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The Lead with Jake Tapper

U.S. Economy Shrinks for First Time in Three Years; Source Says, Trump Admin Weighs Sending Some Undocumented Migrants to Libya, Rwanda; Musk Appears to Bid Farewell to Trump's Cabinet. Tariffs Offer Short-Term Lifeline For Domestic Seafood Industry; Inside The Fight To Save Florida's Beloved Manatees. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired April 30, 2025 - 18:00   ET

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

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[18:00:00]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper.

And this hour, President Trump is trying to put a positive spin on some grim new economic numbers showing that the U.S. economy is shrinking for the first time in three years. President Trump claims it has nothing to do with his trade wars, nothing to do with tariffs. Is that true?

Plus, our small business series takes us to South Carolina. We're going to check in with a shrimper and seafood company owner. We're going to ask him if tariffs are helping his bottom line or causing potential problems for his customers.

Also, first, it was El Salvador and now the White House is weighing on whether they should deport illegal immigrants who have criminal records to Africa. How exactly would this work and how much might it cost the U.S.?

And CNN travels along on a mission aimed at saving Florida's beloved manatees after more than a thousand of the mammals were killed in less than two years. See the efforts that are giving conservationists hope that the tides are turning.

Our Lead Tonight, it's day 101. President Trump is blaming his predecessor after news that the U.S. economy just had its worst quarter since 2022.

CNN's Jeff Zeleny is live outside the White House for us. Jeff?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, the president is now asking for more time, saying his economic program, his tariff program has not had enough time to settle in. He is blaming this economic news on the previous administration. Of course, we have heard him blame Joe Biden again and again for a variety of things. But at that cabinet meeting he held today, Joe Biden's name was mentioned some 51 times by a variety of cabinet officials going through several things they're blaming the Biden administration for.

But then the president did offer one sort of window into the economic hardships that he's asking Americans to endure because of his trade wars. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Maybe the children will have 2 dolls instead of 30 dolls, you know, and maybe the 2 dolls will cost a couple of bucks more than they would normally.

They have ships that are loaded up with stuff, much of which -- not all of it, but much of which we don't need.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: So, the president's sort of flippantly talking about dolls that children may not need. Of course he's referring to things coming from China. But, Jake, it's the other goods on these ships he's also talking about that businesses do need, from lumber to bolts, to other things.

So, it's a rare acknowledgement by the president that there may be a supply chain disruption or there may be empty shelves because of his tariff policy. But, certainly, once again, they're trying to blame everything on the Biden administration, even though even some of the president's supporters say that simply doesn't wash.

TAPPER: Jeff, we're also hearing that this minerals deal between the U.S. and Ukraine has now been signed.

ZELENY: Jake, we are just getting word of this signed just a short time ago. It was announced by the treasury secretary as well as the deputy prime minister of Ukraine. It was signed at the Treasury building just behind the White House here. And this is, of course, the deal between the U.S. and Ukraine that was initially going to be signed here at the White House when President Zelenskyy visited back in February. Of course, the meeting erupted in a spate of anger. But now this deal has been signed and the treasury secretary is saying it's to inspire global growth and development in Ukraine. The Ukraine prime minister is also saying that this will spark economic development.

But, of course, Jake, this is one small piece on the path to a broader ceasefire deal with Russia, and that, of course, is still unresolved at this hour. Jake?

TAPPER: All right. Jeff Zeleny at the White House, thanks so much.

Let's turn now to CNN's Phil Mattingly in studio here with me. He's here for an economic reality check. Earlier today, President Trump pointed his finger at his predecessor for the bad economic numbers. Here's specifically what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TRUMP: He came in on January 20th. So this is Biden, and you could even say the next quarter is sort of Biden because it doesn't just happen on a daily or an hourly basis, but we're turning it around. It's a big ship to turn around and we're going to have the greatest country financially in the history of the world, I believe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Not the first president to blame his predecessor, but put that in context for us.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF DOMESTIC CORRESPONDENT: Yes. The context is, again, honeymoon period expected. Most new presidents blame their predecessor for something related to the economy that they inherited. The difference here is the data itself that underpins this contraction, at least in the initial print, is explicitly tied to Trump's tariff policies and, to a lesser degree, Trump's DOGE policies. Government spending dropped.

[18:05:00]

That was one of the drivers.

