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U.S. And China To Hold Key Trade Talks Tomorrow; Trump Says 80 Percent Tariff On China Seems Right, It's Up To Bessent; Newark Controllers Lose Radar, Radio Contact Again; Leo XIV Celebrates First Mass As New Pope. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired May 09, 2025 - 14:00   ET

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

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[14:01:20]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": Big talks with a lot at stake. For Americans worried about higher prices in President Trump's trade war, the U.S. and China gearing up for negotiations happening tomorrow. But, did the president just signal he may be open to lowering those sky-high tariffs. And also ahead, flying blind sources tell CNN there was another dangerous outage for flights around Newark's Airport where controllers lost radar and radio communications for 90 seconds.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": And Pope Leo XIV opening his first papal homily in English. What else we should expect from the First American, a Chicagoan nonetheless, to lead the Catholic Church? We're following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to "CNN News Central."

KEILAR: The White House is gearing up for what could be a pivotal meeting with China tomorrow in Switzerland. Officials from the world's two largest economies will be discussing their escalating trade war face-to-face for the first time since President Trump hiked tariffs sharply on Chinese goods, prompting China to hit back with tariffs of its own. Economists say the new tariffs could threaten the world economy.

But today, President Trump offered up a major concession here. He signaled he would be open to cutting the tariffs on Chinese goods from 145 percent down to 80 percent. CNN's Kristen Holmes is at the White House for us for the press briefing just wrapped up a short time ago and he made this concession after saying here recently, Kristen, that he would not consider dropping the tariffs on China.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, there's been a little bit of whiplash on this. Now I will say that Karoline Leavitt, the Press Secretary did try to thread the needle because she was specifically asked about this 80 percent. What did it mean? Did it mean that Donald Trump was willing as it looks to lower those tariffs? Here's what she said about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The president still remains with his position that he is not going to unilaterally bring down tariffs on China. We need to see concessions from them as well. And again, that's part of the reason that Secretary Bessent is going to talk to his Chinese counterparts this weekend, to start those discussions in person. As for the 80 percent number, that was a number the president threw out there and we'll see what happens this weekend.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now, obviously, he did not say that that 80 percent was if China gave some concession, so it was confusing. But what I have heard from a number of administration officials is that they don't expect a deal to come out of these talks. In fact, Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent, who's going to be in these talks said very specifically, he didn't believe there was going to be a deal. But instead, they believe that this was the first step in de-escalation.

Now, Donald Trump himself, it'll be interesting to see what he believes is going to come out of this. He had said that he thinks that they were going to be substantive talks, but again, we're talking to these administration officials. They are trying to just get on the board with China to open up these conversations, to start that de- escalation, not yet expecting any kind of major deal out of this week.

KEILAR: All right, Kristen Holmes, thank you so much for that. We do appreciate it. Boris?

SANCHEZ: Let's get some perspective by -- with former Trump Economic Adviser, Stephen Moore. Stephen, thanks so much for being with us. On Trump floating this idea to cut tariffs on China, I wonder how you think that sets the table for this weekend's talks and he would set it at 80 percent.

STEPHEN MOORE, FORMER TRUMP ECONOMIC ADVISER: Well, great to be with you Boris. Thanks for having me. You know, Trump likes to start with a big high number and then negotiate down from that. I've seen that in so many of the negotiations that he has done over the years.

[14:05:00]

And you know, the idea that he's going to lower the tariff to 80 percent, that's still a pretty high tariff. And so, there's still a lot of room there for lowering the tariff that we're going to impose on China and making a negotiation. I would say that Trump views China in a very different category than virtually the rest of the world. I think China quite correctly, is viewed by Trump and most Americans as sort of the new evil empire.

They are building up their military in a very aggressive, dangerous way. They lie and they cheat and they steal when it comes to terrorists and stealing our patent rights and so on. So, this is going to -- I think it's going to take a while to get an agreement with China that we can all live with. But right now, what you're seeing, Boris, is you've seen those pictures I've seen on CNN with the ports in China just filled with these hundreds and hundreds of cargo ships with merchandise --

SANCHEZ: Sure.

