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Quest Means Business

Trump Deportations Hearing; OECD Lowers Growth Forecast Due To Tariff Threats; Carney Hails Reliable Allies During Visit To Europe; Trump Visits Kennedy Center, Vows To Shake Up Organization; Trump Orders Gutting Of Voice Of America; Protesters Rally Outside Tesla Showrooms Across U.S. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired March 17, 2025 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:09]

PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: The closing bell, decked out in green, so are the markets today as some people try and do some bargain

hunting, I guess. Pretty strong day. U.S. markets clawing back some of those losses. You know about them. It was the worst week in two years, but

here they are in the green. Those are the markets, and these are the main events.

An hour from now, a judge will ask whether the Trump administration ignored a court order to halt deportation flights to El Salvador.

The OECD warns global growth will take a hit from Trump's tariff plans.

And Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney heads to Europe for his first overseas visit, a break from tradition and a sign of strained relations

with the United States.

Live from New York. It is Monday, March 17th. Yes, Saint Patrick's Day. I'm Paula Newton, in for Richard Quest, and this is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.

And good evening.

About an hour from now, a U.S. judge will seek answers from the Trump administration about whether it carried out deportation flights in

violation of a court order. Now, hundreds of alleged Venezuelan gang members were flown to El Salvador over the weekend, even though the judge

put a temporary halt to the flights.

The Trump administration says it is relying on an 18th Century wartime law, the Alien and Enemies Act, to carry them out. A lawsuit by some Civil

Rights groups say the Act is being misused.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt says she is confident it will stand up in court. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: This administration acted within the confines of the law again within the President's constitutional

authority and under the authority granted to him under the Alien Enemies Act. We are quite confident in that, and we are wholly confident that we

are going to win this case in court.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Joey Jackson is here from New York. Thanks so much for joining us, Joey.

Look, the Trump administration is describing these deportees as people the U.S. does not want in the country. So explain why due process matters here,

and I do want to note that the Justice Department is defending the deportation flights and here is what is extraordinary, telling the judge

that, look, the oral argument doesn't count.

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes, Paula. So a lot to unpack, Let's start here. Due process matters. What is due process? Due process is notice

and the opportunity to be heard.

Now in the United States, what happens is, is you can be accused of egregious crimes. You can be accused of egregious transgressions of the

law. However, the accusation does not become provable unless or until there is a full vetting of the claims.

And so you just cannot unilaterally, right, take it upon yourself without notice, without opportunity to be heard, without any defense, to just start

getting rid of people. Right?

So now, we know that they used this Aliens Act, right? Why? They used it because, Paula, it voids the ability to have this due process. That is this

hearing. You could just literally let people out of the country and say, you know what? We relied upon it.

Why is it an Act that was seldom used? It is an act that was seldom used because it generally applies during wartime, used in the war of 1812, used

in World War One, used in World War Two. However, there is a provision that speaks to the issue of if there is an incursion, right, or predatory

invasion by the government.

Now, you can argue that those individuals were government actors, they may have come from Venezuela, but were they sponsored by the government? Were

they directed by the government? Is there any issue relating to the government really giving them the authority to act on the government's

behalf? So all of that and you may have people yelling at the T.V. now saying, I disagree with you. That's what court hearings are for. That's why

a judge said, slow down. Let me determine whether or not, right, any of this is applicable to them before they leave the country. That did not

happen.

The Trump administration allowed them, or I shouldn't say allowed them, directed them to leave. And I think that is what really the judge is

concerned about.

Final thing, Paula, and that's this. We have various branches of government. The Executive certainly is in charge of foreign policy. The

Executive certainly is in charge of enforcing the law. It is the Judicial Branch that decides whether its lawful and if it is not lawful, judges have

a lot to say about it and if you have an executive who decides just to flout orders and say, hey, I am the law, that presents a significant

problem.

