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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Trump's Massive Tariffs Rattle Markets, Fuel Recession Fears; Judge Declines to Rule on Where Student's Case Should Be Heard; At Least Seven Dead After Tornadoes Slam Central U.S. Trump's Massive Tariffs Rattle Markets, Fuel Recession Fears. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired April 03, 2025 - 18:00   ET

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

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to The Lead. I'm Phil Mattingly in for Jake Tapper.

This hour, an absolutely brutal day in the stock market, threats from some of America's closest allies, and now a new assessment of how close we could be to a recession. This is all the fallout from President Trump's new sweeping tariffs. It's here and it's not pretty. But how will it actually affect your family and how soon?

Plus, millions of Americans are risk for severe weather tonight from tornadoes and a once in a generation flooding, just as we're starting to get a look at the devastation from last night's tornado outbreak, decimated communities just starting to pick up the pieces.

[18:00:06]

And a dramatic escalation in federal court today as a judge says he's now deciding whether to hold Trump officials in contempt for violating his orders over deportation flights. How soon could he rule and what happens then?

The Lead tonight, Trump's tariff spark and unprecedented global trade war prompting shock and anger from the U.S. allies and adversaries. President Trump now in Florida. And that is where we find Jeff Zeleny, who we're leading off with today.

Jeff, we know the president spoke, don't have a good sense yet of what he said. What did he tell people?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Phil, throughout the day, we've seen the president and the White House brushing off what the rest of the country and the world are watching in the financial markets defending his own -- really, his trade policy yesterday that reshaped the global economy or has the potential to. But on Air Force One, as he was flying down here to Florida, the president also left open the door for negotiation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Every country's called us. That's the beauty of what we do. We put ourselves in the driver's seat. If we would've asked some of these country, almost most of these countries to do us a favor, they would've said no. Now, they'll do anything for us. But we have tariffs. They've been set, and it's going to make our country very rich.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: So, there are two deadlines coming up, Phil, as you well know on Saturday. That is the first deadline for these tariffs to go into place. Those are the 10 percent that are assigned to most of the countries. But then next Wednesday, there, of course, is a deadline for the additional tariffs that are going to be imposed on so many of our allies and adversaries alike.

Now, the president did not leave specific wiggle room. In fact, his adviser said throughout the day, these are set. But if past is prologue, we do know the president loves to field phone calls from foreign leaders, business leaders as well. So, we shall see. But there is no doubt, one thing is clear, the financial markets did not like, the world markets did not like what the president did, and are worried about the economy going forward, Phil.

MATTINGLY: Jeff, we've also been told President Trump brought up the potential tariff deal involving TikTok. It's like threading together two huge economic stories at once. What is it?

ZELENY: Phil, that was very interesting. Of course, the deadline is also coming up on reaching a deal on TikTok. That is coming up tomorrow. And he used that as an example actually. He said if China would come up with some kind of a deal, that could potentially lower the reciprocal tariffs, if you will. No huge specifics on that, but we know a lot of companies, several companies, Amazon included, and some others have put together these deals to essentially acquire. But the president bringing that up on his own as an example of something China could do. So we'll keep our eye on that. It is very much a moving target, Phil.

MATTINGLY: Jeff Zeleny for us in West Palm Beach, Florida, thanks so much.

The Dow, S&P 500, the NASDAQ, all three major market indices, the red is not good. They had their worst day since 2020.

I want to bring in CNN's Business Editor at Large Richard Quest. Richard, we just got the latest global recession risk update from JPMorgan. What did it say?

RICHARD QUEST, FOX BUSINESS EDITOR AT LARGE: And worryingly. It says it's raised the risk of a global recession from 40 percent to 60 percent. Now, of course, it's not a forecast, it is a risk. But what I take from that, A, it's gone up by 50 percent, but also significantly, they're not just talking about a U.S. recession, they're talking about a global recession.

And as you start to see the numbers on the screen now you understand why, because the economies can only take so much dislocation at once. Eventually, economic growth becomes, which is already weak, becomes overwhelmed by all these other factors. And we know U.S. consumers are worried. We know that businesses are uncertain and we are expecting now to see a massive slowdown, which could, as JPMorgan says, lead to recession.

MATTINGLY: Richard, I got to ask you, you know, I've watched every White House administration official who's spoken publicly today, and there have been a lot of them everywhere. Not a single one of them has hedged or opened the door on the possibility of some kind of deal to undo the reciprocal tariffs at any point soon. President Trump just did, he also proposed potentially tying it to a TikTok deal. If markets need certainty, where are we right now?

