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Rep. Mark Amodei (R-NV) On President Trump's First 100 Days In Office; Spain And Portugal Remain Under States Of Emergency After Massive Power Outage; Defense To Question Digital Forensic Expert In Read Murder Retrial. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired April 29, 2025 - 07:30   ET

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

[07:30:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. New this morning our new CNN poll finds that two-thirds of Americans are pessimistic or afraid about the economy under President Trump. And in this case economists say one thing they definitely fear is fear itself.

CNN's Matt Egan is here this morning with this.

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Yeah, John. Look, it is stunning how dark the mood has gotten on Main Street. And this is not just a political problem for the White House, it is a real problem for an economy that runs on this careful mix of confidence and consumer spending.

So the findings in this CNN poll are pretty startling. Sixty-nine percent of adults -- more than two-thirds -- say that a recession is likely in the next year. Now that is really something.

Now there -- it is true the Democrats are more pessimistic about the economy than Republicans. But what I found telling here is that 39 percent of people who voted for President Trump just a few months ago -- they also say a recession is likely in the next year.

BERMAN: Wow.

EGAN: Again, 94 percent of Harris voters, but that is a significant share of Trump voters as well.

And so, look, there is a danger that all of this economic gloom and doom makes a recession a self-fulfilling prophecy. That we sort of will our way into a recession, as Mark Preston put it earlier this hour. Because look, if people are worried that a recession is coming, they may decide to spend less and save more.

Look at this. So you could have a situation where confidence is declining. That causes people to spend less, which causes businesses to lay off workers which, of course, freaks out investors. It causes market drops. And it goes on and on, rinse and repeat. It could become kind of a doom loop that is hard to get out of.

And look, we've heard from a number of prominent CEOs sound the alarm about the trade war and the economy just in the past few days, including the CEOs of BlackRock, Southwest, and Chipotle as well, just to name a few.

Now, none of this means that a recession is a foregone conclusion, right? It is entirely possible that people are telling pollsters they hate the economy, but they keep shopping anyway, right? To some extent, that is what happened three years ago when confidence was also low and recession fears were high, but a downturn was ultimately avoided.

Still though, I talked to David Kelly over at JPMorgan and he said that unless there's a sharp reversal on tariffs, he does think that at least a shallow recession --

BERMAN: Yeah.

EGAN: -- is likely.

And look, even if there is a reversal on tariffs, that's just going to feed this policy whiplash that has confused CEOs, and investors, small businesses, and consumers.

I talked to former Biden top economist Jared Bernstein, and he said, "Even if we believe Trump will dial back the trade war, how confident can we be that he won't dial back his dial-back the next day?"

BERMAN: Yeah. I mean, that's one of the things facing CEOs both of big businesses and small businesses right now who are by and large nervous about where things are headed.

EGAN: Yeah, they're just trying to make sense of it all.

BERMAN: Matt Egan, great to see you.

EGAN: Thanks, John.

BERMAN: Thank you very much -- Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's talk more about this 100 days. Joining us right now is Republican Congressman Mari Amodei of Nevada. Congressman, thank you for coming in.

Let's start on just the assessment --

REP. MARK AMODEI (R-NV): Good morning, Kate.

BOLDUAN: -- on this symbolic milestone that every president kind of charges towards.

What's your assessment of the first 100 days? The top thing that's working. The top thing that's not yet.

AMODEI: Well, it seems like a long time ago from the icy day in January. It's been a very busy 100 days.

You look at the indicators -- stuff that were talked about a lot during the campaign. Energy prices look like they're pretty good. I know there's a lot of hand-wringing over tariffs. But also, Kate, it's no -- it's no mystery to anybody that midterms

are a very important thing -- so, like, well, I don't know what's going to happen. How's this going to happen? I'm sure that the White House is very well aware of what it's like with a -- just think back to the last time for if somebody like Nancy Pelosi or Hakeem Jeffries is running the House for the last two years of their term.