But the main driver was a significant surge in imports, 41 percent year-over-year, which implies, or at least the read on this from economists, is this is businesses frontloading, trying to pull forward everything that they need to purchase to get ahead of those tariffs. At the same time, exports dropped fairly dramatically. Taken together, these things should normally balance out. Because the inventory numbers weren't exactly as locked in as the import numbers were, you had five total points taken off, shaved off the number all together.

The top line number is not the issue here, but when you go underneath, not only was this directly in effect of Donald Trump's policies, both like government spending and on trade, but it underscores a U.S. economy right now that is preparing for the unknown.

TAPPER: When we talk about a drop in the gross domestic product, GDP, by 0.3 percent, explain that to me. I'm a layman. How significant is 0.3 percent?

MATTINGLY: I would actually say because of this being that this will be revised, right? We've seen this how many times in the years, where revisions come in, they either go up, they go down. This first number, the top line number, is not the important one. That is particularly the case this time around. What's important is kind of lift the hood up here.

And I think what's interesting is the president saying, this is all Joe Biden's fault. The president's advisers are actually lifting the hood up and saying, not bad, private business investment, in particular, stellar numbers here. The issue is this is looking backwards. And when you look backwards, it underscores something we've seen in economic data for the better part of the last several months on jobs, on wages, the economy writ large, solid, stable. We don't know what happens next. And I think that's the critical takeaway here, which is this, all of this data came before April 2nd before those reciprocal tariffs were announced in the so-called liberation day. What it shows is clear uncertainty and kind of in the face of that uncertainty, businesses are making decisions to front load. They are racking up inventories.

Now, that may give some space if the tariffs end up biting as expected. But you're not front loading because you're going to maintain that level of business investment over the next several quarters. What happens next quarter, when that stops, problematic.

TAPPER: All right. Phil Mattingly, thanks so much.

Here now is Republican Congressman from Texas Brandon Gill. Congressman, good to see you.

Let's start with the economy. President Trump obviously blaming his predecessor for the poor economic numbers. I want to play some reaction from Republican Senators today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CYNTHIA LUMMIS (R-WY): So, you can't blame it all on Biden, but you can't blame it all on Trump either.

SEN. THOM TILLIS (R-NC): The voters are largely driven by the question, are you better off than you were, fill in the blanks, years ago. And, clearly, if we have this kind of froth this time next year, then it's a real challenge for Republicans.

You can't look at this today and recognize it for anything other than being unacceptable.

MANU RAJU, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Are you going to vote for this measure today, the Rand Paul-Wyden tariff plan, to stop the tariffs?

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R-ME): That is my intention.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: That last vote was -- that last bite was Susan Collins, a Republican from Maine, telling Manu that she's going to vote for this resolution to block President Trump's tariffs. I know it's DOA in the House, but these are Republicans expressing concerns about the economy because of Trump's tariffs. What's your response?

REP. BRANDON GILL (R-TX): You know, first of all, thanks for having me on, Jake. There are always concerns whenever we see slight pullbacks, whether it's GDP here or the stock market. But, remember, President Trump has talked about this for a long time. He said, we're going to bring jobs back into the United States. We're going to bring manufacturing back into the United States, and there may be some short-term disruption. He's been saying that for a long time. That's exactly what we're seeing here with these GDP numbers, which, by the way, are not as bad as they're often being discussed.

Consumption was up. Fixed investment was up the highest level in about two years. We've seen a pullback because of an increase in imports as businesses are filling inventories now ahead of the tariffs. That's all we're seeing. But this was expected. The president's talked about it and Republicans have talked about it.

TAPPER: There's a divide in your party over potential cuts to Medicaid, should that happen during the next few months. I want to play something, the Republican Congressman Jeff Van Drew from a swing Congressional district in Southern Jersey, New Jersey, said today, essentially warning Republicans that cutting Medicaid would hurt Republicans in the midterm elections. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JEFF VAN DREW (R-NJ): I will not support any cuts to eligible legal individuals or facilities. I mean, those types of issues that are affecting real people and real lives, that's where we have to be careful. That's where we have to be concerned. And that, if we do it the wrong way, would be a blueprint for disaster.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: What's your reaction?

GILL: You know, what we're focusing on right now are, one, work requirements for Medicaid, saying, if you were able bodied and your working age, you need to be either working or seeking work in order to receive Medicaid benefits.

