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U.S. and Ukraine Sign Minerals Deal After Months of Tense Talks; White House Impatience for Trade Deals Grows as Economy Anxiety Build; Interview with Mary Barra, Chair and CEO, GM; Trump Tariffs, Impact on Her Company; Interview with Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR): Ukraine's Mineral Deal, Economy, Overdose Prevention Programs. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired May 01, 2025 - 08:00   ET

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

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EVA LONGORIA, CNN SEARCHING FOR SPAIN: And hang pork, you know, in your storefront and that would keep the Spanish Inquisition away.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, you know what? I'm going to eat it anyway, even though I am Jewish. Don't tell anyone.

I'm breaking many traditions, Spain's and my own.

LONGORIA: This is to me is comfort food. When I get to Spain, like if everywhere you go, they will give you a plate of jamon.

BERMAN: And has it ended up in other people's chins too or is it just mine?

LONGORIA: Just yours.

BERMAN: I'm the first. OK

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN (on camera): This was a hardship assignment to be sure. And a new episode of Evil Longoria searching for Spain airs this Sunday night at 9 p.m. on CNN.

And a new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL begins right now. Tough.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, breaking overnight. Ukraine makes a deal with the U.S. But what does it mean in the effort to end Russia's war on Ukraine? And will it soften the Trump administration's treatment of Ukraine?

Also, the nation's Central Bank cutting its economic growth forecast just today after the president said he had reached potential deals with Japan and other nations. But when will we see something definite and the heavy burden of tariffs on American businesses? General Motors CEO Mary Barra estimating they will cost her company up

to $5 billion this year. Our Erin Burnett live in just a few minutes with Barra.

I'm Sara Sidner with John Berman and Kate Bolduan. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, breaking overnight. Let's talk about that landmark deal. The U.S. and Ukraine signing an agreement that gives Washington access to Kyiv's, rare earth minimum minerals, and it could give Ukraine de facto security guarantees from the United States, though not stated explicitly. It does state that the U.S. will be establishing an investment fund for the reconstruction of Ukraine. The bigger message is one, though, of continued U.S. support for Ukraine in its three year plus long war with Russia for Ukraine.

That support could not come soon enough. Overnight, officials there say Russia launched a new drone attack on Odessa, killing at least two people, injuring five others.

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh joining us from London with more on this. And Nick, you've got important context around this of how this is different, how this is the same from what we've seen in the in the drafts prior.

And as it was described by Kim Dozier just last hour, this is it could be a seismic shift in this relationship.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, ultimately, if they didn't sign this deal, it would be a seismic rupture again because Donald Trump have fixated so clearly on needing to feel that the United States was getting something back from its relationship with Kyiv. And after we've seen this rocky months, we are seeing that pendulum upon which the president of the United States seems to sit as he brokers this deal moving between Russia's point of view and that of Ukraine and its allies. He's clearly now swung way back towards Kyiv with this document now put through.

What does it really mean, though, in the years ahead? Well, given the war is functioning, given the fallout of a war after a peace, I would suggest it's unlikely we're going to see billions from this pouring into U.S. coffers as a result, certainly. But it sets up in its own language a longer term agreement between the two countries, one that potentially could allow for investment in Ukraine's natural resources and rare earth minerals to get them out.

But it's going to take years and it's going to take new administrations, frankly, in both countries for this to actually get executed.

Right now, though, it says that Washington and Kyiv can make deals are on track. And there's two important pieces of wording in the paper which really struck me.

One was the unambiguous wording that the White House signed on to about the full-scale destruction, the large-scale destruction by Russia across Ukraine after its full invasion. That's unambiguous. That's clearly not a Kremlin talking point we've sometimes seen from the Trump administration as they try and broker this peace.

Secondly, it spells out a mechanism for Ukraine to buy U.S. military equipment and arms in the future, essentially involving this fund that's being created. And so I think that will be something that Russia looks very carefully towards as a sign that perhaps President Trump is edging towards Ukraine more in his position.

