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Goods Containing Steel, Aluminum Could Get More Expensive; Target CEO Stepping Down as Customers Turn Away; U.S. to Look for Anti-Americanism in Immigration Applications; Foodies Grateful to be Alive After SUV Smashes into Restaurant. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired August 20, 2025 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: ... Mattel and Hasbro, Adidas, Walmart and the latest being Home Depot.

Now, the Trump administration, they say that the goal here is to try to revive the steel and aluminum industries and also to try to shut down avenues to evade tariffs.

But I got to tell you, Brianna, analysts say that this is just going to add even more inflationary pressure at a time where we know inflation is moving in the wrong direction. And we also know a lot of people are very frustrated with the cost of living.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Yes, and look, some of these things it's unavoidable. You're going to have to buy them, right? Let's hope deodorant is one of those things there, Matt.

But so who's then going to be paying the extra cost?

EGAN: Yes, Brianna, well, that's, of course, been the big debate. Officials in the Trump administration, the president himself, have argued that other countries are going to pay those tariffs because foreign exporters are going to slash their prices to try to keep their U.S. market share. But look, that is not showing up in the data.

If exporters were slashing their prices, you would expect to see a drop in U.S. import prices. But that's not happening. In fact, we're seeing the opposite with U.S. import prices rising by a stronger than expected amount between June and July. And keep in mind, this is the price of goods before tariffs are imposed.

So, again, they're moving higher, not lower. And that's why investor Bob Elliott, he said, look, it's becoming increasingly clear that foreign producers are not absorbing much of the rise in duties.

The result is U.S. companies and consumers footing the bill -- Brianna.

KEILAR: All right, Matt Egan, thank you for that -- Boris.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: After 11 years at the helm of retail giant Target, CEO Brian Cornell has now officially stepped down. Speculation of this move had been building for months as the company faced sluggish sales and growing backlash from its DEI rollback earlier this year.

With us now to discuss the shakeup is Nekima Levy Armstrong. She's the former president of the Minneapolis NAACP and backed the Target boycott in a city where it is headquartered. Nekima, thank you so much for being with us. Do you think the boycott ultimately played a role in the CEO's decision?

NEKIMA LEVY ARMSTRONG, FORMER PRESIDENT, MINNEAPOLIS NAACP: I absolutely know that the boycott played a role in the CEO's decision to step down. For some reason, Brian Cornell, as well as the Target board and their shareholders, underestimated the power of the public with regard to our concerns that we expressed after they capitulated to the Trump administration by rolling back diversity, equity and inclusion, and even donating a million dollars to the Trump Vance inauguration committee. I don't think that they truly understand their customer base.

Black people in particular have been very upset, not allowing Target to get away with essentially betrayal towards our community after pretending that they cared about diversity, equity and inclusion.

SANCHEZ: I'm curious to get you to expand on that, what you mean by a betrayal, because at one point they were one of the more forceful supporters of DEI initiatives across all of corporate America. I mean, they promised to stock shelves with items from Black-owned businesses. They promised to diversify a lot of the employment, especially in the managerial levels.

But you're essentially saying that once President Trump was reelected and got back into office, all of that changed?

ARMSTRONG: Absolutely. Literally within four days of Donald Trump retaking office and beginning to sign executive orders, Target made the announcement that it would roll back diversity, equity and inclusion.

Now, mind you, there were three of us who actually launched the Target boycott. We held a press conference in front of Target's corporate headquarters at the end of January, announcing that the boycott would begin on February 1st to coincide with Black History Month, precisely because of Target stocking the shelves with Black products by -- with products by Black brands and luring us into their store. And we thought to ourselves, why would they do this? Why would they make this announcement one week before Black History Month and not thinking that they would have to account for their decision making?

Now, the other thing that's important to note is that, again, Target is headquartered here in Minneapolis. This is the place where George Floyd was murdered at the hands of the Minneapolis Police Department in May of 2020.

[15:35:00]

And during that particular time, Target's store, one of their stores is right across the street from the 3rd Precinct, which is the police station where Derek Chauvin and the other police officers who killed George Floyd operated out of on a regular basis.

So Target, seeing the uprising, seeing the pain and trauma of our community, essentially made a pledge in 2021 of $2.1 billion. They said that they were going to improve the Black customer shopping experience, that they would increase their supplier diversity network, they would put more Black brands on the shelves, and they would focus on hiring and promotions of Black employees within Target in order to help level the playing field.

Now, mind you, their promises brought a lot of us into their stores, feeling as if Target was a champion for diversity, equity, and inclusion, and thinking this is a company that actually values us as a people. However, they did an about-face as soon as Trump took office and really showed us that they do not take our community as seriously as they may have claimed. So we decided to vote with our dollars.

We announced the boycott, and that actually empowered people to let them know we don't have to sit on the sidelines and feel powerless. The power of the purse is still an effective tool for being able to get change, just as we saw during the Montgomery bus boycott that occurred beginning in 1955 when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat in the Jim Crow South.