[18:10:11]

I think that should expand to all welfare.

We're also looking at cutting welfare and Medicaid for illegal aliens. Those have scored at about $300 billion and $100 billion respectively by the CBO. Those are major cost savings that we can find in Medicaid right there before we even touch anything else. And these are the things that we're focused on right now.

TAPPER: Speaker Johnson has said he would additionally like to cut funding for public broadcasting, PBS, which does receive some support from the federal government. I just -- it's interesting. I just have to say, on a personal level, I learned to read by watching Sesame Street and Mr. Roger's Neighborhood and The Electric Company. That's literally how I learned to read as a kid. Why do you not think PBS is important?

GILL: Well, listen, we were -- I'm a member of the DOGE Subcommittee of Oversight. We were tasked with finding waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal government and highlighting it. And one of those that we found, which Republicans and conservatives have talked about for decades, is state-sponsored media in the United States. China and North Korea have state-sponsored media. The United States does not need state-sponsored media. Listen, if Fox News or any other conservative news organization came to me and asked for taxpayer money, I would tell them no. And I certainly don't think we should be funding left wing propaganda outlets, like NPR or PBS. I had a hearing just a couple weeks ago where I got to question the head of NPR and asked her about some of the wild, outrageous things that she had been posting on the internet for the whole world to see, and she had no answer for that.

The American people are sick of funding institutions who promote values that they find repugnant, and that's what we're doing with NPR and PBS. And that's what we are hopefully soon, via a rescission bill, going to pull those funds back.

TAPPER: Okay. But Sesame Street, I mean, Daniel the Tiger, Wild Cats, I mean, you have little kids, I know, and I'm sure you, you and your wife can bring them great educational programming. But a lot of kids might not have access to cable and I didn't when I was little because cable didn't exist. But I mean, PBS really helps little kids. I mean, I'm talking specifically about kids learning how to read through Sesame Street in similar programming.

GILL: Well, they've already spun off Sesame Street to HBO, so that's not with PBS anymore. But what I don't think the government should be doing is funding these institutions that are radically left wing and are oftentimes even in their cartoon shows, geared towards young children promoting far left ideologies that are not teaching children how to read but are teaching them the trans agenda and other things that large portions of our country do not agree with. Our tax dollars should not be funding institutions and ideologies that are promoting values that many people, including the people of Texas 26 that I represent, find repulsive.

TAPPER: All right. Congressman Brandon Gill, thanks so much. Good to see you, sir.

GILL: Thank you, Jake.

TAPPER: What CNN is learning today about plans under consideration by the White House to deport some undocumented migrants to Africa, and we're not talking about undocumented migrants from Africa. That's next.

Plus, the new comments from Elon Musk that suggest he's wrapping up DOGE, his stand to DOGE anyway, and stepping back from the Trump administration.

Stay with us.

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[18:15:00]

TAPPER: Our Politics Lead, sources tell CNN that the Trump administration is now looking at the possibility of sending undocumented migrants with criminal records to Libya and Rwanda, on the continent of Africa. This as a new CNN poll shows that 51 percent of the American people do not approve of the Trump administration sending migrants to that Salvadoran prison.

CNN's Paula Reid and CNN's Priscilla Alvarez are with me. And, Priscilla, you helped break the story today regarding the Trump administration looking at sending undocumented migrants to Rwanda and Libya. What kind of deals is the Trump administration considering with these two countries?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jake. In my conversations, Trump officials are increasingly interested in sending migrants to other countries that are not their own. We have seen this with El Salvador, and all of this is part of that effort. Now, we are learning that conversations have been underway with both Libya and Rwanda to send migrants to those countries. There was a conversation this week with Libyan officials who visited Washington, D.C., and there have recently been conversations with Rwanda.

Now, on Rwanda, we are told that is happening on an ad hoc basis and that they are still finessing the cost structure of this because it would likely be more expensive. They would absorb these people into society, they wouldn't be going into a prison.

Libya's interesting. Libya's going a little bit further, at least they hope to take it further, by entering into formal negotiations for a safe third country agreement, which is to say that if there are asylum seekers apprehended at the U.S. southern border, that they could be sent to Libya. It's unclear, however, what nationalities that would be.