MOORE: -- filled to the brim and they can't send it anywhere. So it's putting real pressure on China.

SANCHEZ: I do wonder about that because if that, I mean, if these ships are at port in China and they're full of merchandise that isn't coming to the United States, we've seen Chinese exports fall by about 20 percent. The president says this is a good thing that prices ticking up and they're not being merchandised coming into the United States is a good thing. I wonder if you have concerns about potential shortages of goods and everyday items that we need, that Americans need?

MOORE: Could be. There's no question about that. I mean, when you have more -- less merchandise coming into the United States, and a lot of that is not just final usage goods, but inputs into the things that we produce, that could be a problem. And that's why tariffs can be, you know, a sharp weapon that's used against your enemy, but sometimes it cuts yourself as well. So I am concerned about that.

But look, what happened yesterday with this new deal with Britain is important for a lot of reasons. But one reason is, I think you're going to see a cascade of negotiations going on in the weeks to follow with Korea, with Japan, with the Europeans, like with Canada. And the idea here is to sort of isolate China. In other words, it's putting more pressure on China to make a deal.

SANCHEZ: I do want to get your thoughts on that U.S.-U.K. deal. I think the idea that it is a finalized deal is inaccurate, right? It's an agreement to later actually come up --

MOORE: Right.

SANCHEZ: -- with a deal. Because as far as I've seen, it doesn't really --

MOORE: That's right.

SANCHEZ: -- go broad in the, in the scope of all the trade that's done between the two countries. And even then the U.K. represents something like 3 percent of trade that's done with the United States. I wonder, going back to China for a moment, isn't the change that needs to take place within Beijing almost a cultural one? Because you're describing the situation in which China has elevated its status on the world stage by cheating, essentially. I mean, they deny it, but they've manipulated their currency, they've stolen American intellectual property for decades. Do you really think that tariffs are going to be the thing that changes that kind of cultural view of the world and where China stands in?

MOORE: I hope so. We will see. I mean, that's the experiment that we're -- is going on right now, whether these very stiff tariffs will change Chinese behavior. But one thing is for sure, we can't live under the current conditions with China. At some point, you're going to get a situation where Americans just won't tolerate it anymore. You know, it's so interesting as we live in this kind of polarized society in America today, the one issue that I find that almost all Americans agree on, and that China is a bad actor, that we have to get tough with China.

I think Trump does have Americans of all political persuasions behind them on this. Now, the other point I would make, Boris, is look, we benefit from getting cheap things from China. There's no question about it. It keeps prices low, but China has to trade with the United States because their entire economy depends on having access to our $22 trillion consumer market. And so, I guess what I'm saying is, you know, their pain threshold has got to be a lot higher than ours are because they will be thrown into a great depression if they don't have access to America's market. And that's the Trump card that Trump is trying to play here.

SANCHEZ: And back to that U.S.-U.K. deal. I wonder how you respond to critics who argue that this is just the administration floating something to try to help orient markets in a smoother direction, given some of the turmoil caused by the tariff war. Because on paper, this is really just an agreement to later form an agreement.

MOORE: Well look, for a lot of reasons, we've got to get these trade deals as quickly as possible, because you're right. You know, this isn't just, you know, when you have a reduction in trade across countries, that hurts everybody. No question about it.

[14:10:00]

I mean, I'm much more of a free trade guy than Donald Trump is. But on the other hand, it is true that a lot of these countries have unfair trade practices against the United States and Trump did tell the American people my favorite word is tariff. And if I win this election, I'm going to go forward with these tariffs. And apparently, that's what the American people were supportive of. So, but I want to see these trade deals cut with the major trading partners as quickly as possible because I think that puts more pressure on China.