NEWTON: Okay, you call it a significant problem, but I think many Americans looking at this will say, where is that robust Judicial Branch? Because you

just heard the Press Secretary, not the Department of Justice, but the Press Secretary say, look, this is going to stand up in court. No problem

here. It just doesn't seem that that Judiciary Branch really is all that effective, given that the deportees are already in El Salvador at this

hour.

[16:05:22]

JACKSON: Yes, so there are a couple of issues here, Paula.

The first thing is, is that, you know, every lawyer is confident in their case. Right? Everybody who supports a particular position is going to

espouse confidence over that position and that's fine. But that's what the Judicial Branch is for. That's what a hearing is for.

That is what the airing of an issue is for, for both sides to make an argument so that there can be a factual determination, those facts matched

against the law to determine whether or not the deportation is lawful.

So you can't just take it upon yourself to say, hey, we'd win if this went to court, but we don't think it should go to court because the facts are on

our side and we are going to send them, you know, out of the country -- not the way it works. There needs to be a branch of government, the Judicial

Branch, the judges, right, that determine the constitutionality of issues, who weigh in on that, and when they don't, it is troubling and problematic.

Now, here is the way out for the Trump administration. I think because of the timing of the judge's order, you can argue that the administration did

not get that order until it was too late. The planes were now really enroute, and if they were enroute and they were in foreign territory, that

makes it a bit murky.

But just to say, hey, we did it because we know we could, because the facts and the law are on our side, that's not appropriate and that's certainly

against the entirety of the democracy and the American judicial and really democratic process.

NEWTON: Yes. But it also seems arbitrarily applied.

Before I let you go, we have this hearing happening in about an hour from now. Again, when we look to remedy here what can be done now?

JACKSON: So I think there are a number of things. The first thing is, is that you cannot -- cannot -- have an administration if that's what

happened, right, because the other thing that we started off saying is that the administration says it is a verbal order and verbal orders don't

matter, and you know what? It wasn't in writing. That's ridiculous. Right? A verbal order certainly does matter.

And so I think it gets at a point where you have to respect the process and the process is very simple. And, you know, most people who are middle

school will know. You have a branch of government that is elected, that's the Legislative Branch. They pass the laws. You have an Executive that

enforces and you have a Judicial Branch that determines the constitutionality. Are they lawful?

You cannot have one branch of government that is acting unilaterally, arbitrarily, as you noted, Paula, and just doing what they want, because

that will lead to somewhat of a crisis.

And so we will see if factually there was a violation and if there was a violation, I think it presents a significant constitutional question and

problem with regard to what to do if this administration just decides, a judge said, it doesn't matter, you're in Massachusetts. We really don't

care. You're just a judge at the trial level, it doesn't really -- unless the Supreme Court tells us, it is not the way the system of government

works.

The last thing, if you disagree with the judge at the most basic level, the district level, it gets kicked up to an appellate court. We call them

circuit courts. We have 13. And in the event that you disagree, there it goes to the United States Supreme Court. You don't get to pick and choose

the judges you want to follow and the judges you don't by just saying the law is on my side, it doesn't matter. That's an issue.

NEWTON: All right, Joey, as usual, you've set this up perfectly and we await the next few hours just to see what the next installment of this

judicial drama tells us.

Joey Jackson for us. Thanks so much. Appreciate it.

JACKSON: Thank you, Paula.

NEWTON: And now to our business agenda. The OECD is warning global economic growth will take a hit if Donald Trump carries out his trade policies. It

has just downgraded this year's growth forecast and says if tariffs cause higher inflation, things will only get worse.

This is the first major forecast to estimate Trump's impact on global growth. The President says protective tariffs on aluminum and steel will

take effect April 2nd. He is also promising reciprocal tariffs on countries worldwide. He told reporters it will be a "liberating day."

Anna Stewart is in London for us. Okay, it is clear no amount of market turmoil will dissuade him. He definitely wants to refashion the entire

economic relationship as far as the U.S. and its allies are concerned. What are trading partners in for here? And what does it mean for the global

economy?

ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER: Well, you know, last week we very much saw the market volatility, the market reaction to a barrage of tariff news. But

this is really the first big look we've had on a global scale at what tariffs are already doing to economies around the world and the assessment

of what they will do going forward.

[16:10:00]

And we have a bar chart here actually that we can show you. You can see that in terms of who is most impacted, Mexico of course the worst. Now, the

OECD is now forecasting Mexico will fall into recession this year and next year. They did think Mexico would grow by one percent, between one and two

percent over the next two years, and that estimation was only made in December. So we are seeing a huge change in a very short period of time.

For Canada, also now expecting growth of less than one percent this year and next year. But what is so interesting, what's the real sucker punch

here is the fact that the United States is certainly not going to be growing gangbusters as a result of these tariff policies, no matter what

the President has said.

Looking at the OECD forecast, the U.S. is also going to be seeing slower growth this year and next year, Paula. It is now forecast to grow 1.6

percent that's down from 2.1.

NEWTON: And I am going to pause you there, as we do have Mark Carney speaking from the U.K. Let's listen in.

MARK CARNEY, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: And they need to stop before -- and they will have to stop before we sit down and have a conversation about our

broader partnership with the United States.

But we're Canada. We don't need other people to come to our aid. Come on.

(MARK CARNEY speaking in foreign language.)

REPORTER: Okay. You think it would be helpful that they come out and say something as strong as that?

CARNEY: We have other things -- look, when the Prime Minister of Canada sits down with the President of France or the Prime Minister of the United

Kingdom, we talk about our relationships and where we have responsibilities, not what others are doing.

Madam --

STEPHANIE LEVITZ, "THE GLOBE AND MAIL": Mr. Carney. Stephanie Levitz, with "The Globe and Mail." We understand that you have now placed your assets in

a blind trust --

CARNEY: Yes.

LEVITZ: So you don't know what's happening to them going forward, but you knew what they were going in to that blind trust. So what are they?

CARNEY: Look, Stephanie, I follow the rules of the Ethics Commissioner. I am following them well, in advance of any of the requirements as you know

because I know you know this. You know that these requirements come into effect in months. We are talking days after I became Prime Minister.

So I am complying with the rules of the Ethics Commissioner, going through the processes and all of these things that are necessary. And I will remind

you and I will remind Canadians again, that the leader of the opposition cannot find -- and look, you look at the questions this evening, you look

at the nature of the discussions. You look at the nature of the discussions I had with the President of France, the Prime Minister of the United

Kingdom, the leader of the opposition would not be capable of having those discussions because the leader of the opposition refuses to get his

security clearance, something that it took me a few weeks to get and he has been the leader of the opposition for three years.

So I comply with my responsibilities. I comply with the rules well in advance, and the leader of the opposition doesn't take his responsibilities

at a time of, well, you should take these responsibilities at any time, but it is particularly remarkable given the stakes in global geopolitics at the

moment.

LEVITZ: The rules say that those assets should be publicly disclosed within 120 days, which means you'll campaign in a coming federal election, most

likely within the next 120 days, and are serving as Prime Minister now.

With Canadians not being aware of what potential conflicts of interest --

CARNEY: What possible conflict would you have? Stephanie, I am complying with the rules. I am complying with the rules in advance.

REPORTER: You said you were not (INAUDIBLE)

CARNEY: Yes.

REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE). There is no possible conflict of interest in your assets. It is very difficult (INAUDIBLE).

CARNEY: Look inside yourself, trust me. I mean you start from -- you start from a prior of conflict and ill will.

I have served in the private sector. I have stood up for Canada. I have left my roles in the private sector at a time of crisis for our country. I

am complying with all of the rules.

Your line of questioning is trying to invent new rules. I am complying with rules that that Parliament has laid out and the responsibilities of the

Ethics Commissioner.

And I will continue to comply with those rules.

(REPORTER speaking in foreign language.)