But we should also note that the United Nations has said that there have been human rights abuses and concerns with Libya. So, sending asylum seekers there would certainly spark that domestically as well.

Now, just to be clear, in both of these cases, they're not sending them to prisons in the way they were sending them to El Salvador, but it does build on what the administration has been wanting to do to send migrants outside of the United States. And it is something that they will likely face legal challenges in doing. Already, a federal judge has temporarily blocked them from sending migrants to third countries if they're not given notice ahead of time.

TAPPER: And meanwhile, Paula, Kilmar Abrego Garcia's case, that's the man, the undocumented immigrant from Maryland that the U.S. government says -- acknowledged mistakenly deported to El Salvadoran prison.

[18:20:03]

He was not supposed to go back to El Salvador. A judge had already ruled on that. This case is resonating with a lot of Americans. The new CNN poll shows that 56 percent of the American people believe that the Trump administration should return him back to the United States. Only 20 percent say they should not. What did the Trump administration have to say about this case today?

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: It's really interesting. Priscilla, our colleagues and I, we learned today that there have been some communications between El Salvador and the U.S. about this case. But there's skepticism about whether this is a sincere effort to get Garcia back to the U.S. or offer him more due process, or this is just political theater to take the temperature down on what is becoming a political liability, as we just saw in that new poll.

Now, I'm told by my sources the country we are not asking to return him to the U.S., also not really seeking to give him any additional due process, which is part of what's feeding that skepticism.

Now, Secretary Rubio was asked about these conversations today. He wouldn't reveal what exactly is going on between the two countries, but there's a chance we might find out, because, remember, the Supreme Court weighed in here. They did not order him returned, but they said that the government needs to facilitate his release from custody.

And there's a lower court judge who has ordered discovery, so really pressing the government to reveal what steps are you taking to facilitate his return.

Now, that discovery process was paused for reasons that are not clear, because things were happening under seal, likely related to these talks. Now, that process is now active again and they have a deadline as of next week. They have to reveal some of the steps that they're taking.

So, we're going to be watching really closely that proceeding to see if we get any details about what was going on with these diplomatic talks and whether the judge just wasn't buying what they were trying to sell. If she thinks that they are trying to make it seem like they're doing something to facilitate when they actually are not. But at this point our reporting indicates it's not clear that really anything is going to change Mr. Garcia's fortunes.

TAPPER: All right. Paul Reid, Priscilla Alvarez, thanks to both of you.

A new club is reportedly opening in D.C. It has an exclusive guest list and a hefty entry fee. One of the reporters behind that story joins us next.

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[18:20:00]

TAPPER: And we're back with our Politics Lead. Elon Musk today appeared to bid farewell to President Trump's cabinet, further signaling his decision to step back from the Trump administration to perhaps focus some well-needed attention on his many other businesses.

My panel's here. And Mike Dubke, take a listen to your former boss, President Trump, during the cabinet meeting today talking to Elon Musk.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: You have been treated unfairly, but the vast majority of people in this country really respect and appreciate you. You know, you're invited to stay as long as you want. At some point, I guess he wants to get back home to his cars.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: I'm not sure that it's accurate to say that the vast majority of people really respect and appreciate you. According to polls, a new Washington Post/Ipsos poll shows even more Americans are souring on Musk in February. 49 percent of the American people disapproved of him. But this month, it's 57 percent. Do you think that's part of why he's stepping back, that he was actually becoming kind of a lightning rod?

MIKE DUBKE, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Well, I mean, I know one person that really appreciated him, which was President Trump. As others have said, he was a heat shield for the president. I called him a human heat shield for the president. And he served that job well. But his 130 days is up. There would've been other political conversations that needed to be had if he had stayed around. And I think you're right, that seemed like a farewell today, a farewell cabinet meeting for him.

But he's got a real job that he needs to get back to. And I'm sure Wall Street will be thrilled to have him back doing X and Tesla and SpaceX and everything else he's got going on.

TAPPER: Before he got involved in politics on Twitter, like long before even with Trump, he was, you know, regarded as like the Thomas Edison of our time, the Nikola Tesla of our time. And even Fetterman during the campaign was saying, John Fetterman, Democrat from Pennsylvania, you know, I take him to -- or he goes to rallies and people think he's Tony Stark. That's Iron Man, just so you know.

KAREN FINNEY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes. Are you kidding me with that, Jake Tapper? Wow.

