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U.S. Stocks Volatile Amid Global Trade War; Trump's Latest Global Tariffs Set To Take Effect At Midnight; Supreme Court Backs Trump For Now On Fired Probationary Workers; Supreme Court: Trump Doesn't have To Reinstate 16K Federal Workers; ACLU Files New Lawsuit To Halt Alien Enemies Act Deportations In NY After Supreme Court Ruling Allowing Deportations To Continue; IRS Reaches Data-Sharing Deal With DHS To Help Find Undocumented Immigrants For Deportation. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired April 08, 2025 - 15:00   ET

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

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BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: The White House says the phones are ringing off the hook as countries try to reach a trade deal with the U.S. and avoid being targeted by President Trump's global tariffs. No hotline bling from China, though. We'll have the latest on the standoff and the new U.S. tariffs set to take effect in just hours.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: The Supreme Court is backing President Trump's efforts to fire thousands of probationary federal employees, at least for now. It ruled the White House can keep fired employees off the payroll while it gets battled out in lower courts.

And a key advance in the fight against Alzheimer's. A new, less invasive and less time-consuming blood test could help doctors determine how to better treat patients.

We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

Happening now, the final hour of trading on a volatile day that saw markets rebound from steep losses triggered by President Trump's tariffs, only for those gains to kind of dwindle and pull back as you see there with the Dow Jones industrial average. This as the White House is talking up potential trade deals.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: But with the President, we'll talk to any country that picks up the phone to call and I can tell you the phones have been ringing off the hook.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: But with global tariffs including 104 percent cumulative tariffs on China, now just hours away from taking effect at midnight, just how quickly can President Trump get all of these trade deals done and just how much price pain could Americans soon feel in the meantime. Both are really big questions right now that need to be answered. CNN's Jeff Zeleny is at the White House for us where we are about to see President Trump sign a new executive order on the coal industry.

Jeff, we'll talk about that here in a moment. First though, what more is the White House saying about tariffs?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well look, the White House is being very clear that they are open to doing negotiations, open for business, if you will. It's really taken them several days to get onto this message.

We're now six days after the President first announced this sweeping tariff plan that really upended the global economy last Wednesday at the Rose Garden. Here we are nearly a week later and the White House is finally saying, yes they are open to negotiations. This has been an on-again, off-again really a questionable series of events.

The top trade advisor Peter Navarro said there are no negotiations. The Treasury Secretary has said yes the President is negotiating. But now it is clear the administration is on one page speaking with one voice trying to calm the markets and urge other countries it's time to do business.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN HASSETT, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL: Right now we're managing a massive number of requests for negotiations. It's actually logistically quite challenging just to go through them.

SCOTT BESSENT, TREASURY SECRETARY: The negotiations are the result of the massive inflow of inbound calls to come and negotiate. It had nothing to do with the market.

JAMIESON GREER, U.S. TRADE REPRESENTATIVE: We are having negotiations with all kinds of countries at this time. We will have the President's plan go into effect and we're coupling that with immediate negotiations with our partners.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZELENY: The Treasury Secretary saying it had nothing to do with the market. That belies the conversations going on behind the scenes because it certainly has been a top concern for this White House how the market has reacted to this level of uncertainty. So, again, those - the deadline for these tariffs is midnight, but the President is signaling that he could change these tariff rates with the countries.

The question is going forward how much more are American consumers going to pay because of these new tariffs. And that is something that is still very much an open question. Boris and Brianna.

KEILAR: All right. Jeff, thank you for that.

Markets right now all in the negative. CNN's Matt Egan has been following all of the developments on Wall Street. So, Matt what can we take away from how the markets are reacting here.

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Well, Brianna, I think the markets are confused and they're increasingly worried about how this trade war is going to end. You know, this started off as a very positive day in the stock market. The Dow was up almost 1,500 points, nearly 4 percent this morning. The NASDAQ was up by almost 5 percent.

But as you can see on your screen that rally has completely vanished. U.S. markets are near the lowest levels of the day.

[15:05:02]

And then the NASDAQ now, look at that, down more than 1 percent. It was up by almost 5 percent. I mean, that is a massive reversal to the downside. And I'm not totally shocked to see the market give up most of those early gains. In talking to market analysts throughout the day, almost no one that I was in touch with was confident that the worst is over here for the market or that this was a sustainable bounce, right?

