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Trump Holds Cabinet Meeting; President Trump Refusing to Bring Back Kilmar Abrego Garcia; Judge Orders Release of Mohsen Mahdawi; U.S. Economy Shrinks. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired April 30, 2025 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:44]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: The shrinking U.S. economy. A new report shows the United States just had its worst three months in three years.

As President Trump's trade war unnerves consumers and businesses, his response, to blame President Joe Biden and to tell Americans they just need more patience.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Walking free. A judge orders the release of a Palestinian student at Columbia University. So what is next for Mohsen Mahdawi after leaving prison, and could federal authorities still try to deport him?

And scandal in Syracuse, high school lacross players facing felony kidnapping charges if they don't surrender to police, accused of victimizing five younger players. Prosecutors say this goes -- quote -- "way beyond hazing."

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

SANCHEZ: Happening now, the White House on the defensive, as the U.S. economy shrinks for the first time in three years, economists widely blaming President Trump's tariffs, but the president is pointing to his predecessor, posting on TRUTH Social -- quote -- "This is Biden's stock market, not Trump's," adding: "This has nothing to do with tariffs."

Well, for months, as you can see here, stocks have been reacting to his words and actions on tariffs. Just about every time he's announced a new tariff, the stock market has gone down. And there's this. Trump's top trade adviser just suggested that the negative report is actually -- quote -- "very positive news for America."

Let's get right to CNN's Jeff Zeleny, who's at the White House for us.

Jeff, more mixed messages. What are you hearing? There's still a Cabinet meeting that's ongoing.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: There is, Boris. There is a lot of positive news happening right now in the Cabinet

Room of the White House, as every member of the Trump Cabinet are going around the room. You can see the picture there on screen. The secretary of health and human services, RFK, is speaking right now.

They are giving the president a very rosy, optimistic report from each of their agencies. We have seen more Cabinet meetings in this administration than many have in their complete administrations, largely because they're held every two weeks, and largely because the Cabinet secretaries go around the room and say positive things the president would like to hear.

But on the economy specifically, there is no doubt there are very mixed messages, but also one direct sign,the uncertainty that has been coursing through the economy. The on-again/off-again sort of policy of these tariffs has created dramatic uncertainty. But the economy is contracting. There is no doubt about it.

The GDP has slowed considerably, largely because of the imports. As businesses and consumers prepare for these higher tariffs, the imports have gone up exponentially. People are buying more things, hoarding them, if you will, stockpiling them, if you will, and that has had a negative effect on the GDP.

But, look, the bottom line of all of this, the president quite openly and his vice president as well in that Cabinet meeting blaming the Biden administration. Well, as we now begin the next first chapter of this administration, we're on day 101, the time for blaming the last administration is likely over.

The president will likely continue to still do that, but there is no doubt that the buck now stops or should with this president, not the last president.

But one other interesting moment as we are just watching the Cabinet meeting there, the HHS, Health and Human Services secretary, RFK Jr., speaking, Elon Musk also spoke just a few moments ago. This is likely his swan song, likely his last time at this Cabinet table, at least for a while.

He said he's wearing two hats. He's wearing a Trump hat beneath hat, and, of course, a branded Gulf of America hat. But he is likely taking his leave for leading the Department of Government Efficiency. He talked about how he has discovered savings of $150 billion.

We should point out, at the very beginning of this administration and before, he initially said $2 trillion, then $1 trillion, and now it's down to the savings of only a sliver of that. But we do believe this is his last meeting as Cabinet secretary. As the president said, you're welcome any time, but I know you want to get back to running your Tesla company -- Boris.

[13:05:07]

SANCHEZ: And we should also note, that 150-billion-or-so-dollar figure, DOGE has put out a number of claims on its Web site, its wall of receipts, that have proven to be inaccurate.

So we don't really have a precise number at this point from DOGE.

ZELENY: Right, not at all.

SANCHEZ: Jeff Zeleny at the White House, thank you so much.

Let's bring in CNN business and politics correspondent Vanessa Yurkevich to walk us through this new economic data, what it shows and what is behind this headline number, the U.S. economy, Vanessa, shrinking this quarter.

