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Laura Coates Live
Trump Launches Dramatic Midnight Salvo In Trade War; Trump Pauses Military Aid To Ukraine After Zelenskyy Clash; Veterans Speak Out Against Trump's DOGE Cuts; New York's Top FBI Agent Says He Was Forced To Retire; Oscars Ceremony Largely Dodges Politics. Aired 11p- 12a ET
Aired March 03, 2025 - 23:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[23:00:00]
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN ANCHOR AND SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Nowadays, you go to a restaurant and everybody is wearing jeans and a t-shirt.
ALENCIA JOHNSON, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST, FORMER SENIOR ADVISER FOR THE BIDEN 2020 CAMPAIGN: If there's a way to dress casually and still have a little reverence.
BRUCE BLAKEMAN, EXECUTIVE, NASSAU COUNTY, NEW YORK: You're just --
TARA PALMERI, SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, PUCK: I feel like if you're rich enough and you're famous enough, you can get away with literally anything.
PHILLIP: Exactly.
SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, FORMER SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO PRESIDNET TO PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: Oh, that's true --
PALMERI: And in fact, a lot of these CEOs, they don't even want -- they want to be wearing like hoodies and tracksuits --
PHILLIP: Right. Yeah.
PALMERI: -- and sweatshirts to show that they're so cool.
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIP: It's actually kind of a power move. I totally agree with you.
PALMERI: And the bracelets --
PHILLIP: Yes.
PALMERI: -- that all the guys are wearing --
PHILLIP: All right, everybody, thank you very much. And thanks for watching "NewsNight." "Laura Coates Live" starts right now.
LAURA COATES, CNN HOST AND SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Breaking tonight, are we minutes away from a trade war? President Trump's policy has his hand hovering above the red button as Canada gets ready to throw down. Are the markets and Americans ready for what might come next? Plus, Trump pulls the plug on military aid to Ukraine. Is Zelenskyy saying, I'm sorry? Really going to change his mind? And as the Capitol prepares for Trump's big speech, meet the veterans preparing to speak up against his cuts. All tonight on "Laura Coates Live."
Well, let the countdown begin. Just an hour from now, President Trump's trade war kicks into high gear. His sweeping 25% tariffs on America's neighbors, Canada and Mexico, they go into effect at midnight. It applies to anything and everything they export to the United States. On top of that, Trump is doubling tariffs on all Chinese goods from 10% to 20%.
And you know that thing that Trump is really sensitive about, when he often uses a kind of barometer for his success as president? Yeah, I'm talking about the stock market. Well, it took a beating today. The market was shaky all day over tariff fears. But when Trump confirmed them at around 2:51 this afternoon, it was a downhill ski slope. The Dow tumbling 650 points. If there was any hope Trump would reverse course, well, he quickly squashed that idea.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNKNOWN: Is there any room left for Canada and Mexico to make a deal before midnight, and should we expect those Chinese tariffs, the extra 10%, to take effect tomorrow?
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: No room left for Mexico or for Canada. Now, the tariffs, you know, they're all set, they go into effect tomorrow.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COATES: Fifty-nine minutes from now, technically. And the big question for Americans, will this raise prices? Now, most economists say, yes. And it could impact many, many products, from food to electronics to cars to footwear. Basically, everything under the sun.
Now, Canada's Justin Trudeau is already vowing to retaliate. And another top Canadian official is telling Trump two can play that game.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DOUG FORD, ONTARIO PREMIER: They want to try to annihilate Ontario. I will do everything, including cut off their energy, with a smile on my face. They need to feel the pain. They want to come at us hard, we're going to come back twice as hard.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COATES: These tariffs are a big political risk for Trump, considering he campaigned, you remember, on lowering prices. It's also a huge shift in America's approach to the rest of the world. So is Trump's view on Ukraine, frankly.
Breaking tonight, the White House is telling CNN that Trump is pausing military aid to Ukraine. It's the latest fallout from that Oval Office shouting match with Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. It's just saying that Trump thinks that Zelenskyy behaved badly.
Doesn't stop there, either. CNN is learning that President Trump wants a public apology. He has made clear he is upset with Zelenskyy and says Ukraine's president isn't serious about peace.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: He said he thinks the war is going to go on for a long time. And he better not be right about that. We have to make a deal. And the deal can be made very fast. It should not be that hard a deal to make. It could be made very fast. Now, maybe somebody doesn't want to make a deal. And if somebody doesn't want to make a deal, I think that person won't be around very long. That person will not be listened to very long.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COATES: So, will Zelenskyy do what President Trump wants? Well, Vice President J.D. Vance says that he's not there yet but, ultimately, he has no choice.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: They showed a clear unwillingness to engage in the peace process that President Trump has said is the policy of the American people and of their president. That's the real breakdown. I think Zelenskyy wasn't yet there. And I think, frankly, now still isn't there. But I think he'll get there eventually. He has to.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COATES: The feud actually could get even more intense tomorrow, if that's possible. Trump is expected to talk about Ukraine in his speech to Congress.
