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>> it's tuesday, march 4th. here's what's happening right now on cnn this morning. >> we will have a strong, unequivocal and proportional response. >> canada, mexico, china hitting back as u.s. tariffs go into effect. how could a trade war impact your bottom line? plus, president trump says he'll tell it like it is during tonight's big speech to congress. we'll talk to a top trump adviser about his message to americans. after all this change. and. >> 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. big trouble. >> the president halts military aid to ukraine. how long before zelenskyy will be forced into peace talks with putin?

it's 6 a.m. here on the east coast. here's a live look at the capitol, where the president's big speech will be tonight. good morning everyone. i'm audie cornish. i want to thank you for waking up with me. talk about the news ahead. a new trade war is sending shockwaves through the economy. this is donald trump prepares to speak to congress. while you were sleeping, the president enacted 25% tariffs on canadian and mexican goods. he also doubled an existing tariff on chinese goods. so that number is up to 20% for president trump. the move is as much about payback as it is about revenue. >> they can't come in and steal our money and steal our jobs and take our factories and take our businesses and expect not to be punished. and they're being punished by tariffs. >> well, they are punishing the u.s. with tariffs of their own. overnight, china announced 15% tariffs on u.s. chicken, wheat, corn and cotton. they're also slapping a 10% tax on u.s. pork

produce, beef and dairy products. canada. well, they're vowing to, quote, not let this unjustified decision go unanswered. prime minister justin trudeau announced tariffs on $30 billion worth of u.s. made products. he also promised to add tariffs to another $125 billion worth of goods in the coming weeks. all right. so what does this mean for you and your wallet? economists and wall street think it may drive up prices, despite trump's campaign promising to do the opposite. >> we're going to get those prices down. we're going to bring down the energy prices fast, fast. so when i went, i will immediately bring prices down. >> joining me now to talk about all this eva mckend, cnn national politics correspondent elliot williams, cnn legal analyst, and jackie kucinich and political analyst and washington bureau chief for the boston globe. so for everything that's been happening in these opening

weeks, we've been talking about doge. we've been talking about federal cuts. at the end of the day, it was the economy, stupid, that allegedly turned this election. so what can we sort of expect democrats to do in terms of talking about these tariffs? is this on their to do list, or are they still going to be focused on federal workers tonight? i think it's going to be a mix of both., because certainly this the economy is the number one issue for so many voters. >> it was when i spoke to them throughout the election cycle on the campaign trail. but this is such a deeply held belief for this president that tariffs is the right strategy, that he is hellbent on this strategy despite what economists say. and so democrats have an opening here for the ultimate showman. he is not impervious to audience feedback. and it is going to hurt people. >> yeah. you know, i want to play a cut from warren buffett, who was asked about how tariffs would affect the economy.

>> how do you think tariffs will affect the economy? i mean, tariffs are actually we've had a lot of experience with them. they're an act of war to some degree. >> how do you think tariffs will impact inflation. >> over time. there are attacks on on goods. i mean you know the tooth fairy doesn't pay them. i mean. >> so what i like about this moment is it's he's not wrong in that trump also believes them to be an enforcement tool. right. well, like against other countries. right. i want certain policies. tariffs is my weapon to get that. >> and against companies. right. because the last administration he said that you know it was it was going to force companies to come back to the united states to move their their facilities back. so yeah, he's he's looking he he has long said that countries are taking advantage of the united states. this even predates his presidency. and so

this he was not shy about talking about this on the campaign trail as well. >> so and a lot of voters believe that, right. i mean, i don't know. >> right, absolutely. however, right now and this is picking up on the warren buffett quote, this is all sort of abstract to voters. the idea that this is an act of war. whatever else people. >> you hear tariffs and you're like. >> no. >> you're not sure you should care. >> and, you know, frankly, it'll take a few days for your avocados to go up in price. it'll probably take a few weeks for your nissan to get more expensive or your stellantis chrysler truck because of plants in canada. so until those effects start being seen, this is this is an economist and intellectuals frankly on television. question. for most people. >> though, i will say i mean, looking at the list of things that china has already said, that they're going to put tariffs on, farmers are looking at that and they're and they're taking notice for sure, and they're members of congress. >> but let me add one more thing about that, because we keep talking about this joint address to congress, and he's talking to congress. he's not talking to congress. he's talking to us. this is where the president gets