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and shrinking for the first time since 2022, so, significant.

Economists were expecting the economy to grow at a slower rate this quarter, but they weren't expecting this contraction. So, the economy shrinking by 0.3 percent, that is certainly a dramatic difference from what we saw in the last quarter of 2024, when the economy grew by 2.4 percent.

But, essentially, there are several components that make up GDP. And it's important to look at all of these to understand what exactly is going on here. So we saw consumer spending slow, but there was still an increase there. We saw investment. You can see it on your screen right there. Look at investment. That really grew.

And that is what the president has been touting, that companies and businesses have been investing here in the United States. A lot of that, though, economists say, is to sort of front-load what is coming, which were these higher tariffs that went into effect this month, in April.

You see that government spending actually there declined, especially on the federal level. And we can trace that back to a lot of these DOGE cuts. And then exports, you see there, actually increased. So that was part of sort of the trade war playing out there.

And then you see imports, the number on your screen there, and that decline that you see there is because imports increased into the U.S., but that counts as a subtraction from U.S. GDP, because those goods were not produced here in the United States.

And imports, particularly in this first quarter, grew by 41 percent. That is a distinction from last quarter, when imports shrank by 1.9 percent. And just look at markets on your screen right now. They have come off the lows of the day. At one point, the Dow was down 700 points once this GDP news came out.

But markets, man, they have been just parsing through economic data. They have been parsing through things that the administration has been saying, what China has been saying. Right now, you can still see them in the red there, the Dow down currently 226 points.

This report, this GDP report, is significant, but it's one piece of this puzzle, as consumers, businesses and economists just try to figure out where the economy is going right now, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Vanessa Yurkevich, thank you so much for the view from markets -- Brianna.

KEILAR: The Port of Los Angeles says it does expect shipping volume from China to plunge about 35 percent next week.

The president addressing this just a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They're sending boats, the biggest boats in the world carrying cargo like nobody has ever seen before.

These are the biggest boats in the world, biggest cargo ships in the world. And they're coming. And they're turning around in the Pacific Ocean. They're doing a big U-turn and going back because they don't want the goods, because 145 percent tariff.

But at a certain point, I hope we're going to make a deal with China. We're talking to China.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: And we're joined now by the official who gave that warning about the dip in containers coming into the port, Gene Seroka, the executive director of the Port of Los Angeles.

Gene, thanks for being with us.

Can you just explain to us why you're expecting port volume to shrink more than 35 percent next week? Is this all tariff-related? Is it all China or is it other countries too?

GENE SEROKA, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, PORT OF LOS ANGELES: Good afternoon, Brianna.

It's all tariff-related, whether it be China, which now, if you buy a product from there, it's 2.5 times more expensive than it was just last month. The 10 percent tariffs on all other countries, including those in the Pacific Rim that we trade with, are also expensive.

So we saw some big companies bring inventory in over the last nine months to try to build up stock. Not everyone had the ability to do that and store. Those small to middle-sized companies are really in a quandary right now. So we had about a 7 percent uptick in business here in the month of April. That's the end of the surge to pad inventory.

The month of May, right now, we're projecting next week's volume to be down by 35 percent. Ships sailing, 17 of them have been canceled out of a scheduled 80 or so. That shows that the drop will be precipitous and fast.

KEILAR: And I think you handle more container ships than any other port, right? So how long is this sustainable for port workers there in L.A.?

[13:10:00]

SEROKA: We're at a crucial time right now.

We're the largest container port in the Western Hemisphere 25 years running, a leading indicator of this great U.S. economy. And what we're seeing now is that dockworkers, truckers, warehouse folks will be having less job opportunities beginning next week.

If you're a trucker today hauling four and five containers, beginning next week, you will likely be just moving two or three. Dockworkers who've been getting over time working double shifts will likely work less than a full workweek.

This will hit our local and regional economy immediately.

KEILAR: Gene, talk to consumers, who obviously rely on these products coming in, about what kind of products you're talking about, how this might compare to some of the shipping disruptions that they became familiar with during COVID.

