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One World with Zain Asher
Trump Addresses Slew Of Domestic, International Issues; Trump To Talk Tariffs With Canadian PM Justin Trudeau; CNN Poll: Trump's Congress Address Gets Modestly Positive Marks; U.S. Supreme Court Weighs In On Aid Freeze; Pope Francis To Remain In Hospital For Ash Wednesday; Massive Storm Moving East Across U.S.; President Vowed To Bring Down Prices On "Day One"; LeBron James Becomes First Player To Score 50,000 Points; Aired 12:00-1:00p ET
Aired March 05, 2025 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[12:00:55]
ZAIN ASHER, CNN ANCHOR: Coming out swinging, Donald Trump takes aim at should-be friends during his first address of his second presidency.
BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN ANCHOR: Speaking of seconds, the second hour of ONE WORLD starts right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have accomplished more in 43 days than most administrations accomplished in four years or eight
years. And we are just getting started.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: President Trump's big moment, a very long moment this hour, hear what voters thought of his 100-minute speech.
ASHER: And snow, fire, and ice, the massive storm system is slamming the central and eastern United States. Right now, hundreds of thousands of
Americans are without power.
And later.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Twenty-two seasons, 40 years of age. LeBron James, 50,002 points.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: We knew he could do it. Never seen before. LeBron James goes down in history once again.
ASHER: Coming to you live from New York, I'm Zain Asher.
GOLODRYGA: And I'm Bianna Golodryga. You are watching the second hour of ONE WORLD. I have to get used to saying that now.
The golden age of America has only just begun. That was just one of many bold pronouncements in President Trump's nearly 100-minute victory lap
before Congress Tuesday night.
In a speech closely followed here and abroad, he touted the sweeping executive action that he has taken over the past six weeks on everything
from immigration to DEI.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Speaker, the President of the United States.
(CHEERS)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: President Trump signaled that there is no backing down in his quest to remake the government and change America's foreign policy. The president
addressed the slew of domestic and international issues from ending foreign wars to his tariff trade war with Mexico and Canada.
And later on today, he's going to be talking with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Whatever they tariff us, other countries, we will tariff them. Tariffs are about making America rich again and making America great again.
And it's happening and it will happen rather quickly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Critical time for Ukraine. The U.S. has now paused both intelligence support and weapon shipments to the war-torn country after
last Friday's intense Oval Office encounter between the two leaders.
But there are signs of a thaw. In his address, the U.S. president spoke about a letter from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and expressed
optimism about a peace deal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We've had serious discussions with Russia and have received strong signals that they are ready for peace. Wouldn't that be beautiful? Wouldn't
that be beautiful?
It's time to stop this madness. It's time to halt the killing. It's time to end this senseless war. If you want to end wars, you have to talk to both
sides.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: As European Union leaders get ready to hold an emergency summit on Ukraine and European security on Thursday, President Trump again accused
E.U. leaders of not spending enough on defending Ukraine.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Europe has sadly spent more money buying Russian oil and gas than they have spent on defending Ukraine by far. Think of that. They've spent
more buying Russian oil and gas than they have defending.
And we've spent perhaps $350 billion, like taking candy from a baby. That's what happened.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Actually, the U.S. has spent about half of that amount, and, collectively, Europe has spent more in providing aid for Ukraine.
Meantime, tariffs loomed large over last night's speech as well. There have been rumblings that the Trump administration may walk some of them back.
CNN's Paula Newton is in Canada with more on this. But let's begin with CNN's Manu Raju and more about that speech from the president last night. A
highly partisan speech, Manu, as we noted, 100 minutes, the longest by any U.S. president, giving an address to a joint session of Congress.
[12:05:12]
But in terms of policy, there was not much new unveiled. And this is coming as we are facing a government shutdown as soon as next week.
Just walk us through the reaction from Republicans, first, to the speech last night.
MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, this is Republican reaction. Really, the reaction overall has been mostly along
party lines. Democrats criticizing this as one of the most partisan speeches that any president could give in such a setting like that, but
also the Democrats reckoning with their own antics last night.
One of the members, of course, escorted out of the chamber after a prolonged protest, but not just that, the raising of signs that said the
president was lying, that's actually heckling him from their seats, typically not usually done the way the Democrats did, not standing up for
really applauding him at all.
The Democrats are just discussing how they handled their own antics last night. Some of them actually have been critical of their own colleagues
about that.
But then when you get on the substance and the policy issues, for the most part, Republicans were in line. But on that issue of tariffs, that is
something that is dividing the Republican Party. There are lots of concerns, including from the Senate majority, the top Republican in the
United States Senate, who wants Donald Trump's tariffs on China and on Mexico and on Canada to be temporary, very much does not want this to go on
for the long term.
