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Trump Officials Downplay Economic Concerns About Tariffs; Southeast, Mid-South Flooding Threat As Swollen Rivers Crest; Second Child Dies Of Measles In Texas, 480 Reported Cases In Six States; Major Coffee Importer Expects 15 percent Increase In Costs; Interview With Consumer Journalist Clark Howard; Pope Francis Makes 1st Public Appearance Since Leaving Hospital; Trump's Tariffs Spark Chaos, Confusion And Uncertainty; Epic Ending For NCAA Men's Final Four Games. Aired 2-3p ET
Aired April 06, 2025 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:00:35]
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me this Sunday. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.
And we begin this hour with the Trump administration in damage control with the president's blanket 10 percent tax now in effect and steeper tariffs coming this week. Top Trump economic officials and cabinet members fanning out today across the Sunday television talk shows trying to tame the chaos.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BROOKE ROLLINS, AGRICULTURE SECRETARY: I think we'll see in short order, really positive outcome from this.
KEVIN HASSETT, DIRECTOR, WHITE HOUSE ECONOMIC COUNCIL: It is not a strategy for the markets (ph). It's a strategy to create a golden age in America for the American worker. That's his strategy.
PETER NAVARRO, WHITE HOUSE SENIOR COUNSELOR: We are going to have the biggest boom in the stock market we've ever seen under the Trump policies.
HOWARD LUTNICK, COMMERCE SECRETARY: This is the moment that the United States of America takes hold of itself. And Donald Trump's been talking about this his whole life. This is Donald Trump's agenda and we are all here to help him execute it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Despite that messaging of trying to strike optimism, mass protests erupted in the U.S. and across the world yesterday in response to Trump's policies. As of Friday, financial markets lost trillions of dollars in value, leaving the question of what markets will look like this week as Trump slaps additional tariffs of up to 50 percent on dozens of countries on Wednesday. CNN's Betsy Klein is joining us now from West Palm Beach, Florida near where Trump golfed today. Betsy, what is the Trump administration -- what more are they saying today about these tariffs and why people should remain optimistic?
BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE PRODUCER: Yes, we are getting really mixed messaging from top Trump administration officials on whether these tariffs are indeed permanent or if there is some room for negotiation.
Top officials really framing it as a necessary economic reset while they're downplaying the concerns about severe market volatility.
President Trump on his part, views himself as a deal maker. He's expressed some openness to negotiation.
But here is the reality. Markets are spiraling. The Dow is down 10 percent from its most recent high. The Nasdaq more than 20 percent. When the markets closed on Friday, the Dow had posted its biggest back-to-back losses since March 2020 at the beginning of the COVID 19 pandemic.
Economists are ratcheting up concerns of a global recession. And Goldman Sachs analysts say that the growth that could be driven by Trump's economic policies will not make up for the damage done by this tariff plan.
But the president's top economic lieutenants said on Sunday, the president is not kidding, and that those additional tariffs, in addition to the blanket 10 percent tariffs set to go into place on April 9th, will be taking place.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent really encapsulated some of the mixed messaging here. Listen.
SCOTT BESSENT, TREASURY SECRETARY: I can tell you that as only he can do at this moment, he's created maximum leverage for himself and more than 50 countries have approached the -- have approached the administration about lowering their non-tariff trade barriers, lowering their tariffs, stopping currency manipulation.
And they've been bad actors for a long time. And it's not the kind of thing you can negotiate away in days or weeks.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KLEIN: Now CNN has learned that the White House is in active discussion with Vietnam, India and Israel about the possibility of bespoke trade deals to potentially offset some of these tariffs.
But asked about the example of Vietnam, again mixed message. The president's trade adviser, Peter Navarro, said, quote, "this is not a negotiation".
Now notably, we did hear from the Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, who told CNN that there is some openness to providing relief for the farmers who have been so hard hit.
She said the administration plans to work with Congress to mitigate some of the fallout from this tariff policy, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: And then Betsy, while many of the members of the administration were out, you know, trying to address the fallout from the tariffs, trying to encourage people to just be patient.
