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Trump Admin To Review Billions In Funding For Harvard; Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-CA) Discusses Dems Calling For Probe Into Signal Chat & Trump Admin. Mistakenly Deporting Maryland Man To Salvadorean Mega Prison. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired April 01, 2025 - 14:30   ET

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

[14:30:00]

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: -- to conduct those research projects.

Many of the hospital systems in Massachusetts, including Boston Children's Hospital, which saves children's lives, is going to be potentially affected by this.

Now, I want to mention the response what we had gotten from Harvard so far. The university president issued a statement last night after we learned about these funding cuts.

Saying, in part, that, "If the funding is stopped, it will halt lifesaving research and imperil important scientific research and innovation.

"We will engage with members of the federal government's task force to combat anti-Semitism to ensure that they have a full account of the work we have done and the actions we will take going forward to combat anti-Semitism."

Now, Boris, Brianna, if we could just take a step back, remember, this is coming several weeks after we saw a very similar, if not an exact playbook at Columbia University.

The Trump administration said it was going to cut their funding. Then the university issued several changes, including the hiring of a security force. And now we are seeing exactly the same thing play out at Harvard University.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: And do we know why the research grants to Princeton have been halted?

PAZMINO: So this just -- we're getting the reporting. My colleague, Yash Roy, has actually been doing great work on this, and he's the one that actually obtained this letter that the Princeton university president sent to the staff today.

Saying that, "The grants that were going to be affected were" -- that the university was notified by multiple agencies, I should say, including the Department of Energy, NASA, and the Department of Defense. So the university president, in his letter, addressed anti-Semitism

and the fact that the university is trying to do something about combating it.

But it's not yet clear yet if this is the source of the administration's funding cuts. So that part is still unclear.

We've seen the Trump administration target other universities, including UPenn, over some other parts of -- parts of their agenda that they are not in agreement with.

So it's going to be interesting to see over the next several hours if we can get some clarity on why, specifically, the Trump administration is now targeting Princeton in addition to Harvard and Columbia.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Gloria Pazmino, thank you so much for the reporting.

So the White House says the case is closed, but Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee are demanding an independent investigation into the Trump administration's use of the app, Signal, after a reporter accidentally got looped into a group chat on military strikes in Yemen.

Democrats have sent a letter asking the director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, to launch that independent assessment, and they want another official to take the lead, because, of course, Gabbard was part of that group chat.

We should note, the top Senators on the Armed Services Committee have also requested the Pentagon's inspector general investigate the Signal scandal.

We're joined now by Democratic Congressman Jimmy Gomez of California. He is a member of the House Intelligence Committee and is among those calling for an independent investigation.

Congressman, thanks so much for sharing part of your afternoon with us.

I wonder what questions you want the intel community to answer and whether you trust that the DNI and Tulsi Gabbard or that others in the administration wouldn't attempt to somehow interfere in that investigation.

REP. JIMMY GOMEZ (D-CA): I think that we do have doubts that they would try to interfere, and that's for several reasons. One is that they have demonstrated that they we're not forthcoming regarding the Signal chat to begin with.

At first, they denied it. Then they basically said there was no classified information. Then we find out after they released the screenshots of those Signal messages, that there was war plans associated with them.

So they're going to try -- the entire administration seems that they're trying to stonewall us, make -- make the public forget about this situation.

But we're not going to forget because this could have ended up really bad. People's lives were at stake. The Houthis could have been positioning, pre-positioning some of their -- of their equipment to shoot down some of our planes.

So this is about our national security, our Intelligence Community, and to make sure that this doesn't happen again. But that means we need an independent investigation to look into this, not Tulsi Gabbard. She can appoint somebody else from DNI to take the lead.

SANCHEZ: But, Congressman, if the White House says the case has been closed and Republicans on the Select Committee don't back your request for further investigation, is there anything else that you or Democrats can do toward accountability?

GOMEZ: Well, one of the things that we know that Trump listens to is public sentiment when it comes to a variety of things, but mainly when it comes to the people that he watches.

So the Barstool Sports host, he's talked about how this doesn't pass the smell test, that this doesn't make sense, that they should just fess up, that they made a mistake, that they should fire somebody. I believe that should be Pete Hegseth. And then they should take accountability. Then they can move on.

[14:35:06]

But we're not going to allow them to just sweep this under the rug, because one of the things we know is that if they did it on one thread, they probably did it on other threads. And we want to know how extensive that is.

So we're not going to let this go. And I think that the facts are on our side, even though they want to deny it.

SANCHEZ: Congressman, I'm interested in what you described about Trump's focus on public sentiment. Because I want to pivot to immigration. You've blasted the administration for invoking the Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged gang members.

I wonder how you view the messaging battle over this issue, because Republicans say that this is a fight they want, and they frame it as Democrats defending Tren de Aragua rapists and murderers.

How do you respond to that when immigration was a winning issue for Trump in the last election?

GOMEZ: I think you have to kind of parse it out. One of the things is that, one, if you're going after gang members and criminal -- people involved in criminal activities, that's one thing.