to get up and say, here's how i've spent the time you have given me in these first few weeks, and here's what i want to do going forward. and this means that republicans will have to talk about that. here's republican mike lawler talking about the threat of terrorists becoming a reality. >> i have no problem with the use of tariffs as a negotiating tool. but if you're going to threaten the use of it, then you actually have to do it right. and that's, uh, that is certainly what the president is doing. >> so he actually has to do it. but i hear this a lot. it's just a negotiating tool. so as it becomes less a negotiating tool and more reality, what does that mean? i mean, we're seeing people at town halls already complaining. >> and let's listen to those voters. i think that the voters in a district like mike lawler's, you know, their response will be really instructive. those are those are swing voters. i was speaking to a farmer in kansas. he is the only one in his community who voted for vice president. harris, all of his neighbors

supported this president. >> he's the one. >> yes. >> yeah. >> but but he said that to me, that there's a lot of nervousness among his community right now, but also a lot of pride. and so right now, he's not hearing farmers tell him that they regret their decision to vote for president trump, but they're they're they're on edge. >> okay. i want the group chat to stick with us. we got a lot to talk about today. up ahead on cnn this morning, going all in on doge. president trump is expected to boast about the cuts to government and his big speech before congress tonight. jason miller, senior adviser to the president, is here to discuss. plus, storms and possible tornadoes threatening the south. what does that mean for the party in the big easy? and we'll take it. and what will it take for president trump to get ukraine's president back to the negotiating table? >> what we need to hear from president zelenskyy is that he has regret for what happened.

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>> i told linda, linda, i hope you do a great job and put yourself out of a job. i want her to put herself out of a job. >> this is trump's 22nd nominee to be confirmed by the senate. and this morning, dolly parton, grieving the loss of her husband, carl dean, passed away yesterday at the age of 82. in a statement, parton says words can't do justice to the love we shared for more than 60 years. also, space x has a new date for its starship mega rocket test launch. last night's attempt was scrubbed because they found some issues. the launch was supposed to be the first for the starship since january, when an unmanned flight exploded, sending debris down on the islands of turks and caicos. and while fat tuesday be washed out by severe weather, here's a live look at bourbon street, where mardi gras celebrations will be in full swing later this morning. there's a threat of thunderstorms today in new

orleans, and there could even be isolated tornadoes. and you got to see this. there's actually a fast moving dust storm whipping across the southwest, choking out the light, making it hard to see even a few feet in front of you. this video was taken in new mexico, and it shows how dangerous the driving is during all of this. parts of the interstate had to be shut down because of this wall of dust. soon on cnn this morning, president donald trump has his big speech before congress tonight. elon musk will be there. what will the president say about him? and doge. plus, jay-z has a new lawsuit. why? he's the one suing this time. and good morning, nashville. you're waking up to lows in the 50s, but temperatures will reach 70 degrees. >> united states of scandal with jake tapper returns sunday at nine on cnn. >> something about the way we're

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join and get a free gift. plus aarp, the magazine. >> the social security administration could be next for elon musk and his doge chainsaw, and he's rattling many of the nearly 70 million people who depend on those monthly checks. >> i mean, the government is one big pyramid scheme, if you ask me. >> yeah, well, you could tell me better. >> social security is the biggest ponzi scheme of all time, right? >> explain that. >> oh. so, um, well, people pay into social security and and the money goes out of social security immediately. but the obligation for social security is, uh, your entire retirement career. >> the agency plans to start by slashing around 17,000 jobs. former former social security chief martin o'malley, who we should note is a democrat, delivered this warning in an interview with cnbc. ultimately, you're going to see the system

collapse and an interruption of benefits. i believe you will see that within the next 30 to 90 days, ahead of any interruption in benefits. people should start saving now. 7000 jobs. sorry about that. so first i want to a correction 17,000 jobs. but b i want to ask about the messenger here because having it on joe rogan is directly injecting it into the veins of the mainstream sort of reporting system. and is that message going to reach the voters? they want it to? well, or do they want it to actually like is elon musk getting ahead? >> i think that this is going to be a political problem for this president and the administration, because. >> just talking about social security or the musk jumping in, uh, both both. >> both the message and the messenger. yeah. because this is the most, uh, politically, um,