[14:04:46]
WHITFIELD: While there are a lot of Americans who have felt like they've had sleepless nights as a result of some of the downturn, how was the president spending this weekend and this day?
KLEIN: Yes, the split screen is really quite notable. The president this morning at one of his golf properties for the fourth day in a row. The White House said he would be participating in the senior club championship golf tournament. No word on whether he won, how it went.
But Democratic Senator Adam Schiff summed it up well. He's a frequent foe of this administration. He said the image of the president on a golf cart as Americans' retirement is in flames, quote, "may end up being one of the most enduring images of this presidency", Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. Betsy Klein, thank you so much.
All right. And this breaking news that we're following as well.
22 million people across the southeast are at risk for severe storms today. Right now, a tornado watch is in effect from Mobile, Alabama to Atlanta, Georgia. This line of violent storms has already killed at least 17 people, including a five-year-old boy, as it tore from Texas to Ohio starting on Wednesday.
Over a foot of rain has fallen across the mid southern states since Wednesday, which is almost unheard of outside of hurricane season. The deluge of rain shutting down several major highways through Tennessee and Kentucky, with more expected today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR MASON TAYLOR, BUTLER, KENTUCKY: This is something we've grown accustomed to, unfortunately. We will be, at some point an island.
DREW CHANDLER, WOODFORD COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGER: I've been an emergency manager in Woodford County for greater than 20 years, and I don't ever remember this much water.
TONY KIRVES, OWNER, SOUTHERN EXPOSURE: We definitely are very concerned that it could get a lot higher. We're just trying to do the best we can with maintaining this, but if we get more coming on, it's definitely going to be a challenge to deal with.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: And runoff from heavy rainfall means that flooding will still be a major threat as rivers crest over the coming days.
I want to bring in now CNN's senior national correspondent Ryan Young, who is in Hardy, Arkansas. Ryan, what have you been seeing?
RYAN YOUNG, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Unbelievable, Fred. When we talk about some of the flooding and how much rain has dropped here over the last 24 to 48 hours.
Where were standing right now, you could not stand here just yesterday. We had trouble ourselves getting around because a lot of the roads were washed out.
We want to walk you this direction so we can talk about what people are experiencing throughout this area. If you look down here, you can see the road washed out. As we were driving through parts of rural Arkansas yesterday, we experienced it ourselves as rapid water would be taking on as the flash floods came from everywhere.
You talk about the fact 17 dead across six states, but this is the real impact. And as you walk this way, the waters in some places are starting to recede. If you look over here, you can see the water kind of backing out this direction.
Talking to neighbors around here, each of them know somebody who's lost a home. One man told me he's never seen seven homes swallowed up so quickly.
On top of that, communications very spotty. Verizon out for this area because of a power outage in some areas. But it's the roadways like this one, especially at night if you're driving along, you have no anticipation that this is going to be knocked out.
So you see the real impact here. Fred, yesterday while we were live with you, we got surrounded by water and had trouble getting out ourselves. But this is the impact as they start to do their survey of damage here and the water starts to recede.
They're hoping someone can fix some of this because obviously this makes it treacherous, especially as people try to get out of their homes and start surveying the damage for themselves.
But everywhere you look, especially in the low-lying areas, there's multiple homes that have been damaged or swept away, Fred.
WHITFIELD: Oh, my goodness, it's incredible.
And then, of course, with that kind of road damage, I mean, a lot of the roadways, which were impassable for a variety of reasons that included it means not being able to get to people who are in need or in distress.
YOUNG: I'm glad you brought that up, because finding a place to get groceries, or even finding a place to get gas is an issue here.
And we wanted to walk you up this way. Look at how this roadway has been washed out. This is not going to be an easy fix. We talked to a young lady at a gas station, a Valero (ph) yesterday. That's the only way we were able to make it out with back roads. For four hours we drove around and kept coming up to situations like this one, where a road would be washed out and you can't take a car across something like this.
And you think about the impact with very little gas stations or grocery stores in the area. Power going out for some people. The next three days as people start to dry out, man, that's going to be tough, especially if you don't have food or power to make these things stay or last in your kitchen. It's going to be a long few days for these folks.