And at the end of the day, I hope that China agrees to behave itself and to cut some of these enormous tariffs on the United States. And if that happens, Boris, and we're still a long way from that, I think everyone benefits and the American economy will go on a big roll.

SANCHEZ: Stephen, one last question.

MOORE: Yeah.

SANCHEZ: How strongly does Donald Trump, in your eyes, feel about raising taxes on the rich? He expressed an openness to the idea, but then he said, the Democrats who've been calling for tax raises on billionaires and some millionaires for a long time, he said that Democrats would criticize him over this. And that's why he's kind of being ambiguous on this issue.

MOORE: I guarantee you that the final tax bill is not going to have a higher tax rate that be raised when Republicans were put on the surface to lower the rates. And every -- by the way, every time we've raised tax rates over the last hundred years, bad things have happened for the American economy. It's incidentally, there is a way you can get more money out of rich people without raising their tax rates. And that's, let's continue to close some of these loopholes in the tax system, because right now, only 9 percent of Americans itemize deductions, those are the 9 percent who do tend to be rich people. So let's just continue to lower the loopholes and close some of these special interest deductions. And the rich will pay more and we'll have a better tax system as a result.

SANCHEZ: Stephen Moore, thanks for sharing your point of view.

MOORE: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Brianna?

KEILAR: We're following some new developments about another outage in involving Newark Airport. Two sources tell CNN's air traffic controllers -- tell CNN that air traffic controllers briefly lost radar and radio communications early this morning. These reports come just hours after the Trump administration announced plans for a huge overhaul of the nation's air traffic control system. Aviation Correspondent Pete Muntean here with us now. Pete, what are you learning about this?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Well, air traffic controllers are telling me, thankfully this happened in the middle of the night because this could have been so much worse. The latest meltdown at Newark Approach Control just the latest in a series of incidents there. The FAA is now confirming our reporting that controllers at the facility that handles flights approaching Newark Liberty International Airport lost radar displays and radio contact for about 90 seconds just before four this morning.

That means the controllers in this radar facility could not see where planes were or communicate with them, very similar to the incident that happened 11 days ago. That blackout on April 28th caused five controllers to take what's called trauma leave, leading to staffing shortages there and rolling delays at Newark. More than a thousand flights canceled. Controllers are understandably very upset about this. Tell me, it's basically the most dangerous thing that can happen on the job.

There's really interesting air traffic control audio in which one of the controllers during this incident said to this FedEx flight that was operating at the time, you should contact your airline and try and get them to give us some help because this keeps happening over and over again. Our reporting shows this is happening at least three times now according to our reporting. There was also an incident on November 6th where controllers lost contact also with a FedEx flight, which ultimately flew into the busy airspace over LaGuardia.

A controller told me it was a miracle that there wasn't a mid-air collision in that case. The FAA says the source of this latest problem today was a telecommunications outage. And yesterday, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy rolled out a plan to modernize air traffic control systems across the country, replacing some of these older systems that you see here, also copper wire in 4,600 facilities with fiber optic cable. And he told me in an interview after this, that it'll essentially take three to four years only if Congress gives the Trump administration all the money for this plan upfront.

Some vacillating estimates here on how much this will cost, some say $12 billion, some say $15 billion, some say $30 billion. Duffy says these latest incidents really highlight the need to do a sweeping overhaul of air traffic control in the U.S.

KEILAR: And what does this internal FAA report, downplaying the risk of data's outages at Newark? What are you learning about this?

MUNTEAN: Well, downplaying the risk of these outages is one thing, but controllers will tell you this is probably the most serious things that can happen to them on the job. If they can't see or they can't communicate with planes, it's like being essentially blind and deaf.

[14:15:00]

Remember, this is not an air traffic control tower. This is a radar facility that's dark. The only real way they have fidelity of knowing where planes are, are by looking at the radar scopes. And so when the system goes down, ultimately, it has to boot back up and then they ultimately get some picture and fidelity of what's going on in the airspace around them. But it really instills controllers with a lot of uncertainty.

