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House Approves Budget Blueprint to Advance Trump Agenda; 400+ Student Visas Revoked Amid Aggressive Deportation Efforts; Former Treasury Secretary Yellen: Trump taking wrecking Ball to Economy; Helicopter has Crashed into Hudson River. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired April 10, 2025 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: After some doubt as to whether he could pull it off, a major win today for House Speaker Mike Johnson. 24 hours of uncertainty led to him able to wrangle through enough Republican votes to pass a Senate-approved budget blueprint, only after assuring holdouts the final bill would include a $1.5 trillion spending cut. The question, of course, where those cuts would come from.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: CNN Chief Congressional Correspondent Manu Raju is with us live now from the Capitol. All right, Manu, this was supposed to be the easy part. What's next?

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it was. And look, it was incredibly difficult to get the easy part done. Behind the scenes, the Speaker had been moving for weeks to try to get his party in line.

Remember why this is so significant, because in order to move the larger Trump agenda, both the House and the Senate have to agree to identical budget blueprints, because they're employing a process that allows them to circumvent a filibuster in the Senate. So what does that mean? That means Republicans can enact the Trump agenda with Republican votes alone.

They don't need any Democratic support. But the catch is they need to get Republicans on the same page. They've been squabbling for weeks over this budget blueprint over a number of different issues, but namely on the issue of spending cuts.

The Republicans in the Senate had pushed for only about $4 billion in spending cuts in their budget plan. The House Republicans wanted $1.5 trillion in their plan. Ultimately, what got some of these members over the finish line were verbal assurances from Senate Republicans that they would try to pursue that $1.5 trillion in cuts.

Now, coming out of that, I talked to a number of Republicans, and I asked them if the final bill that still has yet to be drafted comes down less than $1.5 trillion, will you still support it?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAJU: And if it comes back with reconciliation bill less than $1.5 trillion?

REP. RICH MCCORMICK (R-GA): It's not going to get done. I promise you. Not just me. You'll have 30 people that won't vote for it.

RAJU: But you'll vote against anything that comes back on a reconciliation bill under $1.5 trillion?

REP. ANDY OGLES (R-TN): That's right. We've got to hit that target. That's, again, this is why President Trump won. We've got to hold our word, hold leadership their feet to the fire.

RAJU: Are you confident that Medicaid will not be touched as part of these cuts?

REP. NICOLE MALLIOTAKIS (R-NY): Well, we've made it very clear to the Speaker that we will not support something that changes eligibility, that would strip benefits from our constituents. It's as simple as that. I don't really believe that the number will be $1.5 trillion. I think that it probably will come in a little lower.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RAJU (on camera): And there are still so many questions about what ultimately this legislation may look like, not just the spending cut issues, but also a significant overhaul of the United States tax code, as well as new immigration enforcement measures. And there are a lot of concerns within the ranks about where those cuts could impact, including the program Medicaid. The White House is promising it would not impact Medicaid benefits.

But others are more skeptical. I asked Senator Lisa Murkowski, a Republican swing vote, about this. She said, I'm concerned about how we're going to figure out how we're going to be able to do this between the two bodies.

She went on to say, I'm going to be worried about Medicaid until we get on the other side of this so I don't have to be worried about Medicaid -- guys.

[15:35:00]

SANCHEZ: Manu Raju, live for us on Capitol Hill. Thank you so much.

The Trump administration's aggressive immigration crackdown has ignited fear and uncertainty across college campuses.

KEILAR: CNN has reviewed court filings, statements from attorneys, and announcements from dozens of universities and colleges around the country. And we've confirmed that more than 460 students, faculty, and researchers have had their visas revoked this year. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said most of those were student visas.

CNN's Gloria Pazmino is here with more on these immigration arrests and deportations. Gloria, what's the reason behind these revocations?

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brianna, Boris, I think that is definitely one of the biggest sources of frustration for these students and these universities, that they are not getting clear guidance or information about why so many visas are being canceled.

I've been speaking with some international students, including one at Carnegie Mellon University, who I spoke to last night. He's a Chinese national. He told me he has no idea if he's going to be able to graduate at the end of this year. He learned that his visa status had been canceled just this week, and so far he has been given zero explanation.

That's a big part of the frustration, and it's certainly part of what's sending these universities scrambling, because they're trying to help their international student communities, which are a big part of every campus life.

Now, as you said, we have been trying to keep track of the numbers, over 400 visa revocations so far. So really important to remember that behind those numbers, there are real people whose entire lives are being upended. Many of them have been in the country for years, working towards their degrees, trying to further their education.

Many of them have spent a lot of money to do that, and now they're being told that it may not happen, so creating a lot of panic and fear in the student community.

SANCHEZ: And, Gloria, you also have new reporting on the evidence the government is using to support the deportation of Mahmoud Khalil.

PAZMINO: That's right, and you know, when I talk to some of the students, part of what they say is that they worry about the prospect of being detained, like these three high-profiles, including Mahmoud Khalil, were detained several weeks ago.

Now, we are learning some new information in the last hour. The federal government has submitted evidence to support their deportation order against Mahmoud Khalil.