strong argument that democrats have. it's one thing to talk about the threat of a constitutional crisis, or the threat of democracy, or the erosion of democracy, as we heard democrats talk so much about on the campaign trail. but this is your grandmother is not going to be able to access the services that she needs to get her social security. >> so, you guys, does it work for you to say to said grandmother? listen, social security is a ponzi scheme. that's what elon musk says. >> yeah. look, there are three american values mom, apple pie and not messing with social security. and it's the kind of thing that, again, when we talk about these abstract issues all the time, people don't really have their heads around. social security is one. now, look, that does not change the immense popularity. both joe rogan and elon musk have with with a huge swath of the population. but when you start getting into things that affect people, getting back to our last segment, um, there are, you know, until people start feeling something at their pocketbook, it's just hard to get their heads around. what do. >> you make of this messenger? and the message is this someone

who's getting out ahead of the president, is this someone doing it because they want to plant the seeds and they want to do it within the grass roots? >> so but the president has said he's not going to cut social security. that has been a key promise. >> yeah. more than once. hold on. i think we actually have some clips of him doing that on the campaign trail. >> the spending bill that passed last night aims to cut $2 trillion. can you guarantee that medicare, medicaid, social security will not be touched? >> yeah. i mean, i have said it so many times. you shouldn't be asking me that question. uh, we're not going to touch it. >> and i was wrong. that was actually just two weeks ago. so if he goes out and says it, i said it so many times, and then musk goes out and says, well, actually. >> well, i think it was. so musk was off camera there. but musk proximity to trump, to that, to that power is why this is problematic. it is it is abundantly clear that these two talk all the time. so if you have someone like elon musk, maybe he's off message, but he's i mean, he's the closest

the proximity he has to power is why what he says on joe rogan or anywhere else for that matter matters. >> and the wild thing about the entire doge enterprise of cutting trillions of dollars from the government, you kind of can't do it without touching social security. >> and so there's a lot of fiscal hawks have talked about for a long time. you know, the other thing i want to bring up in terms of messengers, you know, pam bondi, the attorney general kind of found out the hard way when they released the epstein files and stephen miller in the white house actually gave all these binders to right wing influencers. and then everyone sort of said, what was that? there was nothing in there, and people were angry. can you bypass the regular system? right. media. et cetera. in the governing phase, it's one thing to do it in the campaigning phase. what's it like doing it now? >> that's a really good question, audie. i guess we will see. they have to keep this channel of communication open with their audience, and they are going to those places. but

it isn't the same. you know, people expect results. >> yeah, yeah. and also like andrew tate coming back to the u.s. like there's obviously some voices they want to keep uh energetic and powerful because of their communities. >> and particularly the pam bondi thing. there's some great reporting from paula reid and hannah rabinowitz here at cnn, just in the last day about the fact that the justice department sidelined its career communications people in favor of this sort of, um. influencer focused approach that that's at odds with how the government does its work. you need expertise and can't, no matter how popular these folks are, they can't run government. >> and also tonight, trump is going to get to issue his message himself directly to the american people. i want the group chat. stick around. up next on cnn this morning, president trump ordering all military aid to ukraine to be paused. what will this mean for their fight against russia? and do u.s. gun makers market their weapons to drug cartels? mexico thinks so. and today they're

going to argue that before the supreme court. >> amid upheaval and sweeping changes. >> the president of the united states. >> trump heads to capitol hill to share what's next. follow cnn for complete coverage and in-depth analysis. the presidential address to congress tonight at eight on cnn. >> you give eye exams. >> i give fresh starts. better vision, healthy eyes. everybody wants that. >> paradox saves vision. >> well. >> i hero owl saves money. use your vision insurance for exams, glasses and contacts. all at america's best. >> look out. cause here i have. you always had trouble with your weight. me too. >> discover the power of wegovy. >> with wegovy. i lost 35 pounds and some lost over 46 pounds. >> and i'm keeping the weight off. >> i'm reducing my risk. >> wegovy is the only weight