It's almost like if your computer goes on the blank, you don't really trust it very well in the first few minutes after it is back online and it's insult to injury. This keeps happening over and over to these controllers. Newark really has to be target number one for the Trump administration as they're asking for this money. And the FAA has said they will do this and add in a backup system there to make it so that this does not happen, but pretty scary stuff.

KEILAR: And just real quick, I've got a flight to Newark in a few weeks, so I have time. I'm lucky. But there's a lot of people who, in coming days, will have flights into Newark and they're wondering, should I be rescheduling? What would you say?

MUNTEAN: I get this question all the time. And the big thing here is, if air traffic control melts down, it's not like planes fall out of the sky and most of these delays and cancellations and these issues have happened on clear weather days where planes can see and avoid one another. But, it is dangerous and it is something that the FAA is really trying to tackle here. If you have the opportunity to change your flight, I've told this to plenty of folks, you may want to consider doing it.

And the airlines like United, which is a huge hub at Newark, they have actually made it so you can change your flight within a couple days, some limitations, essentially free of charge. And so, a lot of people are taking that right now and it really ultimately puts less stress on the system. The big thing now that United Airlines wants is a limitation on the number of flights from the FAA going in and out of Newark. They say that needs to happen essentially yesterday because that'll make things more predictable and it'll make it less likely for the system to melt down.

KEILAR: Yeah. So we've heard that over and over. Pete, thank you so much for that.

MUNTEAN: Anytime.

KEILAR: Still to come. New reporting this afternoon that the president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, is quietly advising President Trump ahead of a major trip to the Middle East. And the new Pope grew up in Chicago. We'll hear what it was like being Pope Leo's big brother. That and much more coming up on "CNN News Central."

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[14:21:53]

SANCHEZ: Happening now, the world is getting to know the first American Pope on his first full day leading the Catholic Church. Today, Pope Leo XIV celebrated his first mass as the new pontiff, beginning his homily in English and calling his election both a cross and a blessing. Today, we're also hearing from Pope Leo's family on what his historic rise to the papacy means to them. CNN's Whitney Wild is live from the Pope's hometown of Chicago. And Whitney, you had a chance to speak to one of his brothers. What did he share with you?

WHITNEY WILD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He shared with us some fantastic anecdotes from their life growing up, and he also shared what it has been like for their family as he embarked on this journey, which began very young. It is sometimes hard to remember that pope, now Pope Leo was a member of a regular family in a regular suburb in Illinois. And his brother John Prevost talked a lot about what their life was like growing up.

And they were a family of three boys. It could sometimes be raucous. They played pickup football with the kids in the neighborhood, music filled their home. Their mother was, had this beautiful voice. She was an operatic singer. He learned to play the organ and then later taught his brother John to play the organ. He still has an organ in his home. So, those were some of the sights and sounds of their life growing up.

He was an altar boy as were his brothers. And what John told us was that his journey toward the papacy began very young. He actually left for seminary school in high school. And it was a challenging moment for their family because as blessed as they felt that he was embarking on this journey, they knew that he was leaving. So, he would come back for summer vacations. He would come back for Christmas. And he described the ride home from dropping him off at seminary school at just 14 years old as very sad.

And I asked was, you know, was his mother visibly sad? Was she crying? And he said, although he didn't see it, he knew that she was. And in this moment, he says that this is in a lot of ways very bittersweet because now, as he leads the church, he belongs to these 1.4 billion Catholics all around the world and he wonders how much he'll be able to see him. He did say though that he -- they still talk every day. And I'll leave you with this funny moment.

He called him today and he said, you know, and they said, hello. And then the now Pope said, are the reporters still there? And his brother John said, yes. And the Pope said, OK, well, goodbye.

(LAUGH)

And that was how they left that conversation today, what we know is that John Prevost is going to see his brother in Rome. Surely, that will be a moment few can imagine. Boris?