QUEST: Oh, well, and truly off the reservation on that. I mean, if he throws in the idea that there may be deals to be done, you're going to end up with everybody trying to do a deal and we're going to be going backwards and forwards.

[18:05:00]

Has the deal been done? What's the terms of the deal? How far will it go? I mean, the level of uncertainty is off the charts, and that is why you are seeing at the moment this market volatility and turmoil.

And, by the way, Phil, if he does all these deals and does get the tariffs down, that is certainly good news at one level. It's excellent. But it fails in his policy of bringing back manufacturing to the United States because then people will simply be back to a level playing field, if you will, and production will continue overseas.

Now, what he's trying to do is just about impossible in terms of get U.S. manufacturing back up and running as it was before. Because, Phil, what the experts say is if you bring those jobs back to America, they are the wrong jobs for this economy in the 21st century. This economy is a digital, fast-moving, vibrant, biotech economy where A.I. will be at its core, not an old rust-style manufacturing economy.

MATTINGLY: They believe otherwise against all other evidence and who's going to be right here is, it's the ball game. And I think we are in a moment right now where I'm not totally sure people grasp the stakes or what we have wandered our way into very intentionally.

Richard Quest, always great to hear you, my friend. Thanks so much.

I want to bring in Washington Post Personal Finance Columnist Michelle Singletary. Michelle, everyone's finances are different. What advice would you give people right now who are looking at the stock market? They see all red. They don't really know necessarily that has any application to them, but they know something's going on. What's the advice you have?

MICHELLE SINGLETARY, PERSONAL FINANCE COLUMNIST, THE WASHINGTON POST: So, I'm not going to tell you not to panic. You know, just scream if you have to. But don't act on that. And I think that's the message for today. It was a heart-wrenching, heart-stopping day. I'm just like everybody out there putting money in my 401(k) and it had been doing so well before this administration.

And so -- but having said that, if you are still in the market for the long-term, you've got decades to retirement that you don't want to pull money out, especially not now. You want to just be -- you know, try to stay calm, try not to act on this fear. We are not sure what's going to happen. And we know we've been here before and the markets have come back. So, you know, try to, you know, punch a pillow but don't punch out of the stock market.

MATTINGLY: To that point, you know, anybody who looked at the 401(k) today, probably shouldn't have. That was a mistake. We're scolding you for it on some level. But you make the point, you know, punch a pillow, what are the things people can do as they think through this very uncertain moment? There's not a lot of precedent for this, not just today, not just in the near term to get some anger out, but actually planning for what's next.

SINGLETARY: Right. So, continue to invest, right? Especially if you're young, you've got time on your side. But I would be -- if my finances were a little janky right now, a little funky, I would be pulling back. I'm not going on that summer vacation. I am not doing that home improvement. You know, I'm not sending my kid today school that I cannot afford, and I had to take out a boatload of loans. You know, we don't know what's going to happen. And if there is a recession coming, you know, job loss, you could lose your job. And especially if you don't have a built up savings, how are you going to get through that?

So, I'm looking at my budget. Even my husband and I have said, you know what, we're going to hold off on some major projects just right now, because if these tariffs go in, things are going to be more expensive. Let's see what happens.

And if you are on that bubble, if you are living paycheck to paycheck, please look at your budget, pull back. If you are doing okay and even the downturn on the market today, you are going to still be okay, then maybe you still do some of those projects. But right now, you ought to know your budget like you've never before, because who knows what's coming. This is a scary time. And when this type of thing happens, you need to pull back and make sure that you've got money saved for the worst.

MATTINGLY: For people who are right at the edge of retirement and they're looking at the 401(k) saying, I can't do a trade war, like the trade war will not work for my savings, what should they do?

SINGLETARY: So, hopefully, they already have a plan in place. And if you are in retirement, you could be in retirement 20, 30 years. You're not going to use all that money right now this year. So, if you've got to pull out, pull out the minimum that you need. You don't want to pull out when the market's down. You're going to lock in those losses.

Just pull out what you need. If you don't need that, if you've got some fixed income that you can live off, maybe you hold off on that withdrawal this year. Unless you're required to withdraw as part of the required minimum distribution, you might have to pull money out anyway, even though you don't want to.

[18:10:02]

And then reassess when things settle down a little bit. See if your risk has increased. Maybe you have more equities than you should. And this is the time to seek the help of only financial planner. Let them look over everything and make sure your plan is sound.