So I think they're on top of it. Instant gratification is something that works well for news cycles. But I think after 100 days we're on the right track on a lot of those areas that were campaigned on, and we'll see what the next 100 days brings.

BOLDUAN: We definitely will.

On this 100 days we do know what -- looking at polling and speaking to Americans across the country, new CNN polling shows that the president is facing kind of some tough numbers and a tough reality when it comes to his handling on the economy.

This CNN polling showing that on inflation his approval -- his approval is down nine points. On tariffs themselves it's down four points. His marks for handling the economy down five points to a career low of 39 percent. And six in 10 people already say they believe the president's policies have increased the cost of living in their community.

Do you see those as warning signs?

[07:35:00]

AMODEI: Well, I think that after 100 days it's like you know you don't want to end up there after the next 100 days. So you can call them warning signs or whatever you want but the cake isn't baked yet. And so let's look forward to when we open the oven here in another 100 days or whatever it is and see where we're at on tariffs and see where we're at on cost of living stuff, whether it's groceries or energy, or the other sort of things.

But I'll tell you what, I'm glad we're where we're at now as opposed to if the result in November had been different.

BOLDUAN: But you acknowledge you don't want to be looking at those numbers I just listed out in the -- in the next 100 days.

AMODEI: No. I think there will be plenty of time in the next 100 days to start showing even more signs -- not that there aren't some already -- but it just depends on -- it just depends on who I guess you're watching or whatever.

BOLDUAN: Yeah.

AMODEI: But I get it. It's a mix of all sorts of information. The bottom line is I'm looking forward to the next 100 days.

BOLDUAN: Earlier this month you were asked if the -- if Trump was making a mistake launching this trade war and you -- your answer was "not yet."

Do you yet think he is making a mistake with this trade war?

AMODEI: No, because I don't think -- I don't think these sorts of things are things that lend themselves to a 30-day or a 60-day cycle. There are some good signs but it's like hey, the old Ben Franklin thing -- well done is better than well said. So we'll see what well done looks like after he's had a little more time to talk with folks that they're in talks with now.

And obviously, the tariff and the trade stuff is two categories. One is everybody but China. The China thing will not be resolved in 100 days. If I'm wrong, it's great news. But that's going to -- that's going to take a little bit more effort and watching what's going on both within China and also in the rest of the world.

BOLDUAN: The question is how much appetite -- when does -- when does he run out of road in terms of just wait -- it's going to get better. And that's a -- that's a question for everyone, I guess.

You are also the co-chair of the House American-Canadian Economy and Security Caucus. You talked in February about --

AMODEI: Yeah.

BOLDUAN: -- how it is invaluable to have strong and dependable friends like Canada.

Mark Carney just won --

AMODEI: Yeah.

BOLDUAN: -- election there last night.

I want to play for you what he said about the United States in his victory speech.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK CARNEY, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: America wants our land, our resources, our water, our country. We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But you are going to take us forward.

CARNEY: Yeah. We have to look out for ourselves and above all we have to take care of each other.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: That does not sound like friends anymore.

How much has this trade war damaged that friendship that you spoke about?

AMODEI: Well, I think ultimately it hasn't, and it won't because it's a good, solid relationship. You've got, what, a 40 -- over 4,000-miles border. Out of necessity you're going to get along well with them.

And when the -- when the president said, "Hey, I think they ought to be the 51st state" -- my opinion, and nobody else's is, is well, you've got to start out strong with the style he uses. So I assume the newly elected fellow up there is going to start out just as strong.

But Kate, come on -- you think -- you think anybody's really going to vote to make Canada the 51st state? Have you seen how those folks vote and how -- and how reticent we've been to talk about D.C.'s statehood or Puerto Rico? I mean, it's worth a chuckle, really. But anyhow, I'm not sure anybody took that serious, but it makes for good talking points on both sides some days.

Ultimately, I don't anything will have changed except the nature of the relationship economically.

