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Trump Gives Mixed Messages On Tariffs And China; FEMA To Lose Roughly 20 Percent Of Staff, Including Longtime Leaders, Ahead Of Hurricane Season; Actress Eva Longoria Explores Spain In New Travel & Culture Series. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired April 24, 2025 - 09:30   ET

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

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: My colleague Matt Egan is reporting -- was reporting for us this morning, the Fed's latest survey taking the pulse of American businesses, the Beige Book, and that it contained the word uncertainty 80 times, which is seven times more than the same report last year. How much damage does uncertainty do?

[09:30:25]

ERNIE TEDESCHI, DIRECTOR OF ECONOMICS, YALE BUDGET LAB: I think that uncertainty is the biggest driver of the market turmoil that you can see. Look, nobody likes tariffs. You know, we estimate that these tariffs to date will cost the average American family $4,900 a year. That's meaningful.

But I think actually most of what you've been seeing in markets is not the direct effect of tariffs affecting markets. It's the uncertainty of where tariffs will end up, the fact that businesses and consumers don't know. Because at least if there were finale about the tariff policy and what the final tariff rate would be on every commodity in every country, businesses and consumers could move on with their economic locks.

They could re-op -- they could start re-optimizing. They can't do that right now. They have to sit on their hands and they have to wait and see where things end up. And in the meantime, they don't know where tariffs are going to be, you know, an hour from now, let alone a day from now, a week from now, a month from now. And so how -- how can you as a business invest in that environment? You can't.

BOLDUAN: On top of this with the uncertainty and what we're seeing play out, Citadel CEO, Ken Griffin, who's a billionaire supporter of the President, made some unusually harsh -- had some unusually harsh words about this trade war. Let me play this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEN GRIFFIN, CEO, CITADEL: The President and the secretary of treasury and the secretary of commerce need to be very thoughtful that when you have a brand, you need to behave in a way that respects that brand, that strengthens that brand. Because when you tarnish that brand, it can be a lifetime to repair the damage that has been done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: And what he's suggesting is long-term damage to the U.S. economy. I mean, what do you think of that?

TEDESCHI: I think there's a substantial risk of that. You know, we find in our economic modeling that the U.S. economy is persistently half a point smaller. You know, the equivalent of almost $200 billion and $4, smaller in the long run. You know, that's meaningful. That's -- that's a substantial amount of smaller economic activity from the United States.

You know, I think that it -- it is in the future, you did it -- none of this needs to be permanent. We could come back and we could fix this in the future. But, you know, I agree with him that the -- the -- the further down this road that we go, the harder it will be to fix later on down -- down the line if we decide that this detour was a mistake all along.

BOLDUAN: Detour on the detour. Let's see what happens, as you said, in the next hour. Ernie, it's good to see you. Thank you for coming in. John?

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, the market's just open. How did they feel about all this this morning? With me now, CNN anchor and business correspondent, Zain Asher. What are they telling us?

ZAIN ASHER, CNN ANCHOR AND BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: So if you look at markets, obviously they're mixed. So it's not significantly lower. I'm looking at the Dow right now. Not significantly lower, but there's clearly some downward pressure compared to the rally that we saw earlier this week. There's two things that are really weighing on the markets right now.

Obviously, the mixed messages that we're getting from the Trump administration, especially on the issue of reciprocal tariffs, because obviously Donald Trump just not so long ago talked about these tariffs being on a 90-day pause, and now he's talking about reinstating them. I want to play our audience some of what the -- the president had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think what's going to happen is we're going to have great deals. And by the way, if we don't have a deal with a company or a country, we're going to set the tariff. We just set the tariff. It's something that we think that will happen, I'd say, over the next couple of weeks. Wouldn't you say? I think so. Over the next two, three weeks, we'll be setting the number.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: So the Trump administration is in the process, they say, of negotiating with about 90 to 100 countries. They're essentially saying that if these countries do not reach a deal with the U.S. fast enough, that these reciprocal tariffs will snap back and they will be at a much higher rate. The second thing that is really weighing on the market is the fact that according to percent and according to the Chinese, the negotiations between the U.S. and China have not even started. John, that is a massive problem because when you think about the fact that negotiating with your allies, right, on the best of times can take two to three years, let alone with China, where the situation is just that much more complex because you're not just talking about trade with China, you're talking about non-tariff barriers.

