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Trump's Tariff Plan and Broader Economy; China Retaliates Against the U.S.; Judge Considers Evidence in Kohberger Trial; Coffee Prices Set to Spike. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired April 09, 2025 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00]

RENE MARSH, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In an attempt to confirm that information. They will be specifically targeting those under deportation orders, who are under criminal investigation for, among other things, failing to leave the country. That's according to the agreement.

But the IRS, as tax season - as tax day, by the way, is fast approaching, it really is an agency in turmoil. Krause is just one of many set to depart in what's really an exodus of top executives with decades of experience and institutional knowledge.

CNN already reported that the chief of staff resigned last Friday. The chief privacy officer will resign. The chief financial officer will resign. The chief risk officer will resign. The chief information officer will resign. And we are told there will likely be several more.

And many point to DOGE, what they are doing within the agency and their directives and this data sharing deal as the reason for why many of these people over just the last few days have decided that they will leave the agency. Many of them have seen that data sharing deal as an unlawful way to use taxpayer data, and really outside the bounds of privacy laws. That is their view of this.

And the exodus of these high-level employees at the agency is yet another factor, I am told, that played into Krause's decision to step down.

John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. And as you note, it's happened at a hell of a time, just days before the filing deadline.

Rene Marsh, great to see you. Thank you so much for that report.

MARSH: Sure.

BERMAN: So, we're watching stock futures this morning. They turned downward when China announced a huge retaliation against the United States, new tariffs. This is not looking good. The White House responded just a short time ago. We'll tell you what they said. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:36:19]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: We continue to follow the breaking news this morning. What is the stock market going to do because of this?

China hitting back at the United States with an added 50 percent in retaliatory tariffs, bringing that total of tariffs on U.S. imports to 84 percent. Also setting in, as we speak, President Trump's targeted tariffs, which include a combined 104 percent on Chinese goods.

Now, this is rocking global markets with Americans caught in the middle and staring down a reality that prices, on most everything, are likely to go up.

CNN's Harry Enten is looking at that today, and how that makes Americans stuck in the middle feel.

How are Americans so far baseline feeling about tariffs at the moment?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: They hate them. They hate them. And it's going in the wrong direction.

I mean, look at this, Trump's tariff deal. You know, you go back to January. It was 48 percent who favored, 46 percent who opposed. So, slightly more who favored than opposed.

Look at where we are now in April, 54 percent opposed, 42 percent favor. Opposition is going up. Favor is going down. This bottom line is a political loser for Donald Trump, and he is losing the messaging battle on this. Americans might have been a little open to the idea of tariffs coming into this administration. But since then, their opposition, through the roof, Kate Bolduan.

BOLDUAN: We've heard from a lot of people that Donald Trump's supporters, they have more of an appetite to feel pain for longer than maybe when you're looking at the broader electorate. That is for one thing that we have definitely heard.

On the question, though, that we've heard more and more growing fears that this could all lead to a recession. Some CEOs saying they think we're already in one. What are you hearing about that?

ENTEN: Yes. So, this is interesting, right? We've been talking about Wall Street and we've been talking about whether what happens on Wall Street is an indication of what will happen on main street.

And take a look here, these are recession chances. Chance of a recession, according to JP Morgan, in early March it was already 40 percent. Look at where it is now, 60 percent, a majority. How about Goldman Sachs? In early March it was 20 percent. Look at where we are now, 45 percent. At best case at this point, it seems to me, at least according to the experts, the chance of a recession is 50/50.

When you average it all together, what is happening on Wall Street, at least at this particular point, has a pretty good chance of spilling into main street. And those folks who are thinking those tariffs are just something that are happening down in the stock exchange in New York City, aren't coming to them, they may be in for a rude awakening and a rude surprise, Kate.

BOLDUAN: The real impact on people's lives is what matters most. But, you know, also, with - in any White House, one of the things that they are - have to be worried about is the political impact on the president as well. What are you seeing?