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include inflammation of the nose and throat, insomnia and sleepiness. >> ask your doctor for austedo xr. >> kluwe love saving money. then it's time to join aarp. just $11 per year with a five year term during this special offer, and get a second membership free. >> that's a great deal. >> you'll have access to hundreds of benefits to help you save money, stay healthy, and have fun. plus, everyday discounts at top retailers, dining and more. just $11 per year with a five year term during this special offer and get a second membership and an insulated trunk organizer for free. >> call or go to join aarp. org now. >> cnn news central. >> next. >> it's half past the hour here on the east coast, but i want to say good morning to minneapolis in central time. good morning to all of you. i'm audie cornish. thank you for joining me on cnn

this morning. here's what's happening right now. global financial markets are trending down this morning as president trump's new tariffs take effect. they impact billions of dollars of goods from canada, mexico and china. canada immediately hitting back with its own tariffs on $30 billion worth of u.s. products. and it promises more to come. president donald trump will address congress tonight and the nation to tout the sweeping changes he's made during his first month back in office. that includes slashing the federal workforce. he's also expected to lay out more of his agenda. u.s. military aid to ukraine paused at this hour. president trump ordering this after he and after a heated oval office argument with the ukrainian president last week. western officials warn that this freeze could have a major impact on ukraine's ability to defend itself within just weeks. and a trump

administration official tells cnn the pause could be reversed, but only if the president decides zelenskyy is committed to seeking peace. at the same time, president trump is suggesting it might be time for zelenskyy to go. >> 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. >> it's worth noting that the kremlin has sought for years to see new leadership in kyiv, and that ukraine reportedly foiled multiple russian attempts to assassinate zelenskyy. so is all hope lost for a peace deal between russia and ukraine? not yet, according to vice president jd vance. >> if he called tomorrow and said, i am ready to adopt your plan for peace, he can come back. >> i think. >> that if he called and had a serious proposal for how he was going to engage in the process. look, there are details that really matter that we're already working on with the russians. we've already talked with some of our allies. he needs to engage seriously on the details. >> eva mckend elliott williams and jackie kucinich back with me

to dissect this a bit. i want to talk to you when they message about what needs to happen. what are you hearing? >> well. >> i think the message is not a surprise because, you know, it seems this is this is this whole episode is instructive of entirely how president trump views foreign policy. it seems like a lifetime ago, but the entire first impeachment trial was about this. it was this pressure campaign. >> i heard that i was like, here we go again. yes. >> this pressure campaign on on ukraine. >> but is the idea that he's got to apologize, to come to the table? i mean, i know we don't have the answer to this, but looking at what is diplomacy, what are we looking at? >> but that's the thing we don't know because the standards are fuzzy. what will it take to sort of constitute him coming back to the table? but there are enough cracks there. and you can even see in the vice president's comments there's enough cracks that it seems that there is an opening. it's just not clear what that opening actually is. >> okay, so cbs news poll asked whether trump's actions and remarks favor russia or ukraine. trying to get a sense of what

americans think. and it was saying that 46% believe trump favors russia over ukraine, 43% saying he treats them equally over time. a little bit of a shift. but we do know, jackie, that people, americans don't really want to be in long wars. and is that an argument that resonates? >> i think it did, particularly with republican voters. that is i mean, you saw the support for ukraine sort of eroding over the course of last year. and the longer this goes. that said, you are seeing the same messaging coming from the kremlin and the united states and congressional allies on the hill of even even president trump are getting concerned about that development. >> and we shouldn't we shouldn't underestimate how important it was to voters that our involvement, um, decrease. i met a haitian american woman on

the campaign trail. this was a group that president trump disparaged a great deal, and it was more important to her as an american citizen for us to not be involved to the extent that we were in terms of this monetary investment. >> details are hazy, right? is it loan guarantees? is it that is that people just see it as being involved? >> we have to be humble in our assessment of this, because a lot of voters actually like what they see. they don't want this level of foreign aid commitment. >> okay, you guys stick around. it's 34 minutes past the hour. i want to turn back to president trump's address to congress, and specifically his special guest. >> all. this is the chainsaw for bureaucracy. >> elon musk, the man with the chainsaw, is expected to get a lot of attention tonight. a source within the white house tells cnn that the president will highlight musk as an example of how his administration is already changing washington. they're