SEROKA: Wherever you're watching or listening to this broadcast right now, likely, you're looking or wearing something that was brought in from overseas; 90 percent of trade moves on water; 45 percent of our business here at the Port of Los Angeles is with China, whether it be furniture, electronics, appliances, clothing and footwear.

The American consumer will be affected with less choice here in the weeks ahead on store shelves and online buying platforms. And, likely, prices will rise. These tariffs will be passed on in cost structure to the American consumer.

KEILAR: And there's a lot of talk right now by the Trump administration trying to create a sense of optimism that they're moving in the right direction towards coming to a deal with China.

But, until then, these tariffs, these 145 percent tariffs, are still in place. Will shipping only rebound if there is an agreement that actually drops or largely drops the tariffs to something manageable?

SEROKA: That's my belief, Brianna.

I worked in China for a number of years, maintain strong ties to the business community there. I'm on the phone with folks I trade with every night when I get out of the office or off the road into my hotel room.

And what they're telling me is that, even if a trade deal was reached at this very moment, it would take the shipping lines approximately two weeks to reposition their vessels and start loading up the backlog of inventory and container cargo, and then another two weeks to come across the Pacific here to Los Angeles. That's a month that we will see to get this trade balance back in motion.

KEILAR: And, Gene, obviously, it takes longer to get products on container ships to the East Coast. You're closer to -- when you're talking about Chinese products specifically.

When are we on the East Coast going to start seeing a similar trend at ports here?

SEROKA: The impacts that we on the West Coast see usually lag by about four to six weeks on the East Coast, just because of transit time and order delivery processes.

The same will be coming towards our friends up and down the Atlantic and across the Gulf Coast.

KEILAR: All right, we will be looking to see how that does time out.

Gene Seroka, thank you so much. Really appreciate your time today.

And we're following some breaking news out of Vermont, where a Columbia University student who was arrested during a citizenship interview is now free. We will have details ahead on that.

In the meantime, new CNN polling signals the majority of Americans don't support the way that President Trump is handling deportations. We will show you the numbers there.

And then later: This was no ordinary severe storm, and this is not Florida, hurricane-force winds just taking out a neighborhood in Missouri.

You're watching CNN NEWS CENTRAL. We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:18:16]

SANCHEZ: New today, Columbia University student Mohsen Mahdawi is a free man.

A federal judge ordered his release from ICE custody this morning. The Palestinian activist has been a legal permanent resident for a decade, but was arrested during a U.S. citizenship interview earlier this month.

CNN's Polo Sandoval is following this story for us.

So, Polo, what happened at his court hearing?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, Boris, to be clear, this does not do away with his outstanding immigration case.

However, it will allow him, the Palestinian man, an opportunity to address said case from outside detention. And a reminder to our viewers, it was on April 14, when he was in the final stages of naturalizing to become a U.S. citizen after being a permanent resident for about a decade, he even, according to his attorney, went as far as to go in for this prescheduled appointment earlier this month to take the oath as a U.S. citizen. And, shortly after that, according to his attorneys, that's when federal authorities detained him and initiated some of those proceedings, calling him essentially a threat to national security.

Now, his attorney is arguing that his detention was not just unconstitutional, but also retaliatory, that he was specifically targeted for being outspoken on behalf of the Palestinian cause while a student at Columbia University.

So I want you to hear directly from him in his remarks just moments after being released from detention in Burlington, Vermont, this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOHSEN MAHDAWI, PERMANENT U.S. RESIDENT: Directly after I was taken into processing -- into the processing center, they had already my flight tickets printed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, no.

MAHDAWI: They took me to Burlington Airport. And we just missed the airplane, which is a commercial airplane, by nine minutes.

(CHEERING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: And just before handing over the mic, Mahdawi also saying -- quote -- "My freedom is interlinked to the freedom of other students, including Mahmoud Khalil."

[13:20:07]

Of course -- Mahmoud Khalil, of course, a residence (sic) to his fellow Columbia student that remains in detention, Boris.

So, really, that's sort of the overarching story here of the Trump administration specifically targeting students in the U.S. for being sympathetic for the Palestinian cause and also taking part in protests and demonstrations.

So, again, his case is not over, although he does remain out on bond now after that detention -- the order from the judge today.