NEWTON: I'm Paula Newton in New York.

You have been listening to Mark Carney there in London, taking questions from the press.

[16:15:03]

We have Melissa Bell in Paris on standby because he was in France before he went to the U.K.

Melissa Bell, if you forgive me, I will -- since I am normally based in Canada. I will just sum up what he was talking about there.

First and foremost, I think for our audience, they will need to know that normally he would not be in France and the U.K. first. Any Prime Minister

of Canada, they would normally have a visit first to the United States. Since President Trump decided to, you know, say that he wanted to annex

Canada, Mark Carney is saying quite forcefully that for bilateral talks to continue, that kind of talk has to stop.

They have not even had a phone call, and that was very clear. I will also say that in the U.K., he was asked whether or not he discussed with the

King or with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer whether or not, you know, in any way, shape or form, they were going to stick up for Canada in calling

itself the 51st state. His answer was we don't need other people to stick up for us. We are Canada. We will handle this ourselves.

And finally, they are talking about a blind trust that he has just been asked to put all of his assets in. It is a bone of contention because he

was the chair of Brookfield Management. This is one of the largest corporations on the planet in terms of investment dollars, and many people

seeking answers, although he certainly says that he has done everything by the book and its now in a blind trust and all of this was done ahead of

schedule.

Again, forgive me, Melissa Bell, I do want to ask you directly, as you know so much more about this than I do in terms of what his meeting was like

with President Macron, especially as they are trying to as they continue to try and meet the Trump administration, where they are, right, where they

are on tariffs and other issues, including Ukraine.

What you thought about that line about Mark Carney saying we, in fact, are the most European of non-European nations.

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It was a meeting that was remarkably close. I mean, this was Emmanuel Macron, he said, welcoming

a friend to Paris and with great joy. And Mark Carney, for his part, making clear that his first visits to France, the United Kingdom, his third day of

visit will be to the Far North in Canada, but these foreign visits were very much about speaking to reliable allies.

And this, of course, as you remind our viewers quite rightly, Paula, in a context where this sort of coalition of the willing is being formed to try

and figure out how, not just Europe now, but a much greater alliance, 37 countries that are now in talks that hadn't been so closely involved in

figuring out how they can cooperate and continue to help Ukraine, not just Canada, of course, with the European countries, but New Zealand, Australia,

Japan as well.

The idea of this visit, I think, is to show very much in line with what we heard Mark Carney say, just as he was being sworn in.

NEWTON: Melissa, I am going to interrupt you there. Forgive me. We go back to London.

CARNEY: For example, Portugal is -- the government of Portugal is taking steps to diversify their supply. What's also in the public domain is a very

substantial effort in Europe to so-called rearm Europe, which is a significant consolidation and increase in the amount of defense spending in

Europe.

Now, that is of interest to us as Canada because it is a potential alternative supplier. It creates the potential to create supply chains that

mean that Canadian companies are participating in the development of these defense systems.

And we are actively exploring and this -- full disclosure -- this is one of the discussions that I had both in Paris and in the U.K. was the potential

participation. The U.K. is not formally in that, but we can see particularly given our security posture in Europe, given potential steps in

Ukraine, given our own security needs, that diversification of our suppliers in a way that ensures that as much as possible of that production

resides in Canada and benefits Canadians in multiple ways is a prudent thing to do. That's what I can tell you.

(REPORTER speaking in foreign language.)

NEWTON: And once again, we've been listening to Mark Carney there as he meets with Keir Starmer and faces questions from the media. Melissa Bell

joins us again.

You know what he was speaking about there, Melissa, was the fact that they are trying to diversify their procurement on the level of defense,

something that will no doubt please France, given in this whole issue about rearming Europe, they want to keep more of that defense production in

Europe and now Canada also saying that look, once we were going to look to the U.S. Defense industry, we are going to take a very close look at the

U.K. and Europe in terms of providing us with our defense needs.