You're talking about everything from the ease for American companies in terms of doing business with China. You're talking about the sale of TikTok. That's going to be part of that. Taiwan sovereignty, intellectual property. There's so much that goes into this. Scott Bessent is saying that any kind of deal with China needs to be fair.

[09:35:02]

It's hard to imagine how fair it can actually be just because of the way the Chinese economy is structured. It is an export-led economy. That is why the Chinese have been able to flood U.S. markets with really, really cheap products, and that has obviously caused a lot of problems for American companies.

So all of this needs to be discussed, and the very fact that no side has actually picked up the phone first is a problem. The exit ramp is there. Nobody's taking it.

BERMAN: But look, the President said they've been talking to China all the time, but then officials in the White House and the Chinese said, uh-uh, no, we're not. These talks haven't begun yet.

ASHER: And -- and -- and by the way, the Chinese are in a really good position because China is essentially in a trade war with the U.S. The U.S. is in a trade war with the entire world, and that is part of the problem. When you go to war with the entire world at once, it puts you in a really difficult negotiating position.

BERMAN: All right, Zain Asher, here we go again. Thanks so much for being with us this morning. Sara?

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Ah, all right, speaking of storms, Hurricane Sina is near, and FEMA is losing about 1,000 workers. What does this major staff shakeup mean for emergency response when those storms hit?

And President Donald Trump demanding peace, telling Russian President Vladimir Putin to, quote, stop bombing Ukraine after deadly overnight strikes in Kyiv. Those stories ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:41:01]

SIDNER: This morning, there is growing concern that hundreds of FEMA workers are headed for the door weeks before the busy hurricane season begins. CNN's Gabe Cohen is joining me now. Some of FEMA's most experienced are walking out of this door. They have a lot of knowledge and have been through a lot of disasters. What are you learning about all of this and how it may impact regular people when disaster strikes?

GABE COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so Sara, I've learned that roughly 20 percent of FEMA's full-time permanent workforce, about 1,000 workers, are expected to take this latest voluntary buyout from Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency.

But what's most noteworthy here, perhaps, is that we are talking about a lot of FEMA's senior leadership taking these buyouts this time around. These are longtime officials, in some cases decades, who really helped write FEMA's playbook on how they handle disaster response and recovery who are now voluntarily heading for the door.

And I've talked to about a half dozen FEMA officials who told me it's really the cratering morale at the agency that is driving this, that is frankly driving these senior officials right out of the agency. As you said, FEMA has been criticized relentlessly by President Trump and his allies for months now, and the administration has vowed that they are going to eliminate the agency altogether.

In recent weeks, we have even seen the Department of Homeland Security administer lie detector tests to more than a dozen FEMA officials for alleged media leaks. So that tells you about what they're experiencing inside headquarters. I had one senior FEMA official tell me, quote, people don't want to work here anymore and they are worried about what the agency will look like in a year.

Another senior FEMA official told me, all of these people have seen their work destroyed and denigrated. They started seeing that FEMA might actually be killed.

And so, Sara, that low morale, really the lowest that so many of these folks have seen, is causing, it sounds like largely, so many people to leave.

SIDNER: Well, we heard Kristi Noem saying that, you know, she wanted to -- to get rid of it. But how might this impact folks during hurricane season, which is fast approaching?

COHEN: Well, the short answer is that we really don't know. But I have heard concerns from some of the officials that I spoke with that what this could mean is that resources are stretched thin and that it could slow the process to actually deliver aid to some of the communities that are affected by major natural disasters like the hurricanes that we even saw last year with Hurricane Helene.

Bear in mind, the agency's preparations for hurricane season have already been stifled by the turmoil that we have seen at FEMA. We're talking about trainings, some of them that have been paused, response teams that are preparing for cuts, hiring is frozen.