And many of -- the experts that I talked to over the last several weeks say, listen, you need to have some money in cash set aside for a day like today, so you don't have to tap that money when the market is down the way it is.

And, you know, I can't emphasize enough. I am not going to tell you not to scream or holler or maybe even swear a little bit, but don't act on that fear that you might regret, you might make decisions that you regret later,

MATTINGLY: Right. Every CEO is pausing and assessing. It's probably good enough for every person as well.

Michelle Singletary, I always appreciate it. Thanks so much.

Well, today is the start of President Trump's 25 percent tariff on all foreign cars coming into the United States, upending the structure of America's auto industry as we know it, which means the new or even used car you've had your eye on could become drastically more expensive in a matter of weeks or months.

Well, CNN's Omar Jimenez went to a car dealership in the suburbs of Detroit, Michigan, where the consensus is clear. These tariff costs will trickle down to consumers one way or another.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GEORGE GLASSMAN, PRESIDENT, GLASSMAN AUTOMOTIVE GROUP: I've had my share of turmoil over the years and so that's why I'm comfortable that this too will be something that we'll be able to deal with and overcome.

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): But George Glassman knows it won't be easy. He runs Glassman Automotive Group in Southfield, Michigan, outside Detroit.

GLASSMAN: My father served the business in 1969. We haven't seen anything, in my opinion, this disruptive as long as I've been in the business.

JIMENEZ: His current inventory of cars is pre tariff unaffected, but that won't last.

Do you anticipate having to raise prices on your vehicles when we get to that point?

GLASSMAN: Well, we're not going to have a choice. Ultimately, a decision has to be made by the manufacturers, how much are they willing to absorb of the tariff?

JIMENEZ: Which would affect prices for people like Laura Downing.

LAURA DOWNING, DETROIT AREA RESIDENT: I have huge concerns about the tariffs and all the different ways that prices are going to go up, not just as related to, you know, automobiles and auto parts, et cetera.

JIMENEZ: As she spoke with us, she had just leased a car, a newer one too.

DOWNING: And with auto parts going up, I just figured might as well be in something that's newer that I'm not going to need a lot of maintenance on.

JIMENEZ: The Trump administration also plans to put tariffs on car parts by May.

DOWNING: I don't know how much I can say, but, I mean --

JIMENEZ: You can say whatever you'd like.

DOWNING: You know, I think the entire thing is it's bad politics, even much further outside of just auto parts. You know, it's going to hurt a lot of people.

JIMENEZ: And she wasn't the only one thinking tariffs.

So, that was on your mind when you came in into shop?

ROBERT HOLIDAY, SOUTHFIELD, MICHIGAN RESIDENT: That was mainly on our mind, the tariffs. Everybody's saying that the prices on automobiles are going to go up. We're carrying on fixed income.

DENISE HOLIDAY, SOUTHFIELD, MICHIGAN RESIDENT: Yes, we're retired.

R. HOLIDAY: We're retired.

D. HOLIDAY: We thought we better come now while we still can, and we still have our Social Security.

JIMENEZ: Both the Holidays and Downing are part of what Glassman described as somewhat of a dash of customers in recent weeks, trying to find something to drive before prices drive up.

GLASSMAN: You've got high interest rates, you've got food costs that are high, and now their second largest purchase next to a home is also in play.

R. HOLIDAY: At least two of her friends that we know of are out as we speak.

D. HOLIDAY: Another one she called, she was on her way to the dealership right now. She called us.

JIMENEZ: But after this window of opportunity for customers comes reality, GLASSMAN: Regardless of the make, the model, every single manufacturer will be affected by the tariffs.

JIMENEZ: Even with the roadblocks, Glassman sees a way through.

GLASSMAN: Detroit has been through so much over the years. There have been ups and downs, and the automobile business and its dealers have been resilient. The thought of building plants and having more manufacturing jobs here in the states is admirable but it doesn't happen overnight.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JIMENEZ (on camera): And even as we've been standing here, there are people that have been coming in buying and leasing cars because they're worried about the impending prices of tariffs, including Lois, who I was just talking to. Lois, just can you tell us real quick why you decided to lease a car today?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I wanted to have more of a stable outlook on my life. I don't want my mortgages every month going forward, now the car. And after that --

JIMENEZ: You're worried about the prices, right?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm worried about the prices for everything else. This is something I could cement into and not worry about for a while.

JIMENEZ: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, ask me who I voted for.