[16:20:10]

BELL: And in question, particularly, Paula, of course, is this deal with Lockheed Martin. We know that the Canadians last in 2023 had signed a deal

for the purchase of 88 F-35 fighter jets from the American company. We know they've paid for 16 of those, but what we heard from Mark Carney's office,

even as he headed off on this European tour, was that they could well look again at that contract and reconsider the rest of those fighter jets and

look towards European suppliers and specifically Sweden, one country that might fulfill part of their needs.

So as I was saying, there is this will between these 37 countries now coming together to figure out Ukraine, not just to work on how they can

cooperate and continue support to Kyiv, but also to figure out how they can think about their rearmament and their defense structures and the defense

spending in a way that doesn't depend as heavily as it has on the United States.

And going back to what I was saying a moment ago, it is specifically what Mark Carney said as he came into office. We are willing to sit down with

the United States once Washington starts showing us some respect. So there is a sense that Canada is looking more towards European allies for

strategic reasons and questions like procurement without entirely ruling out, of course, the possibility of healthy bilateral talks with the United

States. First, though, some respect is due, and I think that was probably behind what is a very strong signal of having this first visit to Europe

before even that call with Washington.

It was interesting at this conference earlier with Emmanuel Macron, not just the complicity and the obvious friendship and admiration between the

two men, but Mark Carney switched fairly comfortably between French and English and made very forcefully the case that this was a moment also for

unity to be achieved between Canada and Europe in a way that had not been sought as specifically as it is now.

So a very obvious reaction to what has been said over the last few weeks by President Trump's administration said and done since, of course, there is

the question of the tariffs, but it is certainly to a friendly audience that the new Prime Minister now turns -- Paula.

NEWTON: Absolutely, and he has noted often, as has his Cabinet, about the historical ties to France.

Melissa Bell, grateful to have you with us as we continue to watch that live press conference. Appreciate it.

Now U.S. markets are making a comeback after their worst week in two years. The S&P 500 briefly fell into correction. It has since recovered slightly.

The NASDAQ remains in a correction territory.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says he is not worried about recent losses. He told NBC, it is not healthy for the markets to go up all the

time. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT BESSENT, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: I've been in the investment business for 35 years and I can tell you that corrections are healthy. They

are normal. What's not healthy is straight up. That you get these euphoric markets. That's how you get a financial crisis.

It would have been much healthier if someone had put the brakes on in '06- '07. We wouldn't have had the problems in '08. So I am not worried about the markets.

Over the long term, if we put good tax policy in place, deregulation and energy security, the markets will do great.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Paul Krugman is a Nobel Prize winning economist and a Professor at City University of New York, and he joins us now.

I will not pretend to try and school anyone on what the Treasury Secretary just said. So over to you. What do you think about that comment?

PAUL KRUGMAN, ECONOMIST AND COLUMNIST, "THE NEW YORK TIMES": It is a very odd thing. I mean, really. Treasury Secretaries shouldn't be making calls

about what the market should be doing in any case and it is a very -- I mean, the whole -- I've been, you know, parsing what he said over the

weekend and in the past few days and what is odd to me is how it is almost as if the Trump economic team has accepted that bad things are going to

happen, even though, you know, the current economic data are fine, but they are sort of making excuses and stories about a bad economy when we don't

yet have a bad economy and saying, you know, saying, I like market corrections.

That's not something that -- that's kind of really inappropriate for his office and I don't know what to make of it.

NEWTON: And yet they try -- they seem to be trying to prepare Americans for what is to come. And they say, look, we are going to have a little bit of

pain here. We are going to remind viewers of some recent data.

Now, retail sales for February were up marginally. There was lower discretionary spending. The University of Michigan Consumer Confidence

Report, that's at a two-and-a-half year low. And then we were speaking earlier about the OECD report, and I will note on that to your point that

the economy is just fine, thank you very much.

Yes, growth will be lower, but the United States will still be posting three percent higher growth.

