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Trump Acknowledges Transition Problems as Tariffs Rock Markets; Supreme Court Tells Trump Admin to Seek Deported Man's Return; Family of Five from Spain, Pilot Killed in New York City Tourist Helicopter Crash. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired April 11, 2025 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: The breaking news this morning, China's counterpunch. China hiking tariffs on U.S. goods this morning to 125 percent. President Xi Jinping speaking out for the first time about Trump's trade war as well, saying they're not afraid.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN ANCHOR: And breaking overnight, the Supreme Court orders the White House to facilitate the return of a man mistakenly deported to El Salvador's notorious mega prison. What the Trump Administration says its plans are now.

And an investigation is underway after a helicopter plunged into the Hudson River, killing six people including three children.

I'm Jessica Dean with Kate Bolduan. Sara Sidner and John Berman are out today. And this is CNN News Central.

BOLDUAN: China is digging in. Americans are waking up to a whole new escalation in the global trade war. Beijing is hiking its retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods today from 84 percent to 125 percent, and for the first time since this all started, actually hearing from the Chinese President Xi Jinping himself.

Xi's saying that his nation is, quote/unquote, not afraid, and also warning, quote, there are no winners in a trade war and going against the world will only lead to self-isolation. This after President Trump raised tariffs on Chinese goods even higher, 145 percent now, as we're all trying to keep track.

The White House says they're waiting for China to pick up the phone. China says essentially the same thing about the United States is very clearly showing what a tit-for-tat looks like, sending markets tumbling Thursday. But President Trump still optimistic when meeting with his cabinet.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: We think we're in very good shape. We think we're doing very well. Again, there'll be a transition cost and transition problems. But in the end, it's going to be a beautiful thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Stock Futures are right now up across the board. Let's see if they stay a beautiful thing today. But what is concerning investors a lot right at the moment, the U.S. dollar falling to its weakest level against the Euro in three years.

CNN's Alayna Treene at the White House for us, once again, CNN's Marc Stewart, we're not letting him go. He's in Beijing for us. Marc, tell us more about China's counterpunch and what it's going to mean.

MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kate, good morning. Look, none of this is a surprise. These latest tariffs are very much in the Chinese playbook, but what's very attention-getting to me is the fact that China is now saying it's not going to raise tariffs any higher, saying it has other weapons, almost making fun of the United States for raising the stakes, raising the numbers so high.

Let me share with you some remarks we got late today from a government official here in Beijing who said that the United States is engaging in nothing more than a numbers game with no real economic significance, going on to say the United States is exposing itself as a participant in weaponizing tariffs as a tool of bullying and coercion, turning itself into a joke. So, that is the latest where China stands in this back and forth tit-for-tat.

The other big headline of the day is that we are hearing from Chinese President Xi Jinping really the first time since this whole trade war escalated to such a high level. The big headline is that he's saying China is not afraid. These are remarks that were made with the Spanish prime minister here in Beijing. And according to state media, he said that China is going to continue to remain confident, is going to remain focused, saying there are no real winners in the trade war.

Kate, the language that we're hearing from Xi Jinping is very consistent with what we've heard from other government officials over the last few days. And as you mentioned, as far as the possibility of a phone call between Xi Jinping and President Trump, not in the near future. That's the messaging that we're feeling from Beijing, at least.

BOLDUAN: And that is quite a statement that you got from that government official, just to mean they're -- I mean, the gloves are off now in terms of how the two sides are going to be talking about it.

[07:05:00]

We will need to stand by and see how Donald Trump responds to that. But also stand by with me, Marc. I'm going to go get to the White House and get to Alayna Treene here.

Alayna, are you getting any reaction yet this morning to this escalation from China?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: So, so far the White House has not responded to the latest remarks from China or from President Xi. But what I will say is that the White House has been very dug in on its position as it relates to China. They're acting very defiant in this kind of trade tit-for-tat that we are seeing. But I think what's been very clear so far, Kate, is that this position is not going to be tenable for much longer. At some point to, the two sides are going to need to really open lines of communications.

Now, we actually have a story out this morning kind of breaking all of this down. But at the crux of it, Kate, is this. Two White House officials tell me that the president and the U.S. will not reach out to China first. The president has made it clear to his team and to his advisers that he wants China to come to them. And, really, he wants to have a high level meeting directly between him and President Xi himself.