[18:15:00]

JIMENEZ: Well, who'd you vote for?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not the orange guy. So --

JIMENEZ: All right, well, there you go. You have the answer right there. Lois, I really appreciate your time.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sure.

JIMENEZ: Lois, of course, among the many people who actually have showed up in this period before, the tariffs have actually affected prices trying to lock in what they're seeing on the price tag right now.

MATTINGLY: Omar Jimenez for us in Southfield, Michigan, thanks so much.

We have much more economic news coming up. Layoffs in the U.S. have hit the highest numbers since pandemic, largely due to DOGE layoffs in the federal government. But it isn't just D.C. We're going to take you to the heartland where Americans are taking a hit. Plus, a federal judge is considering holding Trump officials in contempt if he decides they violated an order. How would that actually work? That's just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MATTINGLY: In our Law and Justice Lead, is there probable cause to hold Trump administration officials in contempt? That's actually a question U.S. District Judge James Boasberg says he's trying to answer after a hearing today to see whether government officials violated his order halting the use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelans that the government has accused of being members of a gang.

[18:20:12]

Joining now, CNN Anchor and Chief Legal Analyst Laura Coates and CNN Chief Legal Affairs Correspondent Paul Reid.

Paul, I want to start with you first because significant escalation between Judge Boasberg and the administration, which is -- it's been pretty escalated. What happens here?

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: This hearing, I listened in, it was tense. I mean, this is also high stakes for the administration. This is the closest a federal judge has gotten to deciding if the administration has defied an order. This is something that people have been concerned about. And the judge kicked off the hearing by saying that he believes that the administration acted in bad faith when it defied his oral order to halt these deportations, and it didn't get much better for the Justice Department from there.

The hearing was mostly a series of exchanges between the judge and the Justice Department, where the lawyer couldn't really answer a lot of the questions that he was asked. He tried to cite attorney-client privilege a few times, and it was clear that the judge was becoming increasingly irritated.

The judge's questioning also revealed that he believes that the Justice Department tried to move really quickly on March 15th before they were going to have a hearing before this judge, because they expected, the judge believes, that this would be blocked.

So, now the judge is going to take time to decide if there is probable cause to hold officials in contempt. I will say in speaking with sources of the Justice Department, all of the senior leaders at the Justice Department, they're in full support of this poor lawyer who's sort of, you know, out on a limb here making these arguments and risking contempt of possible sanctions.

MATTINGLY: What does it mean? If Judge Boasberg decides to move forward with a contempt proceedings, what does it mean for the Justice Department for this lawyer?

LAURA COATES, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF LEGAL ANALYST: Well, it could mean that this could be performative in the sense that it's a slap on the wrist. Because normally, in normal times, remember what those look like? In normal times, the idea of a judge questioning the credibility of the Department of Justice was something that was completely unheard of, the idea of thinking, oh my God, do I not trust not only this attorney, but remember it's the United States government as a whole. So if every prosecutor coming up cannot be trusted, it can have a very, very negative impact on their overall standing.

But also the idea of having sanctions being issued. It could mean that if this were to proceed in some way, that the judge could essentially never give the grace or benefit the doubt to the cases of the Justice Department going forward in this particular matter. It could have some serious consequences.

MATTINGLY: There's -- I want to ask a lot more about this, but there's a lot going on right now, and I think this is actually an incredibly important thing to focus on. Turning to the case of the Turkish Tufts University student, the attorneys for the student were in a federal court in Vermont, I believe, today. The judge declined a rule on where the student's case should be heard. Paula, what does that mean for the student who's actually being held and detained in Louisiana, I believe?

REID: So, on the surface, this is about jurisdiction. The government is arguing that she should be tried in Louisiana. That's where she's currently being detained. She's, of course, a graduate student in Boston. She was detained last month. She's accused of being a terrorist, but there hasn't been any formal charges filed. There's also no evidence to support that allegation. But the government is arguing that her attorneys haven't filed things properly, and they're saying we can't make the proper filings because you haven't been clear with us about where our client is, and they need to resolve this jurisdictional issue where this case will be heard before she can potentially be released.

Now, her lawyers are also accusing the Justice Department of forum shopping and wanting to have this case, and others heard in Louisiana because they believe that down there they'll get more sympathy and support for their arguments.

