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Attack on Pennsylvania Governor Shapiro's Residence While Family Slept; Trump Warns Tariffs on Smartphones, Electronics Coming Soon; Wall Street Braces for More Tariff News After Volatile Week; Interview with Rep. Steven Horsford (D-NV): Dems Call for insider Trading Probe Over Trump's Tariff Pause. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired April 14, 2025 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

SABRINA SINGH, FORMER DEPUTY PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: I think this administration is continuing to play into Russian hands, allowing Russian propaganda to seep into their talking points. And at the end of the day, that's why you're seeing such an outcry from Europe and allies all around the world of saying, hey, we're going to continue to support Ukraine no matter what. I just hope that this administration does the same as well.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, we saw this administration having a battle with the Ukrainian president saying they don't hold the cards. And the question is, does Russia hold the cards? We will have to wait and see.

Sabrina Singh, thank you so much.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Just learned new details on that arson attack at the home of Pennsylvania's governor. What the suspect told police he would have done if he had come face to face with the governor.

And we're also standing by for the opening bell to see the very latest, what it's going to look like. Futures are up right now. But what is this tariff whiplash going to look like and how they're going to affect markets today?

President Trump is now warning more tariffs are coming that will hit smartphones, laptops and all sorts of electronics.

And a teenager allegedly killed his parents as part of a plot to assassinate President Trump. What the text messages investigators found on his phone reveal.

I'm Kate Bolduan with John Berman and Sara Sidner. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, happening now. We are getting new details about the arson attack on the residence of the governor of Pennsylvania. This happened while the governor and his family were sleeping inside. The suspect, Cody Ballmer of Harrisburg, was arrested. Governor Shapiro said the arson occurred hours after his family hosted a Seder for the first night of Passover.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. JOSH SHAPIRO, (D) PENNSYLVANIA: Hear me on this. We celebrated our faith last night proudly. And in a few hours, we will celebrate our second Seder of Passover again proudly.

No one will deter me or my family or any Pennsylvanian from celebrating their faith openly and proudly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: All right, with us now is CNN's Jean Casarez. And Jean, this morning, we're also getting new details about what this suspect says his plans were.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We've got a lot of information. First of all, we do have the official complaint right now, and it is eight counts, the top counts being criminal homicide. In other words, attempted homicide, attempted murder, and then aggravated arson, also burglary of a dwelling with occupants inside, recklessly endangering people's lives, terrorism to the conduct of government, and several counts of aggravated assault.

Now, before that complaint went out, shortly after it happened, the governor stepped forward to give his impression, his sense, his thoughts. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHAPIRO: We do know that this attack was targeted. We don't know the person's specific motive yet, but we do know a few truths. First, this type of violence is not OK.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: All right, after this happened, hours after that, a female friend of Cody Bombers called police, said he wants to turn himself in, he wants to confess. So he did, he was given his Miranda rights, but we've got a lot of information.

He said that he walked about a mile to the governor's mansion. He jumped over the fence. He had homemade incendiary devices, gasoline and Heineken beer bottles that he got from the lawnmower. He takes his hammer, bashes in the first window.

We know from police it was the piano room. He throws the first device in, it explodes. Then he goes to a second window. Police say that was the dining room. Took the hammer, bashed in the hammer to the glass. He went in the mansion, then he set off the incendiary device.

Don't know how long he was there, but then he finally kicked the dining room door and he got himself outside. Police said they were able to really route him because of the video cameras that were inside. But he was asked the question, what would you have done if the governor had come in? Did you know people were sleeping there, that they were there? He said, yes, I was aware of that. It's an important fact.

But he said that if the governor had approached him, he would have taken that hammer he already had on him and he would start hitting him. And back at the house, when they did the search of his home, they found a sledgehammer, John.

BERMAN: Again, and the reason the knowledge of the people being there is important has to do with some of the charges.

CASAREZ: Absolutely. His state of mind, the intent, right. Intent to kill, attempted arson with people inside. That's an aggravating factor. That's why it's aggravated arson.

[08:05:00]

So these are very important facts that they gleaned from him.

Now he'll have representation. We'll see where it will go at this point. This is what he said. Will an attorney change that? Turn that around and there'll be another situation in court.

BERMAN: And we'll see. Right now what we see is really extensive damage inside.

CASAREZ: History.

BERMAN: Really, all up in flames.

CASAREZ: History in that room.

BERMAN: All right, Jean Casarez, thank you so much for that report -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Mixed messages and market whiplash after the Trump administration carved out exemptions from the president's reciprocal tariffs on some consumer electronics like smartphones and computers. The president overnight is now signaling that reprieve is only temporary and new tariffs are coming on the whole semiconductor industry.

