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Trump Set To Impose 25 Percent Tariff On Imported Cars And Parts; Trump Doubles Down On Pledge To Take Greenland; Trump Warns Iran Of Bombings, Tariffs If Nuclear Deal Isn't Reached; 1,700 Dead As Rescuers Struggle In Myanmar Quake Aftermath; First Major Elections Of Trump's Second Term; Parents Deported Back To Colombia After Living In U.S. For 35 Years; Top Senators Call For Pentagon Probe Into Signal Group Chat. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired March 30, 2025 - 14:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:00:31]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me this Sunday. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

And we start with these sweeping tariffs set to go into effect just days from now.

President Trump doubling down on his vow to impose 25 percent tariffs on all imported cars and parts.

Speaking to NBC News in a phone interview, Trump saying this about the prospect of tariffs leading to higher prices.

"I couldn't care less. I hope they raise their prices because if they do, people are going to buy American-made cars. We have plenty."

Auto industry experts have said Trump's tariffs will raise the cost of producing all cars sold in the United States by thousands of dollars, both for imports and American-made vehicles.

But President Trump and his allies on Capitol Hill say it will also boost American manufacturing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JAMES LANKFORD (R-OK): Right now, North America actually cooperates together to be able to build many of America's cars. You have a Ford Bronco, for instance, cross back and forth between Mexico and the United States several times as far as parts and manufacturing there.

So Canada, the United States and Mexico have cooperated together. The USMCA that President Trump negotiated has been a key part of long- standing supply chain that's actually been developed among North America.

A lot of manufacturers -- BMW and others that are foreign manufacturers, Toyota, Nissan, we can go on and on -- have come to the United States to actually build vehicles here.

That's the key goal of this that I hear from President Trump is we want more manufacturing in the United States. And we want to encourage those folks that are around the world that plan to sell Americans cars, come here to be able to build them. That helps American jobs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: CNN's Betsy Klein is live for us in West Palm Beach, near Mar-a-Lago, where the president is spending the weekend.

Betsy, what are we expecting this week? Because this whole prospect of more American built anything, that is a long-term goal. That's not something that's going to happen in a matter of days or months if that's the president's objective.

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE PRODUCER: That's exactly right, Fredricka. And we should note that President Donald Trump has long viewed tariffs, and particularly the threat of tariffs, as a key negotiating tactic.

And we should expect all of this to play out on April 2nd. What he's described as "liberation day" when he begins imposing 25 percent tariffs on car and car parts made outside the U.S.

Now, even if you're not shopping for a new vehicle, it could cost more to fix your existing car.

Now, when the president said in that interview that he couldn't care less if auto prices rise because of these tariffs, his goal here is twofold. It's one, to get Americans to buy more American-made cars; and two, to pressure automakers to make more parts in the U.S.

We should note that a majority of American car makers make their parts in addition to the U.S. In Mexico and Canada. We should also note that after that NBC interview, an aide to the president clarified that the president was referring specifically to foreign car prices.

The president is also promising sweeping reciprocal tariffs starting April 2nd. And Americans won't necessarily feel the cost of those tariffs immediately.

But the import taxes could raise prices on most American goods. Over 40 percent of the goods America imported last year came from the nations that the president is targeting here.

I want you to listen to what Peter Navarro, the president's trade adviser, said when asked about Americans who are concerned about rising prices in response to these tariffs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETER NAVARRO, WHITE HOUSE TRADE ADVISER: Trust in Trump -- we have the example from the first term. We know that we imposed historically high tariffs on China. We imposed aluminum and steel tariffs. We imposed on washing machines, on solar. All we got out of that was prosperity and price stability.

And the reason why we're not going to see inflation is because these foreigners are going to eat most of it. They have to.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KLEIN: "Trust in Trump" may be cold comfort amid so much market volatility and uncertainty for American businesses, investors and consumers, Fredricka.

[14:04:51]

WHITFIELD: Ok. And then additionally, Betsy, the president is considering additional tariffs on Russian oil. Explain this.

KLEIN: Yes. In that same NBC News interview, the president threatened to put additional tariffs on Russian oil. He said, quote, "If Russia and I are unable to make a deal on stopping the bloodshed in Ukraine, and if I think it was Russia's fault, which it might be, but if I -- which it might not be, excuse me -- but if I think it was Russia's fault, I'm going to put secondary tariffs on oil, on all oil coming out of Russia.