Joining me now, Eli Stokols, White House and foreign correspondent -- policy correspondent for Politico, Tom Malinowski, former New Jersey Democratic congressman, and Bryan Lanza, former senior advisor to the Trump-Vance presidential campaign and partner at Mercury Public Affairs.
[23:05:02]
Eli, I want to begin with you and this freeze tonight. What is really motivating it? I mean, is it really that he does not believe that the president of Ukraine wants peace or is he trying to make a point about apologies?
ELI STOKOLS, WHITE HOUSE AND FOREIGN POLICY CORRESPONDENT, POLITICO: A lot of -- both of these things can be true. I think they were frustrated with Zelenskyy and the way that he went about sort of lecturing and talking on about Russia during the meeting in the Oval Office on Friday. And when I talk to people in the administration, they say, look, take the president at his word. He wants a peace deal. He sees a small window where Russia -- you can get Russia to the table. And so, they want Zelenskyy to cool it, to get in line, to take the minerals deal, and to show more of an openness to peace.
Now, Zelenskyy, of course, he's got Russian troops bearing down on his country. They've been bombarding Ukraine for three years.
COATES: Right.
STOKOLS: Almost 20% of Ukraine is currently occupied by Russians. So, you can understand why Zelenskyy, if he's talking about peace negotiations, would like some security guarantees. Trump has said that's not on the table. All we're talking about is an economic deal where maybe some people from the United States are in Ukraine excavating minerals.
COATES: But on that point, Eli, he seemed to suggest that the presence of United States interests with the mineral deal would be enough of a deterrent for Putin. I thought Zelenskyy's point was, well, the idea of a deterrence needs more weight when you're talking about Vladimir Putin.
STOKOLS: Right. And Trump wants Europe to step up. The Europeans say they plan to step up and do more on defense. But at the end of the day, what has people on Capitol Hill scratching their heads tonight is if you take military aid and you pause that, how is that incentivizing Vladimir Putin to come to a negotiation?
The White House insists that Putin wants a deal because he has told Trump he wants a deal. There's no evidence of that yet. And when you are taking U.S. weapons off the battlefield, there's no incentive for Vladimir Putin to stop. And I think you're hearing that from Republicans and Democrats on the Hill tonight, what is the larger strategy here?
We understand that Trump didn't like Zelenskyy's tone. Vance didn't like the tone. They were frustrated by Friday. They want some contrition. They feel -- as Trump said, he does not have a very good hand to play here.
COATES: Yeah.
STOKOLS: But if you want a peace deal at the end of the day, the question is, how does the minerals deal get you to the peace deal? And how does sort of putting all the pressure you can leverage on Zelenskyy and none on Putin get you to this grand --
COATES: Yeah.
STOKOLS: -- you know, negotiating table where you can make a deal?
COATES: When you look at this and the idea of the conversation that or the statement that he's lecturing the president and the vice president, by the way, who is vocal, and we're talking about hierarchical, a vice president speaking to a president of another nation, I'm sure people rubbed the wrong way on that notion.
But when you look at this idea of revoking military aid until there is some demonstration, perhaps, of contrition or otherwise, what is your reaction as a former member of Congress and the fact that Congress has used the power of the purse in the past to support the aid?
TOM MALINOWSKI, FORMER NEW JERSEY REPRESENTATIVE: Well, first of all, the mineral deal, Zelenskyy came to sign the mineral deal.
COATES: He did.
MALINOWSKI: And since the Oval Office meeting, he has repeatedly said, I'm ready to sign the mineral deal. It's Trump who's not signing the mineral deal, because what he really wants is to have his ego stroked. He wants Zelenskyy to write 100 times on a blackboard, Donald Trump is the greatest leader in the history of the world, and he's always right, wearing a MAGA hat, because this is the way he operates on issue after issue after issue.
He wants -- his fragile ego is more important right now than the national security of the United States. And this is -- this goes way beyond Ukraine. It's much more important than just Ukraine.
This same problem is why top Republicans aren't willing to tell Donald Trump that these tariffs that he just imposed are going to tank the U.S. economy. It's why we're going to be paying more than $9,000 more for a pickup truck in two or three months if he doesn't back down from these tariffs, because no one is allowed to contradict the president of the United States.
Zelenskyy is not allowed to do it. Republicans in Congress aren't allowed to do it. We all have to say, yes, sir, you're right, two plus two is five, sir, if you say so, sir.
COATES: Is it purely an ego stroke? Is it in line with this notion that some voters believed that America first policy? How do you see it?
BRYAN LANZA, FORMER DEPUTY COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR FOR TRUMP 2016 CAMPAIGN, FORMER SENIOR ADVISER FOR TRUMP-VANCE 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN: I think more of it is what I witnessed on Friday, Zelenskyy actually not wanting to negotiate. I mean, the whole exchange of him sort of pushing back against J.D. Vance and diplomacy saying, we can't trust the Russians. So, if you can't trust the Russians, how are you going to negotiate?