sweeping cuts to the federal workforce, aren't exactly winning everyone over, according to a cbs news yougov poll, 86% of democrats disapprove, while 87% of republicans approve of agency staff cuts. >> god anoints people. he's anointed president trump. so if elon musk wants to cut trillions of dollars out of this budget, and if my family has to tighten our belt and not go on vacation because of it, i'm down with that. >> but even among republicans, there seems to be some disagreement. here's what a three time trump voter who lost his job at the irs told cnn. >> i think. >> with all large. >> agencies, there's 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 they're doing a very good job of, um, of finding out exactly what needs to be cut. i think they're just taking, like, the chainsaw to it. >> joining me now to discuss podcast host and cnn contributor kara swisher. good morning, kara. i know you've covered elon

musk for a long time. people are going to wonder what he's wearing, where he's sitting. but what do you think is significant about him being at this speech? >> well, because they keep trying to. >> focus on him, which is really interesting. i mean, president trump is doubling down on that. elon is the answer for him, especially with all this performative stuff around chainsaws. you know, the world's richest man. and he comes in and takes over cabinet meetings or press conferences. so i don't know, maybe he'll be standing next to him on the podium. in that regard, he's he's very close to trump, obviously. >> um, what do you think about the way democrats have been trying to talk about it? i also know there's been like a lot of protests at tesla factories and things like that. do you think anything is actually resonating? >> i don't it may resonate, and i do think the numbers for musk are so different than trump, which is really quite striking. as i've said many times, he's the heat shield for trump on this stuff, and he's willing to take it. i don't think people overall like this guy. they don't also like the idea of an unfettered billionaire doing

what he wants with a chainsaw. it does. i mean, the visuals are really strange. it's like, i'll just cut everyone no matter what they do. and i think that last person you just noted said that. um, but we'll see. i mean, people again, he's he's a, he's a heat shield for donald trump and it's and in that regard it's working. >> i remember we've been talking in the past and you thought that their relationship kind of could expire, that there are two people with big egos used to being in charge. what are you thinking now, though, as you see them? >> i don't actually musk has done a very good job of being ubiquitous around him and very solicitous of trump, i think. i don't know how they encounter each other privately, but i think he's very solicitous. i think it mystifies a lot of people in the trump world who i've talked to, and they don't know why he has such a such an attachment to musk, but he does. you know, he appears with him all the time. he feels like he's a family member. and i feel like he, you know, it's like a famous person that walks around with you. i don't i don't really understand it. but i do think that musk's popularity has declined. and i

don't think it's just these protests. the numbers show that i think the numbers at all his companies are doing it. but again, he doesn't mind taking the heat for trump for some reason. >> musk, of course, makes big use of x, which used to be twitter. and i know you're actually in a new cnn original series that follows the creation of twitter. i want to give people a listen to that. >> when people are building products, when people are building features, there's this analogy that i use, which is an engineer comes to you and they're like, i've made the perfect kitten. it doesn't need food, doesn't need water. it will never grow old. it will never die. it is the perfect kitten. and you look at the kitten and you're like, why can this kitten shoot bullets? and they're like, well, that's not that's not what you're supposed to use the kitten for. i told you all the things the kitten was intended to be used for, and i'm like, yes. and someone,

whether accidentally or on purpose, is going to shoot a bullet with this kitten. >> kara, can you translate a little bit? i mean. >> i'm not sure i can. >> exactly, but it's the idea maybe that twitter was not as innocuous as it turned out to be. and going into this night where the president is messaging kind of how do you think about his legacy? >> well, you know, people always think it's so powerful. it isn't that big in general compared to everything else. and it's been declining obviously, over the years. and twitter is always sort of underperformed itself. i think the question is he's got this. worldwide. megaphone that musk is using and he puts he amplifies it in his favor, too. he's changed the algorithm to favor himself. and so in that way it's useful right. it's useful. and he can do a lot whatever he wants with it. he can make it into this place where we all look at kitten videos, or we all look at murderous kitten videos, right? or kittens. and either way, we're staring at the thing. and i think that's why it's useful. it's a propaganda machine in this case that musk is using,

