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Trump Refuses to Say if Xi has Called Him Amid Trade War; Trump Tells Time Magazine He's Made "200 Deals" on Trade; Vatican: 250,000 Pay Respects to Pope Francis Ahead of Funeral. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired April 25, 2025 - 13:30   ET

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

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[13:32:35]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: New whiplash in President Trump's standoff with China. This time on whether trade talks are even happening. President Trump says, yes, they are. He insists they are. China again, though, denying it.

President Trump also telling Time Magazine that President Xi called him. But then just hours later, when asked to clarify, this is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You've said you've spoke with President Xi.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I did.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Have you spoken to him since the tariffs? When did you last speak with him?

TRUMP: I don't want to -- I don't want to comment on that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Time Magazine said that President Xi called you? When did that happen? And what did you discuss?

TRUMP: I'll let you know at the appropriate time. Let's see if we can make a deal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: So the president, not saying that they have spoken since he imposed huge tariffs on China. That is a very important distinction. But are both sides now blinking? Maybe half a blink, maybe a little bit of a wink. A new sign that China may be softening on American-made microchips in what some trade experts read as an attempt by China to protect its own tech companies.

Three import agencies now tell CNN, China appears to have quietly rolled back its tariffs on some U.S.-made semiconductors, just rolled them back to zero.

With us now is Tom Keene. He's the co-host of "Bloomberg Surveillance" on Bloomberg Radio.

Tom, thank you so much for being with us. And first, the call me maybe part of this story, whether Xi Jinping calls Trump, there's really no gray area on whether that actually happened after the tariffs went into effect. So why might Trump be trying to muddy the waters on this?

TOM KEENE, CO-HOST, "BLOOMBERG SURVEILLANCE": Oh, I don't know. I was live on air when you ran that footage today of him to the helicopter. And Brianna, I can just -- I can just tell you I was flabbergasted by what I heard. This is a repeat of what we've seen. Statements by the president. And you have to believe through Saturday, through Sunday, perhaps they'll be walked back. I would focus on the secretary of treasury to readjust the comments that we've seen on this Friday.

KEILAR: Yeah, that does seem to be the pattern that we've been watching. We've also been wondering, as we go through this entire process, who has the higher pain tolerance here, right? China or the U.S.?

KEENE: Oh, good question.

KEILAR: And we're now seeing -

KEENE: Yeah.

KEILAR: We're now seeing China rolling back some, like a limited number of these retaliatory tariffs on a number of semiconductors made in the U.S. Why might they be doing that?

KEENE: Well, they're doing it because they need them. Also, I've seen medical supplies in the zeitgeist, medical equipment rather that China, of course, needs.

[13:35:04]

What I would focus on there, Brianna, is blistering essays by people like Adam Posen at the Peterson Institute, Brad DeLong out at Berkeley. I'd focus on Eswar Prasad, formerly at Cornell. These are people that say China has a more powerful hand than what's perceived here.

We'll see how that plays out. But I think were tilting right now towards a new respect for China's silence. Having a certain power.

KEILAR: Yeah. And letting the markets do some of the work for them. That's what Damian Paletta said --

KEENE: Yes.

KEILAR: -- when he was on our air yesterday. We see that happening.

In this time, interview with Trump. He was asked when he was going to announce trade deals. He answered that he's made "200 deals," quote, "100 percent," he said. What's he talking about?

KEENE: I read that too. I think he's talking about what we've seen for years, which is exaggeration. That is then fact-checked. What we can say is one, this is a different trade war than what we saw in the first administration. And maybe it's a different trade war than anything we've seen in history.

The way the market has turned around, Brianna, the way people's 401Ks have been healed over the last 10 days is the walk back from the White House. How many people, Brianna, that you're covering on CNN have been quiet at the White House? There's one person to focus on, that's the secretary of treasury. And I have to believe we'll have important comments to get through the Sunday talk shows.

KEILAR: Yeah. So -- so to something that he has said -- Bessent has said that more than 100 countries have reached out. We heard the White House press secretary this week say they have 18 proposals on paper, and the trade team is meeting with 34 countries this week alone. How quickly could we at least see a memo of understanding with a country like India or South Korea?

KEENE: Each story is different. This is really important. Each story is different. What am I focused on? Of all things, I'm focused on South Korea because we had such a significantly good relationship to begin with. That could be an easy win for the White House. But every country is different, and you have to focus on the larger economies here. Do you want to focus on Vietnam, or do you need to focus on Canada where their election on Monday, or Mexico or China? Those big three are far more important.