I think that's the problem that Donald Trump has, when he says, Zelenskyy, you don't have all the cards. Every day, that happens. Every day, that occurs. Zelenskyy loses more troops, and he loses more land every day. And --
COATES: But, Bryan, we have had a history of diplomacy where you have a trust but verify. You know, speak softly but carry a big stick. This is the idea of diplomacy, not necessarily having to turn a blind eye to doubts. You can be diplomatic. You can negotiate and still have some concerns about the other person coming out. LANZA: Yeah, but, listen, I think what we witnessed on Friday was Zelenskyy having no trust, you know, in Vladimir Putin's word when it comes to diplomacy.
[23:10:03]
And it's understandable.
COATES: Sure.
LANZA: But why are you going to use American political muscle to sort of prove your point? What I witnessed on -- and by the way, I'm very close to the Ukrainians. I've worked with them in the past. I'm very close to President Trump. I continue to assist where I can. But what I saw on Friday was -- you know, what I witnessed was Zelenskyy saying, you know, there's no way we can have diplomacy with Vladimir Putin, so why are we having this charade of going forward?
That conversation should have been private. Zelenskyy wanted to have it in public. He wanted to have this Oval meeting confrontation. You're right, this agreement could have been signed weeks ago, but it was Zelenskyy who said, I want this Oval Office moment.
We gave him this Oval Office moment. And all he did was say, hey, I don't believe that Putin can offer anything to the table. We've negotiated in front of Merkel. We've negotiated in front of Macron. All those negotiations have been broken. Donald Trump, you're no different than the European leaders. I just say it's different.
COATES: But Bryan, if that were -- if that were Trump and Vance's problem, they didn't express that on Friday. They talked about a lack of gratitude. They didn't talk about the idea of how you've expressed it and for diplomacy.
And I remind people, of course, Zelenskyy was trying to, in part, explain why he had reservations and even said, can I not speak? Can I not speak now? You can quibble with his approach to it, but that didn't seem to be Vance's or Trump's concern. It was about gratitude.
MALINOWSKI: And also, Zelenskyy did not want to have a meeting with Donald Trump on national television. I mean, this is a weird thing that's happening now, that we are negotiating with foreign leaders on couches in front of national television. That's Donald Trump. That's not Zelenskyy insisting on that. Zelenskyy wants to have a private, serious conversation.
COATES: Hmm.
MALINOWSKI: And like, you know, to your point, imagine if it were Bibi Netanyahu in the White House saying, I don't trust Hamas. Do you think he'd be kicked out of the White House for not trusting Hamas?
LANZA: I think they would try to call us skeptical -- spectacle in front of all the cameras in the Oval Office.
MALINOWSKI: I think -- absolutely, if he disagreed with the president of the United -- the only thing that Zelenskyy did was to ask a question, why should we have confidence in a deal with somebody who has broken every single deal in the past? And J.D. Vance had no answer to that question, so he got angry.
LANZA: The answer is Donald Trump is the difference. We had economic interests with Ukraine during Donald Trump's four years as presidency, and no attack took place.
MALINOWSKI: We had economic interests during Joe Biden's presidency, too.
LANZA: Yeah, and attacks took place.
MALINOWSKI: It does nothing to --
LANZA: And attacks took place during Obama. You're right.
MALINOWSKI: Exactly. We have companies in Ukraine --
LANZA: It's the view -- it's the view of Russia feeling that Democratic presidents are weak, that it doesn't matter what type of economic negotiations we have. Russia can go forward. But when a Republican president is there, he chooses not to.
So, I think that's what President Trump is saying to Zelenskyy. Look, it's a different presidency here. We understand during Biden that the Russians got away with nearly everything they wanted to do, and that Biden was always late to the curve, but I'm a different president, look at my tenure, look at my experience with Putin. He didn't attack Ukraine when I was there. Why can't we give the same expectations?
MALINOWSKI: He's a different --
LANZA: And I think -- and I think Zelenskyy, truth be told, I think witnessing what I saw, Zelenskyy just doesn't want peace at this point, and that's the problem.
COATES: Hold on. Okay, so you really think that the president of Ukraine watching a three-year invasion into his country, watching his people get murdered, and his company is destroyed, maybe irreparable in some area, 20% of the area occupied, that he is saying bring it on more?
LANZA: Yeah, I think he wants a --
COATES: I just can't believe --
LANZA: I absolutely think he wants a better negotiating position. Every --
COATES: But that's not what you said, though.
LANZA: Let me finish.
COATES: The idea of not wanting peace --
LANZA: Yeah, correct.
COATES: -- is a very different conversation.
LANZA: Yeah, correct. Well, he doesn't want peace today because he wants a better negotiating position. And he gets that better negotiating position with American armament. That's what he wants. That's why he was in the White House on Friday, is he wants more military engagement, he wants more supplies so he can get a better position with respect to the war, so he can be in a stronger negotiating position.
MALINOWSKI: Yes.