MATTINGLY: Laura, I have a question, but I want you to take a listen first to part of a statement written by the student that was read by one of her attorneys outside court today. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAHSA KHAHBABI, ATTORNEY FOR RUMESYA OZTURK: Efforts to target me because of my op-ed in the Tufts Daily calling for the equal dignity and humanity of all people will not deter me from my commitment to advocate for the rights of youth and children.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: What was almost more striking is after reading the statement, the attorney said that in her 25-year law career, she had never seen a case like this before. Have you?

COATES: I have not, and I've seen the many a deportation case in this country. There are legitimate and valid reasons to initiate and actually implement deportation proceedings. I normally have never seen it about the First Amendment or someone's speech that implicates them if there's not some other outstanding reason to do so.

What's very terrifying as well for many people watching this is imagine if you were yourself, a woman, approached by people who are not in uniform and told you need to go with them and not have access to counsel. You'd have fear about whether it was legitimate, whether you were safe in their care, whether you could leave their care in some way, whether it was care at all. So, you have that aspect of it.

But, ultimately, to Paula's point and the attorney's points, the big question for the Department of Justice and, of course, any immigration official is whether there is due process, a notice and opportunity to be heard.

[18:25:00]

If you're engaged in trying to hopscotch, as has been said in some respects, to avoid the ability to extend that due process, then that is constitutionally suspect at minimum.

The judges want to be able to understand, does this person have some legitimate reason to stay or to make their case to stay? They could ultimately have to leave anyway. But to withhold that opportunity is not due process.

MATTINGLY: Laura Coates, Paula Reid, really important issues, very glad to have you both here. Thanks so much.

Of course, you can join Laura on her show. It's a treat to have Laura Coates here. Laura Coates Live, that's tonight and every weeknight at 11:00 Eastern right here on CNN.

Well, another round of severe weather is on the way just hours after storms decimated towns across the U.S. Our meteorologists are getting updates and we're going live to the CNN Extreme Weather Center in moments.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:30:00]

MATTINGLY: In The National Lead, tornadoes unleashing catastrophic damage in the Central United States. The death toll now at seven and still climbing as multiple states remain under tornado and flood watch.

CNN's Nick Valencia is in Selma, Tennessee, a community east of Memphis with a storm left devastated.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): This is all that's left today after relentless and severe storms ripped through the Midwest and south overnight, spawning dozens of tornadoes that crushed homes, flipped over cars, and killed at least seven people.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When the first one touched down, we watched it come through, but we was hoping it missed our house. But as soon as we drove up, we realized there we have nothing left.

VALENCIA: The total number of tornadoes not yet known, but here in Western Tennessee, emergency management told CNN there were 35 tornado warnings.

GOV. BILL LEE (R-TN): Of this county, once again, this has happened before. There's been a tornado here just a couple years ago. But, once again, they're facing what's really just heartbreaking circumstance out there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is a mess. Unbelievable the damage that's caused by a tornado.

VALENCIA: In Selmer, Tennessee, Jimmy Moore says this is the second time his home has been hit by a tornado.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were in it the first time.

VALENCIA: This time, his daughter, who lives here now with her children, escaped to a shelter at the courthouse just before the tornado hit the house again, this time destroying it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. We were glad though that they made it to the courthouse. We can replace the house, but the grandkids blew it harder.

VALENCIA: At these newly built apartments nearby, more destruction.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We got each other, okay?

VALENCIA: Felicia Cicada (ph) has only lived here less than a month, and luckily wasn't home when the tornado blasted through.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We watched the storm come through on the radar and we saw it coming, you know, straight through and just kept looking and looking at Facebook, and then saw people posting pictures and stuff and realized that this had taken a direct hit.

VALENCIA: Have you ever been through a natural disaster before?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, I'm not from these parts, so, no, this is my first time ever. I mean, I'm used to California wildfires and this is different.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VALENCIA (on camera): Tennessee search and rescue teams are still going through this apartment complex to make sure that everyone is accounted for. And let me show you the damage that they're having to navigate here. This is what's left of a trailer park here. And with more severe weather in the forecast tonight, a tornado watch is in effect as a lot of people nervous here.

Locals refer to this area as tornado alley, and they're not out of the woods just yet. They hope tonight though they can catch a break. Phil?

MATTINGLY: I think we all do. Nick Valencia, thanks so much, from Tennessee.

Well, severe storm warnings are still in effect as the thunderstorms give way to what forecasters are calling generational levels of flooding.

CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam is tracking it all. Derek, where is the severe weather right now?