He's shown very clear impatience with Russia not signing on to a cease-fire and impatience with Ukraine, frankly, as well. But a lot of that was around this deal. Now it's done. It has some teeth. It's not entirely complete, probably needs parliamentary ratification in Ukraine. But it's certainly a huge symbolic win for the U.S.-Ukraine relationship here and potentially too for Ukraine as it tries to hold back what seems to be an escalating Russia-Summer offensive across the front lines -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Yes, absolutely. That's an important point. The war carries on.

Part of the statement coming from the Treasury Department in announcing this, you talked about some of the wording in the document.

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The statement from Treasury also talked about the Russia war machine and Russia's full-scale invasion. As you just mentioned, not the kind of tone that we have heard definitely from President Trump talking about this war since taking office again. Has there been any response from Russia yet?

WALSH: At this stage, we haven't had a full-throated response around this specific document. But Russian officials have been clear in the past that they consider a deal like this to be hugely damaging for Ukraine. Indeed, Russia has held out the possibility of deals of a similar nature around rare earth minerals between the United States and Russia.

But you have to remember, the Kremlin, you know, have been reluctant, I think it's fair to say, to engage in a meaningful fashion in peaceful diplomacy here. They keep changing the format of the meetings. It seems their demands are fairly maximalist still at this stage and they are rejecting the U.S.-Ukrainian proposition of a 30- day unconditional ceasefire.

That's not the fast peace Donald Trump wanted. He's reluctant to criticize the Kremlin head, but I think with this deal being signed, we are seeing more signs of the practical results of that American frustration with Moscow.

BOLDUAN: That's so interesting. Great to see you, Nick. Thank you so much.

And very important programming note for all of you, you can catch Nick's new report, "THE WIRED RAINFOREST," on CNN's "THE WHOLE STORY WITH ANDERSON COOPER." That airs this Sunday night at 8 Eastern and Pacific -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right. The White House is hailing that Ukraine agreement as a huge win. But Americans are very concerned about some other deals, those tariff deals Trump says he's working on. We have new reporting that the President is getting impatient.

CNN's Mark Preston joining me now from Washington. Mark, the pressure clearly mounting on the White House, especially with all these economic numbers coming out that look very bad.

We heard from U.S. Commerce Chief Howard Lutnick who said that one deal is done -- we don't know with whom. What's happening here? Because I know you know.

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I think we all know and we see nothing happening here. And that's what the biggest problem is. Look, people are looking at their 401ks right now and they're very concerned.

We are also seeing the fact that the supply chain disruptions are supposed to be coming at us in the next couple of weeks. That is when we're going to really start to feel the pain.

As we noted at the top of the show, General Motors says it's going to lose $4 to $5 billion this year because of these tariffs. Will that turn into jobs? This is where we are at this point. A 25 percent tariff on steel, aluminum and autos. 10 percent tariff on just about everything else. And if the goods are coming from China, it's a 145 percent tariff on these Chinese goods.

You know, these administration officials have been talking it up that there's going to be a deal with the likes of South Korea or Japan or India. We're not there yet. We will see J.D. Vance though today down in South Carolina at a steel plant talking about how these tariffs are good for the United States. But the U.S. is looking for a win. Donald Trump is looking for a win -- Sara.

SIDNER: Yes, we've heard the president this week suggesting that Americans may need to change their spending habits because of his tariff war. I mean, is that a message that's going to go over well from the White House?

PRESTON: These are comments you don't necessarily want to see from the president of the United States. Let's just show what the comments are because I can't even set it up any better than he just did today.

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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Somebody said, Oh, the shelves are going to be open. Well, maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30 dolls, you know, and maybe the two dolls will cost a couple of bucks more than they would normally.

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PRESTON: OK, level set again. Nearly seven in 10 Americans, according to our new CNN poll, thinks that we are headed for a recession. That is a scary number.

You have the president right there talk about consumerism and how we are too reliant on cheap goods.

He's probably correct about that. But the reality is we are relying on cheap goods, and there are a lot of people living paycheck to paycheck that need those cheap goods -- Sara.

