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School Shooting at Highlands Ranch; China Import Tariffs to Increase to 25 Percent; Facebook Co-Founder Calls Company Too Large. Aired 10:30-11a ET
Aired May 09, 2019 - 10:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[10:30:00]
CAMI BRAINARD, PARENT OF HIGHLANDS RANCH STUDENT: I don't want to be here right now. This is really hard for me. But I just feel like it's extremely important that people out there know exactly what's going on and know what's happening here. Because I watched it on the news. And I knew that there was a possibility that it would someday happen close to home.
I never imagined -- I did imagine that it would hit this close to home. And I'm sad to say that I've never really done anything about it except for hope. And hoping didn't work.
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR, NEWSROOM: I mean, that's really all the whole country is doing. And, listen, what you're doing is brave because just talking about it is forcing people to speak about these issues. So we appreciate that.
About you and your son. I guess as a parent too, I'm imagining the same pain and shock and fear you're going through here. How do you speak to your little boy about it now?
BRAINARD: Honestly, his dad actually lives down in Colorado Springs, which is about an hour from here. And we live -- have to figure out where we are now -- like, two blocks away from this school. You could see the flashing lights from our bedroom.
So his dad came and met us, up here at the rec center, where we were told to pick up our kids. And we just made the decision that it was best for him to go with his dad. I was a basket case, honestly. I wasn't in front of my son, but I was basically the minute that he left. And I'll get him back home on Mother's Day.
(CROSSTALK)
SCIUTTO: Jesus (ph).
BRAINARD: Thank God I'll get him back home on Mother's Day.
POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR, NEWSROOM: Oh, God, Cami. How do you -- how do you send him back there? I know -- I know that that's what you're wrestling with, right?
(CROSSTALK) BRAINARD: I have no idea. Honestly, I have no idea. I want to talk to other parents and I want to hear what they have to say. And I know that I have this huge community here that's all going through the same thing. But right now, I'm just scared. And I'm scared for my son.
SCIUTTO: What would make you feel safer?
BRAINARD: I don't have those answers.
SCIUTTO: I hear you. No, it's hard to -- I mean, no one --
BRAINARD: That's a really good question.
SCIUTTO: -- has those answers, clearly. But what do you want to make --
BRAINARD: Yes. No, that's a really good question. I'm actually a hair stylist. And I have a ton of clients and I live in a place where I have a lot of very conservative and very liberal friends. And I hear all of their opinions on everything.
And I've realized that once, you know, I'm in a position where I can sit and listen. And when people start getting political and coming out with their answers, well, when politics get involved, people start shutting down. And they don't listen any more. And this shouldn't be about politics. It should be about being able to send our kids to school and not expect them to be brave and save other children.
HARLOW: Yes. And you're (ph) --
BRAINARD: They should just be able to go to school and learn. And our teachers, our teachers shouldn't have to -- when they think about wanting to go in and work with kids, they shouldn't have to think about that they're going to have to save them and possibly risk their lives or die, saving their lives.
HARLOW: You know, you just -- Jim and I talk about this all the time. You just wonder as a parent, like, when is enough going to be enough? When is it really enough for people to actually do something and not just guns. On mental health.
Cami, you just brought up, Cami, the heroes. And we know one of the heroes in this. And that is Kendrick Castillo.
BRAINARD: Kendrick.
HARLOW: This brave, beautiful, sweet boy whose incredible parents raised such a remarkable young man, who saved people. Who may have saved your son. What do you say to them this morning?
BRAINARD: They're -- absolutely. I say I'm so sorry your son was put in that position. And I don't know him, but I absolutely love him. And I love his parents and I appreciate them as a family so much.
You could tell, just from the little that I saw them on the news, that, I mean, they raised an incredible son. And you can tell what kind of people they are and why he -- why he was the way that he was. And I'm so unbelievably grateful.
But, bottom line, he should have never, ever been put in that position. We've had way too many warnings. We've had way too many warnings. Hoping didn't work for me.
[10:35:06] SCIUTTO: No, no. It's not working for the country.
There's been this talk that in recent months, a district official had asked the school to investigate previous concerns about bullying, about other issues there. I wonder if that was something the parents and the community were aware of, concerned about. Was it there for some time.
