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President Trump's Trade War Sparks Chaos In The Global Markets; Mix Messages On Tariffs From White House; President Trump's Approval And The Economy; Jessica Dean Interviews A Small Business Owner Regarding Tariffs; Violent Storms Hit Southeast; State AGs Take Lavish Trips: Who is Paying? Aired 5-6p ET

Aired April 06, 2025 - 17:00   ET

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

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR & CORRESPONDENT: The stage is set, Fredricka. Tomorrow night right here, the Florida Gators looking for their first championship in 18 years. Houston's never won one, but not they have a chance to get one --

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: It's close.

WIRE: -- in their home state. I'm telling you, it's going to be a sea of red here in the Alamodome.

WHITFIELD: Sure it's going to be crazy. All right, Coy Wire, thank you so much. And thank you for joining me today. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. The "CNN Newsroom" continues with Jessica Dean right now.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: You're in the "CNN Newsroom." I'm Jessica Dean in New York, and America is about to enter another week of uncertainty. President Trump's next round of tariffs set to go into effect Wednesday, this time targeting 60 countries with even higher tariffs then the blanket 10 percent levies imposed on more than 180 countries as of Saturday.

Now the president's escalating trade war has led to a global economic meltdown, losing more than $6 trillion in the past week. And there is anxiety about what awaits when Wall Street's opening bell rings about sixteen and a half hours from now. But the president does not appear to be concerned. He's spent the last four days hitting the golf course in Florida.

Today, in an effort to calm nerves, the White House dispatched a team of top economic advisers to defend the president's policies, but they had a lot of mixed messages that may have led to more questions than answers this afternoon. CNN's Betsy Klein is in West Palm Beach, Florida with more details. And Betsy, as we heard from those various cabinet officials, it wasn't all exactly the same thing. What did they have to say?

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE PRODUCER: Yeah. I think there's a real lack of clarity coming from President Trump and his top economic advisers on whether these tariffs are permanent or whether there is some room here for negotiation. But, Jessica, we are witnessing a reconfiguration of the global economic order. Markets are spiraling. The Dow down more than 10 percent from its recent high. The Nasdaq down more than 20 percent.

When the markets closed on Friday, the Dow posted its biggest back to back market losses since March of 2020 right during the COVID-19 pandemic. Economists are ratcheting up concerns about the possibility of a recession, and Goldman Sachs analysts are warning that the growth driven by some of Trump's economic policies is not enough to offset the damage done by these tariffs.

But his team says that the reciprocal tariffs set to go into place on Wednesday on top of those existing 10 percent tariffs put in place Saturday are going to proceed as planned. But listen to the mixed messaging when pressed on whether the president could cut a deal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: The question was, are these tariffs here to stay as Howard Lutnick and President Trump seem to be suggesting, or is there going to be room for negotiation as you seem to be suggesting?

BROOKE ROLLINS, SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE: Listen, we've got 50 countries that are burning the phone lines into the White House.

MARGARET BRENNAN, CBS NEWS HOST, FACE THE NATION: Is the president considering postponing implementation to negotiate?

HOWARD LUTNICK, SECRETARY OF COMMERCE: There's no postponing. They are definitely going to stay in place for days and weeks.

KRISTEN WELKER, NBC NEWS HOST: Is President Trump willing to negotiate, or are these tariffs permanent?

SCOTT BESSENT, TREASURY SECRETARY: Well, I think that's going to be a decision for President Trump.

PETER NAVARRO, WHITE HOUSE SENIOR COUNSELOR: This is not a negotiation. This is a national emergency based on a trade deficit that's gotten out of control because of cheating. We're always willing to listen. That's what Donald Trump does best.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KLEIN: Yeah. I think that that mixed messaging there is confusing to economists, investors, and observers of President Trump alike. Now notably, we did hear from agriculture secretary, Brooke Rollins, who told CNN that the administration is open to providing some support for American farmers who are really bearing the brunt of these policies. She indicated that the White House could work with Congress to get them some very needed relief, Jessica.