SANCHEZ: Yes. Nekima, we only have a few seconds left, but I'm curious what your message is to the new CEO, the company's current COO.

ARMSTRONG: My message to the new CEO is to refrain from making the same mistakes that Brian Cornell has made, as well as the leadership of Target. It's imperative that he takes this matter seriously, and that he understands that many of us have decided we're not returning to Target. Regardless of the flashy partnerships they try to put in place to lure customers back, we're expecting them to be accountable for their decision and to reverse course and to change their decision to roll back diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Our dollars matter, and we're expecting the new CEO to understand that and to act accordingly.

SANCHEZ: And Nekima Levy Armstrong, thank you so much for joining us.

ARMSTRONG: Thank you for having me.

SANCHEZ: Coming up, U.S. immigration officials will now screen migrants for, quote, anti-Americanism, including searching through their social media. Why some immigration advocates and lawyers are against the policy when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: People applying to live or work in the United States will now be screened for so-called anti-Americanism, as seen through the eyes of the Trump administration. It includes having their social media checked. The announcement of this tightening of restrictions is alarming immigration advocates and lawyers. CNN's Jeff Zeleny is here with more on this. Jeff, walk us through the

details.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Boris, this is just the latest step that immigration officials are doing to make it, in the eyes of many, more difficult to come to the U.S., largely international students and others. But this anti-Americanism, it really, of course, is so subjective. So we don't know exactly what it means.

But when you look at these policy guidelines from the immigration office, it just has a few details. Let's take a look at those.

It says anyone who endorses, promotes, supports, or otherwise espouses the views of a terrorist organization or group, including those who support or promote anti-American ideologies or activities, anti- Semitic terrorism, anti-Semitic terrorist organizations, anti-Semitic ideologies, in any case involving an exercise of discretion.

So what this really is doing is putting so much discretion in the hands of immigration officials. But the anti-Americanism view, of course, is very subjective. They're going to be looking at social media activities, perhaps posts on Facebook, Instagram, other things.

So what critics of this are saying, it really is smacking of a new era of McCarthyism here. It's already more difficult to come in, again, as a student. And what this is doing is really making it more difficult to immigrate.

But the anti-American, just those words clearly are raising some alarm bells.

SANCHEZ: The administration also making it more difficult to naturalize as a citizen of the United States. They're expanding requirements. Talk to us about that.

ZELENY: Look, even if you have a green card or other -- some type of a work permit, they're saying that you now have to have good moral character. Now, what exactly does that mean? That certainly is very subjective.

Some may think some of our leaders don't necessarily have good moral character. But if you're coming here to be naturalized, now that is one of the requirements. So look, it is very subjective.

Again, some of the outlines of this were announced in a memo last week. They're saying that you have to have positive attributes and contributions going to a society. Speeding tickets, other infractions of the law could also be included in this. But again, it's very, very, very vague, the good moral character.

So simply, many believe it's trying to slow down the process, make it more difficult to apply for citizenship or to be naturalized. But some very, very vague umbrella responses of anti-Americanism and good moral character.

Do you have it? Do I have it? We're citizens. But do others? It's an open question here what good moral character may mean.

SANCHEZ: And I can attest Jeff Zeleny, fantastic moral character.

ZELENY: And I can attest you do too, my longtime friend.

SANCHEZ: Well, we'll see about that. Jeff Zeleny, thanks so much for the report.

ZELENY: You bet.

[15:45:00]

SANCHEZ: Still ahead, we're going to talk to two influencers you might have seen in this video. They're doing a food review when suddenly an SUV smashes through this Houston restaurant. Yikes. We'll talk about their injuries and what they experienced when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: A couple of Houston food influencers got more than a mouthful while they were filming a food review inside a local restaurant. An SUV just suddenly came crashing through a nearby window and was all caught on tape. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(VIDEO OF A SUV CRASHING THROUGH A WINDOW IN A RESTAURANT)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[15:50:00]

SANCHEZ: Whoa, the Harris County Sheriff says the driver of the SUV told police she thought the car was in park before she took her foot off the brake.

And the restaurant named Cuvee's Culinary Creations said on Instagram, We are beyond grateful that no one was severely hurt. While this was unexpected, our amazing staff is here and ready to continue serving you the same great food and hospitality.

We're joined now by food influencers NinaUnrated and Patrick Blackwood. Thank you so much for being with us.

We're glad that you seem to be OK and in good spirits. Even though, Nina, that looked terrifying. How are you doing?

NINAUNRATED, ESCAPED NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCE IN HOUSTON CAFE: I'm doing better. I was, other than losing sleep and having body soreness, just walking over with minor injuries. So I feel highly blessed and favored.

KEILAR: Yes, and Patrick, how are you doing? I mean, some of these cuts looked pretty bad, and that was some kind of scare.