SANCHEZ: Whitney Wild reporting from Chicago, thank you so much. We're joined now by Father Patrick Flanagan. He Chairs the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at St. John's University. Father, thanks so much for being with us. The Pope's brother John also told our affiliate in Chicago that the Pope has a "deep feeling for the disenfranchised, for the poor, for those who were not listened to."

[14:25:00]

Obviously, Pope Francis was known around the world as an advocate for the underprivileged. I wonder what you make of these comments about Leo XIV.

REV. PATRICK FLANAGAN, DEPARTMENT OF THEOLOGY & RELIGIOUS STUDIES CHAIR, ST. JOHN'S UNIVERSITY: Thanks for having me on. You know, one of the questions that's been raised over the past few hours, few days has been, will the next Pope be in continuity with Pope Francis? And I think we cannot ignore the fact that every Pope has been in continuity with each other. Some have been more adamant, some have been much more expressive. But we're going to see, I think, in Pope Leo, a clear connection to Pope Francis. Just the fact that Pope Francis entrusted a lot of responsibilities to Pope Leo and we're going to see that evident in the way that he exercises (inaudible) ministry.

So one of the things that has become clear is that he has a great affection for his people in Peru. So, we saw him break into Spanish and speak to his former parish communities down in Peru because he really, truly love them. And I think that experience transformed his heart and really opened him up to the reality of poverty and injustice. And we're going to see that, I believe, strongly in his pontificate, that we need to be attentive as Pope Francis reminded us, the people on the margins, the peripheries, the edges of society, those who have been historically marginalized.

KEILAR: And one of his close friends tells CNN that environmental preservation will also be a priority for the new Pope. Pope Francis, of course, was very vocal on the issue of climate change. Why has this become such a priority for church leaders?

FLANAGAN: Well, I think the church leaders realize that, you know, this is given to us as God's creation. And that every human person, particularly those who believe in a God, have responsibly to be good stewards and leave the next generation with a world that is healthy, that is environmentally safe, and that is ecologically free of any challenges that might threaten life and any future life.

SANCHEZ: I also wonder, given what we just discussed about the underprivileged and his views on climate change and the way that the church has more recently become vocal on climate change, how you think this squares with the political environment in the United States right now, given that there's this Twitter account out there that appears to have belonged to then Cardinal Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, that seemed to be critical of some of the moves taken by the Trump administration, particularly on the issue of immigration.

FLANAGAN: I think his first words as Pope, peace be with you is acknowledging the fact that there's a lot of turmoil in the world. So you recognize that when any U.S. president becomes the elected official for us as our president, the first thing they often say is that he is going to be responsible for reconciling both sides of the aisle. And it's a hope, it's a dream, sometimes it's realized in some degree. But I think that's Pope Francis' -- Pope Leo's dream, I have to get beyond the former Pope and moving to new Pope, but I think it's Pope Leo's dream. And one of the things that he's going to and has inherited from Pope Francis is the whole notion of what we call synodality. Synodality is when people sit down at the table and talk about and hash out situations that previously have not had -- never had an opportunity to speak about things and engage in some very somewhat uncomfortable but healthy conversations And these are things that are going to, I think, be emblematic of some of his dynamic conversations that he has with some U.S. officials. And I think what Pope Leo's contribution is going to be is that, as his predecessors were, is that we need to take a take into account that we're talking about people. We're not talking about policies. And that's what's critical, that behind all these policies that we're enacting is going to be the whole notion of people and how we care for the people that are behind that. It's going to depend on how careful we are in terms of the common good and human dignity.

SANCHEZ: Father Patrick Flanagan, we have to leave the conversation there. Thanks for sharing part of your afternoon with us.

FLANAGAN: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Still to come, a familiar face, Jared Kushner is said to be quietly advising the Trump administration on the Middle East with President Trump heading there next week. We have some new reporting on that just ahead. Plus, artificial intelligence allowing a road rage shooting victim to address his killer in court. That and much more coming your way.

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