Here is why that doesn't make sense, Fredericka. The U.S. hasn't imported any Russian energy since Russia invaded Ukraine back in 2022. So the president could have double, triple, quadruple tariffs on Russia, it wouldn't make a difference.

What's also notable here is the president striking a much sharper tone on Russian President Vladimir Putin. He said he was so pissed at Putin who went after Ukraine. President Zelenskyy, of course, in sharp contrast to what the president has said himself.

WHITFIELD: Ok. Betsy Klein, thank you so much.

All right. Let's continue the conversation. General Wesley Clark is the former NATO allied supreme commander, and he's the founder of Renew America Together.

All right. So let's begin. Good to see you. General.

Let's begin with those Trump comments on Putin. He's angry. At the same time he wants to put tariffs on Russian oil, which, you know, Betsy just, you know, underscored there is no reliance or delivery of that into the United States.

So what do you think is going on here?

GEN. WESLEY CLARK, FOUNDER, RENEW AMERICA TOGETHER: Well, I think Vladimir Putin understands that the right way to win this war is to manipulate the negotiations, draw them out.

Just get Ukraine where it is disconsolate. It feels like the United States is not supporting it. Discourage morale, and upset the government in Ukraine and keep fighting on the ground. And that's what Putin thinks he's going to be able to do to win. So he

doesn't care about Donald Trump's agenda for trying to get an early end to the war.

Look, this is just another part of the war. The diplomacy is just a way you fight to get your objective. That's the way Russia has always done it. That's the way they see it. That's the way they teach it.

And, you know, having Steve Witkoff over there and say, let's get a deal -- That's all part and parcel of the way Russia wants to operate. It raises expectations for peace, but fights on the ground and hopes that its adversary will be sucked in to the hope of peace and therefore unwilling to continue to make the sacrifices to fight the war.

WHITFIELD: So you said diplomacy. Is that what's happening here with Russia? Is it diplomacy? Is it Russia is leveraging. It is outmaneuvering. It is, you know, trying to play the United States.

CLARK: Of course, but that's all part of diplomacy. It's just a conflict by -- its the way you win this battle for Putin. He's fighting a war with diplomacy to gain ascendancy in Europe. Not just Ukraine, but over Europe.

He wants to see Ukraine fall, reincorporate the Baltic States somehow under Russia, shatter NATO, have the United States basically pull out and be isolated in the world. He wants Europe and he wants the United States out. This is all part of this.

WHITFIELD: Ok. Now Greenland. President Trump wants Greenland, he said this weekend as he doubled down on his pledge to take that country.

But then this is what Denmark's former prime minister told CNN's Fareed Zakaria about Trump's plans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HELLE THORNING-SCHMIDT, FORMER DANISH PRIME MINISTER: There's very little the Americans can't achieve in Greenland if they want to in terms of security, but also economically.

So please sit down at the negotiation table. Let's find out what the Americans really want in the states and let's not use this rhetoric of wanting to own Greenland. Greenland belongs to the Inuit people, the Greenlandic people, and it also is part of the Kingdom of Denmark.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. So you know the president and the vice president in the vice president's visit said Denmark is not doing a good job of protecting Greenland.

Do you dispute that? And if that is the case, what is a takeover by the U.S.A. going to mean for Greenland in terms of its better prospects of being protected? CLARK: Well, there's no question that Russia and China are making

moves in the Arctic. That's true. There's more exercises up there. Russia has activated bases across the Arctic ocean from Greenland. So that makes it more accessible.

[14:09:46]

CLARK: There are Russian patrols, et cetera. There's sea patrols there. So far as I know, Russia hasn't actually invaded Greenland.

But here's the point, Fredricka. We have to respond to this. And the best way to respond to it is through NATO. That's the way we do it. It's in -- it's in NATO's area of responsibility. Denmark is a NATO ally of the United States. I'm sure if we want to put more bases up there, we can.

We have one icebreaker. I understand that's all. If you're going to move in the Arctic Ocean, you've got to have more than that. So another drag on the U.S. Defense budget.

And so we're trying to, according to the Secretary of Defense, reduce expenditures by 8 percent. It'd be really nice to have NATO bear some of that expense for strengthening security in Greenland.

