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Confusion over Trump's Tariff Exemptions; Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) is Interviewed about Tariffs; Attack on Shapiro's Residence; Trump to Meet with El Salvador's President; Space Flight with All-Female Crew. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired April 14, 2025 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Provide the maximum fines and penalties against CBS for its journalism, for its report. And he's doing that in a message on his Truth Social app that is directed toward Brendan Carr, the man he chose to run the FCC. So, last week we saw Trump ordering the Justice Department to investigate his critics. Here we see Trump directing the FCC to punish CBS. Last week Brendan Carr, the FCC chairman, was seen wearing a gold pin with Trump's head, the likeness of Trump's head, on his lapel. So, we will see what Carr does.

I did text Carr asking if he has any comment, and he hasn't responded.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, I was going to ask, any response from Carr quite yet. We will stand by to stand by because you'll bring that to us.

Thank you so much, Brian. I really appreciate it. It's great to see you.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: And we are standing by for the opening bell on Wall Street after President Trump slapped tariffs on electronics, like smartphones, only to pull them back, only to say he is imposing them once again. Nate Silver observes, it undercuts your negotiating position when you negotiate against yourself.

We've got new details on the suspect charged in the arson attack on the home of the Pennsylvania governor. He told police he would have hit the governor with a hammer.

And Katy Perry, are you ready for liftoff? You better be. You're about to be part of a very short but very publicized trip to space.

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

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: We are less than 30 minutes and counting now until the opening bell. The U.S. stock futures are looking up after the stock market lost about $1 trillion last week. $5 trillion, that is. The mixed messages from the Trump administration, not helping. On

Friday, they carved out tariff exemptions for in-demand consumer electronics, like smartphones and computers. But overnight, the president signaled that reprieve is only temporary and that new tariffs are coming on the semiconductor industry.

Adding to all the uncertainty, the president said last week that new tariffs are also on the way for pharmaceuticals. Economists warn that could hike prescription prices and make shortages on some drugs even worse.

CNN's Alayna Treene is joining us now from the White House.

You got some new reaction from Trump's team on how this is all supposed to work. Give us the details.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: That's right. And I do think, Sara, that this is going to be just another week of economic uncertainty because it does seem like that reprieve that we kind of saw come out Friday night when the White House released what they called a, quote, "clarification of exemptions," which revealed that consumer electronics would not be included in some of those targeted tariffs on Beijing. Now they're saying that actually those exemptions are going to be pushed into a new bucket when he announced his new semiconductor tariffs that he said he's going to be announcing in the coming days.

All to say, there's a lot of confusion around this. We saw that this weekend, that it's unclear exactly who is going to be covered in these new tariffs and what that means, particularly for consumer electronics and whatnot.

Now, I had an opportunity to catch up with one of the president's top economic advisers this morning, his director of the national economic council, Kevin Hassett. I asked him specifically, are there going to be new exemptions in these new semiconductor tariffs that are still yet to be announced? And particularly, could that include something like exemptions for iPhones? Listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN HASSETT, WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL DIRECTOR: In the 232 action the courts upheld over and over the U.S.' right to protect America by putting tariffs on things that affect national security. And so there isn't any change in anything. It's just a question of, when you say, is this affecting national security or not, that there are experts, legal officials and technical experts that decide what is and what isn't. And that's a process that happens a little bit over time when these actions are announced. But, in the end, it's not a question of exemption or not, but covered or not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: So what he was saying at the end there is that it's not a question of exemptions, whether it's covered. And what he meant by that was, is it covered in what they're going to be looking at, which is national security. Things that they believe are key to the United States' national security. Those are things that may be tariffed if those goods are coming to the United States.

But I'll just say, I think that was a confusing answer. I think a lot of the answers we've been hearing from the White Houses' top economic officials on this have been kind of muddying the waters. And as we know, a lot of this uncertainty only adds to more volatility in the markets.

Just one other quick thing I want to mention as well is that when President Donald Trump was taking questions about this on Air Force One last night, he brought up specifically that he wants to be flexible, particularly flexible on certain different consumer items. That's kind of where this iPhone question comes in, would exemptions be like included for things like iPhones? All to say, still very much unclear, but we should be getting an announcement, according to President Donald Trump, in the coming days regarding these new tariffs.

Sara.

[09:05:04]

SIDNER: Yes, that was as clear as mud, Alayna Treene, as you pointed out.