BOLDUAN: I will say people did take it as good chuckle at the beginning, and then the president kept saying how serious he was. And everyone always says take Trump seriously and look no further than the -- than the trade war that he's -- that he's sparked. So you keep chuckling, and we'll see what happens.

It's great to see you, Congressman.

AMODEI: Fair enough.

BOLDUAN: Thank you -- thank you very much for your time. I appreciate it -- John.

BERMAN: The Canadians took it pretty seriously; I'll tell you that.

All right. Overnight, Jimmy Butler to the rescue. After missing a game with a pelvic contusion, which is one of the least popular contusions you can get, Butler led the Warriors to a dramatic game-four victory against the Rockets.

Let's get to Rockets fan Andy Scholes for the latest on this -- ouch.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yeah. John -- yeah, as a Rockets fan -- yeah, this game -- it was certainly depressing.

You know, the story before the series was that Houston was still too young, and the Warriors wily veterans would win despite being the seven seed. And well, that's the way it's played out the first four games. This series though continues to be super physical.

In the second quarter, Draymond Green knocks down Amen Thompson, so Dillon Brooks then drops Steph. The two sides -- well, they have some words. Draymond, Steph, and Brooks all get technicals.

[07:40:00]

Then later in the quarter Tari Eason steals it from Draymond. And look at Draymond. He just puts his leg all over him. Draymond got a flagrant foul for that. In the fourth quarter though the Rockets were down one in the closing seconds. Alperen Sengun misses. Jimmy Butler flies in for the rebound. Butler scored 14 in that fourth quarter.

The Rockets had a chance at the buzzer to tie but Fred VanVleet's three no good.

The Warriors win 109-106 to take a 3-1 lead in this series.

And here was Butler afterwards on how he was feeling.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY BUTLER, FORWARD, GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS: I would die for these guys, for real. It's so fun. Um, I got my joy back as some would say. But more than anything it's always good to win. Way to go, man. Go back there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What are you going to do?

BUTLER: Nothing on national TV.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: The Warriors all smiles.

All right. The Cavs, meanwhile, sweeping the Heat, and this was the least competitive series of all time. Cleveland was up by as many as 60 in game four. They ended up winning by 55.

The Cavs won the two games in Miami by 92 points, which is a record. The 122-point differential was also the largest ever for a series.

The Cavs now await the winner between the Pacers and the Bucks.

All right. In the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Tampa Bay Lightning four minutes away from evening their series at two games apiece with Florida, but Aaron Ekblad buries this one right in front of the net to tie the game and send the home fans into a frenzy.

But wait -- just 11 seconds later the fans get to erupt again as Seth Jones scores. Florida -- it would also end up getting an empty netter at the end. So the defending champs end up winning 4-2 to take a commanding 3-1 lead in that series.

And you've got for playoff games tonight. The Hurricanes look to close out the Devils at 7:30 Eastern. A pivotal game five between the Kings and Oilers. These are nightcaps. You can watch both of those on our sister network TBS or stream them on Max.

You've also got four NBA Playoff games tonight, two of them on our sister channel TNT, including the Knicks trying to close out the Pistons, John. And MSG is certainly going to be rocking for that one as the Knicks try to make it to the second round. They'll likely take on your Boston Celtics.

BERMAN: The Celtics have got to get through tonight as well.

I have to say Andy, the case of the Warriors against the Rockets -- it may be that the experience is winning out. It just feels like that's the difference here.

SCHOLES: Yeah. In the closing minutes that's -- it certainly has been the difference. The Warriors and Steph Curry end up getting a good shot off whereas the Rockets seem to just keep coming up a little bit short. But as I mentioned, they're very young. This is good to get this playoff experience for the future.

BERMAN: Keep telling yourself that.

Andy Scholes, thank you very much -- Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Nobody mentioned that it's weird that Florida of all places is good at ice hockey.

BERMAN: I know.