But he deported one, a guy who was a -- a hairdresser that, by all intents and purposes, was innocent except his immigration status. He -- they deported somebody else from Maryland. Right? And then -- that had legal protections here that was taken care of a

disabled child, but they deported them to the prison in El Salvador. Now they don't know how to get them back. So we got to focus on those stories.

Also, Joe Rogan is even talking about the slippery slope of -- of what the administration is doing when it comes to the -- to this act, what they're doing when it comes to just snatching people off the street.

That is -- leads down a path of not only tyranny, but of abusing the rights of American citizens.

So I think that it's a matter of keeping -- keep having that conversation, because, for this administration, I don't want to use this term, but they have a shoot-and-aim strategy. They don't take the time to know what they're doing is not hurting innocent people.

SANCHEZ: I do wonder if you think that Democrats would be in a stronger position on this issue had the Biden administration done more on it sooner.

In part, because despite pushback, Trump's administration has made good on their campaign promise to slash migrant crossings without taking any legislative action, which Biden said was necessary.

I mean, even Senator Bernie Sanders himself is saying that Biden should have done more. Do you wish that had been the case?

GOMEZ: Well, wishing is not going to change the facts, right? So I think that one of the things we got to look at is that Biden did take big steps during his administration. You saw a rapid decline in illegal border crossings.

And also was focused on cracking down on fentanyl in a -- in a way that actually cracks down. We know for a fact that that fentanyl, 80 percent of it comes in at ports of entry. Delivered and carried by U.S. citizens. We should be focusing on that to make our country safer.

So, we can wish we all we want, but this is the situation we're in. And I believe that Trump is also using these laws in a way that drives up prices for working people, makes people less secure, and makes our communities less safe.

SANCHEZ: Lastly, Congressman, we are monitoring remarks from Speaker Johnson. We're actually watching them as you and I are having this conversation.

GOMEZ: Yes.

SANCHEZ: He suffered a defeat in this procedural vote that was brought by Republican Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna over allowing proxy voting for new parents in Congress.

I wonder what your reaction is to the speaker suffering this defeat. GOMEZ: Yes, well, I'm proud to have helped deliver that defeat. I'm

the chair of the dad's -- Congressional Dads Caucus. Brittany Pettersen, who is a lead co-sponsor of the proxy voting vote for both dads and moms, we -- we endorsed -- she's a member of our caucus.

We endorsed the bill. We pushed for it. And we got everybody to vote no. Speaker Johnson used proxy voting, I believe, 39 times. So if it was unconstitutional, then, then it's unconstitutional now. So he's -- he -- or constitutional then, it's constitutional now.

So we know that this is -- we're on the right side. And we want Congress to be more representative of working men and women, parents.

Have you ever dealt with a sick child with a -- with a mom or a spouse that had complications at birth? You know, when we have those experiences and you have members that have those experiences, we're going to have a better Congress and a better democracy in the end.

SANCHEZ: Congressman Jimmy Gomez, we have to leave the conversation there. We appreciate you sharing your perspective.

GOMEZ: Thank you.

[14:39:52]

Next, prosecutors say that she killed her Boston Police Department boyfriend in cold blood. Defense attorneys say that she's actually the victim of a police cover up. It's day one of Karen Read's murder retrial. And we have details ahead for you on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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KEILAR: We do have breaking news into CNN. Speaker Mike Johnson just sent everyone in the House home.

CNN's chief congressional correspondent, Manu Raju, is with us.

This is pretty unusual, Manu. What happened?

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, a state of paralysis in the House after Mike Johnson saw members of his own conference defy him on this effort by the Republican leadership to kill a rules change that would allow parents of newborn kids to vote by proxy.

In other words, not to vote remotely, not be present voting for a certain amount of certain time period. This effort to allow these new parents to vote remotely has been going on for some time.

[14:45:06]

And what Mike Johnson has been concerned about is that this effort, he says, is unconstitutional, would change the way the House operates. So he has been working furiously behind the scenes to try to kill this effort. But in a -- in a major blow and an embarrassing setback for the

speaker, he saw nine of his members join with Democrats just moments ago to kill the Republican effort to the Republican leadership effort to squelch this push.

This push, led by Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna, a Republican, and a Democrat, Brittany Pettersen of Colorado. They have been pushing this for some time.

Johnson tried to get his members in line to -- to end their push to change how the House can vote on these -- new members can vote, parents of newborn kids can vote.

But after he failed on this effort, the speaker just said, no more votes for this week, and he sent all of his members home.

Now why are they doing that? That's a good question. Because I asked that to the the -- the Republican leader of the House, Steve Scalise, just moments ago, why send members home? Why not just concede on this point?

They said that they will not concede on this point. They are going to pressure Republicans who define them to change their mind to actually vote with the Republican leadership, to squelch this push to change the House rules on how members can vote remotely.

And in the meantime, they're going to work behind the scenes to try to convince these members to go the other way.

As Steve Scalise just told me moments ago, if these members want to stop the Trump agenda, they're going to do just that. And as a punishment of sorts, sending the entire House home as they reconvene and try to get the House back in order.