SANCHEZ: Yes, one of many cases like this, we're keeping track of.

Polo Sandoval, thank you so much.

Now to another high-profile detention we have been following, the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man mistakenly deported to El Salvador. Despite the Trump administration claiming that it can't bring him back from Salvadoran custody, President Trump appeared to contradict that during an interview with ABC News that aired last night.

Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: This is not an innocent, wonderful gentleman from Maryland.

TERRY MORAN, ABC NEWS SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm not saying he's a good guy. It's about the rule of law. The order from the Supreme Court stands, sir.

TRUMP: He came into our country illegally.

MORAN: You could get him back. There's a phone on this desk.

TRUMP: I could.

MORAN: You could pick it up.

TRUMP: I could.

MORAN: And with all the power of the presidency, you could call up the president of El Salvador and say, send him back right now.

TRUMP: And if he were the gentleman that you say he is, I would do that. But he is not.

MORAN: But the court has ordered you to facilitate that release.

TRUMP: I'm not the one making this decision. We have lawyers that don't want to do this, Terry.

MORAN: You're the president. Yes, but the buck stops in this office.

TRUMP: No, no, no, no. I follow the law.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: CNN's Paula Reid is joining us now with some new reporting.

And you have learned, Paula, that Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been in direct touch with El Salvador's president. What more are you learning?

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: That's right.

And this has been about this high-profile case. Now, it's notable there's been this communication, but it is unclear if this communication is part of a sincere effort to get Garcia back to the U.S. or afford him additional due process, or if it's just some political theater to take the temperature down on an issue that has become a political liability, as 56 percent of Americans think the administration should work to bring Garcia back after it admitted that he was mistakenly deported.

Also note the president of El Salvador has already said Garcia will not be returned. And the Supreme Court had an opportunity here. They weighed in, but they did not order him returned to the U.S. Instead, they ordered that the government facilitate his release from custody, then sent the case back down to the lower court for further clarification.

And that ambiguous ruling has given the administration cover not to bring him back. We're also told by sources that the Justice Department is not pushing to return Garcia to the U.S. or to afford him due process in either country.

So, an important piece of context in this reporting is just to temper any expectation that these communications will change Mr. Garcia's fortunes -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: Paula Reid, thanks so much for the update.

Let's go straight to the White House now, where Mr. President -- President Trump is taking questions from reporters. Let's listen.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

MARCO RUBIO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Well, I would never tell you that.

And you know who else I will never tell? A judge, because the conduct of our foreign policy belongs to the president of the United States and the executive branch, not some judge. So we will conduct foreign policy appropriately if we need to. But I will never discuss it. And no one will ever make us discuss it, because that's how foreign policy works.

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: Mr. President, yesterday, you told ABC News -- Mr. President, you told ABC News yesterday that you could get Abrego Garcia back if you wanted to.

Do you think President Bukele would turn you down if you made that request?

TRUMP: I really don't know. I know that he's been a great friend of our country. He's gotten a lot less money than this would take from us if we were going to build these jails and do what he's doing.

And they run a very professional operation. I don't know. I haven't spoken to him. I really leave that to the lawyers. And I take my advice from Pam and everybody that is very much involved. They know the laws. And we follow the laws exactly.

QUESTION: Mr. President? Mr. President?

TRUMP: Yes, please.

QUESTION: During the transition, sir, you frequently took credit for the stock market highs. You said it was a reflection of how well you were doing in the polls.

And then, after you were elected, you said the stock market highs were a reflection of how well the transition is going and the American people's confidence in your incoming administration. Now the stock market's not doing so well, and you're saying that's the Biden stock market, yet you are the president.

Can you explain that?

TRUMP: Yes, I'm not taking credit or discredit for the stock market. I'm just saying that we inherited a mess both at the borders.

You could look at every single one of the people here, and no matter who it is, they're doing better and they are far superior to what took place for four years before us. When you look at prisoners being allowed to come into our country at will, just at will, people from mental institutions, gang members, drug dealers, when you look at that, what they have done to our country, and also having to do with finance.

Look at what happened with inflation. We had the worst inflation probably in the history of our country. They say 48 years, but I would say in the history of our country, and ate away at people.

