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Trump On Auto Tariff Relief: It's Just "A Little Bit Of Help"; Trump En Route To Michigan For Back-To-Back 100th Day Events; Sources: Trump Spoke To Auto CEOs Before Deciding To Ease Tariffs; Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) Discusses About Rate Of Inflation Listed On Amazon Haul; Amazon Says It Considered Breaking Out Tariff Charges On Spinoff Site "Haul," But Didn't Roll It Out; New CNN Poll Shows Americans Frustrated 100 Days Into Trump Term; New CNN Poll: Fear Rising Among Americans About Trump 2nd Term. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired April 29, 2025 - 15:00   ET

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

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BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: A busy 100 days in office and the White House eager to celebrate what President Trump has done from slashing the federal workforce to his immigration crackdown. But as the President heads to Michigan, Americans are increasingly divided about his agenda and they're worried about what's next.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: And that fear includes concerns about a recession and how the President's trade war might play out. And a sign of how his tariff policy can change, President Trump is set to sign an executive order today to ease auto tariffs.

And also scientists agree that climate change is a threat, but the government under President Trump may soon know far less about it. This is after the White House dismisses all the researchers working on a key new report.

We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN News Central.

KEILAR: Right now, President Trump is making his way to Michigan for back-to-back events, marking his 100th day in office during his second term. The President just moments ago, as he was leaving the White House, took several questions from reporters, and notably he said he believes a trade deal with India could be coming soon.

He also said this about the tariff relief he's about to give automakers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: 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 a little bit of help for people that will be doing a great job.

(END VIDEO CLIP) KEILAR: CNN Business and Politics Correspondent Vanessa Yurkevich is standing by, but first let's go to Jeff Zeleny in Warren, Michigan, where the President is heading today.

Jeff, walk us through the President's plans and the messaging.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Brianna, there is no mistaking the fact that President Trump is choosing Macomb County, Michigan for a reason. He won this county by 14 points last November on his way to a much narrower but decisive win in Michigan and the sweep of all battlegrounds.

And for the President, this is his first real return to not only the campaign trail, if you will, even though he's not running for anything, but also to sell his economic agenda. So we are here in Warren, Michigan. Of course, this is the heart of the automotive industry. And the President is coming along with some relief for automakers who have been really concerned about these on-again, off- again tariff policies. He's offering a reprieve on some of those tariffs and specifically the auto parts.

Of course, the industry is so connected between Canada and Mexico and the United States. So offering a reprieve on some of the auto parts, as well as some of the double tariffs, if you will, tariffs that have stacked upon other tariffs. That really has been a central theme here as we've been talking to voters here in Macomb County and the surrounding areas.

They've been concerned about his tariff policies. Even Trump supporters have said that they believe there's been some confusion. So, the President clearly coming here to Michigan to, I don't know if you can see, there's a sign behind here that says, "100 days of greatness."

Certainly that's how the White House views it. But talking to many supporters and detractors alike, anxiety is a word that comes up again and again, Boris and Brianna.

KEILAR: Yes. Big signs can be tough in politics, as we've learned over time.

Vanessa, walk us through the significance of Trump saying this trade deal with India could be coming and also this easing on auto tariffs.

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, well, auto tariffs first, I've been speaking to sources within the U.S. auto industry who have said for weeks now that this tariff that is coming on auto parts set to take effect on Saturday, that 25 percent tariff, that was their biggest concern, because even U.S. automakers import a ton of foreign parts, even if they're assembling the vehicle here in the United States.

And as Jeff mentioned, there's a little bit of sort of a rebate coming to those automakers that even if they import the foreign car parts, they're going to get sort of a percentage discount if they assemble the vehicle here in the United States. But Ford, Stellantis, General Motors, they all still assemble vehicles in other countries like Canada and Mexico.

So this is an effort by the President to get them to move manufacturing back to the United States. But of course, the automakers are saying in statements right now that they are appreciative of this reprieve. But ultimately, there is still that 25 percent tariff that is hitting foreign cars being imported and foreign car parts being imported. And economists have suggested that those prices, those tariffs are going to get handed down to the consumer at the end of the day.

[15:05:08]

Also, as you mentioned, a deal potentially with India, a trade deal. This is something that we saw markets move on. First, we heard from the Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick saying that he had a deal done with one country. He was not specific about which country, but we just heard, as you mentioned, from the President there saying that he is close to a deal with India. So is that one deal or two deals?

Anyway, you put it, though, we saw the Dow pop on that news, the Dow up now more than 300 points. As investors, I've been speaking to for weeks now, Brianna. Out of everything they wanted to hear from the President is not that the fact that they're talking with other countries, that they're negotiating with other countries, they want to see deals. And we're getting indications from the administration, Brianna, that there may be an actual deal coming soon, Brianna.