ENTEN: Yes, I mean, look here. I mean the economy has traditionally been Donald Trump's strength, right? You go back ,April of 2017, his net approval rating on the economy was plus five points. It was positive pretty much throughout his entire first term.

Look at where we are now, minus 12 points. All of a sudden, the strength of Donald Trump has become a weakness of Donald Trump. It's one of his weakest positions. And more than that, at the beginning of this administration, his net approval rating on the economy was plus six points, minus 12 points now. It's fallen nearly 20 points over the course of less than three months. Kate, very clear that -

BOLDUAN: That's -

ENTEN: Yes, that's a very big drop.

BOLDUAN: That's real.

ENTEN: That is real. It is very clear that the American people do not like what's going on with this tariff plan, do not like Donald Trump's plans for the economy, and they're taking it out on Donald Trump, and that's why his economic approval rating is falling, and that is why his overall approval rating is also falling. This could be the thing that we look back, right now, his economic approval rating is swimming with the fishes so far underwater. It could be that this could take Donald Trump's political career and make it swimming with the fishes as well.

BOLDUAN: Let's see what happens in the next 24 hours even.

ENTEN: We shall see.

BOLDUAN: Harry, thank you very much.

ENTEN: It's all crazy.

[08:40:02]

BOLDUAN: John.

BERMAN: We know how that worked out for Luca Brasi (ph).

With us now, CNN political commentator Shermichael Singleton, a Republican strategist, and Paul Begala, a Democratic strategist.

Harold, if you can stay at the wall for a second, or Vanna White over there, if you can put the tariff approval numbers back up and the change over time.

ENTEN: We can do that, Mr. Berman. Here we go.

BERMAN: So, Paul, there's been a big rollout. The president had a big rollout of his tariff plan. He called it liberation day.

PAUL BEGALA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Right.

BERMAN: Yet approval going down, opposition going up, what does that tell you about the messaging on the tariffs?

BEGALA: Well, it's the substance, not the messaging.

BERMAN: OK.

BEGALA: Like, the Titanic didn't have a messaging problem, it had an iceberg problem. People just don't want to see their life savings squandered by this guy, by Mr. Trump. $11 trillion in 11 weeks. OK, he's got about 197 weeks to go. So, do the math.

It's a reality problem. And these numbers are translating into elections. OK, yes, Harry's right, Trump's economic numbers are underwater, which is a catastrophe for him. But more immediately, Republicans on The Hill own this because there's a movement going with Democrats and increasingly a couple of Republicans to claw back the power that the Constitution gave to the Congress to control these tariffs, not to Trump. So, every Republican is going to have to vote or declare, I want to take back away from Trump this power of the tariff. And I think Democrats have a huge advantage on that.

BERMAN: You know, Shermichael, it's interesting because over on Fox they're even noting that Republican donors are freaking the f out about this. Those were their words. Bill Ackman saying, "our stock market is down. Bond yields are up. The dollar is declining. These are not the markers of successful policy."

What starts happening if the donors start freaking out, if the base starts freaking out, if members of Congress start freaking out?

SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, look, I'm not worried about the donors. They're are some of the wealthiest people in the country. And a part of the issue, at least that I have with free trade in general, and I've written about this over the years. I don't share the belief of many of my fellow Republicans that free trade is this great, benevolent thing. I think you need some level of it.

But I also recognize the negative impacts of free trade. I mean over the past two and a half, three decades, give or take, the top wealthiest people in this country have seen their income increase significantly. While everybody else in the middle and the bottom end have seen their numbers decrease, they've gotten poor, their ability to pay for and afford more things, it hasn't increased, it's gotten worse. And so, I think the president needs to be strategic in his methodology here. Let's level set. We have too many trade deficits. Let's figure out how to do that. A lot of countries are now starting to say, hey, we want to negotiate. You need to immediately begin that process.

As it pertains to China - and, by the way, we are their number one trading partner. They stole our intellectual property. There is no recourse for American companies. They build a significant portion of the things that we buy in this country.