We could do that. It could even become part of the NATO common budget, where everybody would contribute to it if we do this right.

Let's shift gears now to Iran, because President Trump is also escalating his rhetoric on Iran, warning of bombings if they don't negotiate a new nuclear deal.

And just to remind people it was during Trump's, you know, first term where he withdrew the U.S. From a 2015 deal with Iran.

So how is Iran's leadership to respond to threats like this coming from the president?

CLARK: Iran is in a weak position right now. They've lost some of the axis of resistance. They lost some of their air defense, although they're trying to put it back together. They're moving missile launching facilities underground, or at least exposing some of these facilities to show us they've got alternatives.

But they're weaker than they've been. And they have the Houthis to distract the United States. So it looks like to me, this is going to be a step-up campaign from going after the Houthis to supporting Israel and going in after the Iranian nuclear facilities.

The question is, how does Russia play in this? Russia is a strategic ally. So that's got to be a factor in the president's mind when he's dealing with Putin and Ukraine.

But the longer this delays, the greater the chance that Iran is going to get nuclear weapons. And that's bad for the region and bad for the world.

So I do expect us to move toward military action against those nuclear sites.

WHITFIELD: All right. General Wesley Clark, good to see you. Thank you so much.

CLARK: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Rescuers are desperately searching for survivors after Friday's deadly earthquake in Southeast Asia.

Authorities say a staggering 1,700 people are now confirmed dead in Myanmar, though experts fear it could take weeks to get an accurate death toll as officials race to reach survivors.

Stunning new satellite images now revealing the scale of the destruction. This image, showing a dense cluster of buildings in Mandalay before and the mass of debris that remains after the 7.7 magnitude quake.

Another view of a major bridge before and after the quake. It is one of three damaged bridges cutting off access to those in the area of the epicenter.

CNN's senior international correspondent Will Ripley joins me live from Bangkok, which saw significant damage even though it was hundreds of miles away from the epicenter.

So set the scene for us in Thailand. You hear a lot of the machinery there. What's going on?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fred. Yes, 600 miles or so from the epicenter and yet so much destruction and so much anguish here in Bangkok.

I'm going to step out of the way and just have Mark show you the scene here because we have these family members who've been out here now from about 60 hours since the quake happened, waiting for word about their loved ones who were still trapped inside.

There's a young man we were just speaking with. He has two of his family members who are in this -- what's left of this 30-story building somewhere. And they -- there's still about a 12-hour window where they think it's possible that somebody might be found alive.

There were survey teams climbing up towards the top of the building within the last couple of hours, and they say that they have detected several signs that there are people there.

Now, they don't know if they're dead or alive, but they're approaching that area right now, we're told very delicately, not with the heavy equipment that you see down here.

And of course, the hope is, is that they're going to find somebody alive. Although today they've so far only recovered three more bodies. And as bad as this is, and it is horrific especially for the families that are here, just wanting to know if, if there's any chance that the people they love are going to make it out of this ok, or at least they want to see a body.

[14:14:41]

RIPLEY: But the devastation in Myanmar is incomprehensible (ph), Fred. Let me just pull up some of these numbers that we have, the latest numbers, at least 1,700 people dead, a number that is likely to go up, we're told, because they haven't even come close to getting into most of the collapsed buildings.

And the videos we've seen just show endless, endless streets of collapsed buildings -- 3,400 injured, 670 monasteries, nearly 1,700 houses destroyed, 60 schools destroyed. And as you mentioned a moment ago, three bridges damaged or destroyed.

Now, the bridges, that's crucial because the bridges are actually cutting off some of the hardest hit areas, the areas even outside of Mandalay. So even though international rescue teams have started to arrive and they're able to conduct some rescue operations, they have had some success finding survivors in Mandalay, also pulled a lot of bodies out of the rubble.

But the hardest hit areas, Fred, there are no rescuers. There are no supplies, there's no electricity, no communications, no food, no medicine. The list goes on.

Getting to those places and those people is what's going to be crucial.

WHITFIELD: Hope's certainly fading.

All right. Will Ripley in Bangkok, thank you so much.

For more information about how you can help the earthquake victims, go to CNN.com/impact.