not just here. we have to think of it beyond this country, but around the globe. >> that's kara swisher. thank you so much. you can also watch cnn's new original series, twitter breaking the bird. starting this sunday at 10:00 eastern and pacific. that's only on cnn. still ahead on cnn this morning, a top special agent at the fbi says he's being forced to retire. what did his incoming boss have to say about that on truth social? plus, president trump prepares to address congress tonight. what can we expect from the first major speech of his second term? i'll ask trump adviser jason miller about it, and the group chat is back as jay-z is filing a lawsuit of his own. we're going to talk all about it. >> when it comes to rooting out corruption. >> do the fbi's ends justify the means? >> it was humiliating. it's an embarrassment for the country.

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come to you. >> 821 4000. >> tonight, president donald trump returns to capitol hill to address a joint session of congress. you might remember how his last one ended. then house speaker nancy pelosi actually tearing up her copy of that speech at the end. i doubt speaker johnson is going to be tweeting his copy quite the same way tonight. president trump previewing his speech on truth social, saying, quote, i will tell it like it is. vice president vance says it's going to be fun. >> i'm going to have fun tomorrow because the president of the united states, he's going to make a lot of good arguments. he's going to talk a lot 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. >> joining me now to talk about tonight's speech and more is

jason miller, senior adviser to president trump. jason, thanks for being here. i want to start by following up on what we heard from the vice president about the arguments for success. what's going to be the main goal for trump in his speech tonight? >> yeah. >> good morning, and thank you for having me. so this evening. typically this would be done after the first year president is in office. but since president trump has already served as president before, he's going to come in, he's going to level set with the american people about where exactly we are as a country. what's happened over this past four years, what he's been able to accomplish over the last 4 or 5 weeks. then what we still have yet to go and accomplish. so we've all seen the the flurry of executive orders and securing the border, the mass deportations, getting to a ceasefire in the middle east. we've seen that. but what we have to go do next, when we talk about the efforts to bring down prices, you do that by reducing energy costs. you do it by stopping all of the reckless spending that we've built up. we have to go and get this tax bill done. i think you'll hear the president this evening talk

about the one big, beautiful bill so we can keep taxes low and take it even lower for americans also need to make sure that we make these border fixes permanent. and then also, as we look ahead, really, we got to look to the future and make sure we make sure we're winning things such as the war against china. having a marshall plan for energy. so it's a bit of where we are, what we've accomplished and what we're going to do, both in the short and in the longer term. >> obviously, the white house is already hearing some criticism about what has been done. the wall street journal editorial board talking about tariffs, for example, and their new op ed, which is actually titled trump takes the dumbest tariff plunge. and they write that mr. trump also objected when we reported an analysis by the anderson economic group that the 25% tariff will raise the cost of a full sized suv assembled in north america by $9,000 and a pickup truck by $8,000. they pose this question is this how the new republican party plans

on helping working class voters? jason miller. >> well, god bless the wall street journal. but as we saw from president trump's first four years in office, that's not what happened at all. in fact, the president had 1.4% inflation rate, nearly a record low during his first time in office. even with the tariffs that were put into place. and what's going to happen is interrupt. >> but do you get the sense, though, that the tariffs will have to be discussed, meaning that he'll have to say to the american people there could be some pain ahead? >> well, actually, i would say that he's going to lean into it and he's going to talk about how increasing tariffs can actually go and close the trade deficits, which january, we saw a record trade deficit, particularly when it comes to countries such as canada, mexico, china. and how if we don't go and do this now, we're going to be completely wiped out by certain industries here in the united states, the states. the other thing, too, is that ultimately, the costs on this are going to be carried by the producers and the foreign countries as opposed to

americans. we need to make sure that we rebuild our industrial base here in the united states, that we're not vulnerable to supply chain disruptions, as we saw during the pandemic. and as we've already seen, president trump has received record setting early amounts of capital investment from various companies and from even other countries, because the u.s. is still the best place to put your money. if you want to grow and expand a company or get a return for your buck. >> i think it's pretty clear that the person who has played the largest role in shaping the president's first days in office has been elon musk, especially when it comes to reshaping the federal government. people have questioned that work. they've even questioned sort of his proof, what he calls his wall of receipts example. new york times fact checking, uh, about what's happening with doge and its team when it comes to sort of the accountability. so for you, is that another thing that the white house needs to talk about? what the doge team has actually accomplished in a way that the

