserving tributes to the Farm Workers movement.

In a lot of places, Cesar Chavez Day was a holiday on March 31. Several states are now changing that too. For example, in California, it will now be Farm Workers Day, Si Se Puede Day in Denver. Some celebrations in various cities are straight up canceled. So why is this happening?

[08:20:06]

Well, we learned disturbing allegations this week that Chavez sexually abused women and girls for years. Alleged victims include Dolores Huerta, a hero for Latinos in her own right who worked alongside Chavez. The years long investigation was published by the New York Times. Sarah Hurtes is one of the reporters on that story. She's with us now.

Sarah, thank you for being with me. Reading what you reported here, it is heartbreaking. And I want to start with the girls and then talk about Dolores Huerta, Ana Murguia, Debra Rojas, they say that Chavez groomed them when they were eight and nine years old, abused them as preteens and teens. What did you discover as you did this investigation?

SARAH HURTES, CO-REPORTER ON NEW YORK TIMES INVESTIGATION: Sure. And hi. Well, we discovered that Cesar Chavez was simply using the office he had in the community that he had built near Los Angeles in Bakersfield. And that he was grooming girls in his office, at least two of them, Ana Murguia and Debra Rojas, as you said, that he would ask them to come to his office. Ana Murguia was 13, Debbie Rojas was 12.

And he would show them yoga moves and eventually molest them. We also found that it was part of a broader pattern where he would use the women in his movement for his own sexual gratification.

BLACKWELL: We have with us Maria Hinojosa, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist as well.

Maria, welcome to the conversation. You also spoke with Dolores Huerta, 95 years old now, and I saw that you said that you have never heard her more broken. Talk to me about that conversation.

MARIA HINOJOSA, PULITZER PRIZE WINNING JOURNALIST, INTERVIEWED DOLORES HUERTA: Hey, it's good to be with you. And great reporting, Sarah.

Look, I've known Dolores for decades as a professional colleague. And one of the things that I've always admired her is the fact that she's incredibly energetic. I mean, she's the person who will stay up talking, who will go out to a jazz club, who will talk about joy in life and opportunity. Never have I heard her so heartbroken. And it's really hard to say this because of the fact that she is such an icon of power and positivity.

But you know, she's finding out about all of this in real time, just like all of us. So she's absolutely in a -- in a state of shock. And she told me she's heartbroken now.

BLACKWELL: After decades of keeping the secret she says to protect the movement. She has revealed in this investigation that she was raped by Chavez, fathered two of her children.

Sarah, to you, there have been biographies written about Cesar Chavez, there are documentaries, there's a feature, scripted film. And none of this has come out in the 30 years since his death. Why do you think this story came out now? Why were these women willing to tell it now?

HURTES: You know, there had been rumors about this since a very long time, since the early 2000s within the union, was in the former union, the movement. And we received a tip in 2021 from actually someone who had written a book about Cesar Chavez and said, look, I think that you should look more into what he has been up to with girls and women within the movement. But largely, people, I think, wanted to protect his legacy over anything.

BLACKWELL: Let's listen here, Maria, to part of your interview. And this is Dolores Huerta. You asked her how she sees her decision not to report these rapes 50 years ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DOLORES HUERA, CO-FOUNDER, NATIONAL FARM WORKERS ASSOC.: I can see all of the accomplishments, you know, the leadership that came out of the movement, you know, the millions of farm workers that have been helped throughout the United States of America. And it was -- it was my personal pain, it was my personal problem. And, you know, I think it was worth it, you know, because it was my cross to bear.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: What do you make of that answer?

HINOJOSA: So I think you have to put this in historical context. So for Dolores, the movimiento, the movement, the farm worker movement, the labor movement is her life. It's everything. And so this is also the 1960s. Imagine Dolores Huerta coming forward in 1960, 1966, she knows that she would have been set aside and erased entirely if she had done that.

[08:25:12]

I think all of us who are survivors really have to come to terms with the fact that we are public about what's happened to us. This is just happening to Dolores in real time, right? She's processing the fact that she is a survivor of rape. And people are saying, and why didn't you come forward earlier? Why didn't you say this earlier?

I mean, I understand that's why the -- in the interview, which was the first one that she gave with me on Wednesday, you know, I had to ask some tough questions --

BLACKWELL: Yes.