SIDNER: Like, it seems --

BERMAN: The Panthers -- all good.

SIDNER: -- weird. I mean, I'm just saying it's a weird combination, but good for them.

All right. Tens of millions of people across Spain and Portugal have power on again but they're still dealing with disruptions to transportation services. A series of blackouts started yesterday and brought both countries and parts of France to a standstill. Spain and Portugal remain under states of emergency as crews finish restoring power there and authorities figures out what happened.

And politicians are playing the blame game. Al Goodman, who has been in Madrid for many, many years, is joining us now.

Have authorities sort of narrowed down what the cause for these blackouts were?

AL GOODMAN, JOURNALIST (via Webex by Cisco): Hi, Sara, yes. Well, the Spanish prime minister just finished addressing the Spanish nation on television for the third time in just a day. That's not normal. And he said they're not ruling anything out but they're focusing on what he said was just five seconds when the Spanish electrical grid came crashing down at midday yesterday in a way that's never happened before. So they want to try to focus in on that and hold companies -- the electric companies responsible if that's the case.

Now, other Spanish officials and Portuguese officials have both said that it does not initially appear to be a cyberattack on the electrical grid's headquarters. The Spanish prime minister said he spoke with President Zelenskyy of Ukraine yesterday who offered help -- his help from Ukraine -- if it turned out to be a cyberattack.

So they're really trying to get to the bottom of it but they're not quite there yet -- Sara.

SIDNER: Thank you so much, Al Goodman. And thank you to the birds there making us all wish that we were there in Spain with you despite the issues with power. Thank you -- appreciate you.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL)

[07:49:00]

BOLDUAN: As President Trump today marks 100 days back in office CNN's John King heads back to battleground Arizona to find out how people there who helped him win re-election are now grading how he's doing today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): The afternoon rush in full swing. Pallets of produce whizzing by -- tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, squash, and more. Farm to Table has a pitstop -- this one in the Arizona desert.

Feeding America is complicated, more so right now. Everything here is from Mexico while Donald Trump is back in the White House directing tariffs.

MATT MANDEL, ARIZONA VOTER: It's a brave new world.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking foreign language).

KING (voiceover): Matt Mandel helps run SunFed. This warehouse just a few miles from the border.

KING: One hundred days into the Trump presidency, your business has been impacted how?

[07:50:00]

MANDEL: The biggest problem that we have up to now is uncertainty. We have talk about tariffs and then the tariffs are off. We have tariffs that came into play for three days and they were canceled. But the constant threat of what if makes it very hard for us to plan.

KING (voiceover): The border crossing at Nogales is almost always humming. Commerce both ways caught up in 100 days of Trump trade turmoil.

MANDEL: Food does not make sense at all. All you're going to do is raise those costs to consumers. People have become accustomed to having all their fruits and vegetables on a year-round basis and that is entirely due to imports. Putting tariffs on imports is only going to limit supply, raise prices, or both.

KING (voiceover): Small businesses at the border are grumbling too. They complain of a double whammy -- tariff threats and tough immigration talk. Yes, illegal crossings in Nogales and across Arizona are down. That's a big Trump campaign promise. But business owners say legal crossings are down too, dropping sales as much as 40 percent these past 100 days.

Tucson is an hour north -- reliably blue but Trump did run a bit stronger here last year as he won Arizona and all the battlegrounds.

KING: What's all this going to do?

TAMARA VARGA, ARIZONA VOTER: Well, this is going to train our individuals how to cook.

KING (voiceover): Tamara Varga is a Trump supporter, happy with some promises kept but nervous a big one could be broken.

VARGA: I'm worried about Medicaid and Medicare, and Social Security. He did say that he wasn't going to cut them; that he was just going to find the waste. And I really hope that he sticks to that.

KING: Why is that so important to you?

VARGA: It's important because we need to take care of our people with disabilities and our elderly, and those that depend on it. And they can't survive as it is right now and they -- we cannot cut.