american public can understand. >> yeah. and i think there's a big disconnect between what we see and what we hear in the media and what the rest of the country is actually thinking at the moment. in fact, pulling out yesterday in the daily mail and general partners actually shows that president trump has his highest favorability rating that he's ever had. and the reason being is he's taking this wasteful spending head on. a lot of people remember that when inflation started under joe biden, it was because of the wasteful spending we had. those two bills. we're pumping money into the economy that, quite frankly, just didn't exist. and also one other, joe biden, cut off. but but but but i'm. >> trying to okay. i just want to bring it back to the idea. elon musk has a lower rating than the president. and over time, is that going to be a gamble to have that relationship so close? >> but not at all, because what president trump is doing is he is authorizing his administration to tackle inflation head on. and we have to do this. i mean, we're

running in nearly $2 trillion deficit every single year. the national debt is up over $36 trillion, approaching $37 trillion. if we don't take action on this, inflation is going to continue. we're going to move toward insolvency financially as a country. we have to go and take this on. people are so frustrated when they hear that certain folks in washington, for example, they don't even have to show up to work anymore. well, that's all changing under president trump. he's making workers get back to the office if they have a nonessential job, if they're not actually contributing, or if they don't exist, or if they're not showing up, then guess what? we're going to get rid of them and we're going to go. and then clearly we don't need those jobs. the american public, people who wake up every day, who are watching this show right now, getting ready to go spend 8 or 9 or ten hours work and provide for their families, are sick and tired of what they see coming out of washington. they want the reckless spending stopped. they want the economy fixed. they see the border being secured. now we're going to get some other great things done as well. >> before i let you go, obviously in foreign policy, the

issue with ukraine has come to the forefront. the administration pausing military aid to ukraine while the president pushes for his peace deal. i want to play for you what the president's former national security advisor, h.r. mcmaster, has to say about what he thinks the russian view of all this is going to be. >> putin couldn't be happier. >> he appeals. >> to president trump's sense of aggrievement, right. you know, donald, you know, like me, you know, you've been treated so unfairly. and he's been very successful at it because he's a master manipulator and one of the best liars in the world. and he's being played like other presidents have been played like other leaders, have been played through that same playbook of of putin's. >> jason miller. can you talk about your response to that? because it's more than mcmaster out there saying that he doesn't believe putin can be trusted and that many administrations have sort of fallen prey to his strategies. >> well, with all respect to general mcmaster, i think he's

missing the point a bit. and that's that. president trump is the only person, the only person. stop talking about stopping the killing. and sometimes leaders can use the carrot. sometimes they can use the stick. and in this case, i think president trump is using the two by four to go and get his point across to president zelenskyy. and that is that president trump wants to stop the killing. zelenskyy has got to get back to the table. he has to take this seriously. no more goofing off or shown up to the white house and his bespoke tracksuit and tearing up and ignoring deals and things of the sort. if we're going to stop the killing, there has to be a partnership with the united states, ukraine, a number of other countries and the russians as well, because right now the russians hold all the cards. zelenskyy and the ukrainians do not hold the cards. they do not have the leverage. president trump will get an end to this war. he is going to save lives every single week. that goes by where zelenskyy plays these games. thousands more ukrainians die. that's a shame. >> that's jason miller from the white house. thank you for your

time. >> thank you. >> i want to get reaction from the group there, especially just taking on ukraine at the end where he says, sometimes you use the carrot, the stick, sometimes you use the two by four. um, is that kind of summing up the foreign policy that we see right now? >> oh, i think so. it's and again, it's just a question of what's the carrot, what's the stick and what's the two by four. >> also, who gets the two by four. right. i think that's been a big thing of like ah is the u.s. becoming a co bully of a country like ukraine? >> yeah, more than anything else. um and you know i guessed earlier the program had referenced this point. it's the extent to which russia is animated by some of the rhetoric coming out of the united states. yes, it may serve american fundamental interests. even talked about this, that voters actually want us out of ukraine in some way. um, but, you know, at what cost? and is it at the cost of, of exciting vladimir putin, which just doesn't seem. >> to spassky. you've reported