KEILAR: All right. We'll look for that.

And, Jeff, there was this tiff, I guess you could say, between President Trump and Amazon today. The President actually calling up Jeff Bezos to complain about a report that he saw this morning. What's happening here?

ZELENY: Brianna, pretty extraordinary back and forth. Of course, Jeff Bezos has been much closer to the President this time around, but his Amazon business did something, or it was reported that they were thinking of doing something on their website, essentially listing some of the extra costs, if you will, and essentially assigning some of the blame to the Trump administration's tariffs. If a product was $12, they said it will now be $13 or $14 or whatever the number because of the Trump tariff, essentially a Trump tax that set the White House into battle mode this morning, calling it a hostile act. President Trump had this to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Jeff Bezos was very nice. He was terrific. He solved the problem very quickly, and he did the right thing, and 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: So Amazon says this was never going to be implemented widely. It was just a narrow slice of the business and was never going to be put forward. However, what it does go to show is that when the White House reacts like this, businesses, at least this time around, are very quick to respond to the President, not wanting to anger him, of course, because so many of his individual decisions on tariff, on trade, can impact these businesses directly. So, certainly an interesting back and forth with Amazon and Jeff Bezos backing down. Brianna?

KEILAR: Yes, it sure was interesting.

Jeff, Vanessa, thank you. Boris?

SANCHEZ: Let's discuss with Democratic Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal of Washington State. She is the Senior Whip of the Democratic Caucus.

Congresswoman, great to have you this afternoon. Thanks for being with us.

Given this report about Amazon Haul considering showing shoppers the cost of tariffs on its site, I wonder if you would support that kind of transparency and also how you would respond to the White House suggesting that Amazon, if it's taking this step, which Amazon says it's not, should have listed the rate of inflation under President Biden.

REP. PRAMILA JAYAPAL (D-WA): Well, it's good to be with you. Look, I think that what we saw with this whole Amazon debacle is that Amazon caved the minute Donald Trump said that he didn't like the policy. And this is what we've seen over and over again with business leaders. You know, I think publishing the amount that consumers are paying because of tariffs was actually a good thing because it shows that the White House is putting a tax on consumers with these indiscriminate sweeping tariffs.

Now, I will also say that if Amazon really wanted to cut prices for consumers, they should actually take away the tax that they impose on small businesses that are advertising on their platforms. That is something that we've taken on in the Antitrust Committee as well. So, it's just a really unfortunate, once again, repetition of the biggest billionaires, industry leaders, corporate leaders being too willing to cave to a White House that is destroying consumer confidence. And as Jeff said earlier, a hundred days of anxiety.

A hundred days of anxiety, confusion, chaos and destruction, that's what Donald Trump has been presiding over.

SANCHEZ: Amazon's statement sort of refutes the characterization that they caved in. This was supposedly just an exchange of ideas, an idea that was floated, something that they say they were never going to implement. I do want to get to the core of something that the Press Secretary was talking about, Karoline Leavitt. The White House is citing reports of Amazon allegedly censoring on behalf of China as a reason to buy American to redomesticate supply chains, to bring them home.

[15:10:03]

Do you disagree that the CCP's global influence and their aspirations are a good enough reason to rethink trade with China?

JAYAPAL: Well, I have always believed that America should be investing in domestic manufacturing. That's why I was firmly against all of the free trade agreements and I was pushing for fair trade. That's why I think NAFTA was a bad idea. And that's why, when you think about tariff policy, it's not that all tariffs are bad. You actually can have very constructive, good, targeted tariffs. They have to be paired with domestic investments in manufacturing.

And let's be clear that not only are the Trump tariffs terrible in the way that they've been implemented, how sweeping they are, how indiscriminate they are, but also he is stripping away the very funding that Congress put into enhancing domestic manufacturing. So think about, Boris, the CHIPS Act, the Inflation Reduction Act. These were all designed to help grow domestic manufacturing here in America. That's not something that happens overnight and it's not something that happens without government actually putting our thumb on the scale.

Instead, what Donald Trump is doing is stripping away all of the money that was in the Inflation Reduction Act, in the CHIPS and Science Act. He's destroying science, research, technology, all of the work that goes into having a strong industrial manufacturing base in the United States of America.

So let's not be fooled into thinking that somehow he wants to bring manufacturing back. It couldn't be further from the truth. What he's trying to do is levy fees on consumers that bring in revenue so that he can pass a $5 trillion tax cut for people like Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk. That's what this is all about.

SANCHEZ: I do want to ask you about some of the upcoming battles that are set to unfold on Capitol Hill. Trump's big, beautiful bill that Speaker Johnson is aiming to pass. I wonder, given the losses that Democrats experienced in the last election, do you think your party should seek some common ground and try to pass parts of this bill, make concessions, or taking another approach, attempt to block it altogether?