WHITFIELD: It sure is. And that's just some of the imagery that we're able to see right now.
Thank you so much, Ryan Young there in Arkansas. Appreciate it.
All right. And then this breaking news out of Texas where an eight- year-old girl has died from the measles. This is the second death in the state linked to the ongoing measles outbreak.
[14:09:53]
WHITFIELD: A Texas hospital official tells CNN, quote, "We are deeply saddened to report that a school age child who was recently diagnosed with measles has passed away.
It is important to note that the child was not vaccinated against measles and had no known underlying health conditions."
The first death in Texas was an unvaccinated child back in February. The outbreak has now spread to New Mexico, Oklahoma and possibly Kansas with at least 569 reported cases. About 480 of those cases in Texas.
All right. Still ahead, small businesses are scrambling to import products before another round of Trump's tariffs takes effect next week.
Plus, how should you plan your finances during all of this economic uncertainty? Money expert Clark Howard is joining us live.
[14:10:46]
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WHITFIELD: President Trump's global trade war means coffee lovers will likely start paying higher prices as the tariffs kick in. Cafe Imports, a major U.S. coffee importer, is rushing to move its products from ports overseas as Trump's tariffs on coffee-producing countries goes into effect. The coffee company expects a 15 percent increase in costs across the board.
Let me bring in now CNN correspondent Julia Vargas Jones. Julia, while it looks like it's nice and calm where you are and folks
are having coffee, people are a little frazzled too, right? Because this isn't just coffee importers, but also the small businesses that rely on these coffee products.
JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fred, it's actually -- this is one of the clients of Cafe Imports. We followed them along as they went to pick up their weekly supply of beans that come from all over the world.
You know, we saw this giant warehouse with coffee bags, like 60-kilo bags of coffee from Brazil, Guatemala, Colombia, Indonesia. And we have some here -- some of the effects of this.
Coffee from Colombia. We'll see about a 10 percent increase in those tariffs. Brazil as well, 10 percent increase on coffee coming from Brazil. Now, Nicaragua 18 percent. About 80 percent of the coffee imported into the United States come from this Latin American countries. Now Indonesia, where java comes from, 32 percent increase. That's how much the tariffs are going to cost.
And we spoke to the owner of Cafe de Leche, this local Los Angeles coffee shop. And he said they still haven't passed on any increases from the last year onto their consumers because they just really don't like raising prices. That scares away their customers.
But take a listen to what he told us.
MATTHEW SCHODORF, OWNER: CAFE DE LECHE: There is no option for us to source coffee in the United States outside of a very limited market in Hawaii, that is mostly consumed by the people of Hawaii.
So if you don't buy the coffee from Nicaragua, if you don't buy the coffee from Colombia or Brazil, you're not just going to Oklahoma and getting it. It's not possible, you know?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JONES: So these small businesses like Cafe de Leche are just between a rock and a hard place, Fred, trying to figure out how they're going to make ends meet.
I would just add that here in Los Angeles, Cafe de Leche specifically, they already lost one location to the fires earlier this year in Altadena to the Eaton Fire. So making do financially, not just them, but businesses across the board is going to be quite difficult if you want to stay in the coffee business.
WHITFIELD: Right. And I'm sure they do want to stay in the business, but it's going to be a different kind of tightening the belt and really responding to the overall economy. That too, is very hard because everything is so unpredictable.
Julia Vargas Jones, thank you so much.
All right. Let's talk more about all of that because today, President Trump's trade adviser, Peter Navarro, urged Americans to sit tight, not to panic. But this economic uncertainty is scaring a lot of people.
And here to help us navigate this very fluid economic situation is Clark Howard. He's a consumer journalist and host of "The Clark Howard" podcast.
And I think it's fair to say you're the one that everybody turns to to help find answers. What do I do with my money or what do I do to stretch the dollar? That's really the key point here.
CLARK HOWARD, CONSUMER JOURNALIST: It's a -- it's a tough time for people because something that has been alluded to again and again, the uncertainty of this. I mean, this is unbelievable how uncertain it is.