TAPPER: I didn't know.

DUBKE: That was a bit of shady (INAUDIBLE).

TAPPER: I don't know what kind of superhero nerd you are.

FINNEY: All of them.

TAPPER: Okay, apologies. My point is, is this going to help him stepping back from the politics for a sec?

FINNEY: I don't think so because people have pretty much made it clear they do not want Teslas. I think I saw you two Yahoo/YouGov poll that said, was it two thirds of Americans are saying they wouldn't buy a Tesla? I'm not sure him being back at the company.

TAPPER: Well, because crazy radicals keep blowing them up.

FINNEY: Oh, yes, that's --

DUBKE: Or keying them or doing other things.

FINNEY: Well, more importantly, though, I think it's a way that people are not buying them as a way to say, we don't like what he's done. We don't like the role that he's played.

But can I just point out, we don't talk about this enough. He's already got the most valuable thing, which is access to our data. Just because he's not in Washington doesn't mean he won't take all of our data that he already has access to, and his minions are still sitting there going through our Social Security information, our financial --

TAPPER: We don't know what he has access to.

FINNEY: Okay, you're right. He probably, you know, didn't look at any of that stuff.

TAPPER: Anyway, Dasha, at least, publicly, Trump says he likes Elon Musk. He really appreciates Elon Musk. He loves the job he did, and I'm sure a lot of that's sincere, but what are your sources telling you about how Trump, or at least people in the White House feel about him stepping aside?

[18:30:01]

DASHA BURNS, WHITE HOUSE BUREAU CHIEF, POLITICO: Well, there's a difference between how Trump views Elon Musk and just about everybody else in that White House. I mean, let's remember, he has clashed with just about every cabinet secretary that was sitting at that table today, with Rubio, with Ratcliffe, with Scott Bessent.

TAPPER: Hegseth.

BURNS: With Hegseth, I mean, the list goes on.

So, while President Trump, I think, did continue to have a good relationship with him and kind of saw the media going after him, and whenever he sees that, he does kind of put his arms around people. But, boy, is that entire cabinet table relieved to see him take a step back.

TAPPER: I want to stay with you because you reported on plans for some individuals to launch an exclusive invite-only club. It's called the Executive Branch.

BURNS: You're not getting in, Jake.

TAPPER: I don't have the $500,000 initiation fee.

BURNS: Yes.

TAPPER: Tell us more about this. By the way that's literally how much it costs, $500,000.

BURNS: Oh, minimum, by the way. I'm sure there are tiers of membership.

TAPPER: Who's behind this?

BURNS: So, Don Jr., the president's eldest son. Omeed Malik, who has become a massive inside player within the administration and its allies, he was a donor to President Trump, he runs a conservative fund called 1789 Capital with Don Jr. So, it's a lot of those guys that are the owners and then some of the founding members include David Sachs, Steve Witkoff's sons are also a part of this venture.

TAPPER: And what do they get out of this?

BURNS: They get a place away from the riffraff, like us, to get together and rub shoulders with cabinet secretaries, Trump allies.

TAPPER: Or access.

BURNS: Access.

TAPPER: Do they get information?

BURNS: Well, it depends on what they talk about there, I guess, I would presume some important conversations.

DUBKE: I mean, I know you're going to come to me with this question. And are they going to get more access at the Executive Branch or at the Capitol Hill Club, which is the Republicans club on Capitol Hill, or the National Democratic Club, which is the Democrats Club on Hill, or the Metropolitan Club, which is just around the corner from the White House.

We have a -- we have Ned's Club is a new one. There are clubs --

FINNEY: It's the Ned.

DUBKE: The Ned.

FINNEY: There's a big debate.

TAPPER: I don't think they cost half a million dollars to join.

FINNEY: No, it's $5,000.

TAPPER: And the president's son isn't in charge of them.

DUBKE: That is true.

TAPPER: Let ask you this. Is this draining the swamp? Is this draining the swamp?

DUBKE: Well, it's segmenting the swamp.

TAPPER: Segmenting. It's an extra lily pad that's out there (ph).

BURNS: I mean, the remarkable thing is when I was writing the story, I was researching the net worth of the cabinet, and like this is by far the wealthiest cabinet that has ever been assembled.

TAPPER: Not even including Elon Musk.