Many analysts were saying this is probably more technical in nature that when you have markets that drop by as much as these markets have as fast as they have, sometimes you get a reflexive rebound off of oversold levels. But it's not just that, right? Because we have learned in the last few hours that this trade war is possibly going to get much worse tomorrow, right?

The White House confirming that tariffs on China are going to go up to at least 104 percent. That is unthinkably high level between, you know, when you think about this is the two of the world's largest economies. Major trading partners the U.S. imports a lot of electronics smartphones and toys and clothes from China. And now they're going to be facing this massive tariff.

And there's all these country specific tariffs that are also going to be kicking in tomorrow. I talked to RSM chief economist Joe Brusuelas and he told me he is getting increasingly worried about what this is going to do to the economy. He said there are too many simultaneous shocks cascading through this economy: A trade shock, a financial shock and the price shock is coming. This does not look good right now. And I do think that these concerns are once again rippling through financial markets.

SANCHEZ: And Matt, you have new reporting on how some businesses are finding it exceedingly difficult to navigate this trade war. What are you hearing from them.

EGAN: Yes, absolutely. When you think about it, one of the goals here from the President is to try to get companies to invest more in America, to hire more workers. And yet to do that, CEOs they need clarity and stability. And we're getting the exact opposite of that right now, right?

I mean, CEOs they need to know where tariffs are going to be 10 years from now. And it feels like in this moment they don't even know where tariffs are going to be 10 minutes from now. The trade policy uncertainty index which measures volatility in trade policy it is just through the roof.

Look at this chart, it goes back to the 1990s. It's going straight up because of all of these question marks about tariffs. And you know it's not just trade policy, it's the market turbulence, too. I mean, you have companies that have lost a lot of value. Some of them maybe plan to hire but now they're not going to. Some of them may decide to lay off workers and we're even hearing some concern from oil industry executives.

The Dallas Fed interviewed some executives and one of them made a point that said the administration's chaos is a disaster for the commodity markets. Tariff policy is impossible for us to predict and doesn't have a clear goal. We want more stability. And Boris and Brianna, it's not really clear when businesses are going to get more stability at this point.

KEILAR: All right. Matt Egan, thank you so much for that.

We're joined now by business journalist and host of full - of public radio's full disclosure Roben Farzad.

So Roben, I wonder what you are seeing as you're looking at the market. Like, is this the bottoming out or is this kind of coming down from the summit of Everest. And it's like an overnight stop at Camp 4 but you still have maybe 26,000 feet to get down to the bottom. What is it.

ROBEN FARZAD, BUSINESS JOURNALIST & HOST, "FULL DISCLOSURE": It's volatility. That's what it is. And it reminds me of these times of weightlessness whether it was, you know, when the pandemic broke five years ago in the depths of the financial crisis when we didn't know which bank would be the one to fall next or pre-announced next. And that then leaves this void, this echo chamber for rumors.

There was this rumor yesterday that was rampant that there was going to be a 90-day pause on these tariffs and markets were ecstatic about that very briefly. And then you saw markets having a relief rally this morning on other rumors. And you're not even getting the same message from the White House until maybe a couple of hours ago. So, yes, in the absence of that you will on the margin sell first and ask questions later.

KEILAR: Yes. That rumor yesterday turned out not to be true, but man, did Wall Street want it to be. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said at the Economic Club of New York yesterday most CEOs I talked to would say we are probably in a recession right now. And, of course, a recession call is retrospective, right?

So, with that in mind I wonder what you think of what he's saying and how possible that is.

FARZAD: Yes I like the joke that, you know, these guys have predicted 11 of the last five recessions. We remember what happened in 2022. This is still a really resilient economy. It's still creating jobs. We're going to have new job numbers, of course, that was - that reflect the chilling effect of this trade war. But, you know what, self-fulfilling prophecy can beget a recession, as your correspondent said.

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If there are CEOs out there who are really worried that this is not just bluffing from the White House and this administration are really going to put merger and acquisition plans, investment plans on hold, taking jobs even at a micro level if you're about to, you know, pull the trigger on a new lawnmower or addition to the house. You'll think twice or thrice.

KEILAR: Okay, so explain that - some of that kind of bedwetting, right, the fearfulness of these projections.

FARZAD: We've never had anything like this before. I mean, you know, are you ready to pay multiples if this kind of goes through, put all bluffing aside, are you ready to pay multiples of what you do for an iPhone that you've gotten used to replacing every two years? Are you ready to pay for textiles for sweatshirts to maybe cost three or four more or you know buttoned down shirts.