WHITFIELD: It is.
M1: And so, you know, so many people are worried what's going to happen with their jobs.
WHITFIELD: Right.
HOWARD: What should you be prioritizing, right?
WHITFIELD: And how do you answer that for yourself because every household is different.
HOWARD: Right.
WHITFIELD: But we all are encountering some of the same things. I mean, you're going to have your energy bills. You've got, you know, the basic necessities, you've got groceries.
And then there's the long-term planning that a lot of households like to do.
M1: Right.
WHITFIELD: So how do you prioritize right now when we don't really know what the tariffs this week are going to bring, what it's going to do to the markets.
M1: Sure.
WHITFIELD: And then, you know, months from now we don't know how things are going to go.
M1: So we have to prepare for the worst --
WHITFIELD: Yes.
M1: -- and hope for the best.
Absolutely, the possibility of a recession. You know, on the morning talk shows, the --
WHITFIELD: JPMorgan is saying a 60 percent chance --
M1: Yes. 60 --
[14:19:50]
WHITFIELD: -- do you agree with that?
M1: It's somewhere 50, 60, 70 percent.
WHITFIELD: Oh boy.
M1: It's not 40 percent anymore.
WHITFIELD: Right.
M1: You know, recession is not a certainty, but it's a likelihood. So how do you prepare?
WHITFIELD: Right.
M1: Number one, you take money and put it aside if you can.
Number two, if you're carrying debts in your life, you have got to pay them down. You save, you pay down, you prepare. Because we don't know how this is going to play out.
Think about -- let's take the best-case scenario. There's not a recession and you've done a good job paying down debt. Good for you, right? You save money for the future. Great for you.
So if it gets us to tighten our belts and think about what must we spend money on versus what we want to spend money on, this need versus want. This is a time that you don't impulsively buy. You really think through what you're up to and spend only what you must.
WHITFIELD: Now say, you know, we talk about you know, trillions of dollars that was lost, you know, in this country --
M1: Right.
WHITFIELD: -- because of, you know, the stock market just in two days really losing like a year's worth of gains in a couple of days.
M1: Sure.
W1; So people have their 401(k)s because they're planning their retirements. But you're in a different category if you're over 50 or say you're in your 20s or 30s.
M1: Right.
WHITFIELD: So for people who are nearest their retirement age, they're feeling the pain in the biggest kind of way. So what adjustments do they need to make, if at all, at this stage in the game?
M1: So I thought you were going to ask me that. WHITFIELD: Really? Of course.
M1: Because I'm 69.
WHITFIELD: Yes.
M1: And so I have my portfolio set up where I'm in a mix of things where the risks are lower. I have -- bonds is a meaningful part of my portfolio, about a third. Then I have a lot of my money overseas because I've been worried about how overpriced the U.S. stock market was to start with.
WHITFIELD: Interesting.
M1: And just a few minutes ago, I checked to see how much I'm down this week because I'm so diversified going in at 69 years old. I'm down 6 percent this week. I can sleep with 6 percent loss.
WHITFIELD: Most were probably experiencing about a 10 percent, right.
M1: Exactly.
(CROSSTALKING)
WHITFIELD: And so that shows the advantage by having a portfolio appropriate for my age -- somebody who is in their 50s, somebody who in their 60s.
If you're all in the tech stocks, you're all in stocks. You're in momentum stocks. This is a really, really bad Sunday for us to be talking because last week was so bad. And the prospects moving into Monday are not great either.
So it's all about having your portfolio appropriate for your age. If I'm 40 years old, this is a "who cares" moment with my 401(k). If I'm 30 --
WHITFIELD: Because you have time for it to make gains.
M1: Exactly.
WHITFIELD: And don't panic.
M1: And if I'm younger, in my 30s and 20s, I've got time for that money to grow for me. And this is a footnote in history for somebody at that kind of age.
WHITFIELD: Interesting. So we already have a 10 percent tariffs in effect. On Wednesday, the so-called reciprocal tariffs start.
M1: Yes.
WHITFIELD: Commerce secretary I know -- I know. We're all worried I think. Wo isn't worried. I mean that's normal.