JAYAPAL: Look, this is a bill that cuts a minimum of $880 billion from Medicaid, a program that serves 33 million kids across the country. This is a bill that is going to allow the Trump administration to continue to destroy all of the federal agencies, gets rid of the Department of Education.

In the Judiciary Committee tomorrow, we're going to be debating the judiciary parts of this. This is, again, sort of green-lighting the mass deportations of U.S. citizens, legal permanent residents, others. So no, I don't think that you can start to try to have a compromise on a bill that destroys the economy for the American people, that cuts Social Security and Medicare, which Elon Musk called the great big ones that we have to eliminate.

This is not a bill that is in any way going to help the American people. If Republicans wanted to put forward a bill that helped the American people, that actually cut costs for Americans, that raised taxes so that the rich finally pay their fair share instead of getting giant tax breaks, then sure, we would be interested in talking about that. But this is a bill that we have before us, Boris. So I think you can expect a wholesale opposition to cutting Medicaid, Social Security, Medicare, the Department of Education, everything that they are doing.

SANCHEZ: Just to be precise, Congresswoman, I believe that in that soundbite, Elon Musk was talking about fraud in those entitlement programs being the big ones that they have to tackle.

JAYAPAL: No, that's not ...

SANCHEZ: That's what ...

JAYAPAL: No, he ...

SANCHEZ: That's what he said in that soundbite.

JAYAPAL: ... he - just to be ...

SANCHEZ: We can go back and find it, and we'll exchange emails, and you'll see that what he was talking about specifically in that sound bite ...

JAYAPAL: Sounds good.

SANCHEZ:... that I believe you're referring to is fraud. And President Trump has said that he will not sign anything that cuts Medicaid, though it is true that the committee that oversees Medicaid has outlined $880 billion in cuts. How they make that math work is a question for Republicans.

JAYAPAL: Well, that's ...

SANCHEZ: Nevertheless, I do want to get your thoughts on Speaker Johnson arguing that your party doesn't have a leader or a vision or a platform. He argues that all you have is obstruction, and that's not what Americans voted for.

You have to acknowledge that Democrats are in a tough spot. There's this new CNN poll that found that 57 percent disapprove of how party leaders have performed. Why do you think that is, Congresswoman?

JAYAPAL: Well, I think it's a tough time in our country, and I think Democrats do have to come together and show that we have not just an opposition vision, but what I call a proposition vision. What are we fighting for? Things like big investments in housing, universal child care. These are the things that had we passed, and we almost did, we passed it in the House, I think we might have won the November election.

So we've got to continue to focus on bringing costs down, on making health care affordable for everyone, and taking care of the American people, not the biggest corporations.

[15:15:07] We have a great contrast to show right now between what Democrats want and what Republicans want. We're going to continue to do that. But let's be clear that the American people did not vote for what Donald Trump is doing, and that's why you see 59 percent of Americans now disapproving of what Donald Trump has done in the first hundred days.

SANCHEZ: Congresswoman, one potential change that may be coming up for Democrats, Congressman Gerry Connolly plans to step down as ranking member of the Oversight Committee, given his ongoing health issues. He's a frequent guest on the show, and we're certainly pulling for him through this ordeal. I do wonder who you would like to see pick up his work.

JAYAPAL: Well, you know, it's just too early to say that. I've got to say that Gerry Connolly has been a friend, he's been a tremendous leader on the Oversight Committee in the Democratic caucus. I've worked with him on a number of issues, and I'm just heartbroken that he's dealing with this right now, and I hope that his health is good, and we'll get to the point of figuring out what comes next. But right now, I think it's important for us to give a lot of flowers to Gerry Connolly for all of the work and the public service that he's done over the many years that he's been here in Congress.

SANCHEZ: Yes, no doubt our hearts are with him, and we are pulling for the congressman. Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, always appreciate having your perspective on. Thanks for joining us.

JAYAPAL: Thank you, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Of course. Still to come, a hundred days into President Trump's second term, a new CNN poll shows that Americans are increasingly frustrated, disappointed, even angry at the state of politics. We're going to bring you the latest numbers.

Plus, a mass exodus at the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, around 70 percent of its employees are expected to accept a resignation offer.

And later, a national climate change report now in limbo after the White House dismissed all the authors that were working on it.

All that and much more coming up on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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[15:21:25]

KEILAR: As President Trump hits his 100th day in office, our new CNN poll shows Americans are increasingly worried about what comes next. Forty-one percent say they're afraid of what the rest of Trump's second term could bring. That's up six points since February and 12 points since December.