LANZA: I got news for him. It's not going to happen. He has lost too much territory. He has lost too much men. He doesn't have the men to go forward. He actually needs American air support to sort of move that. And nobody in America is talking about American air support. Are you talking about American air support in Ukraine?
MALINOWSKI: No, what he wants is peace through strength.
LANZA: But he has lost.
MALINOWSKI: And what you are offering him is peace through surrender. He hasn't lost. He has regained --
LANZA: He has absolutely lost.
MALINOWSKI: -- the military of Ukraine, has regained half of the territory that Putin conquered in the early days of the war.
LANZA: In the last six months, what have they done? They've lost territory.
MALINOWSKI: They've lost --
MALINOWSKI: I understand the talking point where they've, you know, from the initial invasion to now he has regained, but in the last year, in the last two years, all they've done is lose territory.
MALINOWSKI: They've also seized it. They've seized it.
COATES: Eli, you mentioned the idea of a territory. When you hear, and I've heard this more than once, this is why I pointed out, the idea, and President Trump also intimated this, actually said it directly, about perhaps not wanting peace, he put the word maybe in front of it, does this stack up against what the reporting has been in terms of what Zelenskyy's approach has been?
STOKOLS: I don't think it's fair to say that Ukraine, that's been getting shelled for three years, doesn't want peace in Ukraine. I think it's true that Zelenskyy -- look, the Biden administration, they had their issues with Zelenskyy, too. They had some of the same frustrations. They kept them private.
COATES: And they expressed it. STOKOLS: They kept them mostly private, but they -- you know, he pushed them hard, too. They felt like -- they felt frustrated with him at times, too.
[23:15:02]
It didn't explode like this. But, you know, if you're going to be upset, if you're going to excoriate Zelenskyy in front of the cameras, if you're going to be upset about the fact that he's not wearing a suit, then it seems like you're sort of -- you know, you're inclined to be upset.
Donald Trump is telling us that he can do a deal with Russia to end the war. We haven't seen any evidence of that other than his belief in his own deal-making capacity. What we know is that Donald Trump is eager to do some sort of reset with Russia and get to the table with Vladimir Putin because he thinks these are the world's great powers, we should be at the table, we should be doing deals.
COATES: But can it be a reset with Russia if you take away military aid from Ukraine?
STOKOLS: Well, I mean, Vladimir Putin is not going to have a problem meeting with Donald Trump now. If there's a blow up with Ukraine and the United States, that's an open door for Vladimir Putin to step into and say, well, let's talk about economic cooperation, let's talk about arms control, let's talk about whatever you want to talk about, Mr. President. That's an easy thing for Vladimir Putin to do.
Now, is it going to go that way? Trump also today did send signals that he's still interested in the mineral deal himself, that he thinks that could be security for Ukraine. He's kind of trying to maintain, I think, his optionality, keep all the options open. But the pressure that he is exerting is almost entirely against Zelenskyy and not against Russia, and I think that is just sort of an obvious fact at this point that is surprising to people given where the United States has stood for so long.
COATES: We've often talked about being a fly on the wall in a Trump negotiation, but we were flies not on the wall but in the room. Thank you, everyone.
Still ahead, meet someone who will be attending President Trump's speech tomorrow. It's a veteran who voted for him three times, only to now lose his job, thanks to DOGE. So, what's he thinking now? Well, you'll hear from him next.
And later, the FBI's top G-man (ph) in New York, out of a job. He says he was forced to retire. We'll ask someone who knew him what really happened.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[23:20:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COATES: You know, while DOGE touts its cuts to the federal government, the people being cut are speaking out, especially veterans, because yes, those cuts are disproportionately affecting vets. Federal data shows last year, vets made up 28%, 28% of the federal workforce. Vets like James Diaz.
James is an Army veteran who served during the first Gulf War. He voted for President Trump three times. He was fired last month from his job as a fuel compliance officer with the IRS at one of their field offices in Illinois. His termination letter implied that his job performance was a factor. But Diaz disputes this claim, saying all his performance reviews were positive. Diaz will be attending Trump's speech for Congress tomorrow night as a guest of his congressman, Illinois Democratic Representative Eric Sorensen.
And he joins us now, Mr. Diaz. Thank you for joining us today, James. You say you were treated like garbage. What -- walk us through what happened to you last month.
JAMES DIAZ, FIRED IRS WORKER AND VETERAN ATTENDING TRUMP'S SPEECH: On the 20th of February, I received a phone call from my supervisor, and then an email shortly thereafter about -- about how I was going to be terminated.
COATES: Hmm.
DIAZ: And it basically cited my performance issues.
COATES: But you provided us with a performance review. And it said you were a good worker with a good knowledge of tax law. So, why would they cite that as an issue?
DIAZ: I think it was just basically a cookie cutter email to send out. I just -- I don't think they thought it through very well at all. And I think I'm a perfect example of why they didn't think it through.
COATES: How did that make you feel when you realized that?
DIAZ: It didn't make me feel very good. I mean, I put myself in harm's way, you know, for the country. I took a pretty good pay cut to come to work for the government. And next thing you know, eight months later, I basically feel like I'm not good enough, you know. Now, I know better than that, but that's just how it seems to feel.