But the Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, you know, had this to say about potential wiggle room for countries to negotiate.
M1: Right.
WHITFIELD: Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LUTNICK: The tariffs are coming. He announced it and he wasn't kidding. The tariffs are coming. Of course they are.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: So he's essentially saying there's not going to be any negotiation.
M1: Right.
WHITFIELD: Trump wants these tariffs to be imposed. And so what do we do with that information? Like what should we expect because there's so much uncertainty. What do we expect with more tariffs coming?
M1: So the worst possible scenario -- he means this and this is permanent. In that case, we are not the same country we were before. Our relationship with other countries is not the same. And we will have to be more careful how we spend what we spend.
I checked the labels on my clothes. My shirt, Bangladesh. My pants, Cambodia. My belt is China. My shoes are from India. My socks were assembled in the United States but it says from foreign sources.
WHITFIELD: Right.
M1: I mean, when you look at what we wear, what we buy. The iPhone, what's going to happen to the price of an iPhone?
WHITFIELD: Right. Everything is going up.
M1: This is this is a recipe for what economists coined informally "stagflation", where we have higher prices in a slowing economy in combo. That's not a pretty picture.
WHITFIELD: Right. So I wonder if I can ask you real quick, because if you listen to Lutnick, he's talking about -- and Trump has said it too, how this nation has been taken advantage of. And you just mentioned Bangladesh, China -- all these places that everything that you're wearing is from.
[14:24:51]
WHITFIELD: And they are using the terminology that the U.S. has been taken advantage of. And these are examples of how.
But is it possible? Is it conceivable that the U.S., in a very short amount of time, can end up producing all that you're wearing, so that we are not the global economy that we are, so that we don't have to rely on other countries to export their goods so that we have a variety of merchandise?
M1: Not a chance.
WHITFIELD: Ok. Because that's what the spoken goal is --
(CROSSTALKING)
M1: These goods that we buy -- yes. But that --
(CROSSTALKING)
M1: -- but that's --
WHITFIELD: -- coming from President Trump.
M1: That's really looking back with false nostalgia. The world is different now. The components of anything we wear -- think about the socks I was talking about. Assembled in the United States from parts from who knows where in the world, where the fabric came from, where it initially was sewed, whatever.
We live in a completely different kind of world. If we really try to put a moat around the United States what happens is we end up in an island market. When you're an island market, you end up with lower quality goods, less available, less innovation and higher prices.
And I come into this from --
WHITFIELD: What about the employment?
M1: The employment? Employment will suffer at first. Even if we end up with more manufacturing jobs in the United States, eventually, it takes so long to gear that up that the initial shock for us, as well as our trading partners, our former trading partners, is really, really negative from a jobs and economic standpoint.
And that's why they're trotting all the administration officials out to the Sunday morning talk shows, trying to give a different perspective.
But I, you know, as somebody who studied economics in college, I know that when we've done widespread tariffs, it's never had a happy result. Not just us. Any country who's done that.
WHITFIELD: All right, Clark Howard, thank you so much. We really appreciate it.
M1: It's so good to see you again.
WHITFIELD: Yes. It's so great to see you too. So great to have you here.
And hopefully we'll have you soon because this roller coaster ride is going to keep going for a while, right?
M1: Yes. And it's not fun like the ones the kids do at the amusement park.
WHITFIELD: It's not that kind of fun. And we so appreciate that you are helping us along for the ride.
Appreciate it.
M1: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: Great to see you.
All right. Still ahead, a surprise public appearance from Pope Francis. His first since leaving the hospital two weeks ago.
[14:27:16]
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[14:31:31]
WHITFIELD: Pope Francis made his first public appearance since leaving the hospital two weeks ago, where he received treatment for double pneumonia. The 88-year-old pontiff surprised crowds at the Vatican, greeting them in a wheelchair.