BRAINARD: Yes. I'm not sure. I don't really know anything about that.
SCIUTTO: Right.
HARLOW: So --
BRAINARD: I'm assuming the more this goes on, more answers will come out. And I'm waiting to hear that. But bullying and bad things happen at every school.
SCIUTTO: Absolutely. Yes.
BRAINARD: But shootings don't happen at every school. They could.
HARLOW: So, Cami, you said -- of course they could.
SCIUTTO: Too many schools --
(CROSSTALK)
HARLOW: No community is immune from this. You said --
BRAINARD: No.
HARLOW: -- when we started speaking with you, Cami, "I don't want to be here." And I don't know if I could be there the way you are, if this had happened to me. If I would have the strength.
But you are here. And there's a reason you're talking to us and there's a reason you want the world to hear this. Why is that?
BRAINARD: I honestly -- I think you would be here. I feel like I'm one of the, like, mentally weakest people I know. I feel like I get -- I just have a really hard time with anything emotional.
But I have to do this for my son. And I have to do this for his friends. I feel like I have to do this for Kendrick and every other kid out there. The Parkland kids. Sandy Hook kids. I mean, it just -- where does it end?
SCIUTTO: Yes.
BRAINARD: My sister-in-law was actually also in the Vegas shooting. She literally ran from the gunman there. I mean, it's just too much.
SCIUTTO: Listen, you captured it there. Where does it end? And we're shaking our heads. We're trying to keep attention on it. We're going to ask every lawmaker who comes on here, Democrat or Republican, what they're going to do about it.
HARLOW: Yes.
SCIUTTO: But more -- but in the meantime, just as parents, both of us, we're thinking about you and we really wish you and your little boy the best.
HARLOW: I'm so sorry, Cami. I wish there was --
BRAINARD: I appreciate it very much.
HARLOW: Wish there was something we could do. We're going to keep pressing and you shouldn't have to stand there and say, "Hoping didn't work." Because you shouldn't have to hope every morning, when you send your beautiful son to school.
SCIUTTO: Yes.
HARLOW: And we're sorry about that.
SCIUTTO: Cami Brainard, thank you so much.
BRAINARD: I appreciate it.
SCIUTTO: Take care.
BRAINARD: Thank you.
HARLOW: OK. We'll be back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:42:44] SCIUTTO: The U.S. and China are in trade talks today, but time is running out for a deal. The Trump administration is set to hike tariffs to 25 percent on some $200 billion's worth of Chinese products.
By the way, you and I pay for those tariffs.
HARLOW: Yes.
SCIUTTO: China is now threatening to retaliate, but the president is doubling down on claims that this is all China's fault.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: By the way, you see the tariffs we're doing? Because they broke the deal. They broke the deal. They broke the deal.
(APPLAUSE) So I just announced that we'll increase tariffs on China. And we won't back down until China stops cheating our workers and stealing our jobs. And that's what's going to happen. Otherwise, we don't have to do business with them. We don't have to do business. We can make the product right here if we have to, like we used to.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TEXT: U.S.-China Trade War Tariffs: U.S.: $250B of Chinese products; Automobile parts, Medical equipment, LED screens. China: $110B of American products; Pork, Soybeans, Bourbon
HARLOW: If there's no deal, those expanded tariffs will slam some really important U.S. industries. Soybean farmers, car-makers, medical equipment manufacturers. And guess what? You as well, as Jim said.
SCIUTTO: Yes.
HARLOW: You pay for these tariffs, folks. Let's discuss with Marcia Frieze, CEO of Case Medical; and Rick Helfenbein, president and CEO of American Apparel and the Footwear Association.
Good morning to you both. Thank you for being here.
MARCIA FRIEZE, CEO, CASE MEDICAL: Good morning, Poppy.
HARLOW: It's just not true, by the way, that China pays for these. So let's just state that as fact. The American people pay for these.
I think, Rick, one of the numbers that I was reading is, like, 93 percent of footwear, 91 percent of apparel is hit by this. You say (ph) what is about to happen tomorrow if there's no deal? Quote, "Confirms our worst fears."