All right. Straight ahead, elections coming in Donald Trump's second term. How much will his new policies impact this week's important races?

And later we're tracking the severe weather threat for millions, including the chance for another round of damaging tornadoes.

[14:16:13]

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WHITFIELD: This Tuesday may provide insight into how voters feel about President Trump since he returned to the White House. Republicans are fighting to make sure they hold on to two congressional seats in Florida left open by the departures of Matt Gaetz and Mike Waltz.

Trump won the districts by more than 30 points in 2024, but the Democratic challengers are out-fundraising their Republican opponents.

Tuesday could also be a referendum on Elon Musk, who has become a central player in the Wisconsin supreme court race. Today, the Wisconsin attorney general has asked the state supreme court to block Musk and his super PAC from offering $1 million awards to voters.

I'm joined now by Marianna Sotomayor. She is a congressional reporter for "The Washington Post". Marianna, great to see you.

MARIANNA SOTOMAYOR, CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER, "THE WASHINGTON POST": Thanks for having me.

WHITFIELD: So how concerned are Republicans about the special elections, particularly in Florida, with two House seats now up for grabs?

SOTOMAYOR: They are alarmed. I mean, we're hearing publicly from the NRCC chairman. That's the House Republican campaign arm Richard Hudson, publicly saying that the Republicans down there need to step up their game. This actually, Hudson, who has overseen the NRCC recruitment and the past couple of election cycles, he has pointed out that Republicans could have a bigger majority in the House if they actually fundraise more than Democrats. He has been very open about the fact that they could have won seats had Democrats not had this advantage.

And the fact that we're seeing that in Florida just a couple of months after the election is significant. It's something that can't be ignored.

However, I will point out that the DCCC, that's the House Democratic campaign arm. They haven't invested in these races.

And I've talked to a couple of Democratic campaign strategists who are saying, you know, don't read too much into the tea leaves. This is still a very conservative state. And a lot of the fundraising is coming from outside of the district and outside of the state.

So, you know, as much as Democrats are able to get their message into those districts, we'll see what kind of constituents, what kind of voters actually turn out and who they elect.

WHITFIELD: So Trump won both those Florida districts by large margins in 2024. But the president is so concerned about the Republicans slim control of Congress that he pulled the nomination of Congresswoman Elise Stefanik of New York as the next U.S. ambassador to the U.N. He did so just this past week.

So if those districts are still so conservative, we're talking about the Florida districts, is it that the Democrats have raised so much money and that is why the president is so concerned that there is wiggle room in those seats.

SOTOMAYOR: Yes, he has mentioned the fact that the Democrats are fundraising more than Republicans. I think at some point last week he said, you know, we can't experiment. We can't be at a point where, you know, I, as president, have tapped someone like Elise Stefanik and can pull her away from the House.

It's an interesting time because, as you know, Republicans both in the House and the Senate are embarking on actually crafting Trump's legislative agenda.

House Republicans, on a good day, when all Republicans are there, they only have a three-vote majority. If for any reason, these districts in Florida flip. That leaves them at one -- that leaves Republicans in the House at a one-vote majority.

If you take away Stefanik, who is still in a very reliably Republican seat but not as conservative as those Florida districts, I mean, there goes the House Republican majority.

So it's interesting that Trump is publicly pointing out that, you know, he can't be moving candidates around. He can't be tapping Republicans out of the House.

[14:24:48]

SOTOMAYOR: This is a warning that House Republican leaders have been saying since right after the election. So at this point in time, I think everyone is starting to realize just how fragile the majority is, because a lot of changes are happening in Washington.

And if voters are angry -- are angry, all they have to do is blame Republicans who hold all the levers of power here.

WHITFIELD: All right. Let's move on to Wisconsin now. And Trump adviser Elon Musk, you know, he's poured millions of dollars into the state supreme court race. Musk and President Trump are the central focus of the ad campaign for both sides. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Elon Musk bought his way to unelected power. Now with Brad Schimel, he's trying to buy his way into our state's supreme court. On April 1st, you can stop Musk's extreme agenda.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: President Trump's fighting back, but a liberal judge ordered deportation flights to be turned around. We don't need another liberal judge.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Why this kind of investment in this Wisconsin supreme court seat?