He is concerned in particular about his state of South Dakota. It's a big ag state. They export a lot of their products. It's essential to their
economy. That is raising major concerns among Senator Thune and others who are concerned about what Donald Trump suggested, that this could -- these
reciprocal tariffs could go in just a matter of weeks and it could ratchet up the trade war, even as Donald Trump's top adviser is suggesting that
perhaps they may try to whittle this down.
But there is going to be a big push among a lot of Republicans to try to seek some exemptions, at least, from some key industries, whether it's
parts of the auto industry, some parts of the agriculture industry as well, how to help farmers who may be hit by this Trump trade war.
So that's going to be a big point of contention on the Senate, GOP, and House GOP side as they decide how to go forward.
And you're right, Bianna and Zain, next week, the government is set to shut down by the end of the day next Friday if they can't reach an agreement
between the two parties to keep the government open past March 14th. And it's an open question how that'll get done. And some Democrats came out of
that speech saying, they have no real desire to work with Donald Trump. They want him to come to their side. So we'll see how that ultimately plays
out. Guys.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. We don't even have consensus among Republicans who control both houses in terms of what that deal could look like as of yet.
Manu Raju, thank you.
ASHER: Paula, let me bring you in because Manu touched on this idea of possible exemptions, something that the Commerce Secretary brought up in an
interview with Bloomberg television.
In terms of what Donald Trump said about tariffs last night, he said that they might be, there might be a little bit of disturbance, but we're OK
with that. It won't be much. I mean, a lot of people, obviously, especially economists, disagree with that.
And we heard that speech by Prime Minister Trudeau yesterday, where he was very direct, pulled no punches in terms of addressing the American people
and Donald, as he referred to him as.
As I understand it, the Canadian prime minister and President Trump are going to be speaking today. Just walk us through what we expect. Will they
make a deal? Give us your take.
PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I have no clue because the Prime Minister's Office has no clue. Now, I will not recite to you and Bianna the
sarcastic texts I got about this, even when it comes to the time of the call.
GOLODRYGA: Ew.
ASHER: Why not? Paula?
NEWTON: So we're protecting sources here, OK?
ASHER: Yes.
NEWTON: Suffice it to say that you can look at what the Foreign Minister said on the record. Melanie Joly, quote-unquote, the instability and chaos
coming from the Oval Office.
Now look, Canada is all too realistic about the position that it finds itself in. As you say, Zain, look, this would devastate the Canadian
economy. But right now, as they try to negotiate this, Canada is trying to hold firm to say, look, we don't want to meet in the middle as Secretary
Lutnick had suggested. No, we want all the tariffs removed.
Now, if this afternoon they come to some agreement that we're going to exclude automobiles, that may happen. But Canada would also like a date on
the table for when they can go through everything else.
And in the meantime, sticking to what Justin Trudeau said yesterday, those retaliatory tariffs, they will stay on. Canada says it is not lifting
anything until this is a done deal.
I do want to point out though, just talking with Manu there, I mean look, there's a lot going on in Capitol Hill and you continue to hear even from
Republican members of Congress or senators because they are hearing it. It is hurting their constituents.
Does the Trump administration have a point that there are more things to be worked out with both Canada and Mexico on trade? Do they have a point on
fentanyl? Absolutely. You'd be hard-pressed after this crisis, this drug addiction crisis in any country, for any politician to say that is not
serious. Canada has put money, boots on the ground to try and deal with that. The Trump administration had said it's not good enough. How do you
deal with that in terms of negotiation?
[12:10:20]
Look, this is supposed to happen in the next couple of hours, but as I understand it, again, the word I got was things are fluid. So let's see if
any deals, so-called, comes from this.
But in terms of the retaliation, you know, you cannot mobilize an army to the border and then tell everyone to retreat once you've already told them
this is war. And this is what I've been saying to the two of you for weeks. Trump's language on a 51st state, and Trudeau being a governor, has
stiffened spines in Canada.
They have laid the table here for how this will hurt Canadians and the Canadian economy. That is something that has not happened in the United
States. So let's wait and see if those carve-outs do happen this afternoon, but this will not be the last we hear about this on trade for the next
several weeks.
ASHER: Just the fact that you have various provinces in Canada essentially saying that they're not going to stock American goods. They're not going to
have American goods on their shelves as a result of this trade war.
NEWTON: It's already done, Zain.
ASHER: Right.
NEWTON: I've seen it -- I've seen it myself. They're gone. Those products are off the shelves.
GOLODRYGA: It's clear things have gotten especially personal, I think, between the U.S. president and Canada in particular, unfortunate for all
sides here.
Paula Newton, thank you.
Well, Republicans say the president's efforts to shrink the federal government, raise tariffs and shake up the world order, are just what the
U.S. needs.
ASHER: Yes. Last hour, we spoke about that with Republican Congressman Pete Sessions. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. PETE SESSIONS (R-TX): I think it's important to understand that when you're Donald Trump and you see yourself being attacked, which he was, that
it was completely unfair to say this is about billionaires. This was not about billionaires. It is about a reciprocation between the United States
and other nations where they have tariffs on the United States that keep American products from being sold in their countries. And so what Donald
Trump is trying to do is level the playing field.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: With more reaction to President Trump's speech, we're joined live now by Democratic congressman Gabe Amo from Rhode Island. Congressman,
thank you so much for being with us.