SIDNER: Yes, generally, people are angry about the economy, not because they can't afford 30 dolls for their kids. It's because they can't afford food on the table or rent. Mark Preston it is always a pleasure. Thank you so much -- John.

BERMAN: All right, new this morning. You just heard from Mark Preston there this warning from the CEO of the nation's largest automaker, General Motors, about the impact of the tariffs on the car industry.

Mary Barra told shareholders the tariffs on imported cars and auto parts will cost GM between $4 to $5 billion this year alone, slashing earnings predictions, though she did thank the Trump administration for walking back some of the levies on imported parts and raised hope of further changes to come. And CNN's Erin Burnett is with the GM CEO right now -- Erin.

ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC CORRESPONDENT: All right, John. Well, thank you very much. And General Motors CEO Mary Barra joins us now.

So, as John just said, Mary, GM cut the forecast for earnings up to 30 percent. You gave a range.

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But earlier this week, you'd suspended all future guidance earlier in the week because of the sudden change in tariffs.

So, Mary, I really appreciate your time.

When you did that unprecedented step of suspending the earnings forecast because of Trump's tariff adjustment earlier in the week, you also suspended your stock buyback program to conserve cash. And now we've got this letter you put out. I know you're going to be talking to investors just moments after you finish talking to us.

But when you look at the situation here, the tariff exposure that you put out is $4 to $5 billion. What does that mean, Mary? Do you assume that you're passing some of that cost on to buyers or not?

MARY BARRA, CHAIR AND CEO, GM: Well, when we look at the overall $4 to $5 billion impact from tariffs that we shared, that is what we know now based on the clarity that we're given. And we're very appreciative that the president provided that clarity. We actually delayed this conversation with you and with our investors for a couple days because we knew we had been working with the administration for several months, working with the president and many members of his administration. So they understood our industry, the complexities of the supply chain and the capital intensive nature of our business. And so when we understood that that announcement was actually and the actions were going to become official on Tuesday, we thought it was better to wait and be able to provide the guidance that we did. As it relates to the $4 to $5 billion, there are many steps that we can take to offset.

For instance, we've already added more than 50,000, on an annualized basis, trucks that will be building in Fort Wayne, Indiana. And there's other moves that we can make. We already have a very U.S.- centered supply base. Over 80 percent of the parts that go into our vehicles are already USMCA compliant, and the lion's share of that is U.S. So there's many steps that we can take to offset the $4 to $5 billion, but we wanted to be transparent and share it. That's the impact right now.

BURNETT: So, you know, just looking through this, though, of course, you know, February 1st tariffs were announced and they changed in March, then they changed again in March. Now they have changed in April. I mean, Mary, I know you've spoken to President Trump directly about the tariffs.

When is the last time you spoke to him? Was it this week post his most recent shift? And has he given you the confidence that this is it, that you actually know the rules of the game and they're not going to change again?

BARRA: Well, I've had -- I spoke to the president when I last visited the White House, but I've been speaking to many members of his administration multiple times a day over the last several weeks. So I've had regular communications and really feel that the White House and the administration are listening to understand the situation. And so we do know that there's more conversations going on.

For instance, the negotiations going on with Japan and South Korea, China and many of the other countries that impact from a supply chain perspective. So we think that there's more impact potentially. But again, right now, the clarity that we got was so important because it allows us to make decisions for our footprint in in the U.S. and in North America to be able to respond to the tariffs and make sure that we have a growing and strong U.S. auto industry.

BURNETT: So yesterday, Jim Farley, the CEO Ford, was with us here yesterday morning, about the same time as you and I are talking right now. And he said that he cannot commit to not raising prices this summer. OK, so he was very clear about that, Mary.

But he did say they are extending their employee pricing to all consumers through July 4th. I know that GM thus far has stayed away from incentive pricing. Are you going to have any incentive for buyers, whether employee pricing or anything else, between now and July 4th?