SOTOMAYOR: You know, it's interesting talking about fundraising. This is the impact that it could have on the other side of the aisle. I mean, we've seen how Musk is starting to target different races across the board.

This is obviously a bellwether of its own. And Musk has already threatened even Hill lawmakers, for example, that if they vote against Trump's agenda moving forward, that he can recruit candidates to primary them and fund those campaigns.

So you see Musk entering just into the broader political -- political space. And if he's successful here, you know, those lawmakers may think twice about voting against, or you know, pushing too hard against getting what they want when it comes to Trump's agenda, because they know that they can be primaried.

I think if Musk were to lose after already him and his super PAC donating $20 million into this very considered small race, that can tell us two different things.

One, that lawmakers probably won't be as threatened that Musk has this power to be able to knock them out of their seats. The second is that voters -- Democratic voters, possibly Independent and maybe even Republican voters -- turning out and voting for the Democratic judge, that just signals that they're angry at the administration and that they are angry at Musk.

So we'll see exactly where, I guess in some ways, this race could determine Musk's influence and possible kingmaker status within the Republican Party, depending on what happens.

WHITFIELD: All right. Tuesday is a big day for many reasons.

Marianna Sotomayor, thank you so much.

SOTOMAYOR: Thanks for having me.

WHITFIELD: All right. In a moment, the story of a couple who lived in the U.S. for decades, even raising a family, and then suddenly getting uprooted and deported. And now their children are pleading to bring them back.

[14:27:52]

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[14:32:04]

WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back.

After living in the U.S. for 35 years and raising three daughters, a California couple was arrested, held at multiple detention centers for several weeks and then deported to Colombia.

Joining me right now is CNN correspondent Julia Vargas Jones.

Julia, so what more can you tell us about this -- family, their plight, and what's next?

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, for 35 years, they built their entire lives here in this country.

But for at least 20 of those years, all of it hung in the balance as they requested, year after year extensions and depended on the goodwill of immigration officers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VARGAS JONES (voice-over): Gladys and Nelson Gonzalez fled Colombia in 1989, applied for asylum in the U.S., and made California home. They raised three daughters, all born in the U.S. They paid taxes, volunteered during COVID, and checked in with immigration authorities every year without fail, until a few weeks ago.

STEPHANIE GONZALEZ, PARENTS DEPORTED AFTER 35 YEARS IN THE U.S.: I spoke with my mom on the phone around 10:30 a.m., and she let me know that her appointment went great with her officer, that they gave her a year extension, and so we thought that everything was going to be great. And then unfortunately, a couple hours later, we heard different news from the officers, simply looked at his file and said that he didn't really have a case and that he was going to be detained, and then called my mom back in and arrested her as well, with no explanation.

VARGAS JONES: The couple was held for three weeks in detention facilities in California, Arizona and Louisiana, then deported to Colombia.

GONZALEZ: We didn't really get to say goodbye. The phone call from my dad was really short. He just told us that we had to go pick up his car that was left in the parking lot. He just told us that he loved us, that he didn't know where he was going.

VARGAS JONES: In 2000, the couple was issued a voluntary departure order, but had received extensions yearly on their stay until now. In a statement, ICE said that Gladys and Nelson had exhausted all legal options to remain in the U.S. between March 2000 and August 2021, including reviews by the board of immigration appeals in 2001 and 2018. Citizenship and immigration services in 2010, and the U.S. court of appeals for the ninth circuit in 2021. Their attorney says their arrest reflects a broader shift in immigration enforcement.

MONICA CROOMS, IMMIGRATION ATTORNEY: We're seeing people like Gladys and Nelson who have again cooperated with immigration over several years, have never given immigration any reason to believe that they would flee. People like Gladys and Nelson are being swept up in these removal efforts. And it's just -- it's devastating. It's devastating to not only their families, but to the communities in which they live, because people are terrified.

VARGAS JONES: The couple spent years and thousands of dollars in legal help, much of it, they say, from unlicensed or disbarred individuals.

CROOMS: Our hope was that the board of immigration appeals would see this and agree with us that there was just a gross miscarriage of justice with respect to how Gladys and Nelson were represented, and would reopen their case to allow them to potentially seek legalization through one of their daughters.

[14:35:16]

VARGAS JONES: The couples' daughters launched a GoFundMe raising over $75,000 from more than 750 donors to help their parents rebuild in Colombia and pay for future legal efforts.