COATES: I mean, it is very disruptive, it's hurtful, it's probably a shock to the system as well. I mean, you voted for President Trump not once, not twice, but three times. Did you anticipate that this might happen or regret your vote at all?
DIAZ: No, I don't necessarily regret my vote. I think the options to be had on both sides were -- I think we could have -- we could have better choices on both sides.
COATES: Hmm.
DIAZ: But for me, with what's going on here, my performance reviews all meets or exceeds. My boss was very happy with me finding work to do, even though they didn't have something for me immediately. And with my particular job, between education, training, and compliance checks, we were able to recover far more revenue than the cost of keeping me employed.
COATES: So, when you think about the premise of DOGE and that it's trying to root out fraud and wasteful spending, do you think that this approach will get to that with your particular job or your agency?
DIAZ: Well, I think with all large agencies, there's going to be some people who underperform. And I believe there is some fraud, waste and abuse. But I don't think that you're doing a very good job of finding out exactly what needs to be cut. I think they're just taking like the chainsaw to it instead of doing some critical thinking and doing some investigations to see exactly what is good and what is bad.
COATES: Well, this --
DIAZ: Just letting it all go instead.
COATES: Will this impact how you vote in the midterms?
DIAZ: I will have to see what's going on. It's going to impact how I vote in the midterms, yes.
COATES: In what way?
DIAZ: Well, I'm going to see exactly who's going to try to help fight for, you know, for the workers, for veterans.
[23:25:03]
I want the best for this country, no matter who's in charge.
COATES: You're going to be attending Trump's speech tomorrow night, I understand, with your congressman. What are you looking to hear from the president?
DIAZ: I'm just looking to see what his plan is going forward, how we can all make this a better country for everybody who's living in it. I really don't know what to expect or even if it's going to do -- I'm just really unsure what to expect. I've never been to one. And frankly, I'm not expecting much, much results on my end. I mean, you know, for me in particular, but I'm just -- I'm honored that Congressman Sorensen invited me to go, and I would be happy to be there.
COATES: You served our country. You are a veteran. What's next for you now that you've lost this job?
DIAZ: Well, I have a pretty good resume. But right now, you know, I got my college education after I was 50. I worked in factory leadership, you know, in a few places. But right now, I think I'm just going to go back to probably having to drive a truck for a little while. There's nothing wrong with that. People make good money. I helped put my wife through college doing it. So, I'm probably going to go back to that for a while and try to see what happens.
COATES: Mr. James Diaz, thank you for joining tonight. We appreciate it.
DIAZ: Thank you, ma'am. You have a great evening.
COATES: You, too.
So, the question now is, will President Trump tomorrow heed any of the concerns from James or other veterans who are worried about the DOGE cuts? I'll ask one of the president's top allies on the Hill, Congressman Byron Donalds, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[23:30:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COATES: Tomorrow night, President Trump heads to Capitol Hill to give his first address to a joint session of Congress, at least in his second term. His vice president giving just a hint at what to expect.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VANCE: He's going to make a lot of good arguments. He's going to talk about a lot of the successes that we've had in these first 45 days. He's also going to be himself, which means he's going to poke a little fun. And we're going to have a good time tomorrow, so I'm just going to try to enjoy it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COATES: Well, joining me now, Congressman Byron Donalds, a Republican from Florida. He was a surrogate for the Trump 2024 campaign. He's also running to be the next governor of Florida.
Congressman, I want to ask you first about this, the president's speech, because you're going to hear in a moment, by the way, about a veteran who was speaking and spoke to me a little bit a while ago. James Diaz is his name. He worked with the IRS. He had exceptional reviews. But here's when he told me a few moments ago about being terminated by DOGE. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COATES: Will this impact how you vote in the midterms?
DIAZ: I will have to see what's going on. That's going to impact how I vote in the good terms, yes.
COATES: In what way?
DIAZ: Um, well, I'm going to see exactly who's going to try to help fight for, you know, for the workers, for veterans. I want the best for this country -- COATES: Hmm.
DIAZ: -- no matter -- no matter who's in charge.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COATES: He voted for Trump three times, says he doesn't necessarily regret his vote at all. But what do you say to employees like him who, frankly, are impacted by the decisions this president has made?
REP. BYRON DONALDS (R-FL): It is a tough situation. But we have to acknowledge the fiscal realities in Washington. For too long, leaders in both parties have massively overspent. They just have hired workers, promising everybody that it's going to be raining forever, that the money was going to continue to come out of, you know, manna from heaven without looking at the realities.
And so what DOGE is doing is looking at every agency in the federal government, not picking and choosing, looking at every agency, and then making corrective measures in terms of getting them fiscally sound and having them be fiscally efficient, not just today, but for the future of our country.
And I would say to Mr. Diaz and anybody else, I think you have to take the long view of these reforms. Will the federal government get leaner? Yes. What does that mean for economic prospects? We believe it's going to mean more results for the economic future of our country, which means better job results for everybody working in our country. You have to find a way to get inflation under control.