I do want to talk about the reaction from Democrats in the chamber to President Trump's speech live as it was happening. You had various
lawmakers heckling and booing the president. You had, obviously, many, many of them holding up signs, a lot of them walking out in protest.
And, of course, we saw what happened live with Al Green, where he refused to sit down, despite being told a number of times to sit down and he ended
up being forcibly removed by the sergeant at arms.
I just want to ask you, just in terms of the way Democrats voiced their opposition last night, do you think it was respectful, A? And was it the
right tone for the occasion? Was this an effective way by Democrats to voice their opposition, do you think?
REP. GABE AMO (D-RI): Well, look, what we saw from President Trump last night was a bloated, boastful, hyperpartisan address. And it didn't really
solve or seek to solve the challenges that the American people had faced in terms of costs, and it only further isolated us from the world.
And so my colleagues in the Democratic Caucus are each entitled to their own responses. You know, some responded by walking out, some responded by
echoing, you know, the feedback that they have heard from their constituents in their district.
But let's be very clear, the Republicans are no model of decorum. You saw my colleague, Marjorie Taylor Greene wear a political hat, a political
statement that she wanted to make it back-to-back years.
And so there's no model of performance to follow --
ASHER: Congressman --
AMO: Yes.
ASHER: To be fair, this isn't sort of whataboutism. This is about whether or not -- obviously you -- as you point out, Democrats have the right, your
colleagues, have the right to protest in the way they see fit.
My question was, was the method of protest we saw yesterday effective in getting across the message that Democrats wanted to convey?
AMO: Well, look, I think that is to be determined over the course of the day -- over the course of the day. What many of us did was bring
constituents from home. We're going to be negatively impacted by the Republicans plans to cut critical social service programs like Medicaid.
That was one method of response. Certainly, there were other methods of response. But my role isn't to critique my colleagues because the feelings
that they are feeling are real and reflected at home.
And our constituents want us to articulate frustration from this -- from this administration and we also have to continue to fight and advocate for
their priorities.
[12:15:09]
So I think that, you know, each -- to each his own, but it's most important to be reflective of the folks back home and the fight they want us to
demonstrate.
GOLODRYGA: Well, there's one thing, Congressman, about demonstrating that fight, which we saw last night. There's another by actually putting actions
behind those demonstrations. I know that you were there with one of your constituents, Joan Woods, who's the operator of a senior living facility.
And there's a lot of concern that you have expressed, that others in your party have expressed, about the administration's care for seniors and
entitlement programs. The president said, of course, he's not going to touch Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare.
Do you take him and other Republicans at their word when they say that?
AMO: Absolutely not. I can't take them at their word because the stakes are high. And in fact, as a member of the House Budget Committee, I sat for 12
hours, 12 hours in a committee hearing, hearing my colleagues on the other side, Republicans state over and over again that they want to have these
draconian cuts on social service programs.
There is no other place to cut where they've designated on the Agriculture Committee and the Energy and Commerce Committee. So I cannot take them at
their word.
I would be very hopeful that they would choose a different path, but they have not demonstrated that to date in their actions.
ASHER: All right. Congressman Gabe Amo, thank you so much appreciate your thoughts.
AMO: Thanks for having me.
ASHER: All right. According to a CNN poll 44 percent of people who said they watched the speech described their reaction as very positive, 25
percent had a somewhat positive response and 31 percent of those polled had a negative response.
GOLODRYGA: Never have a negative response when we bring our next guest and our friend CNN's Harry Enten.
HARRY ENTEN, CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Stole my line.
GOLODRYGA: One hundred percent approval.
ENTEN: You stole it. You stole it. What are you doing?
ASHER: Great minds.
ENTEN: I was just going to say, my positive reaction to you is 100 percent -- 100 percent of the time, but you stole it from me.
ASHER: That's what we said to you yesterday. That's what we said to you yesterday, Harry.
GOLODRYGA: By the way -- by the way, Harry, there's no limit --
ENTEN: So? Repeats are good sometimes. I like rerun.
GOLODRYGA: There's no limit in telling us how much you love us. So, just, you know, you can keep it going. But tell us how -- tell us how Americans
felt about the president's speech last night.
ENTEN: Yes. I think you teased it a little bit at the top, but I want to put it into some historical perspective for you.
Look, 44 percent of Americans said they had a very positive reaction to Donald Trump's speech last night.
But, you know, the bottom line is, if you put it in a historical perspective, that's actually the lowest on record since we started polling
this.
You go back to 2021 Biden's first speech, it was 51 percent. Trump first time around, 57 percent. Look at Barack Obama back in 2009. Hello, 68
percent. How about George W. Bush back in 2001 at the beginning of this millennium, 66 percent.