RICK HELFENBEIN, PRESIDENT AND CEO, AMERICAN APPAREL AND FOOTWEAR ASSOCIATION: Well, let's look at it this way. If the Cinderella tax kicks in tonight at midnight, our beautiful clothes will turn to rags. That's just about as bad as it's going to get.
You know, 1930, they tried the Smoot-Hawley tariffs on us. And also precipitated the --
HARLOW: Depression.
HELFENBEIN: -- Depression.
SCIUTTO: Yes.
HELFENBEIN: However, Depression aside, that was supposed to protect American industry as, you know, the president had -- had commented (ph). And, well, guess what? As you said, Poppy, 98 percent of all apparel and footwear is imported today --
HARLOW: Wow.
HELFENBEIN: So there's proof that tariffs just --
SCIUTTO: Right.
HELFENBEIN: -- don't work.
SCIUTTO: How quickly will folks see this in the sticker, right? In the sticker price of clothes. Will -- how quickly do American companies pass those costs on to consumers?
[10:45:09] HELFENBEIN: Well, you know, we are businesspeople. We're not politicians.
SCIUTTO: Right.
HELFENBEIN: So we're here to protect the bottom line. And the bottom line will be affected almost immediately. People have to protect themselves. And, you know, I feel bad. They -- on the apparel side, they're going to hit us in our hats, our handbags.
Our wallets, Jim, as you mentioned earlier.
And, you know, it's baseball season. They're going to hit us on baseball gloves. You don't want to -- what are you going to say to your kid, you know? "The glove used to cost $100, now it's $150."
HARLOW: Right.
HELFENBEIN: And we're doing that in the best interests of parenthood (ph).
SCIUTTO: I've got to buy a new one, by the way, this weekend. Just so you know. I do.
HARLOW: Sorry about the Mets.
Marcia, let's take a look at the Dow. Dow is off, what? Looking over there, 380 points right now. Almost off 400 points. Just to explain this, where -- the position you're coming from, you're the CEO of Case Medical. You guys make containers, metal containers --
FRIEZE: Correct.
HARLOW: -- to transport safely, medical instruments, surgical instruments. So it's really the steel and aluminum tariffs that are hurting your suppliers, and therefore you're feeling the pain. Just explain how widespread this is.
FRIEZE: I think this is very widespread. And actually, as a New Jersey company, where (ph) manufacturing is a very significant part of our economy. We've already suffered from the tariffs since, you know, March of 2018 --
HARLOW: Yes.
FRIEZE: -- when they were first imposed. The reality is, not only do we -- are we -- have we been faced with the tariffs on the metal products and the additional cost that -- you know, that's occured, but also the supply issue has been a very, very major issue for us. And of course, there are a lot of other raw materials and also equipment that we purchase from China as well.
And uniquely as an American manufacturer, we also export our medical devices to China. So it's going to hit us in both ways.
SCIUTTO: Right. If China retaliates, that's going to hurt your sales in China.
FRIEZE: Absolutely.
HARLOW: Wow.
SCIUTTO: Yes.
FRIEZE: But, you know, as a company that survived Hurricane Sandy in 2012, the tariffs last year, which not only increased our costs drastically, but we also suffered from a -- you know, a source of lack of supply --
SCIUTTO: Right.
FRIEZE: -- that one can only anticipate what a tremendous impact this is going to be, not only on us but other U.S. manufacturers, whether it's from (ph) car --
SCIUTTO: Yes.
FRIEZE: -- or aircraft --
HARLOW: Sure.
FRIEZE: -- or whether it's medical devices or anything else.
SCIUTTO: You heard the president there, and this is something he's claimed many times before. Is that, "Fine, we don't have to do business with China. We can make all this stuff again, from high-end to low-end." Is that true? All of a sudden we would make the iPhones, we would -- American companies would stich the shirts, et cetera.
FRIEZE: That's absolutely not true because we're, uniquely in American manufacturing, we actually make product. But a lot of product is actually made in China. So in our space, we rely on China for equipment, we rely on China for raw materials. I think the biggest hit from the tariffs last year, for us, as I said, was not so much the cost, which is obviously a major factor, but the lack of supply.
HARLOW: Right.
FRIEZE: And I think the assumption was made last year, that the steel and aluminum mills in particular had lots of capacity. Well, that was not true.
HARLOW: Right.