[16:25:10]

So I want to say to you, what do all of these signals tell you about where the economy is now and where it could be headed?

KRUGMAN: Okay, first important thing to understand is that the Treasury Secretary doesn't know anything that you don't know and I don't know. It is

all publicly available data and then trying to figure out what's going to happen.

They have got this story which says that we are going to have to have a lot of pain as we, you know, rebalance the economy because their story line is

that job growth during the Biden years was phony, that it was all government employment, except it takes you about 90 seconds checking the

data to find out that that's not true, that we had lots of private sector job growth and not exceptionally high public sector job growth under Biden.

So they're saying we need lots of pain as part of a transition from a state were not in into a presumed future state. So it is a very odd story.

They are kind of giving excuses for a lot of pain without a good reason why we need to experience that pain. I've been finding recent commentary from

Bessent and others just quite baffling. I don't know what's going through their minds.

NEWTON: And it is clear from the message from the White House, though, and the entire economic team that tariffs are what is top of mind. What do you

believe if they go through with everything, especially after April 2nd? What do you believe the impact will be on the U.S. economy?

KRUGMAN: It looks quite nasty. I mean, first of all, it does -- I mean, who knows? But if we are going to be doing tariffs on Canada and Mexico, then

that's going to be enormously disruptive to manufacturing in all three countries, because we really have an integrated North American

manufacturing sector and you don't break that up without a lot of damage.

We are very -- you know, they are talking about reciprocity. And Trump is already putting some tariffs on the Europeans, but probably more and it is

not clear at all what that means.

European tariffs on U.S. goods are not high, but it sounds like they may decide wrongly bad economics, but they may decide that the European value

added taxes are, in effect, tariffs. In which case we would be talking also about 20 to 25 percent tariffs on Europe, as well as Mexico and Canada.

China is already in the line of fire as well.

So we are -- you know, if you had to make a call right now, you'd say we are talking about a kind of universal trade war, which will raise the cost

of living by several percent in the United States, which will hurt economic activity and the very uncertainty about policy is bad for economic

activity.

If you're a business, you probably are going to sit on your hands rather than make investments because you don't know what the economic environment

is going to be six months down the road.

NEWTON: But you made an important point that the Treasury Secretary doesn't have any more data than you and I have at our disposal right now. When they

see what is coming in the next 12 or 18 months after what will be clearly a trade war, do you believe that they are just willing to accept that? And

more to the point, they believe Americans will accept that politically?

KRUGMAN: Well, yes, they are trying to get Americans to accept it. I think that they are willing to accept it pretty much. I don't think anybody

believes that Bessent is making the decisions here. Right? This is -- whoever has Trump's ear, it is not his Treasury Secretary. It is probably

none of his Cabinet members and they are trying to get people to accept it. I doubt that that's going to be effective.

I mean, I've been actually stunned at how much -- I mean, consumer confidence right now has plunged basically to what it was when inflation

was at its peak in 2022. That's a pretty amazing thing to do, when in fact we still -- inflation is still quite low, not very far above target, and

unemployment is still low.

So at the moment, the American people are scared to death about Trump's policies and I doubt that anything that Bessent says is going to change

that.

NEWTON: We will continue to monitor this quite carefully. Paul Krugman, thanks for joining us, and we will have you back. Let's see where all of

this is going. Appreciate it.

KRUGMAN: Thank you.

NEWTON: Now, coming up for us, President Trump is vowing to shake up a major Washington Performing Arts Center after ousting its leadership and

installing himself as chair.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:32:54]

NEWTON: U.S. President Trump is visiting the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts for his first board meeting as its chair. He's already ousted the

organization's leadership and told reporters, "We have to straighten it out." The group has received bipartisan support for decades now. Vice

President J.D. Vance attended a performance at the center last week. He was met with boos from the crowd. Listen.

It's the latest of the President's moves to reshape government support for media and the arts. Over thousand voice of America employees were placed on

leave on Saturday after Mr. Trump ordered the gutting of the government- funded media outlet. Brian Stelter is on top of all of this for us some. Let's start with the Kennedy Center. Why is this institution so important

to President Trump, and how do we expect it to change?