Even with the confusion, though, U.S. stock futures, they are looking up this morning ahead of opening bell next hour.

Also injecting some new uncertainty into the mix. The president last week indicated that new tariffs are also coming on pharmaceuticals, and economists have warned that a move like that could hike the cost of prescription drugs for patients and worsen the already already bad drug shortages as key drug components that that are needed in meds in the United States come from both China and India.

This morning, a new look at how Americans are feeling about this trade war. Fifty eight percent of Americans say they oppose the new tariffs in a new CBS News YouGov poll. CNN's Zain Asher here with me now to look at where things are headed

this morning. Let's start with what we have right now, which is where stock futures are in this moment.

ZAIN ASHER, CNN ANCHOR AND BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Listen, you would be forgiven for wondering why on earth all of the uncertainty that we saw this weekend, markets or futures rather, are high at this point in time. On the one hand, a few days ago, Donald Trump essentially saying that there would be exemptions, then saying, oh, these exemptions are temporary, then saying, oh, actually, there's going to be another investigation on semiconductors and the entire electronic supply chain. And there's going to be new tariffs on that.

Markets are higher and I should say optimistic for a couple of reasons. And this is kind of confusing and I don't want to confuse the audience --

BOLDUAN: But here we go.

ASHER: But here we go.

There's a couple of reasons why markets or futures are higher right now. Number one, the hope is that whatever ends up happening with this investigation into semiconductors, the end result when it comes to tariffs is not going to be anywhere close to the 145 percent that we saw last week. So investing --

BOLDUAN: When your bar is at a million. Anything short of that (CROSSTALK).

ASHER: Kate, the bar is so low right now. Second of all, even though the exemptions are temporary, they are technically at this point in time still in place.

But also when it comes to semiconductors and the investigation, that's not something that can happen overnight. You're talking about national security. You're talking about Section 232.

This is a formal investigation that is led by the Commerce Department. It takes months. So the hope is that at least for now, tech companies get some reprieve.

And the hope also, I should say, is that at the end of that reprieve, they are hoping and they are crossing their fingers. There's going to be some kind of deal with China and a de-escalation.

BOLDUAN: So they can continue to hope. That everyone they continue to hop. What does this mean for U.S. consumers?

ASHER: Right, so there is a sliver of good news here for U.S. consumers, and that is because of the reprieve, a little bit of breathing room, I mentioned. It means that tech companies can essentially now plan and decide, OK, at the end of this reprieve, how much are we actually going to pass on to consumers versus how much are we actually going to absorb ourselves? When you think about what this means in terms of the worst case scenario, I actually spoke to one analyst yesterday. If you can pull up his quote -- Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities, he said, listen, if the 145 percent tariff from China's comes into play at the end of all of this, right, once inventories are down by companies like Apple, for example, Apple will literally have no choice but to start charging at least, at least $2000 for the iPhone. This is the worst case scenario.

And that's because, by the way, they don't have a plan B. It's not as if Apple can say, well, listen, we're talking about 145 percent tariffs on China. We can just build the iPhone in Wisconsin.

BOLDUAN: Right.

ASHER: There's no situational scenario where that could possibly happen at this point in time. In terms of what consumers are feeling, though, I mean, despite all of this, we're still seeing consumers rushing out to go and buy iPhones, to go and buy electronics in anticipation that there is going to be higher prices.

And so, yes, there's just so much fear. We had consumer sentiment data on Friday and lowest level -- second lowest levels, I should say, since 1952, which tells you people's head is at right now.

BOLDUAN: So, you talk a lot. Zain is always, rainbows and sunshine. That's why we still love you.

SIDNER: The fact that you guys can still laugh about it.

ASHER: I know.,

BOLDUAN: Because she is so fun, even when she is doing doom and gloom combined.

SIDNER: Thank you to you both.

Join me now is Jared Bernstein, the former chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers. Thank you so much for being here.

I want to start with this. I want you to listen to three Trump administration officials sharing Trump's message with America.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[08:10:00]

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The president was asked to answer this yesterday. He said he's not considering an extension or delay.

LEAVITT: There will be a 90 day pause on the reciprocal tariffs as these negotiations are ongoing.

PETER NAVARRO, TRUMP SENIOR COUNSELOR FOR TRADE AND MANUFACTURING: This is not a negotiation. This was done in a beautiful negotiation.

HOWARD LUTNICK, COMMERCE SECRETARY: The president is not going to back off. Negotiating is talking. No talking.

Donald Trump is the best negotiator that there is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: So what is Wall Street supposed to do with these insanely obvious contradictions?