Now, remember, there are two cases playing out parallel, right next to each other right now, his immigration case and his federal case. And in the immigration case, the federal government submitted a letter by Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying that the reason for the deportation is -- and I'm quoting here -- in part, beliefs, statements, or associations of Mahmoud Khalil. So the letter very much saying that they believe he should be deported because of what he has said, what he believes, and what he thinks.

This is going to be playing out in an immigration court in Louisiana tomorrow. A judge there is expected to make a determination whether or not to continue to keep him in custody.

SANCHEZ: We will, of course, be watching that closely. Gloria Pazmino, thank you so much for the update.

When we come back, former Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen speaks exclusively to CNN. How she's describing President Trump's tariff policy and what it could mean for the broader economy, next. [15:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Former Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says President Trump's tariffs have taken a, quote, wrecking ball to the nation's economy and that the world has suffered a huge protectionist shock.

SANCHEZ: Yellen obviously also led the Federal Reserve and she spoke exclusively with our Zain Asher and Bianna Golodryga. Bianna joins us now live. Bianna, the former Treasury Secretary told you that Americans should expect to pay more even with this pause on tariffs.

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN SENIOR GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Yes, Secretary Yellen did not hold back, Boris and Brianna. This is her first television interview since leaving office. And she said while it was reassuring to see that the President put a 90-day pause on these reciprocal tariffs.

She said that even with the tariffs in place, the 10 percent tariff and obviously the 145 percent tariff on China alone, the cost to the average American household could be around $4,000.

I also went on to ask her about -- and I'm not sure if you guys have picked up on this, it's almost daily now that the Trump administration, the President himself have been criticizing and trashing the economy that they inherited from President Biden. She went on to defend that economy, quoting "The Economist" magazine which described the U.S. economy at the time as the envy of the world. Here's what else she told me.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JANET YELLEN, FORMER TREASURY SECRETARY: We had a very well- functioning economy and President Trump has taken a wrecking ball to it.

GOLODRYGA: You're now back to being a professor. I have to ask you, how would you grade how the Trump administration has handled the economy thus far?

YELLEN: I'm afraid I could not give it a passing grade. I'm sorry. I think policy has been -- this is the worst self-inflicted wound that I have ever seen an administration impose on a well-functioning economy.

[15:45:00]

GOLODRYGA: The likelihood of a recession due to President Trump's economic policies in your view?

YELLEN: Well, it's clearly risen and in addition to the tariffs and the negative likely impact on consumer spending. We have a huge uncertainty shock. No one knows where any of this is going.

We're now in a huge war with China and the tariffs that have been imposed on China are what I would call prohibitive. They're going to result in massive impacts on the United States and the global economy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GOLODRYGA (on camera): Secretary Yellen also noted that the interest rates on the Treasury bonds which went up and typically in situations and crises like these go down is what she believes ultimately led to the President to put this 90-day pause on that he was spooked by what he saw happening in the bond market. And she is still concerned about the longer term impact this could have on investor confidence here in the United States which has historically been a safe haven during times of uncertainty. And now you have a situation where it's the United States itself creating this global uncertainty. -- Boris and Brianna.

SANCHEZ: Bianna Golodryga, thank you so much for bringing us that update.

Stay with CNN NEWS CENTRAL. We're back in just a few minutes.

[15:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: We have breaking news into CNN. The New York Police Department says a helicopter has crashed into the Hudson River. These are live pictures of the scene right now.

We also have this video from the scene. We're about to show you what looks like several official vessels from the NYPD circling an area where a helicopter is believed to have crashed. The NYPD tweeting out that the helicopter has crashed in the Hudson River in the vicinity of the Westside Highway and Spring Street. They are anticipating traffic delays in that area.

KEILAR: Let's bring in CNN aviation analyst Peter Goelz to talk about this. Peter, talk to us. I think if you've been around New York City, you might be surprised to see how many helicopters fly up and down the Hudson. It's quite a frequent thing.

PETER GOELZ, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Yes, it is. And, you know, they're both charter, sightseeing, and service helicopters, as well as copters heading out to Newark and to JFK and to LaGuardia. So it's a very heavily trafficked area.

And during the summer, the spring and summer, it gets more so as the Hamptons open up.

SANCHEZ: Peter, talk to us about historically what have been causes of these kinds of incidents, what appears to be a helicopter in the water in the Hudson River.

GOELZ: Well, I mean, it's hard to speculate about what happened. We have so little facts to go on. But when a chopper goes down, it generally has something to do with their ability to climb.

And the real problem -- you know, it's something with their damage to their rotors, damage to their tail. The real problem is if they hit hard and flip over, it's very difficult to get out of them. If they land softly, or more softly, many of them have flotation devices which will keep them on the surface so that the passengers and or crew can get out.

In this case, there's no sign of the wreckage. So my guess is it flipped over and is on the bottom.

KEILAR: And we had seen some earlier pictures where it had flipped over but you couldn't see much of it. That was what it appeared to be, Peter. Talk a little bit about that because there have been incidents where it's also difficult for people in -- if there are multiple people in a helicopter to get themselves out of the helicopter in a situation like this. Visibility is very poor in the Hudson River.