I don't believe personally that that is a good thing, to be so reliant and beholden to an adversary where if we ever got into a conflict with them, they don't have to ship us anything. And so, I do believe that there is some argument for the president to take to, again, make trade fair for the United States and our trading partners. But I think we've got to be more strategic. I would agree that at some point even Republicans in the base are going to say, OK, Mr. President, we're with you, but we can only feel the pain for so long. And so I think the onus is on the president there to communicate that to the American people.

BERMAN: You know, some in the base, and some in Congress, and some investors are saying, make a deal with somebody. Announce a deal with somebody. And, Paul, it is a bit of a mystery why the White House hasn't come forward with one of these deals yet. They say that some 70 countries are coming to them.

BEGALA: Right.

BERMAN: But if they did, if they came today and said, you know what, South Korea is here, we have this deal, Japan is here, we have this deal, would that be a success?

BEGALA: Well, it would be good, right? We don't want a trade war.

But here's the problem Mr. Trump has. One of the few things he did in his first presidency that was great was the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement. The USMCA. He just updated NAFTA, made it a more modern, better deal to help create this North American common market that we have. And now he's blown it up. His own trade deal. It's like, dude, who do you think negotiated the Trump USMCA?

So, who would make a deal with the guy? They're going to have to, OK. But who wants to sit down and make a deal with a guy who can't keep his word when he gave his word to the Canadians, he gave his word to the Mexicans.

By the way, the - one of the only countries he's not slapping new tariffs on, Russia. So, he's attacking our best customers, as Shermichael said. You know, Canada and Mexico together buy from us almost $1 trillion worth of stuff. Russia, 3 billion. Actually, no, a half a billion. A half a billion from Russia. But they get an escape. And our friends get punished. And there's something going on here that I don't understand.

BERMAN: Shermichael, I keep trying to look at stock futures right now in the screen. My eyes, my aging eyes, there we go. So, the S&P down 1.96 percent. If the market closes at that today, and it was a long way to go.

[08:45:02]

I mean these are just futures. The markets got to open. But if it closes, like the futures are pointing right now, that would be bear market territory. So, talk to me about what you think the right messaging is from the Trump White House if the markets close in a bear market, 20 percent drop from the high.

SINGLETON: Yes, look, the markets like stability. If you're a CEO, you have a board, you have investors, they want to be able to know, what are the projections for Q2 going into Q3. It's really difficult to make those projections when there's a trade war essentially going on. And so, I think, if I were the president, before I began this process, I probably would have focused on some of those corporate tax cuts. That would have been beneficial.

I would have brought in all of those CEOs and said, hey, I'm preparing to do this. Go back to your boards and your major investors and tell them, start putting some (INAUDIBLE) to the side. Be prepared for about 60 days, because that's what I think it's going to take to really get the type of agreement that I want. And that way you're bringing the CEOs, you're bringing these corporations on with you so that they know, OK, that there is stability here. The president's being specific with what he's trying to target in terms of key imports versus just imports all over the place. So, we're going to stick with the president for about 60 days or so to allow him to bring to fruition what his plans are.

I think if the president would have gone in that route, John, I don't think the market would have reacted as negatively as it has.

BERMAN: Yes. Well, that's about 10,000 points ago. You're wishing on that, Shermichael.

Very quickly, about 30 seconds, Paul, Elon Musk and Peter Navarro going after each other. I mean Elon Musk is just relentless about Peter Navarro.

BEGALA: Right.

BERMAN: Elon Musk doesn't seem to like these tariffs and he calls Peter Navarro, who does, he says Navarro is truly a moron. Navarro is dumber than a sack of bricks. I'm just reading tweets here from Elon Musk. This isn't me. And then he says, I'd like to apologize to bricks for calling - for calling Peter Navarro. But what - you know, what message does that convey to the American people?

