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Carney's Liberal Party Wins Canada Election in Stunning Comeback; Trump Speaks as He Heads to Michigan for 100th Day Events; Trump Administration's Impact on Children's Health. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired April 29, 2025 - 14:30   ET

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

[14:30:00]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Man, a big celebration there for Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. Canada's Liberal Party, celebrating a remarkable comeback win today, thanks in part, in large part, to President Trump's threats. Just months ago, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney appeared headed for a potential landslide defeat. When Trump took office, though, targeting Canada with tariffs and threatening to annex it as the 51st state, Carney rode a wave of anti- Trump sentiment and nabbed an unexpected win.

During his victory speech, he vowed Canada will never yield to President Trump and the U.S.

Now, this could be just the first test of Trump's impact on global elections, because this weekend, Australia holds its national election, where Trump's tariffs are unpopular and could potentially impact the outcome.

Let's discuss with Ian Bremmer. He's the president and founder of Eurasia Group and GZERO Media. Ian, always a pleasure to have you. First, your reaction to the Liberal Party's win, Mark Carney's election, how this might influence talks on tariffs between Ottawa and Washington.

IAN BREMMER, PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER, EURASIA GROUP AND GZERO MEDIA: Yes, you're right. The Liberals were dead in the water before Trump's inauguration, and the combination of the 51st state that Trump kept leaning into and was immensely unpopular in Canada. Plus all of the trade war that is seen as a breach of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada agreement unilaterally by the U.S. up in Canada, that is really a fundamental break in the relationship.

[14:35:00]

The Canadians do not -- the tourism is way down. This suddenly became the most important issue in the election. Combine that with the fact that in an anti-incumbent cycle, the Canadians didn't run an incumbent. Trudeau was drummed out by his own deputy prime minister, the closest person to him in the cabinet. Then she tried to run for the leadership. She lost. And so, an outsider came in, you know, frankly, as an American looking back on Biden and then Kamala Harris, you see what a better lesson would have been in an environment where incumbents were just getting destroyed everywhere around the world. But there's no question Mark Carney, upon winning, thanked Donald Trump for his victory. And that wasn't just tongue in cheek. That is quite real.

SANCHEZ: Yes, and Carney has talked about wanting Canada to deepen ties with more reliable allies beyond the U.S. So I wonder how much can they realistically decouple from trade with the United States to put leverage on the Trump administration to broker a deal that they see as fair?

BREMMER: They can't decouple at all, but they can de-risk, which is the way the Americans have been talking about the Chinese over the last 10 years. And that is still quite an extraordinary change of sentiment for what had been -- and I use the past tense advisedly -- the closest ally to the United States for generations no longer.

And I think the most significant thing that Canadians can and will do is start looking at how they can diversify their commodity infrastructure and medium-term exports away from just the United States. They want that leverage.

So they need a deal with the U.S. to ensure that the USMCA continues to go forward. They need to find a way to get to yes with the Americans on trade. But they will do that simultaneously with a lot of investments that long-term will make Canada a less reliable partner on the United States that will engage them more economically and in terms of trade with other countries around the world.

SANCHEZ: Yes, in terms of what a potential solution might look like, I wanted to get your thoughts on something that Kevin O'Leary brought up a few weeks ago when we had him on the show. He's obviously a famed Canadian businessman, shark tank and all that.

He argued that the U.S. should explore the potential of a North American union modeled somewhat like the EU between the U.S., Canada and Mexico. I wonder what you make of that.

BREMMER: He's leaning into the most unpopular policy that Trump has promoted in Canada's history from the United States. It is as dysfunctional as saying they're going to take over Greenland. It is as dysfunctional as saying that American ships don't have to pay anything to pass through the Panama Canal and that we should take it over.

More Canadians, by a very long margin, would rather rejoin British empire than become the 51st state. It's truly astonishing. Kevin O'Leary is so misjudging and I don't think he's stupid. I think he's just playing to a different audience in the United States. He doesn't care how much he alienates his fellow Canadians by saying that, but he's not doing his country any service.

SANCHEZ: Ian Bremmer, always appreciate your point of view. Thanks for joining us.

BREMMER: My pleasure.

SANCHEZ: Let's actually take you now to the White House as President Trump departs for Michigan. We have a series of events later. Let's listen in.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No, not an update. No, not an update.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, I wanted to see your response on the leftist media. They're trying to hide the mugshots that are featured on the front lawn of rapists, murderers, pedophiles. What do you think of that? Aren't they proving to be the enemy of the people?

TRUMP: Well, I guess they are. I guess they are, right? Thank you. Who are you with?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I like your hat, by the way.

