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Opening Statements Today In Karen Read Case; IMF Slashes U.S., Global Growth Forecast In The Wake Of Trump Tariffs; Calls Grow For Primaries On Incumbent Democrats As Midterms Loom; Pope Francis' Funeral To Be Held Saturday. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired April 22, 2025 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00]

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: But they're looking at some preliminary pretrial motions, last minute decisions on those things. But this case has such divergent facts because the Commonwealth is saying after a night of drinking in 2022 with John O'Keefe, Boston police officer, and Karen Reed, they were at the local hangouts there in Dedham, Massachusetts, Canton, Massachusetts, they went to an after party but she lets him out of the car to go inside of the house where the after party is taking place with his friends, police officers, their wives, even their kids were there.

And she, according to Commonwealth, put the car in reverse after he got out, went backwards 60 feet according to the Black Box Intelligence and hit him. And then he was left out in the cold and he died. And he was found at 6:00 a.m. the next morning.

The defense is saying no, he went into that house and there was a fight. Something happened and a fight broke out and they killed him and a dog named Chloe finished him off with the bites on with the laceration on his arms and they threw him outside.

And then there was the cover up and they had one person to blame and it was Karen Read. And that's where this support is based off. But you know what the judge said during jury selection, I have to tell you this, as each panel came in, she said so many people have very strong opinions one way or the other, but they don't know the evidence. And that's the key here. You've got to look at the evidence.

And I really want to look at this evidence every day of this trial because the devil's going to be in the details of the evidence.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: We'll have you here. We'll be talking about it every day when this takes place. Jean Casarez is great to see you. Thank you very much.

CASAREZ: Thank you.

BERMAN: Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, breaking news just moments ago. Opening bell on Wall Street -- ringing on Wall -- the opening bell ringing on Wall Street as the IMF also issue a new warning today, slashing both the U.S. and global growth forecasts that it puts out, all of it pointing to Donald Trump's trade war. Back with us right now is Zane Asher for a look at this. So markets though starting up.

ZANE ASHER, CN ANCHOR AND BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Rallying up about 400 points. Also one of the things I think is important to note is that it is common right after a sell off like we saw yesterday.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

ASHER: The markets to go a little bit higher, investors seeing it as a buying opportunity. But make no mistake, Kate, we are certainly in a season of major, major volatility. You think about all the market mayhem we've seen over the past few weeks and all the sort of crisis of confidence we've seen in the past few weeks as well, this is really the last thing. This sort of feud between Trump and Jerome Powell is really the last thing that markets needed.

One of the things that I think is really important to note is that the Fed's independence is sacrosanct. Right. It is a Cornerstone of the U.S. Economy. And I think it's also important to know that Jerome Powell is somebody who is really respected. Right. We used to talk about the soft landing. He famously pulled off the soft landing, this idea that you could somehow raise interest rates to combat inflation while at the same time avoiding a recession. That's not easy to do. That obviously takes a lot of skill.

And so the possibility of even trying to get rid of Jerome Powell, I mean, it would cause so many problems for the market. One of the other things that I want to mention is that we tend to focus on stocks, right, because stocks are sexier. But of course, it's really the bond market that is running the show.

The bond market, I like to say, is sort of like the quiet kid in the back of the class who doesn't say much, but really is in charge of pretty much everything, really running everything back here. And you're seeing a situation right now where stocks are volatile, bond market yields in the bond market are rising, prices are falling, the dollar also losing.

BOLDUAN: Right. So the safe -- the safe havens are not feeling very safe for people.

ASHER: There's only one game in town when it comes to safe haven, and that is gold. Let's look at where gold is. I mean, this is a record high. This is really the only safe haven. And even though technically it's good news for this asset, the fact that people are fleeing to gold in the first place tells you that there's just not much faith, not much confidence in the rest of the other asset classes here in the US. So a lot of people, again, as we've seen, really worried about the prospects of a recession with so much uncertainty.

BOLDUAN: Well, all of this does seem to point to the -- that few people believe that the President and the negotiations that are going on right now with trade partners are either going to bear fruit -- fat bear fruit at all, or bear fruit fast enough to lessen the blow. ASHER: Yes.

BOLDUAN: Seems to be one what the volatility suggests and to what just like there's no safe haven and just the insecurity of it all or points to.

ASHER: Yes, there's positivity just in terms of the headlines like, oh, you know, when negotiating with Japan, we're negotiating with India.

BOLDUAN: Right.

ASHER: We're likely to reach a trade deal. We'll see. But not much news in terms of any concrete evidence. I mean, it takes years, Kate. On a good day, it takes years to negotiate a trade deal. So the idea there's going to be a trade deal overnight with dozens of trading partners really beggars belief here.

BOLDUAN: Yeah. Good to see you.

ASHER: Good to see you.

BOLDUAN: Thank you so much, John.