KING (voiceover): Varga is a Tucson hero. Her food truck and candy store employ 50 people with special needs. She's renovating this restaurant to employ even more.

A devout Christian, lifelong Republican, but some big changes. Varga says she no longer believes Trump's claim the 2020 election was rigged. She's now open to supporting Democrats for local offices. and says Trump tariffs are one reason prices are not dropping fast enough.

VARGA: The items that we put in our gift baskets have gone up.

KING: So when he -- when he says there's going to be some disruption and maybe even some pain, but we're going to get there. For now, you think OK, I'll give you -- I'll give you some time?

VARGA: I'll give him some time and I'm hopeful, but I think that if he doesn't come through, he's going to have a lot of people turning on him.

KING (voiceover): Melissa Cordero is an Air Force veteran who voted for Trump once back in 2016 and regrets it every day.

MELISSA CORDERO, ARIZONA VOTER: He is, like, crazed right now. I'm constantly going, can he do that? I'm angry because the communities that I care the most about are being attacked -- the LGBTQ community, the trans community. And what's really got me angry is immigration and what's happening to deported veterans.

KING (voiceover): Cordero just visited some deported veterans in Mexico and just learned she lost a conservation grant that was part of a DEI program. She's organizing protests against Trump cuts at the Veterans Administration.

CORDERO: There's no one answering the phones. Mental health too -- making cuts in that area. That's like what all of us veterans need the most.

RAY FLORES, PRESIDENT, SI CHARRO, ARIZONA VOTER: She made everything. She made the best cheeseburger. She made --

KING (voiceover): Ray Flores has named The Monica after a family legend. One hundred years ago Tia Monica inspired the first of what are now more than a dozen family restaurants.

FLORES: We're sending this to the Food Network, Vince. If you don't make it right, you're screwed.

KING (voiceover): This biggest 100-day take, Trump turmoil is rattling consumer confidence.

FLORES: We are definitely seeing less spending at the pump. In our -- in our world that would be at the cash register, right? So we're seeing numbers dropping seven-eight percent around the system right now.

KING: People are afraid to go out to dinner.

FLORES: We're built on hospitality and celebration, and spending time together. And maybe there's some fear of spending that extra money out.

KING (voiceover): Flores is an Independent disgusted with both national parties. All for cutting wasteful spending, all for deporting the undocumented who have committed crimes, but not impressed so far.

FLORES: I'm a little bewildered about how they've gone about things only because it seems a bit haphazard.

KING: On a scale of one to 10?

FLORES: I'm at a five.

KING: What's your test for this second hundred days?

FLORES: I don't want to see it get worse. I don't want to have that aggressive, somewhat mean spirited decision making take root on everything we do.

KING (voiceover): A great kitchen thrives on controlled chaos. But in Trump, Flores sees too much impulse and emotion and too little planning and creativity. One hundred days of too much heat.

John King, CNN, Tucson, Arizona.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[07:55:00] SIDNER: Karen Read's murder retrial resumes in just a few hours. She's accused of killing her Boston police officer boyfriend with her SUV and leaving him to die in the snow. But she maintains this is all a huge coverup where she says it was his friends trying to teach him a lesson, beating him up and then -- this happened inside his own home -- and them dumping his body in the snow to frame her.

Yesterday began the battle of forensic experts. Today the defense will seek to poke holes in the prosecutors' digital forensics expert who testified that John O'Keefe cell phone indicates he never went inside after he got out of Read's car despite the bitter cold.

Here with now CNN correspondent Jean Casarez, and criminal defense attorney Joey Jackson.

OK, Jean, what stood out to you from yesterday's testimony, and what are you expecting today?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, number one, it's fascinating what a phone can tell one way or the other.

And this was the forensics expert for the prosecution. He took the stand, and he looked at location data; health data, meaning steps taken; temperature of the phone --

SIDNER: Yeah.

