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Wholesale Prices Eased in March; Scott Metzger is Interviewed about China Tariffs; RFK Jr. Lays out HHS Revamp; Rose Leads at Augusta; Roy Wood Jr. is Interviewed about new Episodes of his Show. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired April 11, 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]

AVI RAKESH, EYEWITNESS TO DEADLY HELICOPTER CRASH: But out of the - out of the blue, I see, like, a helicopter disintegrate in midair. And then I heard a loud sound. Not something you hear often, and it's very much something that gets you on your feet kind of thing. And the moment I heard that, I called 911, and I started taking video.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN ANCHOR: Wow.

RAKESH: Yes. It's - it was unnerving for sure.

DEAN: Oh, I'm sure it was. And I feel like when you - in the event you see something that horrific, that out of the ordinary, it's hard to kind of process what you're seeing. You kind of can't believe your own eyes. I would imagine it kind of felt that way. Like, did I really just see that?

RAKESH: Yes, absolutely. It was one of those things that, like, you play video games, you watch on the TV quite often, but when you see it in real life, it's not something you think you would see in real life kind of thing, you know.

DEAN: Yes. And did you see there's been a lot of talk about that helicopter kind of essentially breaking apart mid-air. And you - did you see that because we see in the video just the body of the chopper, no propeller.

RAKESH: Yes, I definitely saw the entire incident happen from like start to finish. And by the time I could get my phone out, it was already in the water. I mean, by the time I could open the camera and take the video, it was already in the water.

But it definitely broke off in the air. I - like, the main part, or the cockpit part was the largest part. And your eyes kind of gravitate towards that, navigate to that because you want to make sure that people inside are like either not flying out or like are OK or you want to see where it hits.

But the - the rotator blades definitely flew off. You can see that in the video as well. The tail was not there by the time you could see it. By the time - but (INAUDIBLE) was not to be found. Debris was flying everywhere. I was worried that something might come and hit the window because it was on eye level, almost, you know, like it was a little further out, but it felt like it was on eye level.

DEAN: Yes. And how quickly did you see those first responders? I know you said you picked up the phone and called 911. How quickly did - did they - did you start to see kind of a scene unfold there?

RAKESH: Yes. I called right away and I was then moved to New Jersey or Jersey City Police Department. And I stayed on the call for like about two minutes, and, like, I don't think I need a police department. I need emergency services. And I need someone to go in and help the people.

About - at about - about three minute mark I saw like vehicles and people in, like, look like emergency responders on the, like, the bridge kind of area that you see around it. I saw the NYPD Coast Guard people arrive about, like, like about like the five to seven minute mark. But, yes.

DEAN: Yes. It is such a - such a terrible thing to witness. Scary and hard. Hard to see.

Avi, thank you for sharing your experience with us, though. We really appreciate it. Have a great day.

And a brand-new op-ed. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. lays out his vision for the future of the Department of Health and Human Services, going as far as claiming that they will be able to determine the cause of the autism epidemic by the end of September.

And breaking news, a key inflation report has just been released. We are going to watch how it may impact the markets.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:37:52]

DEAN: Breaking moments ago, new data shows wholesale prices easing this month.

Matt Egan is joining us now to kind of walk us through this new information.

So, what are we finding out?

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Well, Jessica, this is the second day in a row we're getting some encouraging news on the cost of living. The one catch, and it is a big one, is that it does not fully capture the impact of the trade war, right? This is measuring prices in March, before the full impact of all the tariff increases.

But let me run you through the numbers first.

So, we're talking about the Producer Price Index. This is wholesale inflation before it gets to all of us as consumers. And we were expecting an increase in prices month over month. We did not get that. We got a drop in prices. Look at this, 0.4 percent. That is much better than anticipated. The annual rate we were anticipating around 3.3 percent. We did not get that. We got a much lower number, 2.7 percent. This is a deceleration. When we look at the trend, we can see that things have certainly improved from a few years ago when it comes to inflation. This metric - the graph's not up right now, but this metric was around 11, 12 percent.

DEAN: We want you to do it from memory. Yes.

EGAN: So, it was really, really high. It has come down significantly. Now, why was this number better than expected? There's a few factors. One of them is energy, right. We've seen oil prices plunge. That has lowered the cost of energy. When you think about gasoline and diesel. So, that's one of the things.

Of course, energy is not only getting cheaper for good reasons. Some of that is recession fears. The other big factor here was egg prices. And I know that's something that everyone is following very closely. And we did see some good news on eggs. Egg prices, they fell month over month by 21 percent at the wholesale level. That is very encouraging. That is a very big improvement from the month before. However, we're still looking at dramatic increases on an annual basis, 165 percent. And we learned yesterday that the cost of eggs in the supermarket for consumers is still at all-time highs.