CNN's Barbie Latza Nadeau explains the pope appeared to be in good spirits after his five-week hospital stay.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBIE LATZA NADEAU, CNN REPORTER: Pope Francis made a surprise visit in St. Peter's Square on Sunday. Now, this is the first time he's been seen since he left the hospital on March 23rd. The 88-year-old pontiff was admitted to the hospital on February 14th with a respiratory infection, was later diagnosed with double pneumonia and spent those five weeks in the hospital. When he went home, his doctor said, though, that he was supposed to take several months of convalescence and was going to be avoiding large crowds.
Now that crowd that was gathered in St. Peter's Square were celebrating a Lenten mass out in the open. They were not expecting to see the pope, but they went wild when the pontiff was rolled in in his wheelchair.
Now, we heard from the Vatican press office that he is improving incrementally, that he is getting physical therapy, respiratory therapy and therapy to work on his voice. He did bless the crowds and he wished them all a happy Sunday.
Barbie Nadeau, CNN, Rome.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Coming up, lawmakers say there is a bipartisan effort to rein in President Trump's tariff powers after the stock market's multitrillion dollar meltdown. Could the economic disruption derail what he hopes becomes his legacy? (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:37:45]
WHITFIELD: All right. Financial markets in the U.S. and around the globe are bracing for more uncertainty when they open tomorrow.
As President Trump's expanding trade war continues to spark economic chaos, this is how one former White House economic adviser, Gene Sperling, describes the impact from the sharp drop in the financial markets.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GENE SPERLING, FORMER SENIOR ADVISER TO PRESIDENT BIDEN: It is one of the worst self-inflicted economic wounds in U.S. history. I want to be clear when we're talking about other moments where markets have gone down like this, it has been war, depression, the pandemic, the financial crisis.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: I'm joined now by Tim Naftali, CNN presidential historian and the former director of the Nixon Presidential Library.
Always great to see you, Tim.
TIM NAFTALI, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Great to see you, Fred.
WHITFIELD: Do you think that's a fair description, that this is one of the worst self-inflicted wounds in American history?
NAFTALI: I'd like to edit what Mr. Sperling said. I'm quite convinced that this is the worst self-inflicted economic decision in modern American history. Remember that President Trump inherited a good economy, which was unfair in the way in which success and failure was distributed. What Donald Trump has done is he's taken a good economy with low inflation and with low unemployment, and has risked a bad economy with equally poor distribution effects.
So that is an inflict -- that is a self-inflicted wound. Now I want to I want to mention one thing that Mr. Sperling said also. Mr. Sperling talked about the pandemic, and we will all, I hope some of us will remember that in March of 2020, President Trump said some -- some things about the pandemic that suggested he didn't take it seriously. And the stock market dropped precipitously. And the very next day, he edited his remarks.
The stock market has doubled, has doubled down twice, and he our president has not altered his remarks, which suggests to me that he's in a bind. He's in an ideological bind now that he wasn't in when it came time to deal with the pandemic.
[14:40:02]
WHITFIELD: Fascinating. So, President Trump has been touting that he is the architect of a golden age. He'll fix America, but these first three months with gutting federal agencies, laying off thousands, and now tariffs leading to trillions of dollars in losses on the U.S. stock market. So how will this little pain, as he likes to refer to it, you know, shape potentially the rest of his leadership?
NAFTALI: The problem now for Republicans, in my view, is that you can get pushback. And we've seen it already in the senate, but you wont see any pushback in the House because the Republican majority is so narrow in the House that unless the entire caucus shifts against tariffs, they have no power and they're not going to shift total against tariffs unless the president decides to course correct. And it is unlikely he's going to decide to course-correct right now because he has made it his policy. It is his signature policy. And we know that President Trump does not like to admit error.
WHITFIELD: I mean, his signature policy, signature policy was to bring down prices. Right. Thats what he campaigned on. And you mentioned. Probably little will give in terms of his point of view unless House Republicans do something. But what about pressure and expressed outrage from, say, those multi-city protests that we saw yesterday? Do you see that that in any way could potentially sway or influence the trajectory of his agenda?
NAFTALI: Well, I think it's healthy for democracy that people express themselves. I don't see this moving. President Trump. President Trump's problem right now is that besides the bad economic theory, the rollout was so incompetent that people that should be supportive of trying to rebuild our manufacturing base don't want to invest in the United States.