So they're dealing with all of that. Now they are going to have their leadership changed, really reshaped by these departures that we're seeing. And plus, we may even see more staff reductions for a lot of the field teams that are out there during disasters delivering aid. So there are a lot of uncertainties. That's the bottom line, Sara. And -- and we'll just have to see as hurricane season actually gets underway in a few weeks.

SIDNER: Yes, and we are looking at the remnants of one of those disasters in Asheville, North Carolina last year in September, and they're still rebuilding from that. Thank you so much, Gabe Cohen, for your reporting on this. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Coming up for us, Russia launches a massive attack on civilians in Ukraine's capital overnight. At least eight dead, at least 60 wounded. And President Trump's message and response to Vladimir Putin about it this morning, not necessary, very bad timing. That is the President's rebuke today.

[09:44:48]

And this Sunday, Eva Longoria is back with the premiere of the CNN original series Searching for Spain. She travels across the land of her ancestors as she explores the country's rich history and culture through its cuisine. My conversation with her is coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: This Sunday, Eva Longoria is back. This time, taking us all over Spain for CNN's new original series, Searching for Spain. A food pilgrimage across the country's 17 regions, discovering its rich and diverse food, history, and culture all along the way. Her first stop, Catalonia. Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EVA LONGORIA, SEARCHING FOR SPAIN HOST: This feels to me like a comfort food. It feels like I could have this on a Sunday when it's raining. But the texture of the meatball, which is super soft.

[09:50:07]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, super tender.

LONGORIA: Yes, and then the texture of the -- the squid, divine.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That to me feels like those two words that really define Catalan culture. Seny i rauxa, right?

LONGORIA: Yes, I heard this. Seny i rauxa. What does it mean to you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sen -- Sen is like, they say Catalans, they have a lot of Sen. Seny is like they are rational.

LONGORIA: Practical, rational.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, exactly. And rauxa, we can take it in a creative way. Crazy in a point, you know? And that is the Catalan style.

LONGORIA: How is this dish representative of seny i rauxa?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This mix, right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, you -- you have this incredible piece of squid. And you think, what -- what goes with squid? Well, pork fat. Mix those two things together.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Exactly.

LONGORIA: You are seny i rauxa.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you. Salut.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Salut.

LONGORIA: Salut.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Salut.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BOLDUAN: And may we all be --

LONGORIA: Yes, seny i rauxa.

BOLDUAN: Crazy to a point. I love that very, very much. So this is a preview of the first episode that we just showed. And starting in one of my favorite places. And Barcelona is such a magical city.

LONGORIA: Yes.

BOLDUAN: And but you take us throughout the region.

LONGORIA: Yes.

BOLDUAN: What makes it so special, did you find?

LONGORIA: Oh, my gosh. You know, Spain is obviously so beautiful. But the way the Spaniards live, I mean, they really live to eat. And they eat well. And they enjoy life. And so to be able to go on this journey in all of these different regions. And to also know how diverse Spain is. People think it's like jamon and paella, jamon and paella, sangria. And it's not. It's so much more. The regions from the north to the south to the -- to the east are so different from each other. And I just somehow convinced CNN to pay me to eat my way through the world.

BOLDUAN: Please continue. And please take me as your assistant next time.

LONGORIA: Yes.

BOLDUAN: This -- this season is broken up into eight episodes. And during this journey, as you say, you go -- you really get a look at all of the various regions which are very -- can be very distinct in, I like to say, kind of like just the style and the vibe.

LONGORIA: Yes.

BOLDUAN: And the air and every kind of bit that you feel when you're in the different regions.

LONGORIA: Yes.

BOLDUAN: How is that expressed through the food?

LONGORIA: Well, you know, when you talk about the food of a country, you're talking about its people. And when you're talking about its people, you're talking about the history. And each region, specifically Spain in -- in the Franco days and, you know, when they had this dictator that really suppressed individual regions' identities and languages, the resurgence of that has come back, you know, tenfold.