DEAN: And so, this is all like pretty good indicators. But again, as you note, this is before all of this turmoil, economic turmoil, tariffs and everything have been built in. This is pre that.

EGAN: Yes. Yes. And economists have said again and again that those tariffs are going to make inflation worse.

DEAN: It's a bit ironic that we're seeing good numbers.

[08:40:01]

We will see what the future holds.

We also have a new report from the Yale Budget Lab that finds that Trump's latest tariffs will cost middle class households thousands of dollars. Thousands of dollars.

EGAN: Yes, Jessica, look, this is the estimate from the Yale Budget Lab.

DEAN: Yes.

EGAN: They're saying that the typical middle class family is going to get hit $3,700 per year. And this is based on all of the updated tariff moves, including that 90-day pause to most tariffs, the one that set the stock market on fire.

DEAN: So, this includes the pause. Note that. Yes.

EGAN: This includes the pause. And that's because a lot of items come from China, right? And so they're going to get more expensive if they even come to the United States anymore. You think about some of these items they're calling out in particular. Big price increases for leather, clothes, food, computers, cars and car parts. So, again, today we have some good inflation numbers for the month of March. Unfortunately, economists think that the inflation numbers are going to get worse.

DEAN: Oh, all right. More to come on this. Matt Egan, thanks for breaking it down for us.

EGAN: Thanks, Jessica.

DEAN: Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: And all of this volatility and uncertainty brought on by the trade war that we were just talking about, you know, you've got the - you've got China announcing it's raising retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods from 84 percent to 25 percent. That coming after President Trump hiked the rate of Chinese goods - the rate on Chinese goods coming into America from 104 percent now to 145 percent.

All of that creating so much uncertainty is having a real and immediate impact on businesses, big and small, across the country. One small business owner joined us on the show just yesterday, describing how the daily chaos and the changes in policy have left her with no good options.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BETH BENIKE, CEO, BUSY BABY: It's hard to make a decision - you know, we had an idea yesterday after the announcement of, well, maybe we can export to Australia, repackage the products, and then re-import them from there. But because policy changes every 36 hours or so, I don't want to make that decision and make that move only for something else to change in just a couple more days. I don't - I'm paralyzed. I can't even make a decision right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Paralyzed. Another big area of concern is what this means for American farmers. Of course, China is, among other things, the biggest export market for American soybeans. China bought 52 percent of the American - of American soybean exports last year, throwing American soybean farmers, understandably, into a whole new level of uncertainty right now.

And joining me right now is Scott Metzger. He's a soybean farmer out of Ohio, also serves on the board of directors for the American Soybean Association.

Scott, thank you very much for waking up and taking time to speak with me this morning.

This change - I was looking forward to getting your take yesterday afternoon. And now we have this new change overnight coming from China announcing 125 percent tariff on all U.S. goods coming in. That includes on soybeans. What does this tariff on this - now this - this new level of tariff on your produce mean for you?

SCOTT METZGER, SOYBEAN FARMER: Good morning, Kate.

Yes, that - that - it's - it's an alarming, alarming concern, you know, with the - with the tighter farm economy that we're in now, the - the tariffs are - are just adding to - adding - adding issues to - to problems that we already have. We want to - we - it's - it's just making it more complex and making - making the farm - making it - making it harder to make decisions on what we need to do.

BOLDUAN: I've heard - I've heard the word complex from a couple farmers, actually, as well. They just - it's already a complicated situation, and now it's becoming even more complex. I mean you're a, I believe, a sixth generation farmer, farming with your brother and cousins. How does, Scott, just how does this moment feel for you?

METZGER: Well, you know, it's - it's - we - we never have going back to 2018. We really haven't recovered from - from the tariff trade wars back then. And, you know, we - we were - we were probably 40 percent higher on soybean prices back then, and the farm economy in general was a lot better back then. So, you go - go forward to now with what we are and, you know, a lot tighter farm economy. And - and complex and adding these tariffs to it, it - it just - it makes things really, really difficult. You know, a fear that we have if this continues into - into the fall or even into next year, you know, there's a potential that, you know, there - there will be some farms go out of business. You know, you could have a next generation not wanting to come back or not able to come back just because of the - the economies or - or the farm situation in general.

[08:45:02]

And - and adding these tariffs to this, you know, it - it's - there's just no room for error. But personally, in our operation, in the state of Ohio last year, we were in extreme drought. And we roughly had half of a crop, half of a soybean crop and a corn crop last year. So - so in our area, it's - it's - it's feeling that even a little bit more, you know, having - having less of a commodity sell in these lower prices. And now we're throwing the tariffs on top of it. It just - it just makes things very difficult.

BOLDUAN: And in the - at the White House, in his cabinet meeting yesterday, the agriculture secretary spoke up, talking about, you know, if there's one thing - if people know - a group of people who know uncertainty would be farmers and ranchers. And I'm wondering what your ask, your plea or just your message would be to the president in the midst of this, given your long experience and what you guys are facing.