TRUMP: Who are you with?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The gateway pundit, sir.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, what is your message to Republicans on the Hill who seem not to be on board with your political agenda? What do you say to them?

TRUMP: Oh, I think they're going to be all aboard. I think the Republicans are really with us. We have the big, beautiful deal. It's moving along, and I think we're going to have it taken care of. I think they'll all be there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, tell us about your decision on the auto tariff, sir?

TRUMP: We just wanted to help them during this little transition, short term. And during this little -- if they can't get parts, you know, it has to do with a very small percentage. If they can't get parts, we didn't want to penalize them.

[14:40:00]

And during -- they have a one-year period, and then they have an extra year, but it's for a very, very small part of the car. But basically, they're paying 25 percent. Extra year, but it's for a very, very small part of the car.

But basically, they're paying 25 percent.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, what is your message for all retailers who could see possibly the same thing?

TRUMP: Yes, nothing that really -- he's a good guy. I've gotten to know him over the last couple of years, and he's done a fantastic job. So I appreciated what he did.

(INAUDIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: First of all, you're going to get this speech in Michigan. You're going to list the accomplishments of the administration. Well, if there was one big thing that you really wanted to have happen in the first 100 days, what would it be?

TRUMP: Well, I think we're -- either we've done everything, or it's in the process of being done. For instance, the border is in great shape. Ninety-nine point nine percent came out again today. Ninety-nine point nine. That -- I would say that was my number-one thing.

The economy would be certainly right up there, and I think it's doing great. We were losing billions and billions of dollars a day with trade, and now I have that down to a very low level. And soon we're going to be making a lot of money. We're going to be reducing people's taxes.

And we're going to get the big -- look, a very important element that we're working on now, maybe more important than anything, with the border in good shape, is the fact -- excuse me -- is the fact that we want to get, and very importantly, the big, beautiful, new deal. If we get that done, that's the biggest thing, what's happening in Congress right now.

And I think -- I think we're going to get it done. We have great Republican support. If the Democrats blocked it, you'd have a 60 percent tax increase. I don't think that's going to happen.

We have great support from Republicans. So, the big, beautiful deal. That's what we want, the bill.

(INAUDIBLE)

TRUMP: I think the next period of time, I think my biggest focus will be on Congress with the deal that we're working on. That'll be the biggest bill in the history of our country, in terms of tax cuts and regulation cuts and other things.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, what do you think of the Canadian election?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE)

TRUMP: As Pope?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

TRUMP: I'd like to be Pope. That would be my number one choice.

No, I don't know. I have no preference. I must say we have a Cardinal that happens to be out of a place called New York who's very good. So, we'll see what happens.

Go ahead.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, Mr. President, you are doing so much for Africa. You are the first president that, in the first 100 days, focused on Africa for the first time in the history of this country. Are you planning, maybe in the future, to meet the continent?

TRUMP: Sure, I would do that. I would do that, absolutely. (INAUDIBLE)

TRUMP: Yes, go ahead.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)

TRUMP: They are calling and I will be talking to them, yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, are you planning to do something with the tariffs on automobiles? Were you worried about the automobiles?

TRUMP: No, not at all. We're just giving them a little chance because, in some cases, they can't get the parts fast enough. So, this is just a little transition.

It's 15 percent for one year and just 10 percent for another. It's a little bit. And it has to do -- that's only the percentage of parts on the car.

So, it's a little bit of help for people that will be doing a great job. And these are all people, for the most part, that are building plants and will be working here. So, it's a little transition.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE)

TRUMP: Go ahead, what?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: India --

TRUMP: India is coming along great. I think we'll have a deal with India. The prime minister, as you know, was here three weeks ago, and they want to make a deal. We'll see what happens. Thank you. Thank you.

SANCHEZ: The president there answering reporters' questions before boarding Marine One on his way to Michigan for events commemorating his 100th day in his second term. The president there making a number of remarks, talking about a sort of reprieve on auto tariffs, a deal that was reached today between his administration and automakers, saying that it will help them in the short term, a bit of a transition to help them get parts.

And then notably, the president there saying that the economy is doing great, clearly trying to frame what has been a roller coaster ride for the economy in the first few months of his administration, not only losing trillions of dollars in markets since his announcement of reciprocal tariffs, but also with more and more Americans now saying that they fear a recession is likely before the end of the year.

KEILAR: Yet grocery prices are up. We've heard him here recently talk repeatedly about how they are down when they are up. There are a lot of concerns.

[14:45:00]

SANCHEZ: Fear a recession is likely before the end of the year.

KEILAR: Yet grocery prices are up. We've heard him here recently talk repeatedly about how they are down when they are up. There are a lot of concerns, certainly, and that includes among some independent voters as well.