Thank you so much. Appreciate it.

John.

BERMAN: All right, with us now is Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, a Democrat from Illinois.

Thank you so much for being with us, Congressman.

REP. RAJA KRISHNAMOORTHI (D-IL): Good morning.

BERMAN: How do you feel about tariffs on things like cell phones and semiconductors? Do you support those tariffs or are you opposed to those tariffs?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: I don't like blanket tariffs at this point. I think it's creating tremendous chaos and confusion. You know, people are actively calling my office, whether they're small business people who are saying that their inputs are going up and their orders are drying up and they're thinking about layoffs, to just average consumers who are saying their prices are going up and, you know, their stock market retirement savings and college savings are plummeting. And basically what we're seeing is blanket tariffs are taxes on hardworking people to fund tax cuts for the wealthiest. And that's really bothering people a lot.

BERMAN: So, you oppose blanket tariffs. I'm asking you specifically on the tariffs that might be imposed on cell phones and semiconductors, or might have been lifted on smartphones and semiconductors, or might be back on. Are you supportive of tariffs on those items? KRISHNAMOORTHI: I think certain tariffs on Chinese products where there's dumping, where there's economic aggression might make sense. But kind of blanket tariffs on all products, regardless of whether there's any economic aggression that's shown or any kind of behavioral change that we seek to make in other countries doesn't make any sense.

And then the exemptions don't make sense as well because, you know, we're hearing talk of Tim Cook and Apple making donations to the president's inauguration fund, and that might have helped to spur some of these exemptions. We're hearing of Jensen Huang of Nvidia attending a $1 million a plate fundraiser. And now there might be export controls relaxed on Nvidia chips sold to China. That doesn't make sense either.

BERMAN: As we sit here this morning, and it's 9:06 a.m. Eastern Time, 8:06 Central Time where you are, can you explain what the president's tariff plan is exactly? If I said, tell me in 15 seconds or less what the tariff plan is, what would you say?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: I have no idea, except that it appears that it - or it's basically meant to extract revenue in the form of taxes on hardworking families to fund tax cuts for the wealthiest at this point. And that's really what's going on. And I think that that is the subtext to kind of this chaos and confusion in the president's tariff policy.

BERMAN: And you said before, you said there are some tariffs you could support. Can you be specific? Because, again, you're part of the select committee that deals with China. What tariffs on China do you support?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Sure. For instance, the Biden administration put tariffs on glass, paper, steel, aluminum, electric vehicles, solar panels, products where there is economic aggression being practiced. In other words, dumping, for instance, dumping of products on American markets at prices that are actually lower than the cost of production. And they're intended to basically wipe out their American competition and then allow Chinese producers to monopolize the market. And so, in those situations, it makes eminent sense to level the playing field through strategic tariffs.

But tariffs on everything, from sneakers, to iPhones to, you know, consumables doesn't make any sense. It just hikes prices. And then it leads to the conclusion that really what the president is doing is he's trying to put a tax, he's trying to extract revenue from Americans to fund these tax cuts.

BERMAN: I picked up "The Wall Street Journal," as I do every morning, but particularly the last few weeks with everything that's been going on in tariffs. And one of their lead stories is, I have it circled right here, it says "spurned U.S. allies sit out trade war."

And what it talks about is that the U.S. now says it's trying to isolate China. With all the tariffs right now it's increased the tariffs on China, even as it's pulled back on some of the reciprocal tariffs, all of them almost, against other countries. But some traditional U.S. allies that the U.S. would want to join in against China are saying, ah, maybe not right now. What are you seeing on that front?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Of course not.

BERMAN: And where are your concerns?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Of course not.

BERMAN: Go ahead.

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Yes, they're not going to - they're not going to join in with us right now after we just levied tremendous tariffs on, you know, friends, partners and allies, like Canada and Mexico. And we only said that there's a 90 day pause.

[09:10:02]

It's not as though we said we're going to pull back and negotiate at the bargaining table a final agreement.

And so, of course, they are going to sit out our efforts to isolate China, which is exactly the opposite of what we want. We want our friends, partners and allies to join in with us, to then basically exert pressure on China to follow the international rules of the road with regard to trade and not practice the aggressive economic steps that they're taking to monopolize markets.

BERMAN: All right, Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi from Illinois, we appreciate your time this morning. Thanks so much for being with us.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: So, a man has been arrested and charged for setting fire to the home of Pennsylvania's governor. The governor and his family were inside at the time. And there's new detail this morning about what the suspect told police about the attack.