METZGER: Yes, we just - we urge the administration to just - to quickly couple the announcement with some negotiations to address the tariff and non-tariff barriers with the U.S. exports. You know, we - we want - we want to - and - and we're thankful for the 90-day grace period that we got to help - help some of the other countries come to the table and negotiate with the president before any more reciprocal tariffs comes on for those other countries. And - and also with - with China. You know, let's get to the table and get - get some - get some things done. You know, maybe introduce the - the phase two trade deal on this just so we don't have this prolonged suffering for the - for the U.S. ag economy. And even with that, it - it even goes to the - you know, it's - its' not only the ag economy, but it's the rural economy as well. You know, for every - every dollar we spend, it kind of rolls out probably four or five, six times in - in our local rural economy. So, as a whole, if you're not - if you don't have a strong farm economy, it usually then goes on down into your rural economy as well.

BOLDUAN: Yes. The ripple effects and, as anyone knows, I mean, I grew up in a small town, the ripple effects are very real when - when the farm economy is struggling.

METZGER: Yes.

BOLDUAN: Scott, it is really good to meet you. Thank you very much for coming in.

Jessica.

DEAN: New this morning, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is laying out his vision for the Department of Health and Human Services in a new op-ed for "The New York Post" titled "I'm Fighting Chronic Disease, Slashing Unhealthy Fat At HHS." Kennedy says a new research effort within his department will focus on finding, quote, "what has caused the autism epidemic."

And joining us now, CNN's Meg Tirrell.

Meg, what more are you learning about this - this effort and what he plans to do here?

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jessica, there's a lot of skepticism, to say the least, about what this effort is going to look like. RFK Jr. made these comments in a cabinet meeting yesterday after he claimed that the measles outbreak in Texas, which has killed two children, is plateauing. We are seeing cases grow by about 20 percent or more per week. Here's what he said about this new research initiative.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR., HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: We've launched a massive testing and research effort that's going to involve hundreds of scientists from around the world. By September, we will know what has caused the autism epidemic and we'll be - we'll be able to eliminate those exposures.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If you can come up with that answer where you stop taking something, you stop eating something, or maybe it's a shot, but something's causing it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TIRRELL: Now, you heard from President Trump there. He suggested maybe it's a shot. And this is what's making the public health world so concerned about this. We heard from Dr. Paul Offit, a vaccine scientist, this morning, who wrote, quote, "it doesn't take a psychic to see where this is going." Given, of course, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s history of falsely tying autism to vaccines.

Now, it's important to note the National Institutes of Health, on its own website, says, quote, "no link has been found between autism and vaccines, including those containing thimerosal, a mercury-based compound." Paul Offit points out this morning, there has been two dozen separate studies that show children who got the measles, mumps, rubella vaccine have no higher likelihood to develop autism, guys. So, there's a lot of concern about what this effort is going to look like and the claim that in five months suddenly we're going to have an answer.

Guys.

DEAN: Certainly a lot of questions there. But as you point out, Meg, we do have a lot of evidence that shows that it is not - that those vaccines do not cause autism.

Thank you so much for that. We really appreciate it.

Round one is in the books, and Justin Rose holds the lead at the Masters, but can he hold off the reigning champion in the world's number one player, Scottie Scheffler? We're going to bring you the latest live from Augusta.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:54:07]

BOLDUAN: Day two of the Masters is now getting underway in Augusta, Georgia.

Let's go to CNN's Andy Scholes, who's live in Augusta with, again, for the second day in a row, the best assignment on TV.

How's it going, Andy?

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: It's going great, Kate. We're going to have another beautiful day here in Augusta.

But the star of day one here at the Masters, it was Justin Rose. And we've been in this situation before with Rose after his blistering seven under in round one. He's now had the first-round lead here at the Masters a record five times, breaking a tie with Jack Nicklaus. But the 44-year-old just really came shooting out of a cannon yesterday. He had birdies on his first three holes. Rose, he's got a three shot lead now heading into today's second round.

This is the eighth time Rose has had at least a share of the lead after any round here at Augusta National. It's something only five others have done.

[08:55:03] But all five of those who have done it, other than Rose, they're Masters champions. And that's something that Rose is well aware of.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUSTIN ROSE, 2-TIME MASTERS RUNNER-UP (2015 and 2017): I feel like I've played well enough to win this tournament. I just feel like I don't have the jacket to prove it.

I think you always feel self-pressure to add more for sure. I do feel that I could make a statement with a - with how well I play in the back end of my career. That's a great opportunity though for me, not a pressure.