[09:35:07]

BERMAN: All right. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is vowing to defend Democratic incumbents as younger members of the party push to replace them.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: The top Democrat in the House, Hakeem Jeffries, is pushing back against a new effort by some Democrats who are promising to fund primary challenges against some of their own.

[09:40:04]

Jefferies is responding to DNC Vice Chair David Hogg. And Hogg has announced that he's going to shell out $20 million through his grassroots organization to now back younger, more progressive challengers against long standing Democratic incumbents in safe blue seats. Senior members of the Democratic Party he calls -- who he says are asleep at the wheel. Here's the Democratic leader's response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES, HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: Well, I look forward to standing behind every single Democratic incumbent, from the most progressive to the most centrist, and all points in between. Primaries are a fact of life. But here's the thing. I'm going to really focus on trying to defeat Republican incumbents so we can take back control of the House of Representatives and begin the process of ending this national nightmare that's being visited upon us by far right extremism.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Joining me right now is Saikat Chakrabarti. He's the former chief of staff and campaign manager for Alexander Ocasio Cortez. And he's announced he is running against Nancy Pelosi for her congressional seat in California. It's good to see you, Saikat. Thanks for coming in. How do you respond to Leader Jeffries there?

SAIKAT CHAKRABARTI (D) CALIFORNIA CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: Yes, thanks for having me, Kate. I mean, you know, I think right now, if you look at the Democratic Party, it's about as underwater as it's ever been. You know, I think last time I checked, 9 percent, you know, it's underwater by 9 points amongst Democrats. And there's a real sense of frustration because Democrats lost this last election.

And after that happened, people were really hoping that Democrats would have some sort of soul searching and figure out what went wrong. You know, how do we actually win back, not just fight back against Trump, but what do we do next time? And I haven't seen that. I don't think anyone's seen that. And that's why people are challenging the current leadership. Usually when you lose elections like this, in every other country, we replace the leaders, right? And they talk about having new leaders come up and taking the party in a new direction.

BOLDUAN: Do you like what David Hogg is Planning to do? $20 million to primary older Democrats?

CHAKRABARTI: You know, I don't think it's just about primary older Democrats. I think we need a whole movement that really replaces a big part of the Democratic Party. Because when you look at what Democratic Party stands for right now, you know, we're losing our base amongst working class people and middle class people. And that's happening because of a larger underlying set of circumstances.

You Know, for most people in this country, wages have been stagnating for decades, while the cost of living has just been skyrocketing. And that's why people are voting for bold, sweeping change every chance they get. They did it with Obama, they did it again with Trump. Right.

So what I'd like to see is actually a whole new generation of leaders in the Democratic Party running on a real economic vision to counter what the far right is proposing. And that's the way to defeat them. Not just for one election, but for decades. You know, that's how FDR defeated the far right in the 1930s when that movement was filling Madison Square Garden with rallies.

He proposed a whole new economic vision and transformation that improved people's lives so dramatically that the far right and the authoritarian right was gone for decades and decades in this country.

BOLDUAN: How do you apply lessons learned from your time working with Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez and that and her campaign that some, you know, for people who aren't watching, you know, they thought it came out of nowhere that she -- that she won.

What are the lessons you learned from that you apply now to your race? I mean, you announced very early that you are trying to challenge Nancy Pelosi. Some would argue your hill to climb is even higher than what AOC faced.

CHAKRABARTI: Yes. You know, what I remember seeing in that time was it was similar to this political moment. There was this appetite for change because Trump had just won in 2016. Democrats really frustrated their party for losing that election, and they're looking for some sort of new vision. Right. And it's really hard for new ideas to come up in the party from the same old leaders.

So it really had to be this outside race. AOC came in from the outside primary. Joe Crowley, who was the next in line to be speaker, very powerful Democrat. And it took that for new ideas to get pushed. You know, ideas like we should invest our economy, we should invest industry and, you know, build out high wage industries. Those ideas came because it came from the outside.

But what I see right now is the moment of change we're in right now. It's -- It completely dwarfs what we saw in 2018. The level of frustration, the level of appetite for something new is way higher. So I really think the time is right now for reforming the Democratic Party and also just reforming, you know, turning this back in a party that actually fights for the working class and middle class and does so in a believable way and fights against corruption, because that's going to be a very important thing in this election.

BOLDUAN: And Democratic members of Congress will say that's exactly what they're doing, fighting against corruption. You see what Cory Booker says, that's one of the reasons why he was standing up and did his now record breaking speech on the floor.

[09:45:04]

You know, I know that I have been told by many a sitting Democrat saying that they are fighting for the working class and they need to continue to push that message more. Add to that though, many people, including some Democrats took as one message from this election is that the party has run too far left.

The New York Times Editorial Board last month wrote Democrats should recognize that the party has moved too far left on social issues after Barack Obama left office in 2017. Even today, the party remains too focused on personal identity and on Americans differences by race, gender, sexuality and religion rather than our shared values. Do you see that point?