JARED BERNSTEIN, FORMER CHAIR, WHITE HOUSE COUNCIL OF ECONOMIC ADVISERS: Yes, that's a very important sequence you just played and I'm glad you played it for myself and our viewers, but the White House really needs to watch that. You know, I've worked in White Houses before and if you don't speak in one voice, what you do is you confuse everyone and everyone is utterly confused. And when I say everyone, I mean consumers, I mean businesses, I mean producers, nobody knows what to think and that kind of uncertainty isn't just discomforting psychologically, it's really bad for economies.

Investors sit on their hands, consumers don't know what to do going forward and of course, markets have been just on a whiplash. Today, as you see, we've got the futures up and that's based on this idea that these electronic carve-outs with China might take place but now we're hearing contradictory news so nobody knows what to think and that's bad messaging but even more importantly, it's terrible economics.

SIDNER: We've heard from Moody's and others who analyze the markets and what is going to happen with the economy and they have said that the chances of a recession are growing, do you agree?

BERNSTEIN: I do, I do. I think every economist I've spoken to, basically who isn't paid to believe otherwise, believes that and it's intimately related to what we were just talking about. I have heard business folks say, I was planning to build a new warehouse to expand, now I'm sitting on my hands.

I have heard businesses say, my main import, my supply chain is completely dependent on China and a 145 percent tariff is confiscatory, that shuts down my supply, I don't know what to do. I could start laying people off, we haven't seen layoffs yet by the way but that is very much an increasingly potential scenario.

SIDNER: Yes, that's when Wall Street and Main Street collide. If you were advising President Trump, what would you tell him to do now? Is it too late to stop things from sort of tumbling or is there hope that this could change very quickly?

BERNSTEIN: It's too late in one sense and not too late in another sense. In the sense that it's not too late, we see these market whiplashes occurring, including today when they think there's a sliver of good news or the way I would put it, a sliver of reality breaking into the really unreality fortress that they've built for themselves over there. So if Trump -- if my advice to the president would be to go out there and declare victory because that's what he does, I won the trade war, it's over.

Markets would recover, a lot of uncertainty would dissipate and that would be a positive for the economy. I'd probably see some recession probabilities start to come down but here's where some real long-term damage has been done. It's in the bond market and it's one of the reasons Trump blinked last week.

America's safe haven status for global investors that this is the safest, most risk-free place to invest, America's reputation as a reliable trading partner, those have been damaged and that's not going to be corrected. In fact, based on that first sequence you played, the uncertainty coming out of the White House, the contradictions, that won't be easy to fix. I'm afraid that they've done years of damage in less than three months in that regard.

SIDNER: Yes, the bond market spooked to everyone that's paying attention. Jared Bernstein, thank you so much for that analysis. It was great this morning -- John.

BERMAN: All right, this morning, a teenager is behind bars charged with murdering both of his parents. How this was connected to an alleged plot to assassinate the president.

The White House defying a ruling from a federal judge to help return a man who was wrongfully deported.

And after President Trump's major retreat on tariffs that led to a huge boom in stocks and questions about who made money that day, a new push to crack down on members of Congress trading stocks.

[08:15:00]

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BOLDUAN: This morning, U.S. stock futures all pointing up right now, after the Trump administration carved out exemptions for some electronics from the president's tariff plan. But the ongoing whiplash and uncertainty could very soon have a real downward effect. Look no further than Chief Economist at Moody's Analytics, Mark Zandi, speaking to John last hour.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK ZANDI, CHIEF ECONOMIST, MOODY'S ANALYTICS: Uncertainty is very thick, and as long as it continues, it's going to be a heavy weight on the economy, and another couple, three, four more weeks of this, and I think we'll be in recession.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: All of this comes as there has been a growing number of Democrats calling for an investigation into President Trump over possible insider trading, this having to do with the president's moves last week.

You'll remember this social media post. It was 9:37 Wednesday morning, minutes after markets opened, and he posted on social media, this is a great time to buy.

[08:20:00]

That post was just hours before Trump then announced the 90-day pause on most of his targeted tariffs, and the markets Wednesday soared following that announcement. And that's left some questioning who could have won big on that wild day.

One lawmaker behind this push for an investigation is Democratic Congressman Steven Horsford of Nevada. He joins me now. Congressman, thank you for coming in. I want to get to that in a second.

I just want to start first with where things stand with tariffs today. Do you think it's a good thing, no matter how temporary or brief the exemption is, that the Trump team is pausing on tariffs on some electronics, like smartphones and computers and other electronics?

REP. STEVEN HORSFORD (D-NV): Well, where things are today is that instead of creating and expanding economic opportunity, Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress are causing economic uncertainty. Consumer confidence is at a 50-year low. Unemployment is on the rise.