KEILAR: All right. We'll be looking for that. Tom, so great to have you. Tom Keene, thank you.

KEENE: Sure. Thank you.

KEILAR: And ahead, the story behind a nun's emotional moment while paying respects to Pope Francis at Saint Peter's Basilica. We are live from Rome, next.

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[13:41:55]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: The doors at Saint Peter's Basilica, where the pope has been lying in state, have now closed, and the world has seen the face of Pope Francis for the last time. These are live images from Vatican City, where the sacred ritual to seal his casket will begin in about 30 minutes. Part of the final preparations for tomorrow's funeral at Saint Peter's Square.

The Vatican says during three days of public viewing, about 250,000 people passed through the basilica to pay their final respects.

One of the mourners is a nun. You'll see her here on the bottom left of your screen, crying and praying at the pontiff's coffin. She's a French-Argentine nun who was a longtime friend of the pope's and she was allowed to get as close to the pope's casket as the cardinals, bishops and priests. She was also allowed to linger longer than the other visitors. CNN Vatican correspondent Christopher Lam is live for us in Rome, with more on the preparations underway for tomorrow's funeral service. So, Christopher, the doors of the basilica are now closed. So what happens next?

CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, in a few moments time, there will be a -- a rite of the closure of the coffin tat will be led by a number of cardinals and senior bishops. That's going to be a private event, behind closed doors. We may get some video later on. And that will be really the start of the Church moving into the moment of the funeral of Pope Francis.

So the coffin, which has been open -- an open casket, will be closed this evening at 8:00 p.m. And then there will be a time, obviously, preparation ahead of the funeral tomorrow morning. But this - this rite that's about to take place is the end of the lying in state that has been going on for these past three days.

SANCHEZ: And, Christopher, we just showed the video of that French- Argentine nun. Talk to us about the personal relationship that she had with Pope Francis, and how she was able to get so close to his coffin.

SANCHEZ: Well, Sister Genevieve was a very good friend of Pope Francis. They go right back to the pope's time in Argentina. She actually traveled to Buenos Aires and got to know the pope when he was archbishop of Buenos Aires, because she was seeking justice for another nun who had been killed in the brutal dictatorship that was there in Argentina in the 70s and 80s.

And Pope Francis, he was an archbishop then, helped her identify the body of this nun and -- and allowed for this nun to be buried in a church, and they developed a friendship. And then when Pope Francis was in the Vatican as pope, they also started to see one another as friends and Sister Genevieve would bring a group of transwomen to the Vatican each week to see the pope.

[13:45:10]

And the pope got to know them. And there was a time when the pope had a big lunch in the Vatican, and he invited those, those transwomen to be there. And Sister Genevieve worked with the outcasts and those on the margins of society. And the pope and her got on very well.

And I think he appreciated her ministry, what she was doing. And then we saw these very moving images of her standing in front of the casket. Breaking protocol, if you like, or simply doing what you would imagine any friend of someone who has died doing standing there, very emotional, overcome, clearly in tears as she saw Pope Francis laid out in the casket. A good friend of hers.

And of course, Pope Francis had a great gift of friendship. He had lots of friends in different places, and I know from seeing the pope laid out is a very emotional experience, a moving one. And we saw that today. Sorry. We saw that recently with Sister Genevieve.

SANCHEZ: Yeah. Another fascinating personal connection that the pope had.

Christopher Lamb, live for us in Rome. Thank you so much.

You can, of course, tune in to our coverage of the funeral of Pope Francis beginning at 3:00 a.m. Eastern, right here on CNN. We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back.

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[13:51:05]

SANCEHZ: Right now, all 32 NFL teams are scouring their draft boards looking for hidden gems that might bolster their rosters as round two of the draft gets underway today. And while the top selections get most of the fanfare, suspense is already building over pick number 257, nicknamed Mr. Irrelevant as the last player selected overall.

KEILAR: It has gone from ridicule to a shining example of how anyone can become a star. Thanks to players like Brock Purdy, who was picked last year by the San Francisco 49ers -- pardon me, picked last by the San Francisco 49ers three years ago and wound up leading his team to the Super Bowl.

So let's talk about it with another former Mr. Irrelevant, Ryan Hoag. The last draft pick in 2003, made by the Raiders. And I should say Mr. Most Relevant for the purposes of this discussion, Ryan. And you do get to call one name tonight in the 7th round for the Raiders. What's that like?