BEGALA: Well, to the American people, it's more chaos. And Shermichael's right, businesses, families, we want some stability. That said, rubbing is racing. I actually don't mind advisors fighting. I don't like either of these guys. I don't know them, but I'm sure I wouldn't like them if I did. But that's fine.

I think we need to focus on the organ grinder, not the monkeys. OK, the monkeys are fighting, but the organ grinder is Donald Trump. This is not a lightning strike that caused your house to catch on fire. It's arson. Donald Trump is climbing out there on the roof with gasoline and matches, and he's setting us on fire.

And it's - today it's the stock market. Very soon it will be the supermarket. And everything that we drink or eat or drive or where costs are going to go up. And the very people who voted for Mr. Trump are the ones who are being betrayed by this.

BERMAN: Paul Begala, Shermichael Singleton, great to see you both this morning. Thanks so much for the discussion.

Kate. Or maybe me.

BOLDUAN: I will read the -

BERMAN: I have a programing note.

BOLDUAN: No, I want to read it.

BERMAN: Anderson Cooper - I - I think I have the programing note.

BOLDUAN: I want to read it.

BERMAN: I'm going to do it.

BOLDUAN: OK.

BERMAN: Which is that tonight at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time, special CNN town hall. Anderson Cooper speaks with Senator Bernie Sanders, takes questions from the audience as well. This will be something. 9:00, right here on CNN.

I nailed that programing note.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: But we all know I would have read it better.

Coming up still for us, an important hearing is happening later today in the case against the man accused of murdering four college students in Idaho. The judge set to decide what evidence will and will not be allowed in his trial.

And a question for you this morning, what does Celine Dion, the Microsoft Windows reboot chime, and the Minecraft soundtrack have in common? No, you have not been - you're not too tired. It's actually a thing. They're all considered audio treasures now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CELINE DION, MUSICIAN (singing): I believe that the heart does go on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:53:11] BOLDUAN: Happening today, a judge set to hear arguments about what evidence will or will not be allowed at Bryan Kohberger's quadruple murder trial. Some of the evidence that the judge is reviewing, a selfie of Kohberger, DNA evidence and text messages sent by their surviving roommates.

CNN's Jean Casarez is following all of this for us. She joins us now.

And, Jean, I remember when you brought us that news about the text messages and everything. It was revealing. And this is something - some of what the judge is considering. But what is expected to happen today?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, I think the biggest thing for the defense, they want the death penalty off the table.

BOLDUAN: OK.

CASAREZ: I mean you can see this. Once they realize that that DNA was going to come in on the knife sheath, then the push was for the death penalty. I think they're desperate to get it off the table because this is Idaho. This is a death penalty case. The emotion that's going to be in that courtroom from four young lives that were lost right as they're going into adulthood. So, what the defense is saying is that the death penalty needs to be stricken from this case because Bryan Kohberger was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. And they're saying that that will influence the jury by him just sitting there because they don't like him anyway. And the traits that come from that will be prejudicial for him.

Here is something from the motion that they filed fighting to get this off the table, the death penalty. "Very early in his education, he was treated as a child with special needs, evaluated psychologically and provided with instructional support. Like people with intellectual disabilities, Mr. Kohberger's adaptive functioning is impaired. He lacks the skills to function in the real world of daily living, self- care, socialization and communication."

Now, of course, the other side to this is, he's got his master's degree.

[08:55:02]

He was getting his Ph.D. in criminal justice. He led his life, involved in his community, doing so many different things. But the defense says that intellectual ability is not an indicative factor here. And so, this is going to be something that I think they're going to be front and center.

Next, bushy eyebrows. There's a picture that prosecutors have put in a motion. They want this before the jury. That at 10:30 a.m., just hours after those murders were committed by someone, that Bryan Kohberger, in his bathroom, took this picture, and it shows bushy eyebrows. Well, one of the surviving roommates, in describing this man she saw all in black, said he had bushy eyebrows. Well, the defense is saying, this roommate had so many interviews with so many inconsistencies. Eyewitness testimony is not trustworthy. And to have that before the jury, more or less this photograph showing these eyebrows is prejudicial to Mr. Kohberger. So, that will be a fight.