And the White House is now fighting a judge's order to return the man they mistakenly deported to El Salvador, fighting the order to bring him home in a whole new way today.

And is Meta a monopoly? Mark Zuckerberg and his social media company facing a massive antitrust lawsuit. And it's all kicking off in court today.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:15:18]

BOLDUAN: CNN has new reporting today about the man arrested and charged for the arson attack at the Pennsylvania governor's residence. Thirty-eight-year-old Cody Balmer was picked up Sunday, and the governor, Josh Shapiro, he was at the residence with his family when the fire broke out. It all happened right after the family was celebrating Passover. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. JOSH SHAPIRO (D-PA): 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)

BOLDUAN: CNN's Danny Freeman is in Pennsylvania now with much more on - there's - and there's a lot new coming out this morning. What's the very latest you're picking up, Danny?

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Kate, we have a lot of new details about exactly what happened behind me over the course of the weekend. And all of these new details really are disturbing.

Overnight, Kate, we got new court documents which lay out what police think happened when they say 38 year old Cody Balmer came and lit fire to the governor's residence behind me. Police say that on Saturday night, as you noted, while the governor and his family and some other guests were sleeping at the residence, Cody Balmer jumped over a side fence here with a backpack carrying bottles of - beer bottles, I should say, filled with gasoline.

He then went to this building right here behind me. He broke one of the windows and threw what essentially became a Molotov cocktail into the residence. He then broke a second window, Kate, jumped through that window and threw another Molotov cocktail towards the dining room. This is, again, according to court documents.

And Governor Shapiro noted that in that dining room, just earlier on Saturday evening, before all this happened, he was hosting a Passover seder on the first night of the Jewish holiday of Passover.

Now, Balmer then kicked open a door and escaped back over the same side fence that he came through. And this is what was a remarkable turn of events. Kate. Later on, on Sunday, police then received a call from an ex-lover of this man, Balmer, saying that he was the one who came in there and lit fire to the governor's mansion. And then shortly after that, Balmer actually showed up at the Pennsylvania State Police headquarters - it's a massive building not too far from where we are - and turned himself in.

At that point, police say that he confessed to all of it, including, and perhaps the most chilling part of these court documents and the testimony that he gave to police in this interrogation was that if he had found Governor Shapiro, Balmer would have, quote, "beaten him with his hammer."

Take a listen to how Governor Shapiro was processing everything that happened just yesterday at a press conference.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. JOSH SHAPIRO (D-PA): This kind of violence is becoming far too common in our society. And I don't give a damn if it's coming from one particular side or the other, directed at one particular party or another, or one particular person or another. It is not OK.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: And now, Kate, when it comes to motive for this attack, it actually seems that Balmer wasn't even aware if Governor Shapiro was at the residence on Saturday night or not. That's according to police. All that was said in those court documents is that Balmer harbored hatred towards the governor. That, thankfully, no one was hurt in this horrific incident, though the building took significant damage. The next thing that's coming up in this case, Kate, is there will be a preliminary hearing at some time for Balmer.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Danny, thank you very much. I mean the pictures of what - of how much damage was done in those rooms is really, really, really, really sad.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, thank you, Kate.

Shortly, President Trump will welcome the president of El Salvador to the White House. This meeting comes as a wrongly deported man's freedom hangs in the balance in El Salvador's notorious mega prison. The Trump administration admits they made a mistake deporting the man, but they insist they are not required to bring him back to the U.S., despite the Supreme Court saying the White House must facilitate his return.

CNN's Priscilla Alvarez is tracking all of this at this time.

What can you tell us the latest is and, obviously, the timing of all this is crucial.

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sara, really, this is remarkable timing because this meeting between the two presidents is happening against the backdrop of this legal battle, which includes the sending of migrants, including Kilmar Abrego Garcia, to El Salvador, to that country's notorious mega prison.

Now, the stand - or the argument by the Trump administration has been that even though they made an administrative error here, that they cannot be required to work with Salvadoran officials to retrieve Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national who, in 2019, was granted by an immigration judge what's called withholding from - of removal. Which is to say, he could not be deported to El Salvador over fear of persecution.