CROOMS: They'll have to start over again, but the hope is that they will be able to come back.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VARGAS JONES (on camera): And, Fred, that's because their three daughters are U.S. citizens. The couple hopes that they can reapply for citizenship in the United States, but that could take at least 10 years -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Julia Vargas Jones, thanks so much.

All right. Straight ahead, despite a strong backlash from many Americans, President Trump says no one who took part in the leaked group chat will lose their jobs. Could this signal more problems for the White House?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:40:42]

WHITFIELD: The Trump administration still defending its use of the Signal messaging app in discussions of highly sensitive information. A new CBS News/YouGov poll finds that 76 percent of Americans say it was not appropriate for Trump's cabinet to use the app to share U.S. military attack plans.

This morning on CNN, Oklahoma Republican Senator James Lankford called for the Pentagon inspector general to investigate how an "Atlantic" reporter was added to a group chat with other Trump officials.

Here's more of what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JAMES LANKFORD (R-OK): This is normal communication on it. What's not normal is having a reporter in the middle of it.

DANA BASH, CNN HOST: You have no doubts about Secretary Hegseth's leadership.

LANKFORD: No, I don't -- I don't see this as an issue of leadership, nor I've heard some people calling for his resignation. I think that's way overkill.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Joining me now is David Sanger, a White House and national security correspondent for "The New York Times".

David, great to see you.

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL & NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Great to see you.

WHITFIELD: All right. So our questions are going to get answered from this Pentagon inspector general investigation. And is it more important, to discover why a reporter was on the call, and not that the content was on that app discussion?

SANGER: Well, two quick things on this. The first is the president fired almost all of the independent inspector generals, so that he's putting in place people who I think are less likely to challenge him. So I think you'd want to have some care about what inspector general got this.

But to your greater point -- look, the -- the central issue here wasn't just how Mike Waltz added, the editor in chief of "The Atlantic" to the chat. The central issue here is once that error was made -- and we've all made mistakes like that. Why was it that the secretary of defense was taking what we believe to be, at the time, classified information about when an attack would begin, what kind of planes would be used, and so forth, and he put them in an unclassified chat?

And that's why the central issue is actually about Mr. Hegseth, not really about Mr. Waltz.

WHITFIELD: Right. And there have been many who have asked or challenging the White House about whether he needs to resign over this. And thus far, it looks like the White House is still very much behind Hegseth.

This is what Senator Lankford said earlier today, when looking at the roadmap of what this investigation might be.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LANKFORD: There's two questions. One is how did reporter get in this conversation? And the second one is how do members of the administration talk to each other when they're on the road, on things that are clearly timely? The launch of an American strike on the Houthis is a timely issue they cant all go to their desk, sit in a SCIF to be able to have that dialogue. Where and how do they have that dialogue? What's the most secure way to do it?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. So Jeffrey Goldberg, as you mentioned, "The Atlantic" editor in chief, who was mistakenly added to the group chat, appeared to have a more straightforward kind of conclusion. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEFFREY GOLDBERG, ATLANTIC EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: This isn't the matrix. Phone numbers don't just get sucked into other phones. There's no -- there's no subterfuge here. My number is in his phone. He mistakenly added me to the group chat. There we go.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Okay. He made it sound quite simple, but, you know, Mike Waltz had even admitted that he put him on the group chat. So why is this now so confusing? SANGER: You know, I don't think it is that confusing. I mean, I think

they're muddying up the question of why Jeff Goldberg's phone number was sitting in that phone, but I think the bigger question here is, how did the sequence of the attack plan get on to the chat? And you notice that that was not in Mr. Lankford's comments? That seems to me to be the most important by far, of the issues that they need to be -- to be investigating.

WHITFIELD: So this whole, you know, revelation appears to be -- it would seem to be a real gift for Democrats, right? A recent CNN poll says the party isn't doing enough to stand up to Republicans and Trump's agenda. So how might Democrats use this perhaps as an example or leverage, this Signal-gate to their advantage?

SANGER: Well, it's a really interesting question. I'm not sure that it resonates around the country quite as much as it does here in Washington. It doesn't affect the lives of ordinary people.