DEAN: All right. Betsy Klein from West Palm Beach, thank you so much. And joining us now, T.W. Arrighi. He's a former aide to senior -- Senator Lindsey Graham, Mike Pompeo, and the vice president at the Push Digital Group. Also with us, Democratic strategist and cofounder of Lift Our Voices, Julie Roginsky. Good to have both of you here with us. T.W., I want to start there. There's just a lot of mixed messaging

coming from White House officials today, and we just heard Betsy going through it. It's about negotiations. No. No, it's not. It's about, get moving manufacturing back to America. No, it's about -- there's just a lot of questions that I think not just Americans have, investors have, Wall Street has. What do you think of all of this and just the messaging of it and act the actual policies we're seeing?

[17:05:02]

T.W. ARRIGHI, FORMER AIDE TO LINDSEY GRAHAM, MIKE POMPEO: Yeah. I have no doubt that President Trump's phone is getting blown up by not only world leaders, but guys on Wall Street, CEOs across this country trying to get a similar answer from him. And I'm sure he will address this next week, especially on Wednesday when he signs these new tariffs. He's been known to answer everybody's question in the room. I'm sure he will get asked that. Because, look, this really comes down to one of two things.

Is the goal to lower rates, or is it to bring manufacturing back? If the goal is to lower rates, then we're going to do one off deals with every country and bring the rates down, and this could be over in a matter of weeks or a couple months. Now if the goal is to truly bring back manufacturing and you think you can help that through tax reform and, you know, sort of, lower the burden on the American taxpayer from these tariffs and unleash some capital, well, that's going to take a long time. And you better hope it happens before 2026 because there's a lot of members of congress who are nervous about it.

DEAN: Who are nervous because look, even the president himself has admitted, Julie, that this is going to be not easy, I think, is the words he's used. It might be tough. What do you think about how all of this is playing out as we look to tomorrow and then Wednesday, for more on this?

JULIE ROGINSKY, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, I think it's just the startling juxtaposition between people looking at their 401K is watching them evaporate before their eyes. At the same time, the president is hosting a Saudi Arabian golf tournament, which he's profiting from personally at his golf club down in Florida. I mean, it's just as startling as T.W. pointed out, a startling juxtaposition that I think is going to spell traumatic problems for the Republican Party down the road if they don't get a handle on this.

And, ultimately, look, I don't know who the president thinks is going to be sitting there stitching Nikes in this country the way the Vietnamese have, for instance. I don't know who he thinks is going to be doing a lot of this work, but if they are going to be doing that, that takes a very long time to train people to do, and that takes a while to get up to speed on even if you find people who want to do that.

And ultimately, I think, you're going to continue to see horrible repercussions for the American economy, horrible repercussions for all the people who are not just invested in this market, but are looking for jobs, looking for their Social Security to come forward that they're now slashing access to, looking for their Medicaid and Medicare to come through, which they're now, slashing access to in their proposed budget.

Ultimately, he is hurting the little guy, as I said, as he's sitting there in Florida golfing with people from Saudi Arabia. It's just -- the politics of this, never mind the policy, is insane to me, and I feel bad for people like T.W. who have to actually sit there and try to justify this because you know you really can't.

DEAN: T.W., I do want to ask you just -- as Julie was talking there, we did see the video of the president on the golf course. And you mentioned that maybe we would hear more from him when he signs this new round of tariffs. But just this idea that people aren't hearing from him when there's so much uncertainty, when they are really nervous about what this might mean to their family's budget every month. Does he need to be talking to people right now? And is this kind of what you want, this this visual of him on a golf course right now?

ARRIGHI: I happen to remember many occasions seeing Joe Biden sleeping on a beach while the world burned. So you can save me, from those commentaries. Every president is criticized for what they're doing during a time of turmoil, and you can criticize Donald Trump for a lot of things. But I have never seen a president answer more questions from the press more frequently in front of the cameras, in front of the American people than Donald Trump has. Criticize him or not. It's irrelevant. The man is far from removed from the press. And, yes, this is a major time.