The way inflation got out of control was massive overspending. So, you have to shrink that down, get that under control. What does that mean? Price stability is the number one thing that builds wealth, especially for people on the lower end of the economic spectrum. Not just pay increases. We all want to make more money. But if your dollar doesn't go as far as it did the year before, you're in trouble.
COATES: Well, on that point --
DONALDS: That's what was happening under the Biden administration.
COATES: Well, on that point, if the name of the game is price stability, and even lowering prices, which is what President Trump campaigned on, and the impact on the economy, how do you evaluate the tariffs, which undoubtedly will be borne -- the burden of them will be borne by the consumer?
DONALDS: Not totally, and let me put it this way. President Trump has been telling Mexico, Canada, and China this for a month now. Get your act in order. Help us secure our border from the other side. Let's not have fentanyl pouring into our country being the number one killer of people between the ages of 18 and 45. There has been good conversations --
COATES: Uh-hmm. DONALDS: -- but not action. Donald Trump is about action. And so, he has been telling them this was going to come. We've not seen the action items come out of Canada and in Mexico and China.
[23:35:02]
So now the tariffs are going to go into place.
COATES: But is Canada on the same level of fentanyl -- and obviously, any amount of fentanyl coming into the country, clearly problematic. But you're talking about between Canada, Mexico and China. Was it a 2% or 0.2%, I think, of what's coming, if I'm not mistaken, from the border in Canada versus places like Mexico and China? Should they be treated the same based on that very point?
DONALDS: The president is being very clear with everybody. We're going to take border security very serious in our country, unlike the last administration, and we expect our neighbors to take it as seriously as we do.
It's not just fentanyl that goes through the Canadian border, it's also illegal aliens going through the Canadian border. That's a fact. Because when the Biden administration was reallocating officers to do God knows what, frankly, just process people to come into the country faster, the northern border was left wide open.
And so, the president has been clear. We want it secured. We are needing your assistance. If you're not going to move, then we are now going to have to do other things internally in our country to make it happen faster.
COATES: We're less than a half hour away from when tariffs are going to go into effect. I want to play what Warren Buffett had to say about this prospect. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NORAH O'DONNELL, CBS NEWS SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: How do you think tariffs will affect the economy?
WARREN BUFFETT, CHAIRPERSON, BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY: I mean, tariffs are actually -- we've had a lot of experience with them. They're an act of war --
(LAUGHTER)
-- to some degree.
O'DONNELL: How do you think tariffs will impact inflation?
BUFFETT: Over time, they are a tax on goods. I mean, the tooth fairy doesn't pay them.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP) COATES: The tooth fairy does not. American consumers often, as I mentioned, bear the burden of it. So, do you agree with the policy position of imposing these tariffs if the goal ultimately is price stability and lowering the price for consumers?
DONALDS: I do, and here's why. First, price stability does not just begin and end with tariff policy. It begins with federal spending. You get federal spending under control. You're not pumping and priming a pump with many dollars going into our economic system. That's how you get inflation under control. Tariffs can be an additive.
But number two, we have trade agreements throughout, you know, the entire world, which are actually not really in the best interest and fair to the United States. For a long time, we were able to engage in this type of trade policy where other nations tariff us and we don't tariff them. We could do that because our economy was bigger, better, bolder than everybody else.
The world has changed. We still have the best economy in the world, but it's not like how it was 30 years ago. And I think the way for people to understand this, you have the Dream Team in '92, dominant, beating everybody. I mean, the United States Olympic team still wins the gold, but it's not nearly as dominant as it used to be.
So, we can't have a situation economically where other nations are leveraging tariffs on all of our industries, and we sit here in the United States and do nothing about it. What we've seen as a result, companies leave, they go overseas. What does that do to working families in our country? They're not in the workflow that builds wealth. They are now in a workflow that deals with the consumption aspects here in the United States.
President Trump wants those companies to come back. He wants manufacturing to come back. He wants to build things in the United States. It's very difficult when other countries are tariffing us and we just sit here and act like the trade agreements that we've signed over the decades are actually going to do something positive for the American consumer. It has not done that, if you look at the history over the last 30 years.
COATES: I know we have to go, congressman, but you are running for governor in Florida. There is discussion that potentially Governor Ron DeSantis would like his wife to become the next governor of Florida. What is your reaction?
DONALDS: I don't really have one right now. I announced my candidacy last week. Nobody else has done that yet. We'll see what happens over time. I have the support of President Trump, and I'm working to earn the support and the endorsement of every Floridian in my state.
Governor DeSantis has done a great job. But, you know, we have term limits and there's going to be a new governor. And I think if you look at my record both in the state House and in Congress, I have one of the most conservative voting records and conservative policy records of anybody serving here on Capitol Hill, and that is the policy prescriptions that has made Florida the best state in the country. I want to continue that and build upon it.
COATES: We shall see. Congressman, nice to see you. Thank you for joining us this evening.