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. Phil, look, it's been a difficult past 24 hours from the Midwest to the mid-south where our own Nick Valencia is located. The sun broke out within these locations, allowing for the atmosphere to reload, and that's why we have our tornado threat once again stretching from Tennessee all the way to northeastern portions of Texas, really focusing in here on Arkansas and the border of Tennessee as well. We have a few tornado warnings that have just popped up to the west of Nashville. We're monitoring these very closely.

But I want to show you the reason why this is happening. It's this heat dome that has allowed for storm after storm to move over the same location, and that is going to produce another severe weather risk heading into the next couple of days. Phil?

MATTINGLY: Derek, the flood risk, what is it right now?

VAN DAM: Yes. So what you're looking at right now is a level four of four, which begins today and lasts through Friday and into Saturday. That's three consecutive days of a high risk of excessive rainfall leading to flash flooding. The last time that happened, Hurricane Helene in September of 2024. We all know how that unfolded.

This is a serious situation. We're talking about several months of rain falling from the sky over the days ahead. And that is why we have these flashflood warnings that are ongoing, including Nashville and points westward as these storm systems continue to train over the same location. We use that term literally because it literally is actually showing a storm system move over the same location time after time again, and that is producing the copious amounts of precipitation. We'll call this a fire hose of moisture that will move across the mid- south in the days ahead. Phil?

MATTINGLY: Derek Van Dam, thanks so much.

Well, the DOGE impact isn't just here in Washington, D.C. President Trump, Elon Musk's massive cuts to the federal government, they're actually being filled across the country. Up next, CNN traveled to Kansas City where layoffs are already underway, and officials really worry about the major economic impacts.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:35:00]

MATTINGLY: In The Money Lead, layoffs in the U.S. hitting the highest number since the pandemic, and the main culprit, well, it's the federal government. Economists estimate DOGE's job cuts made up nearly 80 percent of last month's 275,000 layoffs. And those federal jobs aren't just in Washington but nationwide.

CNN's Kayla Tausche spoke with impacted workers in Kansas City.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAYLA TAUSCHE, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT (voice over): More than a thousand miles from Washington D.C., the impact of DOGE is hitting the heartland. In Kansas City, the federal government is the largest employer, a growing presence in recent years.

In Trump's first term, the Department of Agriculture relocated two divisions to the area to save money and move closer to farmers. Now, USDA is among the many agencies scaling back here, all told job cuts are expected to be in the thousands.

MAYOR QUINTON LUCAS (D-KANSAS CITY, MO): It's going to hurt the city. It's going to hurt the people a lot. It's going to hurt their families and it's going to hurt a lot of secondary businesses.

TAUSCHE: Kansas City's Democratic Mayor says the city won't be able to absorb all the laid off workers.

[18:40:02]

LUCAS: We're not building a new 4,000-person factory to replace 4,000 jobs at the IRS at the same time. And, frankly, these folks will have very different skills.

TAUSCHE: At Kaufman Stadium, Jason Buck has picked up bartending part-time. He used to manage fleets of government vehicles until he was fired a month ago. The search for a new job was slow going.

JASON BUCK, GSA PROGRAM SUPPORT SPECIALIST: I get a spattering of interviews over the course of a month, and, you know, I haven't really had any headway on that.

TAUSCHE: While we spoke with him, his manager called to say he'd been reinstated. He doesn't know for how long.

Do you worry that this is temporary?

BUCK: Absolutely, yes. Yes, I don't know if I'm going back just to get -- be a part of a reduction in force at some point, or I have no idea what to expect. TAUSCHE: Daniel Scharpenburg worries his job is on the line too. He joined the IRS 16 years ago. With two teenage kids, he's taken a second job to save money.

DANIEL SCHARPENBURG, VICE PRESIDENT, NATIONAL TREASURY EMPLOYEES UNION: Some days, I get off work here and I go straight to the movie theater. I bring my work uniform with me and I change, and I go straight to the movie theater and work there. I'm 45 years old. I'm too old to be working two jobs.

TAUSCHE: The owner of Waterbird Coffee says business has picked up with federal workers, ordered back to offices, but he fears it's short-lived.

BRIAN DENMAN, OWNER, WATERBIRD COFFEE: Definitely, the mood just feels sort of different. Everything feels kind of stressful, uncertain. It's just kind of created this mood of anxiety overall.

TAUSCHE: The layoffs will ripple through the economy. Many federal workers say they may have to sell their home, others canceling family vacations.

For each federal worker who loses their job, economists say the pullback in their spending could cost the city another 1.5 jobs multiplying the effect on unemployment. The Kansas City Metro is blue, but polls show that voters in Missouri still largely support Trump. Shannon Ellis leads the Treasury Employees Union here and says her members feel the cuts hitting close to home.