BURNS: Not even including Elon Musk. So, these guys should have no problem paying that.

TAPPER: All right. Karen's going to lend me the money and I'm going to join. That's what we got going here. Thanks to all you. I appreciate it.

Our small business series takes us to South Carolina tonight. How are Trump's tariffs affecting the seafood industry? We're going to find out in moments.

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[18:35:00]

TAPPER: In our World Lead this evening, a mural designed to bring them home. This piece of art was unveiled today in Washington, D.C. It features 11 American citizens at the U.S. government says have been wrongfully detained or being held hostage abroad.

And joining me now, Scott St. Clair and Christian Castaneda, family members of two of those Americans, both of them are U.S. military veterans who have been detained in Venezuela.

And, Scott, let me start with you. You lost contact with your son, Joseph, in November of last year, and only learned in February he'd been detained. First of all, if you want to show us a picture of Joseph on your chest there, all right, there you go. Come on guys, camera right there. There you go. Okay, perfect. What else do you know about the reason or where he is or anything?

SCOTT ST. CLAIR, SON IS DETAINED IN VENEZUELA: You know, we only know anything about this because of the six that came back from Richard Grenell on January 31st. And so from talking with those returnees, we learned that he got somewhere close to the Columbian border trying to visit a family member of a friend and was abducted. And we don't know whether it was military abduction or cartel abduction, but simply that he was grabbed and kidnapped.

And, Christian, your brother, Wilbert, was detained last August. Do you have any idea where he might be?

CHRISTIAN CASTANEDA, BROTHER OF WILBERT CASTANEDA: No, not specifically. We know somewhere in the Caracas region but not specifically. Last we heard January 31st in a (INAUDIBLE) facility, which is a military installation. But that was the last detail we got.

And, Scott, this mural is a way to raise awareness.

ST. CLAIR: Yes. Oh, yes.

TAPPER: It worked, the mural was painted and I said, let's get some of these family members here. Are you obviously beyond that? I assume you're working with members of Congress, people in the Trump administration, to bring Joseph and the others home. ST. CLAIR: Yes, and that event was amazing. We got our great turnout. And that's what we're here for. We're kind of like family members now. We've been here all week advocating with congressmen on the Hill on both sides and we'll be meeting tomorrow with the State Department to discuss prioritization of this issue.

TAPPER: So, Christian, let me just start by saying, I don't believe the Venezuelan government, but the Venezuelan government says that your brother was part of a plot to assassinate President Maduro. Now, the U.S. government agrees with me. They say that, categorically, it's not true at all. They consider Wilbert wrongfully detained. But what do you make of the accusation though?

CASTANEDA: Maduro's known to do this. This isn't his first time doing that. Maduro's known to throw false accusations, sham trials. This is just another -- one of his many methods, hostage diplomacy that he uses, to ease up tensions on his false presidency.

TAPPER: What do you want people to know about your brother?

CASTANEDA: I want people to know that my brother fought for this country for almost two decades. And he's a loving father. He's got four small children. And they miss him dearly. And I know that he cares very deeply, you know, about his family being in a great situation and we're just hopeful that we can bring him home soon as well as all the other family members we have in Venezuela.

TAPPER: And what do you want people to know about your son?

ST. CLAIR: I want people to know that Joe is a combat veteran, four combat tours, a distinguished, fine cross recipient.

[18:40:01]

He served his country. He now suffers from PTSD from that service. And we want to know that he's well and alive. We want proof of life and we want him to come home.

TAPPER: So, Rick Grenell did some great work getting this other hostages home. Have you talked to him?

ST. CLAIR: I've not talked to Rick Grenell yet, no.

TAPPER: Okay. Have you?

CASTANEDA: Have not.

TAPPER: All right. Is there a message? Sometimes President Trump is known to turn on cable T.V. and see what's going on. I'd love to invite each one of you to speak to the camera and say to President Trump what you'd like to. Let's start let's start with you. Which camera do we -- there we go, that one right there.

ST. CLAIR: Yes. President Trump. We've seen what you've done so far in your first 100 days, and you seem to have a priority to bring hostages home, but we need Venezuelan hostages to be a priority. We don't hear enough in the media. We don't hear enough from leaders. We don't hear enough from Congress about this issue. It seems like there's so many times that Venezuela is discussed. It's brought up for many different reasons. And it seems like it would be very easy to say on top of everything else that we're concerned about, bring those hostages from Venezuela home.