Now, this has been what the White House has been communicating to Beijing for several months now. But on the other side, we also know that Beijing does not really want to have that high level meeting. What they've been trying to do is open communications at a lower level. And so, really, there's been this stalemate and no talks at all going on right now between the Trump administration and that of President Xi.

Now, one hurdle of what we're hearing behind the scenes here at the White House is that the president believes that President Xi does not want to be seen as weak. And that's really as well kind of what's coming into this refusal and waiting to see who blinks first here.

Now, we've also heard President Donald Trump say that he is confident. That he can reach a deal at some point. He said that he believes China will come around. He said, China wants to make a deal. They just don't know how to go about it. They're proud people. We've heard similar rhetoric from some of his top economic advisers saying that the ball is now in China's court. It's clear that's not how China sees this.

But I think the key question now moving forward is that, you know, really, how this all is decided is going to be on, how much pain are they willing to take, how much more pain are they willing to see in this escalation of these tariffs without any real communications to ensure there's an off-ramp.

BOLDUAN: Yes, exactly. How much pain is the Trump administration willing to endure, and also the American people? How much pain is China willing to endure as well?

Alayna, stick with me. Marc, in this moment, this has been going -- this tit-for-tat has been going on now, you know, for quite some time. Why do you think, and what are you hearing about why Xi Jinping is speaking out in this moment?

STEWART: I think, really, two reasons, Kate. Number one, simply being its time. The Chinese economy, in addition to what's happening now, is already dealing -- for Xi Jinping to continue to build national unity, to build national pride, as it deals with yet another economic headwind. And then the other reason, if we look at the calendar, Xi Jinping is about to embark on a trip to Cambodia, to Vietnam and Malaysia. These are key trading partners. These are relationships that he has been strengthening over the years. So, as he builds bridges to these other nations, it's a way to also project some stability and to let the world know where China stands and that it is a strong, formidable player.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. Vietnam, one of the nations also, that the Trump administration is trying to prioritize and renegotiating a trade deal now, all of it related. Likely, none of it a coincidence in this moment.

Marc, thank you so much, Alayna at the White House for us, as always, thank you, guys, very, very much. Jessica?

DEAN: We are following several breaking stories at this hour. The president's foreign envoy, Steve Witkoff, arrived in Russia overnight. His negotiations for as ceasefire with the Ukraine appear to slow down.

Also this morning, the Supreme Court has ordered the White House to help return a Maryland father mistakenly deported to a notorious mega prison in El Salvador.

And egg prices are cracking new records weeks before Easter. More when we come back.

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DEAN: Breaking overnight, the Supreme Court has unanimously ruled the Trump administration must facilitate the return of a Maryland father who was deported by mistake to a notorious El Salvador prison nearly a month ago. The court, however, stopped short of ordering Kilmar Abrego Garcia to be returned to the U.S. or giving a deadline to make it happen. And this morning, both sides are claiming victory here.

CNN Chief Supreme Court Analyst Joan Biskupic is joining us now to talk more about this. Joan, a couple things to note, both sides claiming this victory, also this unanimous ruling from the Supreme Court.

JOAN BISKUPIC, CNN CHIEF SUPREME COURT ANALYST: Yes, you can see that it was a compromise here, just a virtue of its unanimity, and I'll also mention where three of the liberals peeled off on a key part. But it's great to see you, Jessica, and I'll tell you why both sides are claiming victory at this point because we're just at one other incremental step in this. There's just so much more to come.

As you said, the Supreme Court said that the Trump administration has to facilitate. It's not required to bring him back. It said that, you know, the lower court judge still has to give due deference to the administration in terms of its foreign policy here.

[07:15:02]

It's stressed that, you know, it's not mandated an intermediate order. It didn't set any kind of deadline. But crucial, the lower court judge, Paula Xinis, in a Maryland district court last night right after the Supreme Court ruled, immediately jumped on it and set some new requirements for the administration, saying it had to tell her the current physical location and custodial status of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, what steps, if any, they were taking to facilitate his immediate return to the us, and she wanted to know when that could happen. And she's going to hold a hearing today.

So, in kind of a theoretical vein the administration largely won on some arguments, just that the judge would have to defer to the administration in that way. But I have to say that we're -- you know, there's a very big practical consideration here of how much it can continue to stall if it wants to, and also whether the administration actually is saying what's true, that it's no longer really in charge here because he's in the custody of the Salvadoran government. So, can the administration bring him back? So it's a very difficult situation all around.