They promised to lower costs on day one. Sadly, those costs are going up. And, you know, when I talk to small businesses in my district, as I did this weekend, they are concerned that they're going to even be able to hold -- whether they'll even be able to hold on. That is the state of these tariffs.

Now, look, Donald Trump's go-it-alone strategy is what caused us to be in this place to begin with. Had he worked with Congress in a bipartisan way, we could have used tariffs as a tool.

But he doesn't want that. He wants to create chaos, and that is exactly what we have right now.

BOLDUAN: You had top officials in the administration, like the Commerce Secretary and others, pushing back against statements kind of across the board of how damaging their inconsistent and confusing rollout has been. They were out this weekend doing it once again, saying that there's nothing confusing about it. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NAVARRO: So the policy is no exemptions, no exclusions. The policy is in effect.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But there were exclusions.

NAVARRO: There were not exclusions.

LUTNICK: They're exempt from the reciprocal tariffs, but they're included in the semiconductor tariffs, which are coming in probably a month or two.

So these are coming soon. You shouldn't think this is really outside of it.

JAMIESON GREER, U.S. TRADE REPRESENTATIVE: What happened is -- it's not really an exception. That's not even the right word for it. What happened is this type of supply chain moved from the tariff regime for the global tariff, the reciprocal tariff, and it moved to the national security tariff regime.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: David Irvin was on with me earlier, and he said, this is tough stuff to explain, so conveying the complexity of it can be messy. That's what he says he's saying.

What do you say to the administration's explanations from this weekend?

HORSFORD: Well, I would tell them to talk to the small businesses and the workers in Las Vegas who are concerned, one, about the supply chain, like the small businesses that I talked to who are concerned about things like aluminum, lumber coming into the country, as well as workers in the hospitality economy who are concerned about tourism that's being affected. This administration chose this, to be clear. This was a choice.

Tariffs can be used as a tool, but unfortunately, that is not the approach that this administration has taken. Unfortunately, now China is emboldened. Donald Trump looks weak.

And we, as the American people, are paying the price because ultimately tariffs are taxes that Americans will pay, not some foreign government, but the American people and small businesses.

BOLDUAN: On the possible insider trading and market manipulation, you are one of the people who have been calling for an investigation into the president and those around him. Where do you see evidence to warrant an investigation? Do you think there will be one?

HORSFORD: Well, to be clear, market manipulation is fraud. It is a felony. And when you look at the facts, and that is why I am joining with my colleague, Representative Terry Sewell, who is the ranking member of the Oversight Committee for Ways and Means, along with 131 House Democrats, calling for a full investigation.

An investigation that wants to look at how Donald Trump tanked the market with tariffs, then spiked it with the pause, but only after he gave notice to his billionaire friends. And the proof is there, $300 billion of additional increases for billionaires and their investments, while Americans whose retirements, whose health savings accounts were put at risk.

[08:25:03]

That is why we are calling for a full investigation. And those who were involved should be held responsible.

BOLDUAN: Congressman, thanks so much for your time -- John.

BERMAN: All right. New this morning, a Wisconsin teenager was arrested and charged in the shooting deaths of his parents. And now investigators say this was all part of a plot against the president.

Let's get to see it as Whitney Wild for the latest on this. Whitney, what are you learning this morning?

WHITNEY WILD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is a case that has been unraveling for almost two months. Police say this started February 11th when they say 17-year-old Nikita Casap shot and killed his mother and stepfather. They were not found until February 28th when police conducted this welfare check.

And when they went there, they found their two dead bodies. And they say that they found that the SUV belonging to Casap's stepfather was stolen. So they put out basically a be on the lookout alert nationwide.

And Casap was stopped in Kansas. When police stopped him, what they found was what they say is a wealth of information, John. They say that they found information related to the Order of the Nine Angels. This is a neo-Nazi group. They also found information on his phone suggesting there was a manifesto, John. And as you point out, this was all geared toward this planned assassination of the president.

He had also planned to at some point flee to Ukraine. And in that vehicle where they stopped him, John, they found $14,000. They found jewelry.

And the plot here was to gain financial autonomy so that he could conduct this presidential assassination plot. John, he is now facing nine felony counts. And he is in custody in Wisconsin.

Back to you.

BERMAN: A lot of twisted information there. Whitney Wild with the very latest on this. Thanks so much for sharing your reporting -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right. A brand new poll on Donald Trump's handling of the economy shows -- we'll give you an idea coming up.

We'll run the numbers on how Americans view the economy as the tariff wars rage on with Mr. Harry Enten.

And the president of El Salvador, the self-described, quote, world's coolest dictator, is headed to the White House as he solidifies his place as one of President Trump's closest political allies in the world. We'll have those stories and more ahead.

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[08:30:00]