And, you know, Catalonia is a very good example of that. Of recipes that have disappeared that were forbidden, ingredients that were forbidden to be used. And so you talk about the history of -- of each region. They all have different languages, not all, but most of them have different languages.

There's, you know, the Euskera in the Basque region. There's, you know, the Gallego language in Galicia. There's Catalan in Catalonia.

BOLDUAN: I mean, I studied in Madrid. And I remember going to Barcelona for the first time being like, I'm sorry, what's happening here?

LONGORIA: Yes. It's so different. And so I just love that you get to explore the culture and people through the food. And that's an easy way in to any. That's why we did Searching for Mexico as well.

BOLDUAN: Right.

LONGORIA: I wanted people to understand the people and the country. And you go, OK, food is the easiest entry point for that.

BOLDUAN: And a connector. It brings you together, right?

LONGORIA: Yes, yes.

BOLDUAN: It's the -- it's the barrier breaker.

LONGORIA: Yes.

BOLDUAN: With like every culture. The impossible question, I was curious. Did you leave Spain this time when you looked at it through this lens, you've been there many times with a favorite dish or -- or something that surprised you when you kind of explored it through this lens?

LONGORIA: You know what? I am, you know, I live part-time in Spain, part-time in Mexico, part-time in the United States. And so I've been really lucky to -- to -- to, you know, switch gears --

BOLDUAN: Yes.

LONGORIA: -- when I need to. So to have a favorite part of Spain, it would -- it would be like picking a favorite child. But I will say, I -- my family is from Asturias, which is in the north. And there's this amazing stew, soup, hearty. It's like a hearty soup. And it's called fabada. And it's this white bean soup from these faba beans. And it has -- it has all kinds of pork, of course, which probably makes it so good.

BOLDUAN: Of course.

LONGORIA: Of course.

BOLDUAN: There's the secret right there.

LONGORIA: That's the secret, pork fat, as he said. And -- and so that -- that one really blew me away and really stuck with me bec -- mostly because I'm from that region and I got to explore the roots of the Longorias and got to go to meet some old ancestors. Yes.

BOLDUAN: It's a beautiful thing. Bravo.

LONGORIA: Yes.

BOLDUAN: And thanks for bringing it to us.

LONGORIA: Thank you. You're going to enjoy it. You're going to be very hungry after watching this series.

BOLDUAN: Perfection. I would expect nothing less.

LONGORIA: Good.

BOLDUAN: Thank you so much. You can be sure to tune in to CN -- new CNN original series, Eva Longoria Searching for Spain, premiering Sunday, 9:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific, only on CNN.

SIDNER: I'm really hungry right now.

All right. Before we go, archaeologists in England found a man's skeleton in what's believed to be a gladiator graveyard. And it could be the first physical evidence of battle between gladiators and animals. The remains have bite marks on the skeleton in what's believed to be a gladiator graveyard. And it could be the first physical evidence of battle between gladiators and animals.

[09:55:08]

The remains have bite marks on the pelvis, ouch, which were most likely from a lion. Researchers designed 3D scans which showed no signs of healing, implying that it led to the gladiator's death. Surviving artwork depicts these gladiator fights. That skeleton dates back, by the way, about 1,800 years ago.

BERMAN: Do you like movies about gladiators?

SIDNER: I kind of do.

BERMAN: All right.

BOLDUAN: I mean.

TONY DOKOUPIL: Sorry. Bite marks on the pelvis.

BOLDUAN: And on that note, guess who's in studio with us, guys?

SIDNER: Good job, John.

BOLDUAN: It's Bring Your Kid to Work Day --

SIDNER: The best children in the world.

BOLDUAN: -- and crews has bring their kiddos.

SIDNER: Hi guys.

BERMAN: Fast enough to join.

BOLDUAN: Finally, someone who knows what they're doing has joined the studio.

BERMAN: All right.

SIDNER: We're sorry for any inappropriate jokes that John made today.

BERMAN: All the naughty words were these two backstage.

BOLDUAN: Welcome to CNN News Central.

BERMAN: Thank you for joining us. This has been CNN News Central. Situation Room is up next.

SIDNER: Up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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