From my point of view, that's - that's a lot of fun today. And that's what I'm in the game for, is to - to feel these experiences.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: All right, reigning champ Scottie Scheffler, meanwhile, he is the favorite. And he had a solid day, finishing with a clean card, four birdies, no bogeys. And after the round, well, I asked Scottie if someone would have told him before the round he was going to shoot a four under, how would he have felt about that?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER, TWO-TIME MASTERS CHAMPION (2022 and 2024): I would have felt pretty good about it. I - I had a feeling the golf course was going to get pretty firm. And, you know, the areas to hit your irons out here are pretty small, and they get even smaller when the greens are firm. And so, it was definitely - there's definitely some challenge to the golf course today. And I'm sure that will continue as the - the week goes on.

I think anytime you get closer to the lead, it's going to be easier for you to win the golf tournament. That's just - that's just - I mean, a simple fact of the matter. You get off to a good start, statistically, you're going to have a better chance to win the tournament.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Yes, Scheffler three shots back of Rose heading into today.

Now, the moment from round one yesterday, it belonged to 65-year-old Fred Couples. From the fairway on 14, Couples, the perfect shot. And it's going to roll all the way in for the eagle. Couples certainly loving that shot. This is his 40th Masters. And, Kate, Couples one under yesterday, becoming the second oldest player ever to break par at the Masters. Got to love to see 65-year-old Fred Couples still out there making shots all over the course.

BOLDUAN: Proving that experience matters when it comes to this game. It's not just youth and recklessness that makes you amazing at golf. I mean, as someone who doesn't play golf, that's just - that looks easy peasy. I'm sure I'd just be eagling all over the course.

SCHOLES: Oh, yes.

BOLDUAN: Just go with it.

SCHOLES: I highly doubt it, Kate, but I like your optimism.

BOLDUAN: Just go with it. I hate that you always have to actually speak truth.

It's great to see you, Andy. It'll be great to see what happens today.

Jessica.

DEAN: All right, tomorrow, a brand new episode of "Have I Got News for You" is coming to CNN. The show brings bold, witty, no holds barred takes on the week's biggest headlines.

Here's a clip from last week's show with Congressman Ro Khanna and comedian Karen Chee joining the hosts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROY WOOD JR., HOST: Here's your headline, man faces ten years in prison for trying to collect blank.

AMBER RUFFIN, HOST: Pokemon. Well, I got to catch them all. By any means necessary.

REP. RO KHANNA (D-CA): His visa, his green card. I don't know. That's what they put you in jail for these days.

RUFFIN: Oh, tell the truth.

WOOD: This is the fun part.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: And joining us now, the man at the center of it all, Roy Wood Jr..

ROY WOOD JR., HOST, "HAVE I GOT NEWS FOR YOU": Good morning.

DEAN: It's good to see you. I am sad to report to everyone you lost on - on another game show, "Celebrity Jeopardy," which you played.

WOOD: Yes. Yes. The semifinals. We still raised some money for Birmingham and literacy nonprofits. But, you know, one of the categories was ferns.

DEAN: Ferns.

WOOD: I'm not saying that's anti-black, but it - it - I don't know any black friends - I don't have any black friends with ferns is all I'm saying.

DEAN: I don't have any ferns either if it's any consolation.

WOOD: I make everything about race. I'm sorry. They should ask questions about tariffs. I would have nailed that.

DEAN: OK. So, I would assume we're going to touch on that this week.

WOOD: Yes. This - this week for sure on the show we're going to get into tariffs. Am I the only person that feels like Trump might have finally picked somebody that's wilder than him when we're talking about the president of China? Like, Xi Jinping, is not to be messed around with.

DEAN: He's - no, he said - he's - he's - he's pushing ahead.

WOOD: He said, I will tariff your tariff and then tariff those tariffs too. I'm going to have to get a drug submarine to get some Jordans back into the states.

I - I am one of the few people, though, that in a very wild way, because I saw the video of Trump earlier this week. And, you know, there's rumors that people tipped off some of the traders before the news came out and a lot of Trump's friends made money, which means Trump probably made some money. I hope that Trump get rich off of the tariffs. I hope that Donald Trump makes as much money as he can for his own personal gain off of the tariffs, so that that money can go to the Central Park Five when they win that lawsuit that the federal judge said can continue on this week. We going to touch on that at some point this weekend as well.

DEAN: Listen, we don't leave you with a lack of things to talk about on this show. I mean you have plenty to draw from.

WOOD: Yes. Yes. There's - I mean, we're - we're - we're going all over the place. I mean at one point for sure we're going to get into the tariffs and more - more importantly, how the declanation (ph) of American economics affects the rest of the world. It's not just about U.S. and China when we talk about the tariffs.

DEAN: that's it.

WOOD: Get into a little bit of Central Park Five.

[08:59:59]

And also John Moran (ph) has found a new way to celebrate, that's not a gun, but still violent. And I think it's great. And John Moran need to keep coming up with new ways to tick off