Still ahead, he was in charge of the FBI's New York field office. I did say was. Well, now, he's retiring and apparently not by choice. So, what did he do to get on the bad list? That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[23:40:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COATES: The top special agent of the nation's largest FBI field office, James Dennehy, forced to retire today. Dennehy had been an outspoken defender of the FBI. Last month, he told FBI workers to dig in when confronted with the prospect of mass firings, refusing to turn over the names of agents who investigated the January 6th Capitol attack, writing this: "We find ourselves in the middle of a battle of our own, as good people are being walked out of the FBI and others are being targeted because they did their jobs in accordance with the law and FBI policy."
While no official reason was given to Dennehy for forcing him out of the job, it did come just days after Attorney General Pam Bondi alleged that the New York FBI field office had withheld documents related to an accused sex trafficker, Jeffrey Epstein. CNN has reached out to the FBI for comment.
But for Dennehy, he is still vowing to fight for the FBI, writing in his final message to co-workers today, "I've been told many times in my life. When you find yourself in a hole, sometimes it's best to quit digging. Screw that. I will never stop defending this joint. I will just do it willing and proudly from outside the wire."
[23:45:02]
Joining us now is Christopher O'Leary. He is a senior vice president for global operations at the Soufan Group, a former FBI agent, and knows James Dennehy well. Chris, what is your reaction to hearing from Dennehy to being forced to resign?
CHRISTOPHER O'LEARY, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT FOR GLOBAL OPERATIONS AT THE SOUFAN GROUP, FORMER FBI AGENT: Unfortunately, I'm not surprised. But it's a sad day for the country. We are prioritizing, you know, the Dan Bongino's of the world who are posting Proud Boys references, you know, as this is happening over a dedicated, proven leader, somebody who's committed himself to the service of this country for his life, a great sacrifice to himself and his family.
He's a consummate Marine, consummate FBI agent, polished professional, and well regarded throughout the FBI at every level and across federal, state, and local partners. It is -- the FBI is a lesser organization without James Dennehy, and the country is less safe without people like him. COATES: I mean, he was clearly outspoken, in support of the FBI against the administration. He wanted workers to dig in, to keep fighting. Was that the right move?
O'LEARY: So, James Dennehy, he was speaking out against the administration. He was speaking up for his people and for justice. He was demonstrating what you expect out of a leader. That is what he was doing. That is what Brian Driscoll was doing and Robert Kissane and others.
The FBI is full of people just like these, not full of the Enrique Tarrio or Stewart Rhodes of the world, which people on the MAGA camp are siding with. These are the people that, you know, a few years back, you were thanking them for their service, and all of a sudden, they're magically part of some deep state.
COATES: Hmm.
O'LEARY: James Dennehy has done nothing but serve this country. He has hunted al-Qaeda members. He has hunted spies down. He is deployed to Afghanistan as an FBI agent working alongside special operations. He was a SWAT operator for years. He is -- I mean, really the best of us. He is, you know, who you want is your neighbor, he's who you want is your teammate. He proved that inside and outside of the FBI, and it's really unfortunate.
And, you know, I hope Kash Patel can get a handle on where he wants to take the FBI because it's going in the wrong direction as we speak.
COATES: Well, speaking of Kash Patel, he received a letter just last week from Attorney General Pam Bondi, who accused the FBI division in New York of withholding documents related to the Jeffrey Epstein case. Now, we're a hop, skip, and a jump away from that. Is this related?
O'LEARY: I can't tell you. I think that the writing was probably on the wall, anyway. You know, if you look back at Emil Bove asking only for the list of FBI agents and intelligence professionals who work January 6 cases, not the other task force officers who work it with us, you know, going after FBI employees specifically.
And this is just building on the years of misinformation and disinformation and propaganda trying to undermine the trust in an institution that this country desperately needs.
So, who's going to hunt down Al-Qaeda and ISIS members if not for the FBI? Who's going to go after the Russian FSB members and Chinese intelligence officers who are going to try to recruit the out of work government employees who are now going to be looking for money or might have a grievance? That has been reported recently.
I mean, the country is really facing some national security threats. That's what the FBI does. And it needs leaders with experience and judgment and the disposition of James Dennehy, not of Dan Bongino.
COATES: An ominous warning. Christopher O'Leary, thank you.
O'LEARY: You bet.
COATES: Well, ahead, it was an Oscar ceremony that had emotion, it had upsets, it had wacky speeches, and a whole lot of music. But one thing it didn't have? A lot of politics. Why did stars dodge what so many in America are talking about? Well, Amber Ruffin is here to weigh in next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[23:50:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONAN O'BRIEN, TELEVISION HOST, COMEDIAN: Well, we're halfway through the show, which means it is time for Kendrick Lamar to come out and call Drake a pedophile.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COATES: That was Conan O'Brien in his first ever hosting gig for the Academy Awards. The comedian not holding back when it comes to joking about controversial topics, from Kendrick and Drake to needling Karla Sofia Gasson over her racist tweets.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Little fact for you, Anora uses the F word 479 times. That's three more than the record set by Karla Sofia Gascon's publicist.