SHANNON ELLIS, CHAPTER PRESIDENT, NATIONAL TREASURY EMPLOYEES UNION: But I've had people approach me in this building and state. Look, if I knew that this was what was going to happen, that all these attacks on federal agencies, I would've voted a different way. So, you can't say that all Americans still support what's happening.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TAUSCHE (on camera): Republican Senator Josh Hawley had supported relocating many of these agencies out of Washington and to places like Missouri. He told CNN he thinks the state's voters are supportive of this move to downsize.

The next major wave of layoffs is expected in mid-May. Employees say they expect those notifications could go out in the coming weeks. But as we were leaving Kansas City, more and more employees started reaching out to tell us about the cuts ongoing at the Department of Health and Human Services, where some workers were being terminated on the spot. So, Phil, it's all happening in real time and with a very real world impact.

MATTINGLY: And it's not just here, and I wish people would understand that more in terms of the scale. A really great piece, Kayla. Thanks so much.

Well, she captured the world's attention as a high society scammer and convicted felon. Now, Anna Delvey, the fake German heiress, is sitting down with our own Jake Tapper. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:47:01]

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN HOST: We're back in our money lead and reaction to President Trump's new widespread tariffs.

I want to bring in Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.

Senator, I know it's a busy night. Weve got a lot of votes ahead of you right now. But I think the question on everybody's mind right now, after what we saw yesterday, is what's going to happen next?

What are you hearing from constituents? What's your biggest concern?

SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA): So look, let's -- let's do a little setting the table here.

MATTINGLY: Yeah.

WARREN: Tariffs can be a really valuable tool in the economic toolbox. So, think of it this way -- you have a prescription filled right now in America. You realize it has a nine out of ten chance that that medication was manufactured somewhere overseas, most likely Asia.

The materials came probably from China, putting a tariff in place to get more manufacturing of our antibiotics and other prescription drugs here onshore makes perfect sense. It's targeted. You know what you're trying to accomplish.

What Donald Trump has announced in terms of his tariffs is just plain dumb. It just -- it's broad. It's across the board. It applies to too many countries all at once. So, think of it this way. Putting a tariff on Canadian lumber just drives up the cost of building homes here in the United States. We need more homes in the United States, and we sure don't need them to be more expensive.

So, I think the concern right now is that sometimes tariffs could be good, but not when you do it like Donald Trump just did.

MATTINGLY: And I think the scale of it has actually, it's -- it's so dramatic in terms of precedent. People don't really pay much attention to the fact the legal authority he's using is also unprecedented. First time he's ever used the emergency authorization to do this through a law that's never been utilized for tariffs before, except for when he went after Canada and Mexico earlier.

And I keep thinking I'm fairly familiar with the Constitution. It says tariff authority belongs to you.

WARREN: To Congress.

MATTINGLY: That responsibility has both parties have abdicated a little bit over the course of the last couple of decades. Why? WARREN: So, part of it -- I'm not sure we really have abdicated. I'm going to push back on that a little bit. We've passed some laws around tariffs, not things I always agreed with, but we have kept that mostly with Congress. And there is kind of like this emergency release valve under certain conditions.

And Donald Trump just wants to apply it entirely across the board.

Remember, last night, the Democrats actually put that question on the table in the United States Senate and said, this is not an emergency and you can't put these tariffs. We kept it narrow against Canada in place.

And here's what's interesting. First crack in the Republican wall appeared last night over tariffs. Four Republicans crossed over the aisle and voted against Donald Trump. Voted with the Democrats to say, stop doing this with tariffs in the specific case.

MATTINGLY: Yeah.

WARREN: Canada.

[18:50:00]

MATTINGLY: I mean, it was a reminder, Mitch McConnell being one of them Republicans, used to have a very different view on this issue, dramatically so. But it also happened after House Republicans had already front run the process --

WARREN: Oh, yeah.

MATTINGLY: -- through a procedure in the House that I'll get in trouble if I try and explain it on tv to normal humans, to stop it from ever coming up there. Is there a way around that?

WARREN: There could be, because anything they did, they could also undo. If there are enough Republicans who decide to do that. But you know what you're really talking about, let's just put it in a little bigger picture. And that is we're now, what, about 73 days into the Trump administration and the Republicans in the Senate and in Congress have been completely spineless. They have basically said, oh, Mr. President, do whatever you want to do.