Donald Trump is way below that at 44 percent. He's not even on the same planet. He's like on planet Krypton or something.
And here's the other thing you got to keep in mind is, who are the people who are watching this spiel last night? Not really many regular Americans.
Look at this. Republican share of. If you look at all adults, they make up 31 percent of all adults. If you look at those who watched last night's
speech, look how much higher the Republican share of that is, 44 percent.
That is a very, very Trump-friendly audience that watched that speech last night. That is what we always see with these addresses to Congress. The
people who are on the side of the president tend to tune in more.
There aren't that many people who you can in fact convince to go on the other side. And that I think is so important to keep in mind because it's
not just the speech he gave last night, it's the reaction to it down the road.
Can he actually boost his approval ratings? And we can go back through history. So we'll go in the DeLorean and we can look back in history and
say, OK, what are the job approval shifts?
Just before the speech and then compare it two weeks out. The average president since 1978 saw a boost, but get this, of just 0.3 points on
average. Donald Trump from 2017 to 2020 had a slightly larger one of 1.6 points, but that ain't specifically large, especially as Donald Trump's
approval ratings have been falling.
I don't think last night's speech is going to make that much of a difference, but it did make for some pretty good TV, especially when you
had all the rabble-rousers on the democratic side.
ASHER: Where we're going, we don't need a road. I just had to get my "Back to the Future."
GOLODRYGA: Wow. Good one, Zain.
ENTEN: Very nice. Very nice.
GOLODRYGA: You see what she did there?
ENTEN: There are no roads. There are no roads.
GOLODRYGA: Ronald Reagan. I feel like it's my turn to come up with lines from the movie.
All right. Harry Enten, our good friend.
ENTEN: Next time you'll have some lines.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. No, I just -- I just threw one out there, but OK. Harry Enten, thank you.
ENTEN: I couldn't hear it. It was too much crosstalk.
GOLODRYGA: Something about Ronald Reagan.
ENTEN: Bye.
GOLODRYGA: We'll see you later.
ASHER: Bye.
GOLODRYGA: We'll see you later.
ENTEN: Back to you.
GOLODRYGA: All right. A hiccup for the Trump administration and hope for believers in foreign aid.
[12:20:00]
Just ahead, the U.S. Supreme Court weighs in on the funding freeze. What they decided, when we come back.
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GOLODRYGA: Setback to tell you about for the White House with the U.S. Supreme Court narrowly rejecting the Trump administration's request to keep
billions of dollars in foreign aid frozen. And that had already gotten the green light from Congress.
ASHER: In a 5-4 decision, the high court did not say when the money would have to be released, allowing the government to carry on disputing the
matter in lower courts. Aid programs around the world have ground to halt because of the sweeping funding freeze.
GOLODRYGA: Our Paula Reid joins us live from Washington with more.
And this decision coming down just a couple of hours ago. Walk us through what Chief Justice John Roberts has said here in defending this decision.
And now, what does this mean for the lower court judge?
PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: It's rare that we get a Supreme Court opinion at nine o'clock in the morning. And this is a
technical decision but it tells you a lot about the partisan divides inside the court.
Because here, the Trump administration had asked the court to allow the Trump administration to keep that foreign aid frozen.
Now, the court declined to do that, but it also didn't rule on when that money needs to be released. Here, we're talking about billions of dollars
in foreign aid that was approved by Congress, but then the Trump administration froze it, and then groups that rely on that aid sued, saying
the Trump administration was usurping the power of Congress.
Well, the Supreme Court did not weigh in on those larger constitutional questions. Instead, they just sent the issue back down to the lower courts
to continue with this litigation and decide when this money should be sent out.
But as you noted, this was a 5-4 decision. And even though it was a sort of minor technical question about this intermediary step, four conservative
justices still took the time to write a dissent, expressing outrage at the idea that a district court judge could compel the administration to
disperse these funds.
Now this all got to the court really fast. I mean, this move just in a matter of days. Like I said, we got this early morning decision and this
will continue to be litigated at the lower court level, likely appealed by whoever loses.
But we're still anticipating that one of these dozens of challenges to Trump's efforts to reshape the federal government will come back to the
Supreme Court in a different form, with a different question, which is, does he have the power, as the chief executive, to make these moves and do
things that, for example, here contradict Congress or go against historical protections for federal workers?
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That's going to be the big question that's not before the Supreme Court at this point. But the fact that four conservative justices took such a hard
line on this issue, look, that's a pretty good sign for the Trump administration if and when these questions get back to the high court.
GOLODRYGA: All right. Paula Reid, thank you so much.
ASHER: All right. Still to come here, as Christians around the world mark Ash Wednesday, millions are keeping ahead of the Catholic Church in their
prayers. We're going to have the latest on the health of Pope Francis as he continues to recover in just a moment.
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GOLODRYGA: All right. Welcome back to ONE WORLD, I'm Bianna Golodryga.