Pollster and communications strategist Frank Luntz is with us now to talk about this. Great to see you, Frank. I wonder how you're seeing these polls. Are they really that bad for Trump and how he should be thinking about them?

FRANK LUNTZ, POLLSTER & COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGIST: I'm seeing them increasingly negative. Increasingly, the downturn is significant, or at least it's measurable. And there was a time when I was on your show discussing how the public supported the President's agenda, and they still do. They still want lower prices. They still want immigration solved. They still want quality of life made easier for them or affordable for them.

But it's the execution and the communication that is increasingly causing this administration public support. It's costing them that. And these numbers are significant, and they are measurable. It's still so early. A hundred days is nothing in an administration. So I don't want to cast judgment that quickly.

But I want to acknowledge now that if the White House is looking for bringing over new people, new converts, individuals that may not have voted for Trump before, but they like what he's doing, that's not what's happening. His base is hanging with him and incredibly supportive. But those that came to him in the last few days or voted for him because they did not like the alternative, those are the people who are saying, I don't like this either, and that's what you're seeing in the polls.

KEILAR: And, you know, he's been stressing that the price of groceries are down. They're not down, though, Frank, they're up. And that's one of those things I think you can't really convince people of, right? I mean, if you have a family, you have children, you're kind of buying the same stuff every week: The bread, the lunch meat, the apples, the stuff for school lunches. And you can see if your bills are going up. It's not too difficult for that.

What does his messaging and policy need to be around these cost issues?

LUNTZ: He needs to recognize the day-to-day costs of the average individual and what they're facing. He needs to recognize that the public is looking for food and fuel and housing and health care and more than anything else, automobiles. Because that's the thing that people are focused on in terms of these tariffs, is the auto that - is the car that they're going to purchase more expensive now because of policies that Donald Trump followed?

My surprise in the focus groups that I'm doing is that Trump voters are willing to pay more, that Trump voters are willing to see their 401Ks be slightly reduced, not significantly, but slightly reduced in return for bringing manufacturing back to America. They're very patient.

But in looking at the CNN numbers, which I believe are accurate, there's that group in the middle. They don't love Trump. They don't hate him. They just want a successful country. They want an easier lifestyle. They're looking at this and saying, it's not easier, it's tougher. This is not what I'm looking for. In fact, this is what I wanted to get away from.

[15:25:06]

You have to make my day-to-day life more affordable, more livable and more rewarding. And they don't want to see the fights in Congress. They don't want to see the polarization. They don't want to see yelling back and forth. They simply want their life to be easier.

Best example of this is to cut wasteful Washington spending. The public absolutely agrees on this, over 70 percent. But they don't want entire departments decimated without any kind of safety net to ensure that the services that are being provided are still available to those who need it. And they also aren't looking to laugh and have joy at the people who are losing their jobs. They want this done with a scalpel, not with a chainsaw and they want it done carefully and effectively.

KEILAR: Yes, and thoughtfully, not cruelly, as we have seen.

I do want to ask you about Democrats, because they - it's up to them to offer an alternative, and they did not in the Presidential election. So this is the big issue that they have before them. New polling shows Democratic leadership with only a 27 percent approval. It's a record low for the party in CNN polling back to 2008. You know, what do they need to do? What is their challenge?

LUNTZ: Well, the challenge is that they've got on the Senate side incredibly ineffective and, frankly, out-of-touch leadership that has no idea how to offer an alternative to Donald Trump. They don't want to bash, slap around the President. What they want is that agenda delivered in a more efficient, more effective, more compassionate way.

And so, I'm looking for that, and with the exception of Cory Booker, who delivered a 25-hour explanation of how they can do better, I've not really seen that. You've got AOC, who's very public out there, but very extreme, very partisan, very polarizing. That's not what they're looking for either.

The problem with the Democrats, you've got one-third on that side, on the AOC side, one-third on the more centrist side, and one-third that simply doesn't care about the ideology and just wants things to work. If I were a Democrat right now, I would not be looking to the Senate or the House. I'd be looking to the governors, the people who actually have to administer policies day by day, let the governors stand up, come forward with why they've been successful in their states, and just maybe you could start to fashion an alternative.

Now, remember, when Republicans lost in 2009, they lost everything, the House, the Senate, the presidency. It took them a while to get back on their feet, but, boy, did they ever. It did not start in Washington. It started in the states. The Democrats should take that same message, not use the House, not use the Senate, because they're just legislators. The governors have the best vision and would probably bring the most support from the public to an alternative to Donald Trump.

KEILAR: Always interesting to talk to you, Frank. Frank Luntz, thank you so much. Really appreciate it.

LUNTZ: Thank you.

KEILAR: And when we come back, the White House is dismissing all the scientists and authors working on a major climate change report mandated by Congress. The impact it could have on preparedness at all levels of government.

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