FRIEZE: They didn't have capacity.
HARLOW: OK. I was -- we're out of time, but I was going to ask you both what your solution is. So next time we have you back -- because I fear this doesn't end tonight --
SCIUTTO: Could be a long conversation, I think.
FRIEZE: Yes.
HARLOW: -- at midnight. We'll talk about, like, what are other solutions, you know? That would hold China accountable.
SCIUTTO: What would a deal look like. Yes, exactly.
HARLOW: But also not hurt the American consumer and American businesses. We appreciate your time.
SCIUTTO: Marcia and Rick, thanks very much.
HARLOW: Thank you for coming in.
FRIEZE: Thank you. Appreciate it.
SCIUTTO: The man who helped co-found Facebook is now calling for the social media giant to be broken up.
[10:48:52] HARLOW: And just a reminder, tonight, watch, 8:00 p.m. Eastern, FBI director James Comey joins Anderson Cooper for a CNN town hall exclusive interview. That's 8:00 Eastern, right here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARLOW: All right. So the man who once helped Mark Zuckerberg transform Facebook from a dorm room project into a real business, is now calling for the company to be broken up.
SCIUTTO: It's an interesting idea because it's not confined (ph) here. But the cofounder Chris Hughes, writing in "The New York Times," "Mark is a good, kind person. But I'm angry that his focus on growth led him to sacrifice security and civility for clicks.
HARLOW: Wow. That's a bid deal. Our tech reporter Brian Fung joins us now.
Good morning, Brian. Welcome to CNN. We're so glad to have you. This is a whopper of an op-ed --
BRIAN FUNG, CNN TECH REPORTER: I'm sorry, I'm not hearing the show.
HARLOW: Oh, no. Can you hear me, Brian?
SCIUTTO: Do you hear Poppy or Jim?
HARLOW: Oh. SCIUTTO: Sorry, guys. We'll try (ph) -- yeah (ph) --
HARLOW: OK. Brian, Brian, can you hear us? Thumbs up if you can hear us, Brian.
FUNG: I can't hear the show.
SCIUTTO: Can you hear Poppy or Jim? This is Jim.
FUNG: I can hear Jim.
HARLOW: OK, you're on.
(CROSSTALK)
FUNG: I can hear you.
SCIUTTO: Good, you're hearing us.
(CROSSTALK)
HARLOW: Welcome. Welcome --
SCIUTTO: We are the show. We are the show.
FUNG: OK, great.
HARLOW: -- welcome to CNN. Isn't it fitting that we would have technical difficulties with our new --
SCIUTTO: Yes.
HARLOW: -- tech reporter? All right. Sorry about that. It's normally not like that when you come on this show. But back to the matter at hand. This is a whopper of an op-ed in "The New York Times." And it's just so significant that the co-founder of Facebook is saying, "You have to break it up." What is the argument?
FUNG: Well, the key argument he's saying is that Facebook, in buying Instagram and WhatsApp, dealt a huge blow to competition, in that it basically allowed Facebook to become so dominant as to prevent other startups from being able to succeed and to thrive, and pose a significant threat of competition to Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg.
SCIUTTO: This is not -- he's not the only person talking about this. I speak to folks in national security who talk about regulating Facebook, Twitter because of how easily they're taken advantage of by foreign intelligence services, et cetera. I'm just curious. Is there real momentum towards this? Is it a realistic possibility?
[10:55:05] FUNG: Well, look, all this is happening as we're waiting for a landmark settlement to come down between the Federal Trade Commission, which is investigating Facebook, and Facebook over its role in various privacy scandals that -- that Facebook has been engaged in over the years. The question here is whether or not any settlement could actually, you
know, touch Zuckerberg himself personally, and how extensive the settlement would be in terms of, you know, reshaping the company.
Now, it's unlikely that the settlment would actually lead to a breakup of the company. But I think that they're -- a lot of people are going to be watching for, you know commitments that Facebook is going to have to make in order to build on its privacy commitments.
HARLOW: OK. Brian Fung. We appreciate it. It's certainly worth a read in the "Times" this morning. Thanks so much.
The president's eldest son Don Jr. is now facing a congressional subpoena from a Republican-led Senate committee. What will he do? Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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