And, look, tariffs are a divisive issue within my party. There is zero question about that. But Donald Trump has been consistent on his belief of tariffs for the last 40 years. He truly believes it. He has a vice president who wrote a book that places a lot of the turmoil of his community and his family at the feet of NAFTA in certain, quote, unquote, "free trade agreements."

So, yes, they believe they have the political capital to expend to change and fix the failures of the past that always comes with a political cost and an economic cost. They're willing to bear that cost out, and we will see where it leads.

DEAN: Yeah. And as T.W. notes, Julie, there is -- it's a divisive topic even in the party, in the Republican Party, even within some of his own closest advisers. I mean, Elon Musk, for example, appears to be against these tariffs. This is what he said during a virtual event with Italian officials yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELON MUSK, ADVISER TO PRESIDENT TRUMP: I hope it is great that both Europe and the United States should move ideally, in my view, to a zero tariff situation, effectively creating a free trade zone between Europe and North America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Julie, does this move the needle at all? Do you think within kind of the internal discussions around this?

[17:10:1]

Because as T.W. points out, this is Donald Trump's long held belief. I mean, he's been very clear about how he's felt about tariffs for many decades.

ROGINSKY: Yeah. Let's just clarify that he wasn't talking to Italian officials. He was talking to an Italian right-wing extremist party, but that's neither here nor there. Look, ultimately, it's the Pottery Barn rule. You break it, you own it. And right now, the Republicans own government. They own the Congress. They own the White House, and I would argue they own the Supreme Court. So, anything that happens now is on them.

And at the end of the day, you cannot gaslight the markets, which is what Donald Trump is so good at doing. You can gaslight some voters. You can certainly gaslight Republican members of Congress, all of whom were huge free trade fanatics until Donald Trump came along, but you cannot gaslight the economy. And what we're seeing right now with what happened in the last few days and what we're going to see tomorrow when the market's open is going to be a continual bloodbath that while Donald Trump is standing there hitting a golf, you know, putting on his golf course and driving around a golf cart with a bunch of Saudis, the world is burning and as are people 401K's.

And that is something that they are going to own. You saw that happening last week in Wisconsin. You saw that happening where Republicans lost half of their voters, if not more, in ruby red districts in Florida. You saw them lose a state Senate seat in Pennsylvania a few weeks ago that they haven't lost in generations, and that is only going to continue as this economy burns. So if they want to get behind Donald Trump on this, it is their funeral, but ultimately, it's the American voters and the American people who are going to be punished for this insane folly of what they're doing right now.

DEAN: T. W, how long do you think Republican lawmakers, specifically House members that are obviously going to be up in 2026, but also senators who may be up then, how long are they going to give the president on this? Because, frankly, they're going to be the ones facing their constituents.

ARRIGHI: Yeah. Totally. I think they're willing to give Donald Trump a shot to push his long held belief on tariffs. A belief, by the way, that used to be shared by many in the Democratic Party. I love seeing Bernie Sanders twist himself into a pretzel trying to bash Donald Trump for saying a lot of the same things he'd been saying for a long time. But there is no doubt that people who are up for election in 2026 are going to have a shorter rope than Donald Trump.

The question is how quickly can we see positive impacts made? Obviously, you're going to hear the president probably talk a lot about refinancing the national debt and that the 10-year note cratered and now we have cheaper -- it's cheaper to borrow money. You're going to hear him talk about the Hyundai and other car companies that have onshore to America and chip manufacturers coming back. He's going to start telling individual success stories, and you hope that does move markets because Julie is right. No one likes to see their 401K going down, and Donald Trump's aware of that.

DEAN: Julie, what do you think in terms of just how much the Republicans will go along with this? Because --

ROGINSKY: I think they're going --

DEAN: I do want to mention too, which is worth noting. We have this bipartisan bill that's currently in the Senate getting some Senate Republicans including, Mitch McConnell and others. And now congressman Don Bacon of Nebraska is planning to introduce a bill in the House, also a Republican. So, just sorry, just wanted to note that before you spoke.

ROGINSKY: Yeah. Look, I think I would be pleasantly surprised if Mike Johnson actually has the courage and the backbone to stand up to Donald Trump, but I think we all know that's never going to happen. And so Don Bacon has often done what he considers to be the right thing even at the expense of his majority party, but that's not going to happen with this Republican caucus -- conference, excuse me.