If you look at an executive branch and see that they are putting tariffs on penguins and they're putting up over 40 percent of tariffs on a country like Vietnam, which just the day before had brought down their tariff level to 3 percent, or they put up tariffs to 17 percent on Israel when Israel had eliminated its tariffs on us, you realize that you have a government that's not serious.
So, the problem here is also of competence. People are not going to invest in this country if they have lost confidence in President Trump's economic leadership. So, he is facing a real confidence issue around the world. There are many Americans who stick by him because frankly, the elite opinion is strong for free trade. But among many Americans, there's a deep skepticism about free trade.
So, Donald Trump, I think, has a lot of support in the heartland. The problem is nobody voted for economic chaos. Thats not what Americans wanted. And they're going to get it now.
And the question is how long will it take for the president to find a way out of this that doesn't make him look like a loser, because we know he's not going to admit error?
WHITFIELD: Yeah. You think he's thinking about that when he's on the golf courses because right now he's on the golf course this weekend. While you have people expressing their worry, their concern as you just laid out, there's a lot of chaos going on. He doesn't like to admit a mistake.
But imaging -- imagery, you know, and staging is really important to him. So is this what he's doing right now when he's playing golf and everybody else is, you know, trying to put out the fire or say that there is fire and he's behaving as though nothings going on here.
NAFTALI: Trump 2.0 is different from Trump 1.0 in his first term. I think the president would have been more concerned about the optics. I believe the president has doubled down because he really believes in tariffs. I think he's also doubled down because he's trying to hold the house Republican majority together, and he wants tax cuts.
And the only way he's going to get tax cuts is if he finds new sources of revenue. So he's in a bind. He's in a real bind.
And so, I see him being less sensitive to public opinion this time than he was last time. The one question for me is what about the people around him? Is the treasury secretary, Mr. Bessent, so insensitive to all the experts that he used to be among that he is just going to ignore them?
And what about Mr. Lutnick, the commerce secretary? Is he completely insensitive to all the investors that, again, he was part of, who were telling him the government is proposing things that are incompetent? At what point are these people going to be saying to themselves, I can't stay, this is a black mark on my reputation? I don't know when that happens, but it is likely.
WHITFIELD: All right. Tim Naftali, we'll leave it there for now. Thank you so much.
NAFTALI: Thank you, Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right. Let's talk some basketball coming up. Tip off for the NCAA women's championship is just moments away. As we count down to an epic face off for the men's championship tomorrow. So, we'll go live to San Antonio ahead of the Monday night madness next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:50:00]
WHITFIELD: All right. In the next hour, the women's championship basketball game between South Carolina and UConn set to tip off in Tampa. This will be a rematch between the two powerhouse teams of the 2022 women's national title game, in which South Carolina defeated UConn, but this marks the first time Geno Auriemma is number two seed UConn Huskies are favored to win over Dawn Staley's top seeded South Carolina Gamecocks in a national title game.
And then tomorrow, the men's tournament comes to a close. The national championship and eternal basketball glory are on the line as the Florida Gators and Houston Cougars tip off in San Antonio.
And that's where we find CNN's Coy Wire getting ready for the big game. So, Coy, you've got two number one seeds going head-to-head for the
title. Both teams are eager to cut down the nets. So, how's it going to shape up?
COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Can we just talk about how wild last night was? First of all, with four teams, four student sections, four bands and fan bases all filing in under one roof on the same day, the Final Four is one of the greatest sporting events on the planet, and last night, in front of 68,000 people, Fredricka, it lived up to all the hype.
The Duke Blue Devils is overwhelming favorites to win it all coming in led almost the entire way against Houston, their super phenom, freshman Cooper Flagg everywhere. He had a game high 27 points, but Kelvin Sampson's Cougars kept on fighting, showing the type of fight that was fit for a rally. For one of the greatest comebacks we've seen in Final Four history.