ASHER: And I'm Zain Asher. The Vatican says Pope Francis slept well last night and is continuing to receive oxygen to help with his breathing. He
has suffered two episodes of acute respiratory failure in just the past few days.
GOLODRYGA: The Pope has been in a Rome hospital with double pneumonia for almost three weeks now. The 88-year-old pontiff missed today's Ash
Wednesday service.
Time now for The Exchange. And joining us is Christopher Bellitto. He is a professor of history at Kean University and a church and papal historian.
Christopher, welcome to the program. Thanks so much for joining us.
I wish it was under better circumstances here because we know that Pope Francis' hospitalization began February 14th. It's now the longest of his
12-year papacy.
[12:30:07]
Talk to us about the historical context of this and what this means for the church itself to have the Pope in hospital for as long as he has been.
CHRISTOPHER BELLITTO, PROFESSOR OF HISTORY, KEAN UNIVERSITY: Well, he's an 88-year-old man and many of us have parents and grandparents who have gone
through or are going through similar respiratory problems. Of course, in winter, this comes up a bit.
And so I'm brought back to the year 2005 when between January and April, Pope John Paul II went back and forth to the hospital a number of times.
And in fact, he passed away a week before Easter. Of course, we hope that this won't happen with the current pontiff.
So the church is entering today, Ash Wednesday, the first day of the Holy 40-day season of Lent. And it's a period of time, every year, for
reflection. Christians put ashes on our heads to remember the sins. And he sent a homily, because he couldn't preside over the service himself. He
sent a homily. And I'm sure a lot of people were reading words into that homily talked about specifically ashes represents our frailty.
The traditional words that are said when ashes are put on someone's head is, you know, remember you are dust and to dust you shall return. But these
are the things that are said every year whether the pope is 58 or 88 in good health or in a hospital.
ASHER: Yes. I mean, you mentioned Pope John Paul II in the early 2000s. I'm also reminded of back in the early '80s when he survived that assassination
attempt and he was in hospital for about 77 days. That was back in 1981. So the papacy has seen these periods before.
I do want to talk about what's happening in the world right now because a lot of people have been saying that this is a time when we really do need
the Pope's voice, you know. When you think about the various crises facing the world from the war in Ukraine, there's a lot of news about that now,
because of a potential ceasefire. And also, obviously, what's happening with Gaza and the list goes on when it comes to climate change. I mean
there's so many things happening.
What value does the Pope's voice bring to the world at a time of so much uncertainty like these times?
BELLITTO: Well, all popes have a prophetic voice. They have a moral power, a moral authority. We saw this especially with John Paul II and how he gave
hope to people during solidarity.
This particular pope, like John Paul II and like Benedict XVI, have been concerned with things like the environment and with things like refugees
and immigrants, always on what is the impact of powerful people, their decisions on the people who have nothing or the people who have little.
And so from the very beginning of his papacy, this pope, like popes before him, has spoken out. As the voice of those following as a successor of St.
Peter, chosen by Jesus, Catholics believe, as the voice speaking for the people who have no voice.
And so as the world, at least north of the equator, but also south in certain places, moves towards authoritarianism, moves towards more raw
power and decision-making that doesn't always seem to have the little person in mind. It's the pope who brings the little person forward.
Very interesting that at the beginning of his papacy, in March of 2013, coming up soon on the anniversary of his election, when asked, why did you
choose the name Francis? The first person who ever chose the name Francis, after Francis of Assisi, the 13th century famous friar, he said, because
Francis is a man of peace, and Francis is a man of the poor. And this is a moment where someone needs to speak for those.
GOLODRYGA: We know the Pope was supposed to attend a spiritual retreat this weekend with the rest of the Holy See hierarchy, and obviously, he cannot
attend now. The Vatican said the retreat will go on and that the Pope will be there, quote, in spiritual communion with them.
Can you talk about the theme specifically, which is hope in eternal life?
BELLITTO: Well, this is the great season. Lent is the most important time of the year for Christians. And the week between Palm Sunday and Easter
Sunday is known as Holy Week. Some people have referred to it as the week of salvation.
And it's the week where Christians and anyone, you know, other people of good faith or no faith at all may be thinking about those periods in our
own life where you go from utter despair, utter degradation, one thinks of Good Friday, to utter hope and utter spiritual victory, Easter Sunday.
[12:35:14]
And just as our Jewish brothers and sisters pass through the days of atonement, just as our Muslim brothers and sisters go through Ramadan as a
time of penance and reflection, that's what this period, this holy season is for Christians.
And it occurs to me that at this moment, just as John Paul II in his public suffering often said, Francis, I think, is someone that people who are in
suffering can identify with in a particular way at any time of the year, but particularly during Lent.