HINOJOSA: -- and she's processing all of this. But I think when you see someone who is an icon like Cesar Chavez, it happened to you, but you believe you're the only one. You can't imagine that this is happening to others.

BLACKWELL: Yes. One more clip from your interview. Let's play that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HUERTA: Process, I think not only for myself, but for everybody that knew and respected Cesar and volunteers, so many people sacrificed, you know, to know that he had that dark side of him. And I think that just speaks to the fact that, you know, we have -- that there is a lack of respect for women and girls in our society.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: And so, Maria, I introduced this segment by talking about the cancellation of the holidays and the events and covering the murals and the statues, talk to me about the what now for the community after this truth coming out so long after Chavez's death.

HINOJOSA: So you've got multiple things happening at the same time, right? I've already had people contacting me directly and saying, hey, I never told you about what happened to me. So women all over the country are experiencing that, right? You have people who are showing extraordinary amounts of compassion and empathy for Dolores Huerta. Just really welcoming her and celebrating her strength as having to come forward with this information at 93-years-old.

You have others who are asking these questions, why didn't you? How come you didn't see this? You know, and doing exactly what the Lord is, what they said they would do, which is pointing fingers and blame.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

HINOJOSA: I think on a larger scale, you have to put this revelation in the context of what our country is dealing with the Epstein files, where there are still secrets and no man has been charged. And yet with Cesar Chavez, as you said, Victor, it has been immediate.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

HINOJOSA: The murals have been painted over, the streets, you know, covered, the statues taken down. And I have to believe that for Dolores, this is also painful because she did respect him and held him in such high degree. But I think the interesting thing here is what's going to happen with the movement and the fact that Dolores Huerta always talks about people power. And so I think the conversation goes back to the power of Latinos and Latinas --

BLACKWELL: Yes.

HINOJOSA: -- to shift this conversation and, you know, make it a positive conversation --

BLACKWELL: Yes.

HINOJOSA: -- not just one of cancellation.

BLACKWELL: Maria Hinojosa and Sarah Hurtes, thank you both for your reporting.

Cuba, let's talk about that, struggling right now, nearly three months after the U.S. effectively imposed an oil blockade. Power is spotty at best. People are lighting fires for heat and light. There's help on the way, but not from the U.S. government. I'll speak to a Cuban exile for his thoughts next.

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[08:33:00]

BLACKWELL: Cuba needs help. There's no doubt about it. How to help? That's a little more complicated. Today is a big day for a group known as the Nuestra America convoy, or our America Convoy. Activists, volunteers have started arriving in Havana with the aid. And now they hope to start distributing that aid to Cubans.

The island is struggling under the weight of what is essentially an oil blockade by the United States. Cubans just went through a nationwide electricity blackout this week. The humanitarian crisis, it's getting worse.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRENDA LOPEZ, HANDS OFF CUBA COMMITTEE CO-FOUNDER: We're sending a bunch of aid. This includes medical supplies, baby milk, formula, crutches, and other stuff that will help the Cuban people get through these hard times.

Above all, it's a message of solidarity, that we stand with the Cuban people and we are against what our government is currently doing. They are very strong, and they walk with a lot of sovereignty, and I that they'll get through these hard times. Not only, you know, they're not by themselves, they have the world standing with them. Viva Cuba. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: So my next guest is supportive of this effort with an important catch. He and Miami's Cuban exile community say that they want to go see this aid, go directly to the people. He would like to help personally, but he's not allowed back on the island.

So today he's helping lead a demonstration in Miami to call attention to that and more. Ramon Saul Sanchez is with us live from Miami. He's the president of Movimiento Democracia, or Democracy Movement. Sir, thank you for being with me.

So you have reached out to Secretary of State Marco Rubio. You're asking for support from President Trump. Tell me what you're hoping to accomplish today.

RAMON SAUL SANCHEZ, PRESIDENT, MOVIMIENTO DEMOCRACIA: Well, what we're trying to say to the whole world is that the Cuban regime has put out this huge performance utilizing the goodwill of people around the world.

[08:35:05]

The Cuban regime, when it received this aid, instead of distributing it to the Cuban people, they sell it in the government stores. Everything is controlled by the stores. And they should -- the flotilla should deliver the goods directly to the people right there and then at the seawall at the Malecon.