BARRA: Well, if you look at our portfolio, the strong ICE, our internal combustion engine and EV portfolio that we've had, we have been able to maintain strong pricing and low incentives because customers want our vehicles. And so what we've said is we believe and we're what we provided in our guidance is that pricing is going to stay about at the same levels that it is. And when you talk -- when you talk about whether you use employee pricing, those are just different tools to provide incentives.

We're going to stay very disciplined in our incentives. We're one of the lowest in the industry from an incentive perspective. And so we're going to continue to evaluate pricing.

Pricing changes in our industry at least monthly and sometimes more frequently. Incentive levels change, et cetera. So we're going to respond to the market. We're going to stay disciplined because it's so disciplined that we protect the residuals of our vehicles because that's important to our customers from from the resale value.

BURNETT: Yes. I'm just curious, though, because obviously $4 to 5 billion, it's a massive amount of money. But trying to put it down to what it means to the price of an individual car, Patrick Anderson, Anderson Economic Group, does the pricing per car.

Right. So for GM, Mary, he looked at the Suburban, the Yukon, the Escalade and with the new tariff adjustments.

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So obviously a little bit of an improvement in the overall tariff impact on a car. He still gets to a tariff impact for each of those vehicles of about $8,000 a car.

So $45 billion on earnings can boil down to, you know, if you're going to go buy an Escalade to $8,000.

I guess the bottom line question is, Mary, is GM going to eat the whole 8,000 or are you going to have to pass some of that to consumers and soon?

BARRA: What we are going to do is work to get U.S. content up. And for the vehicles you're specifically talking to, they're made in Texas. And with 80 percent USMCA compliant parts, the tariff on those vehicles is actually quite a bit less than the number that you're talking about.

So we're going to evaluate each product, but I think for pricing, it's so important in our industry that we stay competitive. And for General Motors, we continue to leverage the strong demand that we have. In the first quarter for those vehicles, specifically, demand, we saw a 30 percent year-over-year increase in demand for those products.

So I think that speaks to the strength of our portfolio and it's a differentiator for General Motors.

BURNETT: All right, Mary Barra, we very much appreciate your time. Thank you so much for that this morning.

And Sara, I'm sending it back to you.

SIDNER: Thank you so much, Erin. Great interview there.

Still ahead -- who does President Trump blame for the faltering economy?

Former President Biden, of course. This as the pressure mounts on Donald Trump to make tariff deals as brand new economic data shows major job cuts across industries.

All right, from cults to QAnon, how do people get caught in the grip of conspiracy theories? CNN's Donie O'Sullivan goes down the rabbit hole to bring you an enlightening look at what's happening.

And they were given 48 hours to respond to authorities. Did the 11 high school lacrosse players accused of hazing turn themselves into police, who say the case goes way beyond hazing?

Those stories ahead.

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BOLDUAN: And we continue to follow the breaking news overnight. The U.S. and Ukraine finding common ground, signing a long-awaited agreement with massive implications. With this, the United States gains access to Ukraine's rare earth minerals in exchange for an investment in the reconstruction of the war-torn nation.

The deal cements a legitimate partnership between the countries and takes a potentially big step toward actually ending Russia's war on Ukraine.

Joining me right now is the Democratic Senator from Oregon, Jeff Merkley. He sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Senator, thank you for being here. Do you call this a good deal?

SEN. JEFF MERKLEY (D-OR): Well, what I really like is it creates a partnership between the Trump administration and Ukraine, which is such an improvement from where we'd been, where Trump was essentially mimicking or mouthing all of the talking points that Putin wanted him to mouth. And it does have elements that we've heard about that sound good. It's not demanding that Ukraine repay us for the aid that we've provided so far.

It doesn't ban them from joining the European Union. It creates an investment fund that both parties will put money into. So the outlines of it, I don't know about all the details, but the outlines of it are positive.

But the biggest positive is a partnership that has been forged with this administration and Ukraine.

BOLDUAN: Do you applaud Trump for pulling it off?

MERKLEY: I'm sorry, say that once more.

BOLDUAN: Do you applaud President Trump for pulling it off?