ASHER: You know, I loved what you were saying earlier about how much this pope is really a man of the people, right? I mean, obviously, he's the
first Latin American pope. He was known for the fact that when he was archbishop in Buenos Aires, he would ride the buses, you know. He would
ride his bike, you know. When he first became pope, he didn't even want to live in the papal apartments, which are obviously very opulent and very
lavish. He's a real sort of people's person.
I do want to ask you about how transparent you think the Vatican has been about his condition, you know, and whether or not you believe that they
should be more transparent, more giving of information. Just give us your take on that.
BELLITTO: Well, it's better than it used to be. There used to be a glib Italian expression that the pope was never sick until he was dead. They
would give out no information whatsoever.
But I think that there's something ingrained, you know, knowledge is power ingrained about the secrecy of the Vatican, that when they don't speak
frankly, or don't speak fully, all of these conspiracy theories and rumors are going to come up. And quite frankly, it's their own fault.
I know from the sicknesses of my own elderly relatives, anyone with someone like that knew before the Vatican said it that he had double pneumonia, why
not simply say it? Why not just say the words out loud?
And this is a very transparent pope. You know, go back to John Paul II, when the people used to say, he taught us how to live and he taught us how
to die. And he, you know, led his suffering out there.
But even then, everyone knew he had Parkinson's before the Vatican confirmed it. Why not?
GOLODRYGA: Yes. I think about this pope and we talk about being a man of the people who is very humble, also someone who really loves sport, in
particular, football or soccer. He's in Argentine. And so you hear anecdotes of him meeting with people and talking about their love of the
sport.
Just fascinating to hear these stories. These real human stories and connection there. We're wishing the pope all the best.
Christopher Bellitto, thank you so much for your expertise. Really important conversation and meaningful one.
BELLITTO: Thanks for having me.
ASHER: All right. Still to come, millions of Americans are in the path of a massive winter storm that already brought snow, rain and damaging winds to
parts of the U.S. We are tracking where the extreme weather is headed to next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:40:52]
ASHER: All right. Breaking news is in CNN. That anticipated phone call between Donald Trump and the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has
actually happened. We don't know details in terms of what they spoke about, but obviously it's coming on the heels of the tariffs that the president
announced earlier this week.
Obviously, Justin Trudeau spoke yesterday in Canada, in Ottawa, talking about the effect that those tariffs would have on Canadian businesses and
Americans alike, just in terms of higher prices.
Howard Lutnick, the Commerce Secretary here in the U.S., talked about the possibility that there could be some kind of deal reached this afternoon.
Again, we don't know the contents of this call. Hopefully, we will get a readout and we will bring it to you as and when we have more information.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. We do have some news about the president having had a phone conversation with the leaders of the major U.S. automakers yesterday. So
there is some perhaps speculation about what the news from Howard Lutnick will be as it relates to tariffs and whether there will be any exemptions.
Though Justin Trudeau has said if those tariffs go into effect, which they already are, that they will be met with retaliatory tariffs from Canada.
All right. A massive winter storm continues to march east across the U.S. today, brought whiteout conditions to parts of Iowa earlier today. In
Dallas County, not far from Des Moines, the sheriff's office is warning people to stay off the roads.
ASHER: In Mississippi, strong winds knocked off a portion of the roof at a jail in Clay County Tuesday. The sheriff says some inmates had to actually
be moved to another jail.
And video from onboard a boat near Baton Rouge, Louisiana, shows it being battered by heavy rain. A flood warning has also been issued for this and
other parts of the Mississippi River.
You know, Derek Van Dam is tracking the story for us. So there he is in that gorgeous studio.
GOLODRYGA: If you look closely, you can see him.
ASHER: But on a more serious note, Derek, just all of this extreme weather, from tornadoes to strong winds to flooding to heavy rain, just take us
through what's going on in various parts of the U.S.
DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, and dust storms, yesterday too, because once these storms passed, a wall of dust kind of created this
Martian-like landscape to the Dallas-Fort Worth region.
Speaking of Dallas, this is a video coming out of a local airfield. In fact, this is a private jet that slammed into a larger jet. This jet was
actually unoccupied at the time when these strong winds moved through, which by the way, gusted near Hurricane Four.
So this is a significant system that is marching eastward across the country. And it is not done just yet. In fact, there were over 225 reports
of severe weather from yesterday to today, eight of which were tornado reports. And those were issued across parts of Oklahoma and to eastern
Texas.
And lots of strong wind reports that stretched across the southeast and they are ongoing for parts of the East Coast as we speak.
Look at these wind reports. We're talking over 74 miles per hour, which is a category one Atlantic hurricane equivalent. So one would imagine this is
going to knock out power and it's done so. It was at its peak over 425,000 customers earlier this morning. That number has come down.
But what I've noticed is that the states, included within this power outage amount, has actually increased. And that is because we're seeing the severe
weather move to the Carolinas.
This area that you see under shade of orange, that's an enhanced risk, damaging winds, a few tornadoes. They have been rotating and spinning up
very quickly, moments notice type tornadoes. They're short-lived, but they can cause damage.