Next, the surviving roommates and their texts. We know that they did not report this to 911 until hours later, noon the next day. And so, the prosecution wants a finite portion of that, really the 911 call, to just come in. And the defense is saying that's hearsay. It's far too late to be an excited utterance right after the fact. And if we're going to bring this in, we need to bring in everything to show how they didn't feel there was distress. They were texting back and forth. They were looking on social media. And so, that's going to be a fight.

BOLDUAN: Wow, it is going to be very interesting how this plays out today and have a huge impact on this trial.

CASAREZ: Absolutely.

BOLDUAN: It's an important day.

Jean, thank you very much.

John.

BERMAN: All right, this morning, the country's largest egg producer is under federal investigation. The Mississippi based company says it got notice the Department of Justice antitrust division is now investigating its egg price increases last month. Egg prices did hit record highs recently, mostly due to a bird flu epidemic that forced farmers to cull more than 160 million birds. Egg prices did fall slightly in March. Prices, though, still pretty high.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRACY CHAPMAN, MUSICIAN (singing): So, I remember when we were driving, driving in your car, speed so fast I felt like I was drunk. City lights lay out before us and your arms feel nice wrapped round my shoulder. And I.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car," one of the tracks added to the 2025 National Recording Registry. Also making the list, Celine Dion, Elton John, Amy Winehouse, the original cast of Broadway's "Hamilton." Some lesser known additions, the Microsoft Windows reboot chime, which is six seconds long. I will tell you, it's a great addition to any playlist. Also, the music for the Minecraft video game.

All right, the president's sweeping tariffs went into effect overnight. It is truly a new trading world this morning. And these tariffs will hit many products you use and cherish, including coffee.

CNN's Isabel Rosales has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We love coffee. America runs on whatever coffee company.

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Americans may soon have to start rethinking their morning beverage routine as President Trump's new tariff policy is about to brew up trouble for the coffee industry.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's hurting like the everyday person that will say a 10 percent increase is a lot. It might not be a lot to our administration, but to us, every day we drink it, it is a lot.

ROSALES (voice over): Coffee beans can only grow in tropical climates, so the U.S. imports its coffee beans mostly from Brazil, Colombia and Vietnam, along the coffee belt. It cannot be grown in most of the U.S., except for primarily in Hawaii.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This right here is the last shipment of coffee beans from Honduras that we'll get before the 10 percent tariffs come into effect.

ROSALES (voice over): Devin Hunter, the co-owner of Coffee Man in Atlanta, tells us coffee from Brazil is already up nearly 30 percent over the past year because of unfavorable growing conditions. And now these tariffs make it a one-two punch.

ROSALES: Is it more of a matter of this just being slightly aggravating, or is this like a five alarm fire.

DEVIN HUNTER, CO-OWNER, COFFEE MAN COFFEE SHOP: It's going to affect every coffee shop in America, I think, you know. Every coffee roaster. Every coffee shop. It's going to affect everyone. So, I think everyone is going to kind of feel the pain - the pain from this because it's like, your latte is probably going to go up.

ROSALES (voice over): President Trump says part of the incentive behind tariffs is to produce more things in America.

HUNTER: That's nice in theory, except that coffee can't really be grown in America. So, it's like, I wish they maybe had thought that through and there could be some exceptions for coffee.

ROSALES: But here's the problem. The USDA forecasts we'll consume nearly 3 billion pounds of coffee beans, yet only 1 percent of it can be sourced domestically. That's according to the nation's largest trade organization. Experts tell CNN, there's simply no way we can just grow more coffee here in the United States. We have to import.

ROSALES (voice over): Hunter says unless something gives over the next month, he'll likely be forced to raise prices.

[09:00:04]

ROSALES: Some people would say, well, you, as a business, should absorb that 10 percent, not pass it along to the consumer.