If you're thinking about, you know, if you just finish an improvement on the house and you're just waiting on a delivery of appliances or sheetrock, do you rush to buy this stuff. Are you suddenly saying well my job is not as secure. Maybe we should hold off on that.

I remember stories from people after the crash of 1987 which is just a blip in the grand scheme of things now. An editor of mine said, I actually spoke to my girlfriend now wife, like, maybe we shouldn't buy this winter coat now. Maybe we should try to stitch up what we were using last time. It's just textbook recessionary stagflationary behavior.

KEILAR: So, we've been hearing from officials especially from the Treasury Secretary who's saying you know businesses don't necessarily need to pass on the costs. They can use this time to plan. And then we have earlier on the show a gentleman who owns a furniture store in the Midwest who has decided, you know what, my lease is up in August. I've got to pull the plug right now because I cannot plan for the future. This is all - so much furniture. You know, he can't buy it here, right, in the U.S.

So, when you're looking at what you are hearing from these officials, and then the reality of what some of these small business owners are saying, how do you make - how do you square that?

FARZAD: It's a little bit like that press secretary Saddam Hussein had, Comical Ali. You can look him up on YouTube. Everything is fine. There's no war here. Everything is great. You know, to say businesses aren't going to pass down the cost, what are they supposed to do? Take a loss. You see this furniture small, medium-sized businessman, of course, is going to try to do more with less, reduce payroll reduce the footprint. Companies are going to reduce capital expenditures. They're going to have hiring freezes. If you've made a living barely eking it out on importing furniture from another country that's going to be slapped with prohibitive tariffs, what are you supposed to do. There are people trying to make money earn a living in a period where inflation has hit everyone.

KEILAR: Yes. That's what he was saying, a thousand dollar. If I sell a couch for a thousand dollars. Well, it was already up to 1,299. I can't sell it for $2,000. No one's going to buy that. And he has employees, right?

So, knowing that what do you think the result is going to be on employment.

FARZAD: Let's see the numbers as they come out. As you say, a lot of this stuff is backward looking in retrospective. Let's see if companies come out and say we're seeing chilled behavior talks that we were having expansion talks. Let's put that on ice. I mean, you know these companies have to pre announce. They have to have quarterly numbers. They have SEC rules that dictate transparency.

And if you start that, see that as a theme and the market sells off, I'm curious then if the White House will still say even in a bear market, a 20, 25 percent pull back, we're not following the market. Stick around. These factories will be built. We're thinking for the long term.

Again, you can't put factories online in the United States in just a few months. This oftentimes take years.

KEILAR: Yes. It's a very good point. We need to be constantly reminded of. Roben, great to have you. Thank you so much.

FARZAD: Thank you, Brianna.

KEILAR: Still to come, the Supreme Court is allowing the Trump administration to keep thousands of fired federal employees off the payroll while lower courts weigh whether the downsizing efforts are legal.'

Plus, the ACLU and the Legal Aid Society filing a new emergency lawsuit to stop deportations under the Alien Enemies Act. This just hours after the Supreme Court lifted a block on those deportations.

And then, later, rescuers are racing to reach dozens of people who are still trapped after a popular nightclub's roof collapsed in the Dominican Republic. It's a tragedy that was caught on video. Well that and much more coming up on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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SANCHEZ: The Trump administration can now claim another legal win from the Supreme Court, but today's ruling is not the final say on what will happen to 16,000 probationary workers fired from the federal workforce. KEILAR: The nation's highest court backed the government's position and overturned a lower court ruling that ordered the employees be temporarily reinstated. CNN's Paula Reid is here now with us to explain.

All right. Paula, break this ruling down for us.

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Brianna, this is just the latest in a string of wins for the Trump administration from the Supreme Court here. The question was whether thousands of federal workers who were on probationary status, so that meant they had recently gotten their job, they didn't have all the full protections that other federal workers have, if they should remain on the payroll while the larger circumstances of their firing are litigated.

Now, a lower court ruling said that they should be reinstated, put back on the payroll. But here, the Supreme Court disagreed. So, this is significant, but I also want to caveat that this was a technical decision.

[15:20:04]

The Supreme Court held that the unions that filed this specific lawsuit did not have what is called standing, or the right to bring this particular lawsuit.