(LAUGHTER)
You tweeted what?
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COATES: So, sure, Conan is cool with controversy, but there was one thing he chose to avoid. Politics. Not mentioning Trump's name at all. Before the awards this past weekend, he told "The New York Times" -- quote -- "However anyone voted should not be a prerequisite for whether you enjoy the show. I feel very strongly about that."
[23:55:00]
Joining us now to discuss, the co-host of CNN's "Have I Got News for You" and the host of this year's White House correspondents' dinner, Amber Ruffin. Amber, so good to see you, my friend. Glad to have you here. I wonder what you made of the award shows, the major ones so far. They have mostly shied away from politics in a year like this. Why do you think that is? AMBER RUFFIN, TEAM CAPTAIN, CNN'S "HAVE I GOT NEWS FOR YOU": It has to be wildly unpopular --
COATES: Hmm.
RUFFIN: -- to go ahead and, you know, pick a side. It's so funny to even call it a side and another side when it's clearly just like madness and less madness. I don't know.
(LAUGHTER)
But I think people want to avoid the topic of politics because they want jobs.
COATES: Hmm.
RUFFIN: And who knows? Like, we're all having fun talking trash now, but who knows what these people are going to do? So, you know, I think they're playing the long game.
COATES: I mean, perhaps, you might be right about that if past is prologue. But you've got a great job coming up, especially, because it's the White House correspondents' dinner. And I think job or not, you can't avoid politics in that particular setting. So, how do you plan to go about it?
RUFFIN: Oh, no. When I host the White House correspondents' dinner, I will be tackling every subject. There will be no elephants in the room. I'm going to talk about all of it because, you know, journalists are -- girl, I don't have to tell you, journalists are in danger.
(LAUGHTER)
Somebody better do something. And if telling the truth is the little bit I can do, I'm going to do it.
COATES: So, that includes maybe no one being off limits. The Trump administration, Democrats, and Republicans, I'm assuming.
RUFFIN: I mean, sure. But I'm always like -- it's so -- it's so apples and oranges. You know what I mean? It's like you're supporting bananas' wars. You're taking away health care from people across the globe. And then, you know, you ran a woman as the presidential candidate. Like, it's hard to -- it's hard to find something of the same ilk. You know what I mean? So, it's like, yeah, we're going -- we're going to take digs at everybody, but dang it, there's a lot of digs over there.
COATES: I mean, welcome to Washington, D.C. We call it the land of the false equivalences. Of course, Democrats and Republicans will find their way in either way to do so. But, you know SNL. I was on "Saturday Night Live" although at my age it's called Sunday Morning Recorded. They never shied away from mocking U.S. politics. I want you to take a look at who they decided to make fun of this past weekend.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNKNOWN: It's disrespectful. Who shows up to the White House in a T- shirt and jeans like a garbage person?
(LAUGHTER)
Enjoy everything you're doing with DOGE, Elon.
UNKNOWN: Well, they're saying I'm firing people with no cause. But I do have cause. It's cause I feel like it. Oh, come on! Glitch.
(LAUGHTER)
COATES: They brought back Mike Myers. But Mr. Legalized Comedy, of course, Elon Musk, he didn't like that. And he posted on X, humor fails when it lies. Hmm. What's your reaction?
RUFFIN: I thought it was hilarious. I'm a huge fan of Mike Myers. I'm so glad we got to see him again. I thought it was pretty accurate. I really did. But I'm a huge SNL fan. I think, you know, James Austin Johnson is the truth. It was beautiful to see, especially Bowen Yang's impression of J.D. Vance. That was extra beautiful. It was just a lovely bit of satire and it's amazing that they put it all in one sketch.
COATES: You know, they got everything in there. They had Marco Rubio as well. They really tried to get it -- well, frankly, every single week, you have your pick comedically, I'm sure, of what to satirize and think about, which is why everyone, of course, loves your show as well.
But I've got to ask you this question about, and I can't even say this, Amber, who wore it better, Fetterman or Adam Sandler?
(LAUGHTER)
RUFFIN: Yeah, there is definitely some big overlap in Adam Sandler's day-to-day and John Fetterman's day-to-day. But I'm going to go ahead and say John Fetterman wore it better because he was at the White House making a statement. But I guess the same thing could be said for Adam Sandler.
[00:00:00]
Gosh, I'm going to call it a tie.
COATES: Ooh. You know what? A tie is not what Fetterman will wear. But I remember interviewing him for the White House correspondents' dinner, and he had on an actual sweatshirt, and he had cufflinks, he had cufflinks in the actual hoodie. And I just thought, you know what? This man commits.
Well, I'm committed to watching you, of course, every Saturday. I'm so glad you stop. I cannot wait to see whatever it is you say at that dinner. Amber Ruffin, good to see you.
RUFFIN: Hey, good to see you. COATES: Everyone, thank you so much. And, of course, thank you for watching. "Anderson Cooper 360" is next.