PATRICK BLACKWOOD, ESCAPED NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCE IN HOUSTON CAFE: Yes, it was pretty tough because I'm pretty close to the window. And I just remember biting into the salmon slider and the last second just trying to move away as fast as I can. It still, to this day, it still bothers me.

KEILAR: Nina, take us back to that moment that we're seeing right now where you're sitting there. I mean, it looks like a wonderful scene that you guys had set up. You're taking a bite and then this happens, the car coming through the window.

Just describe it for us.

NINAUNRATED: There's a full video prior to this actual incident, and it was a normal day. It was a sunny, beautiful day. We're doing our normal routine, taking pictures of the food, and really just genuinely enjoying our meal.

And out of nowhere, this SUV comes crashing in through a glass wall. And I just remember thinking, I'm going to die. This is how it ends, and this is it.

So I was petrified. I was genuinely scared. And I keep having nightmares about his face and that fear that he had.

But you go from having a normal bite into being covered in glass. I mean, it's petrifying. I don't wish this on anybody.

SANCHEZ: Yes, and you see just how far the glass moves in and how much of it is on you. And just the expression on your face, Patrick, you can tell that that was a terrifying moment. I'm wondering, as you're in this position where you're trying to gauge your senses and enjoy what looked like a delicious slider that you had in your hand, what's going through your mind?

Are you thinking, what just happened?

BLACKWOOD: To be honest, like I said, I had my eyes closed in the last second. I don't know. Like, I played ball for a very long time. So I was trying to just engage myself to just move to the left. And it's pretty much just survive.

NINAUNRATED: I think him being a football player really helped from muscle memory. I don't know anybody else that's that fast. So I think his muscle memory kicked in.

Because when you play football, you do a lot of quick changes. So he just reacted. And he's the one that pushed me out of the way.

I mean, I was trying to get out of it. But had he not pushed me out of the way, he would have caught glass everywhere. I would have caught glass everywhere.

We don't know what would have happened had he not reacted so quickly and efficiently.

KEILAR: Yes, just those few feet really seem to matter. Patrick, you hear what the driver is saying here, that they thought the car was in park before they took their foot off the brake. Does that sound right to you?

BLACKWOOD: I just don't know what to even think.

NINAUNRATED: When you take your foot off the brake, for the car to go 35, 40 miles per hour, you have to have your foot on the gas. That is not from taking your foot off the brake. The driver showed no remorse.

She never apologized. She never came to check up on us. She never said, hey, did I kill anybody? Are you guys OK? No one checked up on us other than Jeff Ivory and the employees that were there reacted very quickly, which I am truly grateful for. But as far as the driver is concerned, to this day, there's been no recognition of what she did.

I highly doubt that it was just her taking a foot off the brake. That's just not the way cars work. So you go forward, you have to put your foot on the gas.

And that gas will slam into you.

BLACKWOOD: It's about like 35 to 40 miles per hour.

NINAUNRATED: Yes. You broke through barriers, metal barriers, and glass. And you went inside of the restaurant.

That wasn't from taking your foot off the brake. I think that's completely false. That's just my opinion.

SANCHEZ: Yes. Nina, Patrick, we're so grateful that you're OK and that you're sharing your story with us. And we certainly hope this doesn't dissuade you from doing more reviews in the future.

[15:55:00]

NINAUNRATED: We've taken a little bit of a break as of now. I've canceled all of my collaborations for a little while, just so I can get my head together. I'm not sleeping well and all that. I just need to regroup mentally. You just go from enjoying the meal to dying isn't it comfortable. But thank you for having us.

BLACKWOOD: Yes, thanks for having us.

SANCHEZ: Thank you both.

Up next the mother of all contests. We'll explain after a quick break

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ma, ma.

KEILAR: Do you hear that? Mamas, do you hear that that shrill piercing screech? Isn't that cacophony to our ears? You know what we're talking about here. It's a singular sound that only a mother could simultaneously love and hate your children screaming for attention. Well in Iowa, that sound is celebrated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE CHILD: Mom can I get a face painting?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE CHILD: Mom? Mom, can I please ride a horse?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE CHILD: Mama? The corn dog took my feet.

(KIDS SCREAMING MA)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[16:00:00]

SANCHEZ: At the Iowa State Fair over the weekend kids blurted out their best mom calls and there was actually a three-way tie for first place. You heard the actual winners there -- the kid with the teeth I think. To me is the champ.

KEILAR: Yes.

SANCHEZ: They each got a blue ribbon and five bucks to spend on anything that they wanted, of course as long as it was all right with their moms.

Ma, the meatloaf, ma.

KEILAR: Did you do that to your mother?

SANCHEZ: I would do ma. Yes. Yes, ma.

Yes, I have a nickname for my mom. She watches I'm not going to say the nickname because I would definitely get a text message. She'd be very upset about it.

KEILAR: Well Karma's a thing for me.

SANCHEZ: What would you say?

KEILAR: What would I say? I would say it's come back to me.

"THE ARENA" with one of our favorite ma's Kasie Hunt starts right now.

END