With 30 seconds to go, they stole the inbound pass, missed a three, but Joseph Tugler slammed home the rebound to bring it within one after a Duke foul, Houston hit two free throws to take the lead and duke would get it to their star Cooper Flagg, but his final shot would come up short and the Cougs erupt, as does the stadium. Their fans couldn't believe what they had just seen. Neither could Dukes. They pulled off this unthinkable 70 to 67 upset win, advancing to the national title game.
Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KELVIN SAMPSON, HOUSTON HEAD COACH: No one ever loses at anything as long as you don't quit now, when you -- you quit, I don't care. Youve lost.
J'WAN ROBERTS, HOUSTON FORWARD: Looking at the time and looking at the clock, you know, I feel like we just believed in ourselves and we like -- we had a feeling that we can still win the game.
SAMPSON: Don't sleep on Houston. Don't -- don't sleep on Houston.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WIRE: All right, coach, we hear you.
In the early game. Florida coach Todd Golden facing mentor Auburn coach Bruce Pearl also in a slugfest. Alijah Martin had a wicked dunk to start Florida on this rally. With about five minutes to go. But the Gators' Walter Clayton Jr. had his moment started his career at Iona, which has about 4,000 students and now on the sports biggest stage. He scores 34 points, a 79-73 win.
Here's Clayton clutch and his coach Todd Golden, reflecting on his epic night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) WALTER CLAYTON, JR., FLORIDA GUARD: Man, I just got a bunch of guys around me that trust me. And I say it all the time, man, them guys trust me to take those shots. You know, some nights they fall. And tonight was one of those nights.
REPORTER: Your coach didn't even know you had 34 points.
TODD GOLDEN, FLORIDA HEAD COACH: I'm just used to seeing him put the ball in the basket, I guess. But he's done what he's done all year for us. And big moments. Stepped up, hit huge shots, settled our team down and made winning plays when we needed them the most.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WIRE: All right. Fredricka, there's one more thing you have to see. Those Gators are going to face Houston. Check out after the Cougars win their 69 year old coach Kelvin. Sampson goes getting jiggy with it. That's one cool Cougar right there. You still got it.
WHITFIELD: Oh my god, that's cute.
WIRE: -- is set, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Oh, that was the happy dance.
WIRE: The Florida Gators going for their first -- yes, that was a very happy dance. It might be dancing one more time. They call this the last dance, right, the national championship game.
WHITFIELD: OK, bring it.
WIRE: So, you have these Florida Gators going for their first title in 18 years. Houston. They've never won a national title, but now they have the chance to do it right here in their home state.
WHITFIELD: Oh my gosh.
WIRE: March Madness will become Monday night madness.
WHITFIELD: Incredible.
WIRE: These two teams go at it.
WHITFIELD: Oh, that's going to be fun, whatever way it goes. But yeah, that moment would be especially fun. But that's really cute I love it.
All right. Coy Wire, have fun out there and we'll be right back.
WIRE: You got it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:58:47]
WHITFIELD: Jake Tapper is back tonight with an all-new episode of "UNITED STATES OF SCANDAL". Jake, what do you have for us tonight?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST, "UNITED STATES OF SCANDAL": Thanks so much for having me.
So, this week's episode dives into the story of one of the most well- known con artists of the modern era, Anna Delvey, who you might know from the Netflix show "Inventing Anna". Originally from Russia, born as Anna Sorokin.
Delvey became a household name when the tales of her scamming New York's elite consumed news and entertainment TV. Not only did she manage to deceive her friends with her false identity as a German heiress, but also banks and hotels and businesses.
I sat down with Anna to discuss her thoughts on what she did following her 2019 conviction and imprisonment. Here's a little preview.
Is it an act, or is she the most powerful type of liar? The one who truly believes that on some level, the lies she tells are built on a fundamental truth?
How do you see yourself? I mean, you know, a lot of people think you're a con artist. Do you see yourself like that?
ANNA DELVEY, CON ARTIST: Not at all. I think if anybody bothers to look into my criminal case, I never plan to, like, permanently defraud anyone of anything.
TAPPER: I mean, you did tell lies --
DELVEY: Yeah.
TAPPER: -- even if you thought that ultimately things were going to happen, you did tell lies about wire transfers.