[13:25:02]

And even though you saw a stock market going up somewhat, because, in my case, I had the biggest stock market increase, 88 percent in the last term, in my last term.

But I don't view the stock market as the end-all. It's an indicator. But what the stock market really tells you, and what you -- when you look at the stock market in this case, is, it says how bad a situation we inherited. I took place -- this is a quarter that we looked at today.

And I took -- we took -- all of us together, we came in on January 20. So this is Biden. And you could even say the next quarter is sort of Biden, because it doesn't just happen on a daily or an hourly basis.

But we're turning it around. It's a big ship to turn around. And we're going to have the greatest country financially in the history of the world, I believe. I think we're going to do things that -- and we had to do it. We reset the table. We were being ripped off by every single country with just about -- without exception.

I can -- I'd have to really think hard for who hasn't taken advantage. And I don't even blame those countries. I blame the person that was sitting right here where I am for allowing it to happen, where our country was ripped off on trade, hundreds of billions of dollars. And now we're doing better than we have done in a long time.

We were losing $4 billion to $5 billion to even $6 billion a day on trade with Biden. And now we have it down to a very manageable number. And the tariffs for the most part haven't even kicked in yet. So that's the way -- stock markets, to me, are an indication, but the big indication is what's happening.

And the people around the table know what's happening. Yes.

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: ... the Ukraine minerals deal is set to be signed in 24 hours or so.

TRUMP: What do you say?

QUESTION: Is it true that the Ukraine minerals deal is about to be signed in the next 24 hours or so? There's some reports saying that.

And if it's true, has the deal changed at all from the last time we heard about it?

TRUMP: Well, I will ask Scott to answer the question because he is responsible for it.

SCOTT BESSENT, TREASURY SECRETARY: Yes, our side is ready to sign. The Ukrainians decided last night to make some last-minute changes.

We're sure that they will reconsider that. And we are ready to sign this afternoon, if they are.

QUESTION: Can you talk about those last-minute changes, what was removed or put in its place?

BESSENT: Nothing's been removed. It's the same agreement that we agreed to on the weekend, no changes on our side.

TRUMP: Just to put that in perspective, though, when I came here, I said, how much money have we given to Ukraine? The real number is about $350 billion.

That's -- it's unthinkable. And we had no security. We had no nothing. We were just pouring money there, unsecured money, putting it in bags, and anybody could have taken it out, anybody over there. It was their decision. I have never seen anything like it.

Europe, on the other hand, which is -- obviously, that whole situation is much more important to Europe because we have an ocean in between. But Europe gave about $100 billion. It's a lot of money. It's a big sacrifice they made also. But they gave much less than we did.

And their money is secured, totally secured, by deposits in banks. The deposits are largely Russian deposits. That's what Europe did. But their money is secured. So they gave $100 billion totally secured. We gave money like it's throwing it out the window.

And it was done by Biden. And this is Biden's war. This isn't Trump's war. I'm trying to get out. And I -- more than the money, they're losing about 5,000 young Russian and Ukrainian soldiers a week, mostly. There's some people also being killed in towns where missiles should have not been shot, small cities and towns.

But we are trying to save the lives of about 5,000 young mostly soldiers that are losing their lives a week. I see satellite photos, probably off one of his satellites, come to think of it. But I see satellite photos every week of fields with arms and heads and legs scattered all over.

It's a violent, violent, horrible situation. And more important than the money, I want to save the lives of people from other countries that are dying so stupidly, so needlessly, and they're dying. But I said, what are we doing? How did we get into this war?

Would have never happened if I were president. Everybody knows. And it didn't happen for four years. Wasn't even thought of. I discussed it with President Putin a lot. Ukraine was the apple of his eye, but there was no way he was going to do anything, zero chance.

And I said, we feel foolish. The Europeans are putting up money. It's totally secure. They get the money back. We're putting up much more money. We have absolutely nothing. And I didn't want to make a complicated deal. I didn't want to make a deal that couldn't be made, because Ukraine doesn't have very much money.

They're going through a very bad period of time. It's been brutal. But I felt very foolish, being a judge. So, I said, well, we want something for our efforts.