on jason miller for a long time. what do you make of sort of how he answered that towards the end. right. which is a pivot away from a russia answer to talk about zelenskyy and make fun of his tracksuit and things like. >> that bespoke tracksuit. >> i mean, the. >> thing that stuck in my head was that russia holds all the cards and it just feels like. >> what he said. >> we should say, which is yes, yes, which is what he said. and partially it's because the united states is handing them some a deck. um, they're really empowering russia. and as you, as you just said, kind of playing bully a country that was attacked, that that was invaded, we can't let that and this and but you also can't look at this relationship with zelenskyy. i mean, those comments he made at the end and a vacuum because as eva said in one of the other segments, this is a very fraught relationship that goes all the way back to 2017. >> it's it's also politically risky to double down on this demonization of federal workers. i've been out there talking to federal workers. many of them are conservatives who supported

president trump. and so this idea that they are mowing them all down because they're all lazy and ineffective, some of these people supported president trump. and i think that just reinforcing that idea that they are useless. yeah. and that is not a good strategy. >> when i think, first of all, democrats are bringing a bunch of federal workers tonight. but also, you know, there's this thing that lives rent free in my head, which is that for decades, the number of federal workers, which was the largest employer out in rural communities, has dwindled. and in a way, it feels like democrats are sort of defending the capital city in hunger games. you know, like it's the wealthy area with all the jobs and the bureaucrats. why should they have it all? i mean, what's the kind of how do you counter that perception? >> may the job cuts be ever in your favor. but the you know where this all comes to a head, i think, is later this year, virginia is having a governor's election. virginia has, i believe it's 150 or 155,000. don't quote me on the number,

but a lot of federal workers, many of whom are republicans, and how this all plays out, this kind of rhetoric in this purple state, i think, will be a big test of how all this lands. >> yeah. okay. you guys stay with us. 57 minutes past the hour before we move on. i want to clarify, i got the title wrong for jason miller. he's senior adviser with donald trump's transition team. also, our morning roundup, some of the stories you need to know to get your day going. the head special agent at the fbi's new york office being forced into retirement last month, agent james dennehy had just told employees he was ready to dig in amid all the firings at the bureau, incoming deputy fbi director dan bongino d decided to mock dennehy retirement posting heads are rolling as far f0 you can google. it appears to be hitting the fbi today in the supreme court. they're hearing arguments in mexico. $10 billion lawsuit against smith and wesson and six other major u.s. gun

makers. mexico's government alleges the company's design and market guns specifically to drug cartels. it also claims up to 90% of guns recovered at crime scenes in mexico are actually made in the u.s., and mogul jay-z, now suing the anonymous woman who withdrew a lawsuit accusing him of rape. he's also suing her attorneys, alleging that they knew the allegations were false. in a statement, one of those lawyers said that the woman stands by her account and that jay-z's lawsuit has, quote, no legal merit. elliott battle of words with lawyers? >> uh, yes. but he's got 99 problems. and the laws governing harassment and assault are one. so he, uh, we're not we haven't seen the end of this story. >> okay, before i let you guys go, i want to talk. about what we are keeping an eye on. the stories that we think people need to know today. that it's like we don't know the answer yet. jackie kucinich. >> you know, i'm curious. what if trump is going to name check some of the cities, the so-called sanctuary cities? um, as he goes through his.

>> democratic led cities. that had permissive immigration policies. >> thank you. as he did in when he was talking about crime in his 2017 speech, he namechecked chicago. and it's not not everything is about boston, but it's because it's because mayor wu is testifying tomorrow in the house oversight committee. so what effect something like that would have on these big city mayors. >> okay, eliot. >> you picking up on ukraine? um, what are the other parts of the hammer that that come out? elon musk, spacex controls starlink, which is the internet satellites. do they suspend internet coverage over, uh, over ukraine in a way that hampers its military? >> yeah. >> today and beyond, i'm really interested to see how federal workers harness their political power in this moment. they can prove to be really effective messengers for democrats, especially because some of them are conservative, voted for president trump, and now they have the ability and the platform to tell their stories. >> all right. i want to thank you all the group, for joining me today. i want to thank you for waking up with us. i'm aue