BRIAN STELTER, FORMER CNN CHIEF MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Well, during his first term in office, there were nominees. There were honorees at the Kennedy

Center honors who criticized President Trump, who snubbed him, who said they didn't want to be in attendance with him at the White House, at a gala

before they were honored. So, Trump decided to skip the Kennedy Center Honors ceremony altogether.

I do wonder if that's related to this move today. Trump now taking over the Kennedy Center board and apparently trying to take more control, or have,

really any control, over who is nominated, who is honored in the future. The Kennedy Center Honors are a big spectacle in Washington every year

celebrating the best of the arts and entertainment. It seems like Trump wants to put his mark on that.

He also wants to have a say in the programming that comes to Washington all throughout the year. For example, the Broadway Show Hamilton was coming to

Washington next year, but now that Trump has taken over the Kennedy Center women, while Miranda says, no, thank you, This place isn't for us right

now. We're not going to come. There have been a number of artists who have said they're going to steer clear of the Kennedy Center because of Trump's

takeover.

So, it will be really interesting to see who Trump does bring in, who this board member -- who this kind of board of his friends decides to bring in

to perform there.

NEWTON: And to the Voice of America cuts and Radio Free Europe, I mean, look, these are a beacon have been for decades for so many people overseas.

[16:35:07]

The head of Radio Free Europe said this would be a massive gift to America's enemies.

STELTER: Right. The Kennedy Center thing is full of symbolism. The Voice of America change is full of substance. This affects millions of people who

are no longer able to hear VOA newscasts hear Radio Free Europe programming. In fact, in some countries, I'm told some of those local radio

stations and T.V. channels have switched over to music because they have no news to report, because the journalists have been sidelined.

Now, the head of Radio Free Asia has said they're going to try to challenge this, but it's unclear how they're going to do so we know these networks

were set up by an act of Congress, but I have not heard from any Republican lawmakers yet who are willing to stand up and defend these networks. The

Trump allies are saying these networks are bloated and biased, "beyond repair, not salvageable."

So, what we're going to find out in the months to come is whether the Trump administration tries to revive these networks. The president make them into

more pro-Trump propaganda organs or just lets them die. Either way, advocates for these groups say it is a real loss, and it creates a vacuum

that countries like China and Russia are poised to fill.

NEWTON: All right. Brian Stelter for us, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

Now, Tesla shares lost more ground today as the car maker faces a backlash over Elon Musk's political activity. Shares closed more than four percent

lower and are now down 40 percent year to date. Protests have been growing outside Tesla showrooms. Meantime, right across the country and beyond. CEO

Elon Musk works with Trump to slash thousands of government jobs. CNN's Julia Vargas Jones has the latest.

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JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT JONATHAN VIGLIOTTI (voiceover): At Tesla dealerships from coast to coast, growing signs of discontent.

PROTESTERS: Elon Musk has got to go.

JONES: The target? The world's richest man, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

ELON MUSK, TECH BILLIONAIRE: This is the chainsaw for bureaucracy.

JONES: Outraged by Musk's dismantling of the federal government, protesters are taking it out on his business.

PROTESTERS: Hey, ho, ho! Elon Musk has got to go.

JONES (on camera): What's your sign say?

PROTESTER: It says two things. It says honk if you hate fascists and boycott Tesla swasticars.

JONES (on camera): Why should people boycott Tesla?

PROTESTER: Because Elon Musk is destroying our government. Nobody elected him.

TAMMY SILVER, PROTEST CO-ORGANIZER: Elon Musk's wealth is based on the value of Tesla stock. Well, the value of Tesla stock is based on air and

dreams.

SHARON DELUGACH, PROTESTING TELSA: So we're sort of hitting him in the wallet, getting him where it hurts even though, you know, he's richer than

god. So it's hurting his reputation. I really believe it's hurting his reputation worldwide.