It shows a little bit of a carelessness and a little bit of an arrogance in the responses. You know, I thought what was most interesting was Mr. Waltz came out, took responsibility for it, said it was his fault. There was some muddying of the water.

But what we heard from. Secretary Hegseth was just the opposite. It was. This is all created by people who did the hoax and the Russia hoax and so forth and so on. He has not addressed the central question yet, nor apologized for either using Signal or placing that data on Signal.

WHITFIELD: All right. David Sanger, we'll leave it there. Thanks so much.

SANGER: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Still to come, Prince Harry is being accused of bullying by the chairwoman of a charity that he helped start.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:51:13]

WHITFIELD: All right. This breaking news, a volatile weather system is unleashing severe thunderstorms across the country. Now, a tornado watch is in effect for Chicago and portions of Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky and Missouri until 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time, according to the Storm Prediction Center.

CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar is tracking the potential for tornadoes and damaging winds.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Strong to severe thunderstorms are expected for roughly 100 million people from upstate New York all the way back across portions of Texas, especially through the evening and overnight hours tonight. But they'll continue into the day Monday. Here's the target point for all of the storms as we go through the

rest of the day, Sunday and through the evening hours, you can see Chicago, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Memphis, little rock all the way down to Shreveport, all looking at the potential for some of these damaging wind gusts of 60, even 70mph. That's more than enough to bring down some trees and even cause some power outages.

We're also looking at some very large hail in some of these areas. Golf balls, even baseball sized hail and some isolated spots. And yes, even the potential for a tornado or two to kind of come through some of these areas. You can see as we get closer to the evening, that line really begins to form. And that's where the strongest storms are expected to be.

This line from Ohio back down to the Louisiana, Texas state line, that line will continue to spread overnight tonight into places like Nashville, Birmingham, Huntsville and then even Atlanta by early tomorrow morning, still looking at some of those strong to severe thunderstorms to hold together. We're also still looking at this cluster down here, closer to the Gulf Coast area, where those strong to severe thunderstorms will be.

Then, as we go later into the day Monday, you get the heating of the day from the sun. Now it spreads pretty much up and down the entire eastern seaboard. That's why even through the day Monday, while the severe threat shifts a little bit farther to the east, the threats themselves remain the same, especially for Philadelphia, D.C., Charlotte, Raleigh, even down through Atlanta and Montgomery, where you're still looking at the potential for damaging winds, tornadoes and some large hail.

WHITFIELD: All right, Allison Chinchar, thank you so much.

All right. Happening right now. Live pictures out of Dallas, where pro-immigration protesters are marching. Organizers are expecting thousands of people to take part. Marchers are encouraged to carry American flags and wear white to symbolize peace and unity.

Stay with us. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:58:12]

TAPPER: All right. Tonight on CNN, it's an all new episode of "UNITED STATES OF SCANDAL".

Jake Tapper has a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST, "UNITED STATES OF SCANDAL": Thanks for having me.

So, this week's episode takes a look at the scandal that shocked sports fans everywhere. Despite his seemingly perfect, inspiring public image. Incredible story of survival of stage four cancer, multiple professional cycling accolades. Lance Armstrong's global fame and reputation were tempered and ultimately destroyed by accusations of doping and the web of deception and lies and bullying that he created while trying to protect his legacy.

I spoke with his former teammate Floyd Landis, about the circumstances that led to Armstrong's public fall from grace.

Here's a little preview.

It took about 15 years for the truth to come out about lance and doping in the sport in general. Why? Why did it take so long? And would it have come out were it not for you?

FLOYD LANDIS, FORMER PROFESSIONAL ROAD RACING CYCLIST: It may have never come out, I don't know. I can't believe that I was the reason for it. I can't believe it had to -- it had to be that because it had gone on so long.

TAPPER: So long indeed. Lance finally confessed to doping in 2013, and the story of what was going on in all those years between becoming a phenom and his shameful admission is fascinating and upsetting.

Armstrong's story of survival and triumph turned into one of deception and bullying, and lies, devolving into a cautionary tale about the lengths some will go to in order to protect their legacy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. Jake Tapper, thanks so much. The all-new episode of "UNITED STATES OF SCANDAL" with Jake Tapper airs tonight at 9:00 Eastern and Pacific, right here on CNN.

(MUSIC)

WHITFIELD: All right.