[09:20:20]

Now, the administration has acknowledged that the Supreme Court says there may be a facilitating that needs to happen, but they're reading that through the lens of the domestic - anything on the domestic end would be what they can - what they can do, not on foreign policy.

In fact, this is how Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem talked about it this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRISTI NOEM, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: What the Supreme Court said here in this decision was a very clear message to other judges across this country is that stop acting like you have the authority to dictate foreign policy and national security decisions that the president is making to protect its citizens. So, this was just one of those examples of an individual that, you know, was an MS-13 gang member. Trafficking in his background. Was found with other MS-13 gang members. A very dangerous person.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALVAREZ: Now, we have asked for evidence of what the secretary is talking about there with his ties to MS-13, but have not received anything to that effect as of now.

But, Sara, I will note that in talking to sources about this meeting between President Trump and Nayib Bukele, the president of El Salvador, this is a key ally for the administration and has been since before the president came into office. It was talked about heading into Inauguration Day because they really see El Salvador as the blueprint in many ways for what they can accomplish in the Americas and a country that they can lean on for executing on their deportation agenda.

Now, the White House has said this is a conversation between two presidents that will include talking about the notorious mega prison CECOT in El Salvador. So, we'll see what more comes out of this conversation. And if Abrego Garcia's case does come up.

But again, Sara, just remarkable timing given everything that is happening in this case and the El Salvadoran president here in Washington today.

SIDNER: Yes, begs the question whether the president couldn't just ask the Salvadoran president to return the person mistakenly sent there by the United States.

We will wait and see. I know you'll be watching all the details. Thank you so much. Priscilla Alvarez there for us in Washington.

John.

BERMAN: All right, this morning, a Tufts student speaks out for the first time about the conditions she has experienced in an ICE detention center. And there are new reports on what evidence the government says it did not have before it detained her.

And we are just a few minutes away from the opening bell on Wall Street. You can see futures pointing up even as there is new uncertainty as to what tariffs the president is imposing and not.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:27:12]

BOLDUAN: We are now just minutes away from the launch of Blue Origin's all female space flight mission. The six-person crew includes a whole host of big names and celebrities. Pop star Katy Perry, journalist Gayle King, two scientists and a filmmaker to boot, all led by Lauren Sanchez, the fiance of Blue Origin's owner, Jeff Bezos. The rocket is preparing to lift off any moment from west Texas. We will continue to show you that.

Let's start with going to CNN's Ed Lavandera, who's standing by live near that launch site in west Texas.

Ed, what are you hearing about the launch?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this seems like - more like a west Texas desert spectacle party than anything else. You have Oprah's here, Kris Jenner and Khloe Kardashian. This is just, you know, part of the - the festivities, if you will, here as this star-studded crew begins the process of taking off here shortly. And as you mentioned, this is an event that has happened ten times before with human flights, but it's the first time that it is an all-female crew aboard the Blue Origin rocket and new - New Shepard rocket system.

And just to kind of walk you through what's going to happen here over the course of the next few minutes is that, this rocket, once it launches, will take the capsule up into the sky. They will go about two to three minutes, and then the capsule will separate from the rocket booster and then continue pushing onward into a suborbital level of space.

They're going to be about 62 to 68 miles above the earth's surface. And then for several minutes while they're there, they will experience weightlessness. And then after that, they will begin the process of descending back to earth. And that capsule will land not too far away from where it took off just minutes before, Kate. The entire process will last about 10 to 11 minutes.

SIDNER: All right, thank you so much, Ed Lavandera, for the west Texas party. I want to also bring in former NASA astronaut Leland Melvin, who is in the - jumping into the conversation. It looks like the Blue Origin is now separating or slowly moving. Everybody is inside of the capsule I think by now.

So, Ed was just talking about what they're going to experience. Can you give us some sense of the danger of all this? Because while it is not going to be orbiting the earth or going to the Space Station, there - there is some danger here, is there not?

LELAND MELVIN, FORMER NASA ASTRONAUT: Well, there's always danger, Kate. And thank you for having me on. When you're having rocket fuel lifting something off the ground, and you're off the ground and you're coming back down. So, parachutes, rocket fuel.

But, you know, Blue Origin has done this ten times, as Ed said. And, you know, this is an autonomous flight. There's no one pushing buttons or doing anything inside. And it's a very safe vehicle.

[09:30:00]

And so I think, you know, the worry that Gayle has, you know, anyone should have worry when they go to space or something. But I think it's probably a very safe flight.