So, the president comes through with a -- he and his co-president, Elon Musk, with a chainsaw. They fire people illegally. They try to shut down agencies that Congress established. And we can't even get so much as a hearing in the house or in the senate from the Republicans because they are so busy saying whatever Donald Trump wants is all right with us.

Maybe what we're starting to see is some of the Republicans growing a backbone and standing up and pushing back and saying, wait a minute, Congress has some responsibilities here. We're not going along with this craziness, and we're not going to help Donald Trump wreck the economy.

MATTINGLY: What about Democrats? You hear the criticism. What are you doing? What's the plan?

Theres a lot of frustration. I think there's also for folks that I talk to in your party, operatives and voters alike, there's a lot of feeling of helplessness. The Trump administration has moved fast, and they have done things, including to the CFPB, which was your brainchild, and you helped get across the line that I don't think anybody thought was possible prior to now. What do you --

WARREN: So, understand you can break things faster than you can come back and put them back together. And that's part of what's happening right now, for example, with the CFPB. Elon Musk comes in and fires everybody just like that because he thinks he's king of the world, or at least king of the world.

Now the courts are saying whoa, whoa, whoa, back up. You can't do that. They're putting orders in place. But it takes time.

And meanwhile, the financial cops on the beat who make sure you don't get cheated on your credit card or your mortgage or your Venmo account, those guys have all been sidelined. So, it's a real problem for folks all across this economy, laying off veterans, stopping veterans services at the V.A.

It's happening all across. But here's -- here's the heart of it. Democrats don't have as much power as we want. We don't have the votes in the house or the senate. Obviously, we don't have the White House, but not having as much power as you want is not the same as having no power.

First example of that is the one I just gave you, and that is we shamed those Republicans yesterday, and finally four of them cracked and said they were willing to stand up to Donald Trump. What else can we do? We do investigations. We've now got the inspectors general are starting to move on. Some of the actions of Elon Musk and Donald Trump.

We do oversight letters and we help organize. Look what just happened in Wisconsin less than 48 hours ago. $25 million Elon Musk pours into Wisconsin, even puts on the cheese hat thing and gets whomped by ten points.

So, Democrats still got a lot of energy. We're going to be in this fight all the way. And ultimately, I think we're going to win it.

MATTINGLY: Senator Elizabeth Warren, really appreciate you coming on. I know you got a long night ahead of you. Thank you so much.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:58:06]

MATTINGLY: And our pop culture lead. It's a few days late for April Fools Day, but this weekend on "United States of scandal", Jake Tapper has the story of a woman who fooled a whole lot of people. CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister is here.

We're talking about Anna Delvey. Remind people of the story, the lies.

ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. So, for those who may not remember, Anna Delvey, which is not even her real name, by the way, Phil, she is or was a con artist who fooled all of New York high society into believing that she was an heiress. From the years about 2013 to 2017, she was able to get fake financial documents and fooled banks into believing that she should be getting these large loans.

She was traveling. She was staying at the nicest hotels that were thousands of dollars per night. She was eating at the most exclusive restaurants in New York City, and in 2017, she was caught because a friend outed her in an NYPD sting operation.

Now, as you said, our very own Jake Tapper sat down with her. Let's take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST, THE LEAD: How do you see yourself? I mean, you know, a lot of people think you're a con artist. Do you see yourself like that?

ANNA DELVEY: Not at all. I think if anybody bothers to look into my criminal case, I never plan to, like, permanently defraud anyone of anything.

TAPPER: I mean, you did tell lies.

DELVEY: Yeah.

TAPPER: Even if you thought that ultimately things were going to happen, you did tell lies about wire transfers and stuff.

DELVEY: Yeah, but I think it's different had I like -- had I known that whoever I'm talking to -- they will never get their money back. That was never my mindset.

TAPPER: You thought it was all going to work out?

DELVEY: Yeah. It's not like my project was something completely fantastical.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WAGMEISTER: Now she became such a pop culture sensation, Phil, that Shonda Rhimes even created a show about her on Netflix, and she was a contestant on "Dancing with the Stars". So, people were just fascinated by her story.

MATTINGLY: No question.

Elizabeth Wagmeister, thanks so much. And tune in this Sunday at 9:00 p.m. Eastern for this new episode of

"UNITED STATES OF SCANDAL".

You can follow the show on X @TheLeadCNN. If you ever miss an episode of THE LEAD, you can listen to the show wherever you get your podcasts.

"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts now.