GOELZ: Right. I mean, not only is you have the shock of the crash, you have the extremely low temperature of the water and you have the disabling sensation of being either on your side or upside down. And that there have been a number of crashes in the past.

One in New York in which the side doors were open during a tourist flight for better vision. Really, the passengers had a very difficult time getting out. They couldn't do it.

SANCHEZ: We also have with us CNN transportation analyst Mary Schiavo over the phone. Mary, it wasn't that long ago we were talking about an incident at Reagan National Airport. These two planes banging wings and suddenly we have this helicopter crashing into the Hudson River.

What's your immediate reaction to this news?

MARY SCHIAVO, CNN TRANSPORTATION ANALYST (via phone): Well, I mean, very tragic and very sad news, but I've worked several prior helicopter crashes in the Hudson River and, you know, there can be lots of reasons for it, just as Peter said. But one of the things that we have found in the past are the control services and the controls of the helicopter.

I mean, there are some parts of the helicopter controls that are unique that are not really truly redundant and if you lose those particular controls, it's difficult to control. Often pilots and others, trainers, will talk about auto rotation down and that you can land a helicopter if you've lost an engine or if you've had other problems. It's very, very difficult. Not many people can do it well.

[15:55:00]

And just what Peter said on the prior cases where I've worked, it's been very difficult to get out because also in the helicopter you -- the helicopter, you know, both the pilots of course and the passengers may be wearing headsets. They have additional wires. They have a different kind of seatbelt harness than they're used to in a car or on a plane. And while you have to do a pre-briefing before you fly, at least on any commercial operation, it's a very unfamiliar situation to a lot of people if they aren't accustomed to flying in the helicopter because the seat belts are different, the headphones might be on your head, a lot of different equipment and it's hard to get out. Peter's exactly right.

But like I said, there are lots of things that can go wrong, including, you know, I've worked on a couple cases where there's been a mid-air over the Hudson. So it's tough flying space also because it can be crowded and I know nothing about the conditions today, but it can be crowded.

KEILAR: At this point, you know, we don't have an indication that there was another aircraft, so that's important to note. We're still awaiting some details. This is very early, Mary, but I just want to give you a sense, because I don't know if you ever turned, but there are so many ships in the Hudson. We're looking at multiple including a number of police boats that are there.

Talk about the kind of response and what they're doing.

SCHIAVO: Yes, well you know, and going back to the Miracle on the Hudson flight that hit the flock of geese, you know, it's always the Sullenberger-Skiles flight. You know, the boats on the Hudson were absolutely life-saving because what happened was -- you know planes don't float very well. Helicopters don't float. They're just not -- you know, they just don't stay on top of the water very long. And so what happened, for example, in the Miracle on the Hudson flight and others, if those boats can get there and can get lines on the plane, just like a line on the boat, if they can get ropes lines on the plane and can keep them and hold them taut -- and that's one of the things that helped in the Miracle on the Hudson -- they kept that plane by having the lines on the plane, holding them taut, keeping it up and helping that plane to stay afloat.

And same thing here, the boats can serve in this case -- since Peter said it flipped over and it probably went down rather quickly, if that happened. But the boats on the Hudson and the boat traffic can be absolutely life-saving particularly it's cold. I mean, and the water's cold. And the boats on the Hudson were credited with saving lives on the Miracle on the Hudson flight those boat captains, you know, were probably why everybody lived

SANCHEZ: And Peter, as we're watching this effort, what we imagine at this point is still a rescue effort, give us your perspective of just how complicated an operation like this gets.

GOELZ: Well it is extraordinarily difficult to find things in the water. As Mary indicated that the water is very cloudy in the Hudson. It's full of silt. With an accident such as this it will stir up more silt from the bottom. It's very cold. They don't have divers on standby. So they're going to have to mobilize divers. It will take some time to get there.

It doesn't look from these live shots they know approximately where it is. But I'm not sure they know exactly where it is. I think we've got a very difficult situation being faced.

And I can't emphasize enough the issue that Mary mentioned, which is the safety briefing. You know, these things tend to be almost rote sometimes and people don't pay attention. And in a helicopter you do have different types of safety harnesses, you're hooked up often to a headset -- as Mary said -- and evacuating can be very difficult because there's not a flight attendant on board to help you.

KEILAR: What are the factors there though if people did pay attention, you know, if they're aware that's really essential, how quickly can they get out and save their lives? And if not how much can this boat traffic help?

GOELZ: Well I mean, it's very difficult. I mean, depending on your age and your physical condition and whether you were -- how injured you were when the crash took place. You may not be able to function quickly enough to overcome the sinking of the vehicle. So I don't see a great deal of activity in the water at this point which is somewhat ominous

[16:00:00]

KEILAR: All right, I just want to update our viewers before we hand off. We are watching a helicopter crash in the Hudson River near New York City. This is near Jersey City as well. We are going to continue to monitor this. Peter, thank you so much. Peter Goelz, Mary Schiavo thank you so much. And thank you for tuning in here. "THE ARENA with Kasie Hunt picks up right now

END