JONES (voice-over): Anti-Elon bumper stickers popping up, including these sold on Amazon marketed specifically to Tesla owners. And since December,

Tesla stock has lost nearly half its value.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They have one which is $35,000, which is pretty low.

JONES: President Trump using the White House as a Tesla showroom in an attempt to reverse that trend. And on Friday, Attorney General Pam Bondi

issuing a clear warning on Fox Business.

PAM BONDI, ATTORNEY GENERAL: If you're going to touch a Tesla, go to a dealership, do anything. You better watch out because we're coming after

you.

JONES: In recent weeks, Teslas were engulfed by a fire in Seattle. A charging station torched in Massachusetts, and a Molotov cocktail was

thrown to a dealership in Oregon after shots were fired at cars there. Not the scene at this southern California protest, part of dozens nationwide.

SILVER: This is a joyous, festive protest and nonviolence, and I urge people, likeminded people, to do this at every Tesla dealership in the

country.

ONES (on camera): And that organizer, by the way, owns the Tesla herself. She said she doesn't really know what to do with it at this point, but she

does have pretty serious buyers remorse at this point. Although at this protest, we did see another gentleman coming here across the picket line

saying that he was repairing his Tesla in order to sell it because he just could not bear the shame of driving it around for that's how deeply he

disagrees with the policies of Elon Musk.

Julia Vargas Jones, CNN, Burbank, California.

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NEWTON: Alcohol has become a major target in the global trade war sparked by Donald Trump. The E.U. announced a 50 percent tariff on U.S. Spirits

last week. President Trump responded by threatening a 200 percent tariff on European alcohol. The dispute could create opportunities, though, for

distillers outside the U.S. and the E.U.

Richard Quest visited a rum producer in Mauritius and was shown every step of the manufacturing process.

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RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR (voice-over): It is all the flavors of Mauritius in one stiff drink. That's what Grays claims it has to offer.

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The company wants the rest of the world to enjoy the taste.

ALEXIS HAREL, MANAGING DIRECTOR, GRAYS INC.: We produce rums from molasses from cane juice, and what we really like is to bring to the rest of the

world rums is made mostly in islands from sugar cane only, and it's really showing to the world what we can do. The economy of Mauritius relies on

turning its sugar cane into cash. Most of its fertile land is cultivated with it, harvesting more than two million tons in 2023 according to

official numbers. Grays grows and processes the crop itself.

HAREL: We get another value of the sugar cane. We grow the cane, we mill it, we make sugar and we make rum, either from the molasses, which is a

byproduct of sugar cane, or from the cane juice.

QUEST (voice-over): Grays brands include those like Mauricia and New Grove.

QUEST (on camera): The signature rum is called the lazy Dodo, named after the national symbol, the dodo bird, which went extinct in the 17th century.

But don't worry, they say, if you drink enough of this stuff, you'll soon see one.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can make a cocktail like you can add your pineapple jam. You can add some ice with some mint, the percentage of this one is 40.

So, what's special about this one? You will see this one's going to be more smooth. You can drink it meat with some ice, a slice of lemon, or you can

make a good cocktail with it.

QUEST (voice-over): Whilst Mauritius may be an island, its companies most certainly are not. Grays is part of the Association of Mauritian

manufacturers and that brings together business leaders focused on the larger picture.

SHIRIN GUNNY, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, ASSOCIATIOHN OF MAURITIAN MANUFACTURERS: It's been growing into a community of entrepreneurs and

people from the industry coming together and being actually proud of what they produce. All the innovations they've done for the country, all the

jobs they create, and all this ecosystem coming together.

QUEST (voice-over): That cooperation has helped graze keep their products on the shelves for nearly a century and it believes sustainability will

make the next 100 years just as fruitful.

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NEWTON: Thanks to Richard there and that is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. Up next though, Richard Quest takes us to Mauritius for World of Wonder.

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