As a threshold matter, this Maryland father did win on his arguments that he should be able to be returned to the U.S., that the administration screwed up, to use the language of a lower court judge. The administration did screw up. But what kind of remedy can actually take place here is still in question and will know later today, Jessica, when Judge Xinis holds her hearing.

DEAN: Yes, that is the big question. What is the remedy here? More to come. Joan, always great to see you on a Friday morning. Thank you so much.

We have more breaking news overnight as a Russian American ballerina who was imprisoned and Russia is back on U.S. soil this morning.

Plus, a tourist helicopter crashes into New York City's Hudson River killing everyone on board, including three children. We're going to have the latest details on the investigation that's now underway.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:20:00]

BOLDUAN: So, this morning, authorities say the victims of a horrific helicopter crash in the Hudson River in New York City are a family of five from Spain who were visiting New York and also killed the helicopter pilot. Something clearly went just terribly wrong during their sightseeing excursion.

The tragic final moments of their flight were caught on camera. And we do want to warn you, the video we were about to show you is quite very disturbing.

Bystanders reported seeing the helicopter just spinning out of control. And then about 17 minutes into the flight, witnesses say that the helicopter appeared to just stop midair and then just drop straight from the sky into the Hudson River. Just horrific,

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: River traffic, be advised. You do have an aircraft down Holland Tunnel. Please keep your eyes open for anybody in the water. we have traffic, you have advise, you do have an aircraft down Holland Tunnel. Please keep your eyes open for anybody in the water.

Please keep your eyes open. You guys see anything in the water, please let us know.

We're just circling over Holland now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: CNN's Polo Sandoval has been following this. He's got much more on this for us. We know, Polo, the NTSB and FAA, they are investigating what happened here. What are you learning and what are you learning about the family?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. The family is certainly a big focus here, Kate. A 49-year-old man identified by investigator, his name was Augustina Escobar, who was aboard that aircraft with his wife and three young children who were visiting New York. It's a Spanish family who was visiting New York. They set out for a sightseeing trip, and with them, of course, was the pilot who also perished in that crash.

Let me tell you a little bit more about what we know about the helicopter. It's a Bell 206 chopper, often described by pilots as a workhorse, a reliable and safe aircraft. This particular one was about 22 years old. It did have a valid airworthiness certificate, and it was operated by the tour company, New York Helicopter Charter.

The company's director of maintenance declined to comment to CNN, but you can imagine that investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board are certainly going to look through all of the various cases and their documents to make sure that that aircraft was in fact safe.

Let's bring this map up full so we can sort of retrace this flight from yesterday. According to the NYPD, this helicopter took off from a helipad in lower Manhattan at about. 3:00 P.M. yesterday, just before 3:00 P.M., I should say. And then if you look there, a kind of traced a route that's very popular for sightseeing, helicopters going west, circling the Statue of Liberty, and then heading north, and then at the George Washington Bridge, that's where it reportedly turned around and then began that fateful southerly path where at about 3:15 is what investigators, or at least 911 dispatchers, I should say, began to receive those 911 calls of that helicopter in distress that was plunging -- plummeting, I should say, down towards the Hudson River.

The video that, as you say, is heartbreaking and very difficult to watch, is critical though. Because if you notice as that aircraft is falling towards the water, it's missing the rotor. There's a separate angle where you can actually see said rotor and it's kind of spinning like a pinwheel in its descent before it splashes into the Hudson.

So the key question here is what caused that critical piece of that aircraft to detach? We've heard from experts, I'm not a pilot, but we've heard from many who have said that once that goes missing, then the pilot at the controls basically loses all control and it makes it very difficult and not impossible to survive a potential crash.

So that's all going to be evidence and all going to be part of the questions. But in the meantime, we are continuing to try to dig more, not only about the family of five that was killed, but the pilot that was at the controls as well.

[07:25:01]

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. Polo, thank you for laying that out for us, just horrible when you see that video.

Still ahead for us this hour, China is hitting back this morning, new tariffs on U.S. goods, a whopping 125 percent. How the tit-for-tat is now impacting global markets.

And one of the president's top -- one of President Trump's top aides has just arrived in Russia. The details coming in about what is about to happen, who he's meeting with and what it means for bringing the war in Ukraine to an end.

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