Now, while this is tactical, this is still a win for the administration, but it's unclear what it means for all the probationary workers who have lost their jobs because we've seen at least one other judge in Maryland rule that some other workers who are in probationary status needed to be reinstated. They were not covered by this specific lawsuit, but I will say that the Supreme Court has handed the administration several wins in recent days, both related to their enforcement of immigration laws, even using sort of expansive executive power, and also their efforts to cull the federal government.

But this will continue to go on, this litigation, because no court has answered that final question on the merits about how these people were fired and whether it was legal. But while many of these folks are kicked off the payroll, they will likely have to go and find other jobs, which really helps the administration with their ultimate goal, which is to cull the federal government.

KEILAR: Yes. Paula Reid, thank you.

And new today, the ACLU has just filed an emergency lawsuit in federal court, which seeks to halt removals under the Alien Enemies Act for people who may be targeted for deportation in New York. And this comes just hours after the Supreme Court said the Trump administration can continue using that sweeping wartime authority to rapidly deport alleged gang members.

SANCHEZ: CNN's Priscilla Alvarez joins us now. Priscilla, the Supreme Court just lifted a temporary restraining order challenging President Trump's use of the Alien Enemies Act. So, what is the new lawsuit attempting to do?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this lawsuit is centered on two Venezuelan asylum seekers who just narrowly missed being sent to El Salvador last month. They were actually part of the previous case, the one that you were mentioning, that went all the way up to the Supreme Court.

Well, now a new lawsuit has been filed to block their removal under the Alien Enemies Act, their lawyers also seeking this to be a class action, in other words, for this to also encompass others who may be subject to this.

Now, of course, this is a Supreme Court order that has struck some - or raised alarm, rather, among immigration attorneys, because their clients, particularly Venezuelan nationals, simply because of what we saw last month, could be sent to El Salvador or just swiftly removed under this authority.

Now, the Supreme Court left room for there to be some due process. That was not the case last month. And that would play out in courts, but there's still so many questions as to how exactly that would unfold. How much notice is considered adequate notice if ICE were or has to notify those who would fall under this proclamation? What would that due process look like in the courts?

Typically these appeals happen in immigration court, which is completely separate from the federal court system. So, there's still so many questions here, but this lawsuit out of the gate, I think, is the beginning of what we're going to see over the next several hours and days, which is lawyers and organizations trying to block the removal of certain nationalities, particularly Venezuelans, since that has been the population that they have been targeting under this authority, which again wipes away the immigration process that has been used for decades.

KEILAR: And Priscilla, the IRS just reached a data-sharing deal with the Department of Homeland Security to turn over information about undocumented immigrants set for deportation. This is significant. This is something we haven't seen. What can you tell us?

ALVAREZ: It's significant and it really flips the process on its head. The government has typically encouraged people - undocumented immigrants - to pay their taxes. In many ways it's used to build what's called good moral character, to try to get to some legal immigration status, to create a record of themselves in the United States and show that they are contributing to the U.S. economy.

Well, now these records, which typically were encouraged to try to help them toward status, could be used against them. Now, the way that this memorandum of understanding look - includes is that ICE would come to IRS with names and addresses. A lot of the other information was actually redacted in these documents that were submitted in an ongoing lawsuit, so it's unclear what other information would come. But it's certainly something that changes the way that undocumented immigrants have typically operated in this country. I will note, too, that the number that they use, because we know that filings will require Social Security numbers, undocumented immigrants typically use what's known as the individual taxpayer identification number. To give you a sense of how many contributions come in through that, according to the IRS, in 2019 that was $6 billion in taxes.

So, again, this is certainly marking a shift in the way that the IRS would operate now with this memorandum of understanding with ICE. The administration, of course, standing by this.

[15:25:03]

The Treasury saying in a statement, quote, "The basis for this," the memorandum of understanding, that is, "are founded in long-standing authorities granted by Congress, which serve to protect the privacy of law-abiding Americans while streamlining the ability to pursue criminals."

I will note that the memorandum of understanding in describing criminals also includes those undocumented immigrants who are facing a deportation order and have not departed the United States. So this could really include a gamut of criminal record, be it that someone has a criminal record or simply didn't depart the country after being told to leave.

SANCHEZ: Priscilla Alvarez, thank you so much for that update.

Still to come this afternoon, a new blood test could help patients determine their risk for Alzheimer's and even get a diagnosis sooner. We'll discuss next.

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