And even reports of large hail. This is impacting the nation's capital and eventually into New York City as well as we start to get some influence
from the Atlantic Ocean for this region.
So here's the current watches. This is a tornado watch in red. That's a severe thunderstorm watch, just south of Washington D.C.
Just moments ago, there was actually a tornado warning for Raleigh, North Carolina. This is part of a larger storm. It's bringing full-on blizzard
conditions.
Look at this, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan getting hammered into Minneapolis, southward into Omaha. It's not the amount of snow that's so
impressive, it is the wind that's driving this snow around, creating whiteout conditions, dropping the visibility very quickly, making it
treacherous and dangerous to drive, especially for the Great Lakes and parts of the Midwest.
[12:45:12]
Now look at this. As people head home from work, maybe flights in and out of New York, LaGuardia, JFK, you're going to have a rough go right around
6:00 P.M. this evening because of the heavy rain that's moving through. And not to mention the strong winds that are accompanying this storm.
So, Zain, Bianna, yes, keeping us busy and also, keeping us on our toes with this new studio. Do you like it?
GOLODRYGA: We do. We love it.
ASHER: I notice it every time.
VAN DAM: Not bad, huh?
GOLODRYGA: Very jealous. Yes. It's fantastic. We brought your umbrella in today.
VAN DAM: Come and tour a visit, anytime.
GOLODRYGA: You know, some rain outside here on the East Coast. Meteorologist --
VAN DAM: We'll make it rain next.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. Derek Van Dam, thank you.
ASHER: That was a good one. Thank you.
GOLODRYGA: All right. Let's talk about the price of groceries. Bringing down prices was a part of last night's address by the president. And it was
one of his favorite pledges on the campaign trail.
ASHER: Yes. Now, more than six weeks in, has the president made any progress? CNN's Danny Freeman has that part of the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In many ways, Sprankle's Neighborhood Market was just like any other local grocery store, until the
president came to town.
TRUMP: They caused inflation at a number that nobody can believe. We've never seen numbers like this.
FREEMAN (voice-over): A month before Election Day, President Trump visited the family owned grocery store in rural Kittanning, Pennsylvania, to drive
home a critical campaign promise.
TRUMP: When I win, I will immediately bring prices down starting on day one.
FREEMAN (voice-over): Yet, despite the promise, and the visit --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now it's $7.99.
FREEMAN (voice-over): -- prices have stayed stubbornly high.
RYAN SPRANKLE, OWNER, SPRANKLE'S NEIGHBORHOOD MARKET: Professionally, it was the wildest 37 minutes of my life.
FREEMAN (voice-over): Ryan Sprankle, now clean shaven, is the owner of the store. He proudly gave Trump the tour back in September. And Ryan voted for
Trump, in large part because he said prices would come down.
FREEMAN: Are you concerned that that hasn't happened yet?
SPRANKLE: I'll be --- I'll be honest, yes. No matter who's trying to get your vote, you know, I think there's always a certain amount of
overpromising.
FREEMAN (voice-over): While the Republican acknowledges prices have remained high, he says they have stopped going up so rapidly.
SPRANKLE: The fact that a lot of the big companies prices have stabilized and aren't increasing at the rates that they've been increasing at, give me
hope that, you know, at least it's got somebody's attention.
FREEMAN (voice-over): New data from the Commerce Department appears to back up what Ryan's seeing. Inflation did, in fact, cool slightly in January,
compared to December.
One of the Federal Reserve's go-to inflation gauges rose 2.5 percent last month compared to the year before, slowing from December's 2.6 percent
annual rate. But that doesn't mean American shoppers are feeling relief yet.
JENNY KLINE, PENNSYLVANIA INDEPENDENT: I think it's going to take some time for that to happen.
FREEMAN (VOICE-OVER): but Jenny Kline, an independent and voted for Trump, says she has complete faith in the president.
KLINE: I didn't get this way in six months, you know. It'll take a while for the prices to come down and I'm willing to give him the time because I
feel he'll be able to do it.
BRIAN MCGRATH, REGISTERED DEMOCRAT: A lot of these areas around western Pennsylvania, I'm sure, and West Virginia are kind of like depressed. We
haven't seen a lot of growth here. We hope that maybe by having Republicans and there might be some potential growth.
FREEMAN (voice-over): Brian McGrath is a registered Democrat who voted for Trump, while he feels some parts of the new administration have done
overboard this past month, he's still willing to give President Trump time to bring prices down.
MCGRATH: We'll have to wait and see. All I can say is two years from now we'll have another, what is that, midterm election. And if people aren't
happy, then they're going to go the opposite way.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And the decaf one.
FREEMAN (voice-over): At nearby Ispirare Coffee, prices are front of mind.
JOLENE MCILWAIN, PENNSYLVANIA DEMOCRAT: And here in the coffee shop, you hear people talking about, are we going to be able to afford to get a car
loan? Are we going to be able to afford to buy eggs?