MERKLEY: Well, I appreciate the change in tone and the change in commitment. We really saw kind of with the body language at the funeral, at the Pope's funeral in Italy, that there was a different dynamic at work. What all went into that change of that dynamic, I'm not sure.

But I thank you, President Trump, for changing your approach. Listen, we want our president to stand with the democracy, to stand with the freedom-loving people of Ukraine, not with Putin, the dictator. It's important for Ukraine. It's also important for so many other elements of our foreign policy.

I can tell you that Taiwan is terrified right now about what is going on and whether the United States will abandon other democracies around the world. This is hopefully an important moment on a path to a peace deal, a better moment in terms of the United States standing with democracies, not dictators.

BOLDUAN: On the economy, following the news that came out yesterday of the economy, that the economy shrank in the first quarter, President Trump was speaking at a cabinet meeting, and he blamed President Biden for the state of the economy. I want to play this for you.

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TRUMP: You probably saw some numbers today. And I have to start off by saying, that's Biden. That's not Trump, because we came in on January. These are quarterly numbers. And we came in, and I was very against everything that Biden was doing in terms of the economy. Destroying our country in so many ways.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: How long do you think President Trump can say that he can -- how long do you think President Trump can blame Biden for the economy?

MERKLEY: Kate, I can't even blame him now. I mean, the economy, last quarter, 2.4 percent growth. There was no chaos in the world.

Now we have this situation with the stock market going, well, in trouble, with the tariffs going up and down. No one can make an investment decision. Businesses, large and small, are very worried.

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Our agricultural industry is disturbed about possible retaliatory tariffs. American consumers are wondering whether they need to hold all their money in their pocket for a coming recession. Trump has really botched the economy in a massive way.

He's never been a man to take responsibility for his mistakes, but everybody in America knows there's one man responsible for what we're seeing right now, and that's President Trump.

BOLDUAN: This also kind of speaks to where talks are going to be heading on the Hill and are turning quickly, which is the budget. You're a top Democrat on the Budget Committee. This morning we are learning some new elements of, I'll say, preliminary proposed draft budget proposals that have recently leaked, suggesting that the administration wants to cut about two dozen substance abuse prevention and treatment programs, including a program that distributes naloxone kits to EMTs across the country.

The administration had previously said, Senator, that it wants to expand access to these meds. In March, the acting head of the DEA was on with me, and I want to play for you what he told me.

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DEREK MALTZ, DEA ACTING ADMINISTRATOR: DEA recognizes the importance of these opioid use disorder drugs, and we're going to continue to make sure they're readily available to all Americans that need them. We're going to rely on expert addiction specialists, doctors, and professionals to make sure that people can get what they need because we're in the business of saving lives and keeping the community safe.

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BOLDUAN: So what do you do when you get a budget proposal, if that's what comes to you, that is going to be slashing these programs?

MERKLEY: Democrats and Republicans are going to reject those slashes. I mean, folks on both sides of the aisle have been very concerned about the massive number of overdoses, the loss of life, have been very supportive of taking on the challenge of fentanyl in every dimension, so I think that's a non-starter. I don't know why the administration would have put it forward, but I don't think you'll find support for that viewpoint on either side of the aisle or either house.

BOLDUAN: Real quick, Senator, I was doing some reading, and I've seen you've been fielding quite a few questions about your future plans as you're up, and you have not yet announced if you'll run again or not. Is there one good reason to not run for another term?

MERKLEY: Well, I follow the tradition of working very closely with my wife, Mary, and making a decision in the second quarter, and we're going through our normal routine as we evaluate the next chapter of our lives, so nothing much new to show there.

BOLDUAN: We are in that quarter, though, just so you know.

MERKLEY: Yes, we are, so stay tuned.

BOLDUAN: We shall. Senator, thank you for your time. I appreciate it -- John.

BERMAN: Calendar revelations.

This morning, 11 high school lacrosse players have turned themselves into police and are facing charges after an alleged hazing incident that authorities say allegedly involved the armed kidnapping of younger students.

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