It was interesting to amid this Amazon -- President Trump kerfuffle today, he addressed that and he said that Jeff Bezos is very nice. They solve the problem very quickly. Of course, the messaging coming from Amazon is that they were just sort of throwing around some ideas for Amazon Hall, which competes with Shein and Temu.

And they were looking at potentially adding that tariff upcharge so people could see what tariffs were costing them on products on Amazon Hall. But ultimately, they decided not to do that. Trump sort of framing it as if he talked to Jeff Bezos and got the idea scrapped.

So that's a different story coming from President Trump. But there he is at Andrews moments ago. He'll be heading to Michigan. We're expecting he'll sign this executive order on helping automakers on the way. We'll follow this and bring you more here after a quick break.

[14:50:00]

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KEILAR: In the first 100 days of the second Trump administration, the president and other top officials, namely Robert Kennedy Jr., are reshaping children's health. And parents have a lot of questions.

SANCHEZ: CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us now. Sanjay, President Trump has said he wants to fight chronic health conditions in kids. How big of an issue is that in the United States? And what does the plan look like?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, look, this is a big issue. There's no question. When you look at chronic diseases in kids overall, the United States does not fare very well.

Let me just show you a couple things here. Overall, about 60 percent of kids in the United States would be considered healthy, meaning 40 percent have at least one chronic health condition. These numbers have increased pretty significantly over the last few decades.

And the United States is clearly an outlier, overall, when it comes to chronic health conditions among children. You know, we're a country that spends $4 trillion on health care, and we have some of the worst outcomes overall, at least in the industrialized world.

When you look at what these health conditions are, there's a big variety of things that we're talking about. Obesity certainly is one of the ones that has grown significantly over the past few decades. But this administration, interestingly, is paying a lot of attention to autism. They say they want to figure out what is driving autism by September of this year, despite the fact that decades of research have gone into this. They're also talking about removing or at least reducing fluoride in the water supply. And as we talked about last week, guys, petroleum- based dyes, food dyes, those are three areas that we've heard some more concrete plans for. With food dyes, they've talked about phasing them out over time, not an outright ban.

But that's mostly what we've heard about over the past 100 days.

KEILAR: Sanjay, what's been the Trump administration's approach when it comes to access to childhood vaccines?

GUPTA: Yes, Brianna, I would say it's a bit confusing and a bit concerning overall. You know, when we heard from Secretary Kennedy that no one was going to take away vaccines, we heard him even recommend vaccines in the middle of this outbreak in West Texas. But at the same time, I mean, take a look at what is happening here.

This is just over three months, right? The FDA vaccine safety head resigned. So, you know, we'll see what happens with that particular position.

Independent vaccine advisors have been sidelined. So typically, you'd bring in people who know a lot about vaccines, help come up with a flu vaccine for next year. Those people were not part of those discussions this time around.

And vaccine-related grants have been canceled. We've heard about a lot of cuts overall. So on one hand, you have these audacious plans. On the other hand, there have been all these cuts. It's going to be really important to see how this comes together over the next few months.

SANCHEZ: And Sanjay, the administration created this new health organization. Talk to us about that.

GUPTA: Yes. Do you know the name, Boris? It's called AHA, Administration for a Healthy America.

We have all these acronyms here. Yes.

Look, I mean, when we talk about federal health funding overall, a lot of people have been hearing snippets of this, but 10,000 people voluntarily departed about an 80,000-person organization. 10,000 more people were let go. They were cut. The goal was to save around $2 billion per year and cut these divisions down significantly.

So there's a lot of cuts being made. There's entire departments that are gone. You know, we've been talking about what's happening in Milwaukee, for example, with lead. When they call the CDC to say, hey, can we get help with the lead problem, such as, you know, we saw in Flint years ago, there is no sort of lead department now at CDC. So, you know, we're, again, starting even now within three months, starting to see the ramifications of some of these cuts. Some of those departments may be reinstated.

But when it comes to children's health and some of the plans that they have, I think one of the big questions is, is there enough resources? Is there enough manpower to actually accomplish some of the things they want to do?

[14:55:00]

SANCHEZ: Yes, it's an open question. We spoke to officials in Milwaukee yesterday. They were pointing out it is a pretty complicated situation, and they do need help.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, appreciate you walking us through that.

So remember to scan the QR code on your screen right now to send your questions about the Trump administration's health policies and their impact on children's health to Dr. Sanjay Gupta, who will be back tomorrow to answer them.

And still to come, the U.S. assessment on the risks from climate change in limbo after a new move by the Trump administration. That and much more coming your way.

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