FREEMAN (voice-over): Democrat Jolene McIlwain didn't vote for Trump, but understands the desire here for something different.
MCILIWAIN: I think people are going to hold out hope, but also be highly critical of no matter which party. Because we've seen under both kinds of
administrations, we've seen difficulty.
SPRANKLE: There's a lot riding on the next four years.
FREEMAN (voice-over): Yes.
SPRANKLE: Because let's face it, people made a choice in 2016. People made another choice in 2020. And now, the next four years, I think, will really
go a long way to determine, was everybody's decision that they made the right decision?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:50:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Games this year. LeBron, open three. Got it. Twenty seasons, 40 years of age. LeBron James, 20,002 points.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Can he make it to 100,000? This is the moment.
ASHER: Just 50,000?
GOLODRYGA: This was the moment when NBA's all-time leading scorer, LeBron James, broke another record and added an impressive milestone to his
career.
Tuesday night, James became the first player in NBA history to score 50,000 points across both the regular season and the playoffs.
CNN sports anchor Coy Wire joins us live from Atlanta. Coy, we live in such an era of uncertainty here, not knowing what's going to happen in the world
any minute. But this, this we knew was going to happen when we spoke last night.
COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Debt, taxes, and LeBron dominating.
GOLODRYGA: Yes, yes.
WIRE: Yes. Listen, this is about more than just sports or basketball, right? He is making us rethink what is and what is not possible when it
comes to longevity, human potential. Just about every other NBA player you could think of who played even to their late 30s finished as empty shells
of their peak powers, but LeBron James just continues to shine.
Here's the moment that assist from his new wingman, Luka Doncic, three pointer, money. We are watching one of the greatest athletes of all-time at
40 years old and he is not slowing down, Bianna and Zain.
He was just named Western Conference Player of the Month. He's averaging nearly 30 a game. This milestone is sparking further debate about whether
he is or is not the greatest hooper of all-time.
Some might think, oh, he just shoots it all the time. He's a ball hog. No, he's fourth on the all-time for most career assists as well. Here's LeBron
on what reaching this milestone means to him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEBRON JAMES, LOS ANGELES LAKERS FORWARD: I'm super blessed to be able to, you know, put that many points up in the best league in the world, with the
best players in the world over my career, so it's pretty special.
LUKA DONCIC, LOS ANGELES LAKERS GUARD: Watching him do this stuff at this age, it's just unbelievable, like 50K points, it's -- I can't even explain
how insane that is. And he might get to 70K, you never know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WIRE: Twenty-two seasons, four-time NBA champion, four-time league MVP, 50,000 and now 33 points. Will anyone ever catch him?
Look, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is second, finishing his career nearly 60,000 points away. When you talk about current players, active players, Kevin
Durant's the next closest, he's about 15,000 points behind. Steph Curry's about 21,000 points behind, and you're probably wondering, so what is the
secret to his success, to his longevity. Well, turns out, sleeping in. He sleeps about nine, 10 hours a day and --
ASHER: Whoa, really?
WIRE: -- will take about a two to three hour nap at times. So after this hit, I'm just going to go catch some Zs.
GOLODRYGA: We should all be doing that.
[12:55:01]
WIRE: Yes.
GOLODRYGA: Unbelievable.
ASHER: That's not what I expected you to say when you talked about what his secret was.
WIRE: It's a little more than that, too --
ASHER: Sleeping.
WIRE: -- but it's one of them.
ASHER: Maybe just a little.
WIRE: Yes.
ASHER: It was really good to see Kobe Bryant's name on that board.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. And, of course, my favorite, MJ, you know.
ASHER: Different MJ. Not that MJ. A different one.
WIRE: See, we're going to get into one of those heated sports talk shows. No, he's the goat. No, he's the goat.
GOLODRYGA: This is LeBron's day. This is LeBron's day.
ASHER: Yes.
GOLODRYGA: Coy Wire, thank you.
WIRE: You got it.
GOLODRYGA: And finally, we want to bring you one of the most touching moments of the address last night. President Trump named 13-year-old cancer
survivor, D.J. Daniel, an honorary member of the Secret Service.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Tonight, D.J., we're going to do you the biggest honor of them all. I am asking our new Secret Service director, Sean Curran, to officially
make you an agent of the United States Secret Service.
(CHEERS)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: Trump said D.J. had always dreamed of becoming a police officer. He was given standing ovation by Congress. You can actually see him there
being lifted up by his father. And that Secret Service director, Sean Curran, beside them is handing D.J. his badge. There he is holding it up.
That was -- that was a really --
GOLODRYGA: Yes.
ASHER: I mean, it doesn't matter what your political stripes are. That was a really touching moment.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. And then this hug between the two of them was just so special.
All right. Well, that does it for this hour of ONE WORLD. I'm Bianna Golodryga.
ASHER: I'm Zain Asher. Appreciate you watching. "AMANPOUR" is up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