CASAREZ: That's new to this trial. And the pocket state of the phone, meaning the camera is not exposed.

SIDNER: Gotcha.

CASAREZ: So this is what he showed. Let's show everybody. It starts out with 170 steps. This is about 12:21. And this is John O'Keefe, the victim. So this is when he would be leaving the Waterfall Bar and walking with Karen Read to Karen's car.

After that they start driving. But you see 80 steps. He said when you're holding a phone if you look at it and analyze the data, and if you're moving your phone as the car is going that can register as steps.

Then you see three flights of stairs. He said that if a car is going on an incline that can register as stairs. And he looked at topography maps to coordinate and confirm that was the case --

SIDNER: Hmm.

CASAREZ: -- of the streets that they drove.

And then finally, the car pulls up at the home at 12:24. It stops at the home. After that, the prosecution says the 36 last steps of John O'Keefe would have been when he gets out of the car. That's a prosecution theory.

And then at 6:00 a.m. over 400 steps, and that would be when Kerry Roberts saw the phone on the grass under his body and took it out.

I want you to listen to special prosecutor Hank Brennan as he gives that pivotal question to this expert witness.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HANK BRENNAN, SPECIAL PROSECUTOR: Do you have an opinion where John O'Keefe's cell phone was from around 12:24:33 on the evening of January 29, 2022, through at least 6:00 a.m. and after that morning?

IAN WHIFFIN, CELL PHONE FORENSIC EXPERT, CELLEBRITE: Yes. Based on the totality of all of the information that we've described my opinion is that the device never moved far away from the flag pole.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: Cross-examination today. And there is a lot of wiggle room because this is to the best of the intelligence of that phone, but it's not confirmatory.

SIDNER: That is what I was going to ask you, Joey Jackson. The defense will look at this and do what?

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY, FORMER PROSECUTOR: Everything. This is a pivotal moment and why? The pivotal moment becomes the defense says that he was -- Mr. O'Keefe, the decedent -- in that house. And there was a party there and he engaged in that party. And there was a coverup which brought the body outside. And so this is everything because if the -- if the jury believes that phone data, we've got a significant issue.

So here is how. You heard Jean say what was there said with respect to the expert? Oh, if you're moving a phone around in the car it could register steps. Really? I mean, usually -- I have Fit Bits and everything else -- it registers when you're walking. What kind of science is that, sir?

And then you're talking about when it goes uphill -- the car goes uphill it's registering on the phone or it's registering -- really? No. It registers when there's movement, and there was movement here, the defense will say.

In addition, remember, they will -- the defense -- put together the argument that number one, people were leaving that party and what happened? He wasn't there. And so what happened? He reappeared there? Number two, there was a plow that came to the area. No body was seen there.

So who are you going to believe -- this is setting it up for summation -- who are you going to believe? An actual junk science about a cell phone where you're explaining movement, or are you going to believe a person and people who never saw him?

But a pivotal moment, to be clear.

SIDNER: When you look at all of this -- you keep talking about new bits of information that keep coming out in this trial. Because the mistrial happened because people were, like, OK, we cannot beyond a reasonable doubt say that she has done this.

Are you seeing the same thing sort of happening here as tis goes on?

CASAREZ: Well, it's very interesting because the technology has even gotten better in the -- since the discovery was for the first trial. And so that's how they have the temperature of the phone, and they have this. And Cellebrite was the system right there.

But the final 36 steps --

SIDNER: Um-hum.

CASAREZ: -- the defense will say he walked in the house. Those are the final 36 steps.

SIDNER: We're going to have to wait and see.

CASAREZ: But the phone never moved again. It never again had any action on his part.

SIDNER: And they -- did they find the phone on him?

CASAREZ: Underneath his body.

JACKSON: Where, of course, they will argue -- the defense -- that it was planted after the fact and there was no movement because he left it down while he was partying with his friends. There's a lot that's going on here.

CASAREZ: However, the temperature kept going down on the phone as the night went on.