CHAKRABARTI: Well, first, I do want to push back a little bit on that the Democrats have been fighting against corruption because when the Democrats had power, we didn't manage to ban members of Congress from trading and owning stock, an issue that's incredibly popular. 87 percent of Republicans want members of Congress to ban owning and trading stock. And they could right now do something that called the discharge petition to try to force a floor vote on something like this. Right. If it's really social, bipartisan issue.

But to talk about the other piece of it, I really think it's a bit of a red herring that Democrats are focusing on just these social issues. I agree that Democrats need to actually focus on an economic vision. Right. They need to focus on how to drastically improve millions of people's lives.

That's what people thought they're voting for when they voted for Donald Trump. Even though Donald Trump, you know, stood for a lot of very unpopular social issues. Most people in the country believe Donald Trump would pass a national abortion ban. And that's a very salient social issue. And people voted for him anyway. Right.

So why did that happen? It's because he stood for economic change. He stood for bold, sweeping change, though he's not doing it, of course, he's destroying the economy. So I think Democrats have to figure out how they can stand for that kind of larger, bold, sweeping change that's going to transform the entire economy, not just, you know, little reforms.

BOLDUAN: Let us see where this goes and where your campaign heads. Saikat, thank you for coming in. Appreciate your time.

Coming up for us, Pope Francis appointed more women to leadership roles in the Vatican than any pope before him. More on his impact on women in the church. Next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:51:49]

BERMAN: Tomorrow, a congregation of cardinals from around the world will meet in Rome following the death of Pope Francis. The process to choose his successor will come after funeral services, well after funeral services on Saturday.

With us now is Cecilia Gonzalez-Andrieu, a professor of theology at Loyola Marymount University who previously met Pope Francis in person. Let me just start with that. Talk to me about when you met him.

CECILIA GONZALEZ-ANDRIEU, PROFESSOR OF THEOLOGY AT LOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY: Well, it was, you know, something that you never expect to happen in your life. And then when it does, you're like, oh my gosh, I'm actually here. He was amazing. You know, we walked into his private office. It was just a small group of women leaders from around the world. And he was standing waiting for us with his beaming smile. And when it was my turn to say hello to him, I did so in Spanish. And he looked at me. He told me, my knee is really hurting me in Spanish. And I said, why don't we help you sit down?

And so held onto my hands and I helped him to sit down. And in other pictures, you know, he's holding my hand so tight, and I'm never going to forget that. And we just had such an amazing conversation with him.

It was like he was getting to be the person that he wants to be, which is to be with ordinary people who are doing really hard work in the world. He's somebody that I felt was kind of trying to hold the entire world together in a way, and I could see that burden in him. I could see that he was tired and he was sad, and at the same time, he was trying to overcome it and give us a sense of his own warmth and for us to keep going with our work. It was amazing.

BERMAN: I have to say, professor, what a remarkable moment that must have been, because in a way, you were giving strength. The Pope was leaning on you at that moment. And that picture will always illustrate that, given how much you say that he was trying to do to the world.

You know, and this is a time when Catholics look to the future. They mourn what has been lost, but they also turn their gaze to the future. And as you do that, you've noted that this is a Pope who called on people to, you know, go to their churches, go to their communities, and mess things up, but in a good way.

GONZALEZ-ANDRIEU: Yes. And he used that colloquial term, aced leo (ph), and. And he meant, yes, go. Right after he was named Pope, he said, especially to the young, he said, you know, go to your churches and make a mess. Ask for people to look at what is actually happening in the world. And he was so very concerned, and he said this so much to us, and that's why were there, because he felt were doing that work, that we listened to the cry of the poor and the cry of the earth.

[09:55:02]

And that was what he meant by go make a mess. Make people pay attention. Make people get out into the streets, make people care and have compassion for what is happening. And that's what the sadness I think I felt to him. I mean, it was just this past October, I was with him, that sadness that he had tried to do so very, very much and yet our world was more wounded than ever right now.

BERMAN: He worked so hard to send that message that you're talking about from the minute he assumed to the Papacy in 2013 till just Sunday when he appeared at Easter mass there. Professor Cecilia Gonzalez-Andrieu, thank you so much for being with us, sharing your memories, sharing that picture, that remarkable picture of the two of you together. Thank you. All the best.

BOLDUAN: So many people sharing memories like that today. It's been very kind.

BERMAN: It really is an interesting period. And again we saw Anderson and you know, obviously CNN will be there all week, but people gathering now. The funeral will be held Saturday. A time to think about the past. But soon it will be the moment to turn the gaze to the future and to see what that legacy going forward of Pope Francis will really be.

BOLDUAN: Yes. And how it and what it looks like for the next Pope to come. Thank you so much for joining us today. This is CNN News Central. The Situation Room is up next.

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