TAPPER: All right, Christian, do you want to look at this one right here?

CASTANEDA: Absolutely. My message to President Trump, kind of echoing Mr. St. Clair's message, is our families desperately need our American citizens, especially in Venezuela, back home. There's families that every day struggle to cope with thinking of what conditions they're in. And President Trump, we know that you can bring them home.

TAPPER: And he's done a lot of great work doing that. And we certainly -- I think they just did some today. There were some hostages who got home --

CASTANEDA: From Kuwait.

ST. CLAIR: That's correct.

TAPPER: From Kuwait, yes, and made some amazing work by, I think, Adam Boehler did that.

So, stay in touch. And we're going to keep talking about your brother, your son. We appreciate you being here. Scott St. Clair and Christian Castaneda, I appreciate it.

We're talking about the impact of Trump's tariffs on America's seafood industry next. It's part of our small business series.

Stay with us.

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[18:46:00]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: In our money lead, and were back with our series, talking to small business owners from coast to coast about President Trump's tariffs. Many we've heard from are not thrilled with the impact of the tariffs. Some have been reaping the benefits.

Craig Reaves is joining us now from Beaufort, South Carolina, talking about a coast. He's the owner of CJ Seafood and Sea Eagle Market and Good Eats.

Craig, you've been a shrimper for most of your life. I'm sure you've seen a lot of changes to the industry during the time. What is it like for someone like you who sources products domestically to have to compete with imports?

CRAIG REAVES, OWNER, CJ SEAFOOD AND SEA EAGLE MARKET & GOOD EATS: Well, thanks for having me. It's -- it's been a real rough the last handful of years with the dumping of the imports into our market. So, it's really been tough.

TAPPER: And what about the effect of these tariffs? What has been the effect so far? Do you support them?

REAVES: Yes. We support the tariffs. We thank President Trump for bringing this to the forefront. The domestic seafood industry has been decimated over the last 3 or 4 decades by imports.

TAPPER: Have you seen any specific change in your business, in your customers since these tariffs went into effect?

REAVES: Well, yeah, we're -- it's really brought it to the forefront that people didn't understand that 94 percent of the seafood, the shrimp, particularly that's consumed in the United States is import. And that's coming from India, all over Southeast Asia, Ecuador, but India and Ecuador are the two big ones that are dumping which means that they're flooding the markets with imported shrimp.

TAPPER: If the Trump administration continues with high tariffs on imports, do you think that the domestic seafood industry in the United States will be able to grow to meet demand?

REAVES: Well, ultimately, we appreciate the tariffs, but we understand that tariffs are going to probably be negotiated to a -- to a point that it may not really matter.

We're grateful for what it's doing right now. But we have to bring attention to these imports that that are have a great cost environmental cost to human trafficking and slave labor, forced labor in India. CNN has done great work in documenting this in the past.

So, there's a lot of issues with imported seafood. And it's really not seafood. It's pond food. And they use antibiotics. And this stuff is coming into the country at a -- with a -- you talk about open borders, at the ports of entry at an inspection rate of less than 1 percent.

TAPPER: What else can the federal government do to support your industry beyond the tariffs?

REAVES: Well, these executive orders that President Trump has been signing recently is going to allow the regulatory agencies to maybe give us some relief. And then also the FDA can look at what the USDA did in the catfish industry, and then apply that to shrimp. Like I said, there -- there -- we have a less than a 1 percent inspection rate.

And then when these things are found to have antibiotics and stuff, we just turn them loose. And now we have the mechanisms to -- to hold and even destroy this seafood.

[18:50:06]

TAPPER: All right. Craig Reaves in Beaufort, South Carolina, thank you so much for your time, sir. Really appreciate it.

REAVES: Well, thank you, sir, for having me. TAPPER: We're going along with efforts to save Florida's manatees.

Next, after more than a thousand died in less than two years in Florida, the cause and timeline to change the tides. We're going from South Carolina to Florida, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: And we're back with our "Earth Matters" series. This is what life should look like for manatees in the great state of Florida. These gentle giants are often described as sea cows. They can grow up to 13 feet long, weigh more than a ton.