But no question about it, this whole episode, a major embarrassment for the speaker, who had been trying for weeks to try to prevent his members from defying him on this effort.

Now that he's lost, he's saying that he's sending the entire House home for the rest of the week when they had a busy legislative agenda over the next couple of days to pass legislation. But now everything is coming to a halt -- guys?

KEILAR: All right, Manu, really extraordinary. Thank you for that.

So who knew a football play could stir such heated debate? Next, inside the NFL's decision to table a vote on banning the controversial but aptly named "tush push."

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[14:51:44]

SANCHEZ: It's a decision the Philadelphia Eagles are faced with often, punt or push, the "tush push." NFL owners had to make that same decision today. All of this as the league debates whether to ban the seemingly

unstoppable play popularized by the NFL champs.

KEILAR: Yes. The Eagles, right?

SANCHEZ: Yes.

KEILAR: I mean, that's -- that's what it comes down to, folks. And the owners decided to punt.

Well, that probably won't sit well with some NFL teams who are opposed to the play, not the Eagles. They said that it would be banned in the interest of player safety and competitiveness.

CNN's chief data analyst, Harry Enten, joins us.

In the interest of safety or in the interest of Eagles' dominance, Harry? Why did the owners decide not to act here?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Yes. Why did they decide not to act here? First off, I bring props. You don't even acknowledge the prop. I mean, come on, come on.

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: You've seen it before.

(CROSSTALK)

ENTEN: You've seen it before but this is a different segment. It's sports. It signifies sports.

Anyway, look, the reason they decided not to act was you vote when you have the votes, you punt when you don't. They simply put, didn't have the votes for the ban. An informal vote that was taken, it was 16-16. They needed 24. They didn't have the votes.

But here's the situation why they were even interested in voting on it in the first place. Let's just talk about how good the Eagles were at the tush push in 2024.

Look at this. Rushing touchdowns, Eagles number one in the league. Jalen Hurts had 14 rushing touchdowns. Look at this. The average NFL team, the rest of the league, averaged just three. Get it, three rushing touchdowns. What is that? That's nearly five times as many. Holy cow.

But it's not just touchdowns. It's first downs as well. How about rushing first downs? Look at this. Jalen Hurts, 62 of them, 62. The Eagles again number one in this category. All NFL teams, the average just 25.

The bottom line is they want to ban it because the Eagles are pretty freaking good at it. But they didn't have the votes.

SANCHEZ: Yes, envy can be quite a motivator in sports and other places in life.

I do wonder, Harry, is there an argument to be made for folks getting hurt because you go in headfirst against very large dudes?

ENTEN: Yes, you go in pretty large dudes. Let's talk about a few things cooking here. All right. Let's talk about a few things.

Number one, I got an Eagles fan off to my side, Joel over there. He's clapping. Now he's clapping. We're getting a clap in the studio. We also have another one back there, Karen Bronzo.

But look, here's the situation. She's waving. She's waving off to me, off on the side. I don't know why she didn't turn up.

Look, I think there are a few things going on here. Number one, let's just put this Jalen Hurts in a historical perspective. All right?

You know, we'll talk about the top reasons ever. Jalen Hurts has three of the five top seasons for rushing first downs and touchdowns. So it wasn't just a one season phenomenon right. That, I think, is a big reason why they wanted to ban it.

You mentioned injuries, Boris. You mentioned injuries. Guess what? Per NFL MVP Troy Vincent, guess how many injuries there were because of the tush push in 2024. Zero, zero, zero. Injuries had nothing to do with it. It was all hypothetical. It was mathematical models.

What this really had to do with was the fact that Jalen Hurts and the Eagles had perfected a play that nobody else had perfected before. And you go to yourself, hey, why didn't these other teams run it? Why didn't they run it?

[14:55:00]

Well, here's the simple reason why, they tried and failed. They tried and failed. And then they tried to pass a rule. But as I said at the top, they didn't have the votes.

So the Eagles, Joel and Karen will continue to cheer for the tush push.

(LAUGHTER)

SANCHEZ: Boo them on my behalf, Harry, as a Miami Dolphins fan.

KEILAR: Go Joel and Karen. Whoo.

SANCHEZ: I'm surprised. I'm surprised you went this route in defending it, Harry. The Bills tried it and it wasn't so good for them.

ENTEN: We -- we -- we -- we were -- we were pretty gosh darn good at running the football with Josh Allen. We did get stopped a bunch in the ATC championship game.

SANCHEZ: Yes. ENTEN: But you know what? Practice makes perfect. We're going to have the rule still in place that you can do the tush push and the Bills will improve because life, my dear friends, is all about bettering yourselves and improving along the way.

KEILAR: So true.

SANCHEZ: Wow.

ENTEN: Life lessons, deep words, deep words on a Tuesday afternoon.

Thank you so much.

SANCHEZ: Appreciate you, buddy.

ENTEN: Thanks.

SANCHEZ: Thank you so much.

Still ahead, the White House says that President Trump is spending the day perfecting his plan on tariffs. We're going to tell you what else the White House is saying about Americans' concerns surrounding these levies. Stay with us.

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