We are also saying, if you allow foreigners to go into Cuba, if you have allowed the U.S. planes to take humanitarian aid to the Catholic Church in Cuba, why don't you allow us, who are Cuban citizens, who have the natural right and the right under Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to enter our homeland? Just because we think different from Mariela Castro, who is the main organizing of the event, the son of the -- I'm sorry, the daughter of Raul Castro, we think different from them. We're not allowed to go into Cuba.

And not only me, but many, many more Cubans with different views from the regime are not allowed to go inside Cuba to take humanitarian aid.

BLACKWELL: The U.S. embargo has suppressed Cuba's economy for decades. Right. But is this latest oil blockade that has really exacerbated the impact of. I wonder first what you think of President Trump's strategy to try to put pressure on the regime as it relates to the impact on the people.

SANCHEZ: I am not supportive of the U.S. embargo. However, I find hypocritical for those who condemn the U.S. embargo that allows the Cuban regime to buy anything in the United States. But do not say anything about the embargo that the regime imposes on economic rights of the Cuban people.

The misery in Cuba is not due to anything foreign. It's due to those in power who have enriched themselves, who have been there for all their lives, and who have not allowed the Cuban people to empower themselves economically or with their civil and human rights so that they cannot -- so that the regime cannot be questioned by the people. The people are subjected to repression every day, imprisonment.

There are more than 1,200 political prisoners in Cuba.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

SANCHEZ: They have persecuted the little distributors of, you know, products in the streets from that to -- to the bigger people that want to do business in Cuba. Even foreigners who invest in Cuba are disenchanted and have to leave.

BLACKWELL: Well, let me ask you about --

SANCHEZ: Confiscated their businesses.

BLACKWELL: Let me ask you about what's next, though, because President Trump was asked about what is next for Cuba, what he sees for Cuba. Here's part of his answer this week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I do believe I'll be the honor of -- having the honor of taking Cuba. That'd be good. That's a big honor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Taking Cuba?

TRUMP: Taking Cuba in some form, yes. Taking Cuba. I mean, whether I free it, take it. I think I could do anything I want with it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: What's your reaction to that?

SANCHEZ: I have publicly asked the President, Marco Rubio and the U.S. government to disengage itself from the regime and engage themselves with the Cuban people. And the first thing they have to do is recognize that the sovereign in Cuba is the Cuban people. And that was a very sad statement to hear.

We don't need anybody to take Cuba. What we need is for the people of Cuba to regain control of their destiny. Unfortunately, my country has three foreign powers on its soil. The Chinese, the Russians and the US. I wonder when those powers will just leave and allow us, the Cubans, to resolve this situation amongst ourselves and when the Cuban regime will stop talking to foreigners and talk to the Cuban people. They don't want to do that.

BLACKWELL: Ramon Saul Sanchez, I thank you so much for your time.

The trucking industry, let's talk about it's facing higher gas prices and now at thousands of truckers starting to lose their licenses because of new restrictions on immigrant drivers. We'll talk about that and how this impacts your home budget.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [08:44:04]

BLACKWELL: New rules in effect this week could cause major issues in the shipping industry at a really sensitive time for the economy. The Department of Transportation says that close to 200,000 immigrant drivers could lose their CDLs or their trucking licenses. Anyone trying to get a new CDL will have to take their test in English. The Trump administration argues some states are issuing CDLs illegally, and some of these drivers have caused deadly wrecks.

But these truckers make up about 5 percent of the trucking workforce, and taking them off the road over time could shake up supply chains and drive up your prices. Right when the Iran war is driving up the cost of food and gas.

Anyway, Wendy Liu is with me now. She's a lawyer representing some who are trying to get this rule revoked. Wendy, thank you for being with me.

I want to start here with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announcing the initial pause on CDLs for people who are not citizens or permanent residents.

[08:45:06]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEAN DUFFY, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: It was alleged that the open border policies of the last administration has led to an exploitation of our nation's trucking licensing system. The current federal regulations are allowing dangerous, unqualified drivers on American roadways.

This means that even when the rules are being followed, dangerous individuals who shouldn't be near a big rig are getting behind the wheel and causing crashes on our roadways.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: And so the secretary insinuates the President Biden led dangerous people across the border. They got driver's licenses, and now they are endangering all of us on the highways. What do you make of that narrative?