[18:55:04]

Manatees were designated Florida's state marine mammal back in 1975. But in the last few years, manatees in Florida's Indian River lagoon have been dying off.

And we asked CNN's Randi Kaye to take a closer look at what exactly is going on. We want to warn you that some of this video is tough to watch.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): We're heading out on Florida's Indian River Lagoon, which stretches from Palm Beach County to Daytona Beach. The lagoon is where Florida manatees come for the warm water, but in recent years, the northern end of the lagoon has been a death trap for them.

PETER BARILE, MARINE BIOLOGIST, MARINE RESEARCH & CONSULTING, INC.: All these homes along the lagoon that are on septic tanks are slowly leaking, literally tons of nitrogen and phosphorus into the system.

KAYE: Marine biologist Peter Barile has studied manatees for decades. He says those pollutants are being released by septic tanks and water treatment facilities along the lagoon, and are fueling algae growth in the water, which is causing the manatees' main food source, seagrass, to die.

BARILE: So, this algae is reducing light down to the seagrasses, essentially smothering them and killing them.

KAYE: He says, manatees need to eat nearly 100 pounds of vegetation a day. Between December 2020 and April 2022, more than 1,200 manatees died of starvation, most of them here in the northern part of the Indian River Lagoon.

Just a couple of decades ago. The water in this Indian River lagoon was crystal clear. You could easily see down to the bottom. Now, it's dark and murky and polluted with chemicals and algae.

With their seagrass gone, the manatees had little choice but to eat the algae that killed it, which is toxic for them. Their normally round bodies became flat as they became more and more emaciated. Katrina Shadix is the executive director of Bear Warriors United,

which sued Florida's Department of Environmental Protection in 2022 to help protect the manatees.

KATRINA SHADIX, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, BEAR WARRIORS UNITED: They suffered immensely and for a very long time. When manatee starves to death, it's an extremely painful process and basically their insides melt and turn to liquid.

KAYE: These photos from Bear Warriors United show how desperate some of the manatees were attempting to pull themselves out of the water to eat leaves off dry land or grass along the water's edge. And this video shows manatee carcasses being taken to a landfill for necropsies and disposal.

On this beach in the lagoon, Katrina says she found many manatee carcasses. She showed us some of their bones that still remain and shared this picture with us of manatees skull.

SHADIX: There was a carcass of a mom and the skeleton had started to show and there was a baby skeleton inside of her body. So, she died pregnant. And the bones of the baby were fitted perfectly inside the bones of the mother.

KAYE: Earlier this month, a federal judge ruled in favor of Bear Warriors United and against the state, finding Florida's Department of Environmental Protection was in violation of the Endangered Species Act.

BARILE: There was lax leadership from the state of Florida over decades that allowed this problem to get worse and worse.

KAYE: The judge in the case ruled that there is a definitive causal link between Florida's Department of Environmental Protection wastewater regulations and the ongoing risk to manatees, based in part on Peter Bareli's testimony, the judge found it will take at least a decade for this part of the lagoon to start seeing recovery.

BARILE: The state of. Florida has admitted that it will be 12 to 15 years before seagrasses start to recover.

KAYE: We reached out to both the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, but neither provided a response to our questions.

Are you hopeful the manatee population will come back here?

SHADIX: I am hopeful now. I wasn't at first. I was convinced that this home herd was going to go extinct and that the rest of the manatees would follow. But now that we won this lawsuit, we think we have a really good chance of working with the state to make sure the manatees don't go extinct on our watch.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE (on camera): Jake, the federal judge in this case has allowed Bear Warriors United to lay out the changes it wants the state to make in order to protect manatees. The group filed those requests with the court and just to name a couple of them, they want the state to stop construction of development with on-site sewage. They also want to incorporate a supplemental feeding program for manatees. As we mentioned in our story, it's going to take at least a decade for the seagrass, which the manatees survive on to return. So, we'll now have to wait and see if these changes are accepted and later implemented -- Jake.

TAPPER: All right. Randi Kaye, thank you so much for that important story.

I have two books coming out in two weeks and six days. May 20th, "Original Sin", about President Biden's decision to run for reelection and the cover up of his decline. Then in October, a book called "Race Against Terror" about the hunt to prosecute an al Qaeda terrorist who killed Americans and was out to kill more. You can check them out at jaketapper.com and preorder them.

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"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts right now.

Over to you, Erin.