RYAN HOAG, "MR. IRRELEVANT" AT 2003 NFL DRAFT: Well, I'm really excited and yeah, I wear Mr. Irrelevant as badge of honor because Paul Salata who was the person that came up with the idea, thought it was irrelevant that you were last to be drafted and thought that was just very relevant that you had the opportunity to be drafted. I mean, you're more likely to be drafted or struck by lightning than you are drafted into the NFL.

So, it's a pretty special thing. And the fact that I get to make the pick tomorrow for the Raiders not the Mr. Irrelevant pick but I'll be picking their 7th round pick number 222. That's really special.

SANCHEZ: Yeah. That's awesome. I wonder what you think of the fact that someone like Brock Purdy can become a legendary Mr. Irrelevant. He was picked last, now thriving in the NFL. Do you think that his success suggests that the way scouting works and evaluation, it's kind of far from perfect, isn't it?

HOAG: It absolutely is. I mean, you have 11 percent chance once you're in the 7th round to be -- to make the team. And then, you -- you know, fall down to the last pick and, you know, you're facing an uphill battle. Obviously, the average lifespan of the NFL player is two and a half years. Brock has obviously surpassed that and is showing us he's kind of the - the penultimate Mr. Irrelevant. And we're all cheering for him.

Anybody though, that -- that wears that -- that badge that NFL emblem really, you know, takes it as a sense of pride. And then, you know, if you're one of 50 of anything that's really special. So there's 50 of us that all cheer each other on.

KEILAR: Yeah. And last night, we saw Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders, who's one of the top prospects of the year, unexpectedly sliding out of the first round. I covered one NFL draft, and it was 2005 when Aaron Rodgers tumbled to 24th, right? I imagine it's got to be brutal sitting there waiting to hear your name. But how important is it for these folks to have faith that, you know, maybe this isn't that big of a deal where they end up?

HOAG: Well, yeah, it never ends up exactly how you expected, right? And any Mr. Irrelevant, you know, waits seven hours of painstaking and putting their friends and family through it. It's a really rough time and -- and guys like Shedeur and you know, there are so many stories every year of people that are projected to be first round and dropped to second and third round and -- and at the end of the day, though I think everybody understands that, hey, we're one of very few people. And just to be hear your name selected is really special. And, you know, it's -- there's a bigger purpose and -- and whatever that ends up for Shedeur or this year's Mr. Irrelevant, who's going to the Chiefs, like that's all going to end up working out -- working out for the best.

SANCHEZ: Yeah. And it's also fuel to the fire. Look at Aaron Rodgers or Lamar Jackson, who also dropped during the draft. Now a two-time MVP. So maybe more motivation for Mr. Sanders. You mentioned something earlier. I wanted to ask you to expand on.

[13:55:00]

You and some of the other Mr. Irrelevants now have a club and you hang out on the side. Tell us about that.

HOAG: Yeah. So every year, the Irrelevant Week hosted by the Salata and Fitch family, they have us down to Newport Beach. And they - it's a weeklong celebration. And so really, if you're not drafted in the first round, everybody kind of wants to be Mr. Irrelevant because you get a weeklong. I always liken it to if you found a genie's lamp and you get to have unlimited wishes, they really will make any dream come true.

For me, you know, I wanted to go on the Jimmy Kimmel show. They had me on the Jimmy Kimmel show. Others got to visit the Playboy Mansion and meet Hugh Hefner and -- and drive a Ferrari for the week. Whatever you want, they will tailor the entire week to your specifications and it's really amazing.

I've gone back about 10 or 12 times and enjoy the festivities. There's always a banquet supporting local charities. This year, it's Orange County Youth Sports Foundation that we're supporting. And so we -- we all, you know, kind of get together and, and have the opportunity to support one another. And this year, obviously it's a big year because we're celebrating 50 years. And so they're having all the. Mr. Irrelevants come back to celebrate in one place. ' SANCHEZ: That's outstanding. Love to hear that. Ryan Hoag, thank you so much. Hope you enjoy watching the draft as much as we do.

HOAG: Hey, thanks so much for having me on.

SANCHEZ: Of course.

So we're still following this breaking news, waiting to get new details out of Wisconsin, where the FBI director says they've arrested a judge for allegedly obstructing an ICE deportation arrest. We have details straight ahead.

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