WENDY LIU, LAWYER CHALLENGING NEW CDL REGULATIONS: Every fatal crash is a tragedy. Importantly, though there is no empirical connection, the Trump administration has conceded that there is connection between a person's country of birth and safety outcomes.

So the notion that excluding 200,000 experienced drivers from the market just has no basis in fact. These are people who are documented immigrants, people who are legally authorized to work in the United States, who have been in this country for years or decades, including DACA recipients, who have passed all of the required tests, who have done all of the training that is needed and taken tests in English to show that they are safe drivers. There is just no basis for the Trump administration's rule.

BLACKWELL: And so what's the impact?

LIU: Indeed, it would. Sorry, go ahead.

BLACKWELL: What's the impact on the system, on the rest of us, on the prices we pay at the grocery store for food or a Tide detergent and the rest?

LIU: The impact is devastating, significant, irreparable, widespread throughout this country. Trucks are the main way goods are moved across this country, transporting things from consumer products to groceries to construction materials. Shrinking the workforce by 5 percent would mean delayed delivery of goods, disrupted supply chains, increased cost of freight operations.

In addition to that, the impact on the communities will be devastating. These are the people who drive the buses that bring your kids to school, who operate the mass transit systems that bring you to work, that operate the vehicles that are needed for roadway clearance, disaster response, utility repair.

By shrinking the workforce in this way, by replacing experienced drivers with less experienced ones, you are disrupting essential public services and potentially making the roads less safe by taking out experienced drivers and replacing them with ones who are less experienced and ones who are potentially more fatigued.

BLACKWELL: Yes. Wendy Liu, we are seeing the impact of this beyond those 200,000 drivers. But how this could, at such a sensitive time, make food and all the things that travel by truck on the road even more expensive. Thank you so much for being with me. We'll take a quick break and we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:52:44]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Have you heard about the promotional video from BTS promoting their new album that features Korean music history on the campus of Howard University.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was like cool. Like they're going to give homage to the fact that the first recorded Arirang song was at Howard University.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Howard University accepted seven Korean students, seven refugees. They turned to Howard University where they were later enrolled. And it was because of this that the Korean folk song Arirang was recorded for the first time in 1896.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But then I saw this part. These are the people that are attending Howard University.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Howard was and still is predominantly black.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They decided to make the very deliberate decision to depict Howard University as a predominantly white school.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Like, why even take on the story if you're not going to do it right when you could have just left it alone? Like, I don't understand.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is common sense that you should make the attendees of a historically black college black. Also, do not come for me about this warning they put at the beginning of the video that might not be historically accurate.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: BTS wanted to flatter white people while telling a story that was originally primarily about black and Asian struggle.

BLACKWELL: Actually, I heard about this for the first time after seeing a post on Instagram from a student at Howard University.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The school opened its arms for them the same way that most of the students have opened their arms for me.

BLACKWELL: When you first saw that teaser video, tell me what went through your mind. What stood out?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was super stoked, in all honesty, seeing that BTS was shouting out Howard first of all, and then being shown at Howard. So that was -- it was super awesome.

BLACKWELL: I didn't know this story before. So you didn't know this story of seven Koreans and Howard before that video?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I didn't. Actually, I had no idea whatsoever.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To be frank, I really was not aware that there were these specific seven students in 1896 that arrived, but I'm not surprised.

[08:55:00]

We were born out of racism, but also other people responding to that. So these students really didn't have any other place to go. It wasn't just African Americans who were discriminated against at historically white institutions, but all people of color were discriminated against. And Howard has always been welcoming.

BLACKWELL: What did you think of the imagery from the video?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wish they were a little bit more historically accurate with the representation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Howard wasn't just a backdrop. It's the reason why this whole story even exists. So don't erase the people who made that story possible. You feel me?

BLACKWELL: So, BTS the reference of Howard University and the students at the time, what do you think?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: And you'll see that story and more like it on my socials. I'm on Instagram, TikTok, X and Bluesky. Another way to keep up with me, you can listen to the show as a podcast anywhere you listen to podcasts.

OK. Tonight on CNN, tune in for a new episode of "Have I Got News For You." Comedian Hari Kondabolu and journalist Ari Shapiro are this week's guests tonight at 9:00 p.m. Eastern on CNN. And next day on the CNN app.

Thank you for joining me. I'll see you back here next Saturday at 8:00 a.m. Eastern. Smerconish is up after a break.

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