The problem is this. Donald Trump is going to negotiate specific deals based on what is good for Donald Trump. In the same way that he has negotiated specific deals with specific law firms not to punish them in exchange for him getting what he wants out of them. He is going to negotiate specific deals with specific companies and potentially even specific sectors about what is good for Donald Trump. Not necessarily what is good for the United States, but what is good for Donald Trump. And the Supreme Court has allowed him to do that.

So to be very clear, this is not a president who actually cares about our bottom line. This is a president who cares about his own bottom line, which is why you saw him in violation of the monuments clause golfing this weekend with the Saudis who are putting money into his pockets, not our pocket, but his pocket even as we are hemorrhaging money in our 401K's. And that is something that everybody has to be very aware of.

This is not a president who cares about us. He only cares about his own bottom line, and that's what you're going to be seeing in any of these trade negotiations going forward.

DEAN: And T.W., just -- we're running out of time here, but I do want to get your thoughts on that. Just noting too that we did start to see these protests across the country this weekend, yesterday with people protesting against the Trump administration. When you kind of combine all of that, do you think that the message, what Julie is putting across right there, that President Trump doesn't care about Americans' bottom line. Do you think that might start to resonate?

[17:15:04]

ARRIGHI: Well, the Democrats definitely need a message. They can try that one out if they would like. Look, I just wildly disagree with the underlying premise. If tariff rates eventually come down to other countries, we benefit. If jobs come back to America and companies grow, America benefits. If producers back, you know, onshore, America benefits. When tax cuts comes, Americans benefit. When government shrinks, Americans will benefit from a, you know, sleeker government.

I think these are all things that the American people wanted when they voted for Donald Trump. He was crystal clear about all of it. Now it's time to run. Democrats will use this, you know, as their tool against Donald Trump and we'll see where it plays out.

DEAN: All right. T.W. and Julia, our thanks to both of you. Really appreciate it.

ROGINSKY: Thank you.

ARRIGHI: Thank you.

DEAN: Still ahead, we're going to run the numbers on how people are feeling about these tariffs, and we're going to talk one restaurant owner who is bracing for increased cost.

Plus, violent storms leave at least 17 people dead across six states, and the tornado and flood threats are not over yet. We are live in one of the hard hit areas in Arkansas.

And the CNN investigation, our Kyung Lah chasing down state attorneys general to ask about extravagant trips they took paid by the same -- paid for by the same companies they were investigating.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN: I'd like to end the conversation right there.

KYUNG LAH, CNN COPRRESPONDENT: Thank you for your time.

UNKNOWN: Whatever.

LAH: I appreciate it. Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:20:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: When I win the election, we will immediately begin a brand new Trump economic boom.

Vote Trump and your incomes will soar. Your net worth will skyrocket.

Groceries, cars, how everything. We're going to get the prices down.

(END VIDEO CLIP) DEAN: President Trump made a lot of promises on the campaign trail, but he didn't talk to voters or warn them that their 401K's would take a nosedive and that tariffs would make almost everything more expensive. CNN's chief data analyst, Harry Enten, is joining us now. Hello, Harry.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Hello.

DEAN: You're going to run the numbers for us. I am very curious to see what you found out about all of this. So let's start first with how unique the drop in the market is under Trump because I have heard from some Republicans that say this is pretty normal stuff.

ENTEN: Yeah. If this is pretty normal stuff, I'd like to know what not normal stuff is. If this is a boom, I'd like to know what a bust is. I mean, my goodness gracious. We'll talk about it. I mean, talk about the S&P 500. It's dropped 15 percent under Donald Trump's presidency. The S&P 500 has been collecting data essentially since 1957. It's been an index.

I went back and I looked for drops of 15 percent with a president who was inheriting a bull market. There's only one dude on your screen. It's Donald John Trump. He is the only one to see a drop of 15 percent this soon into his presidency in the S&P 500 after inheriting a bull market. In fact, there's only one other president who has had seen a drop of 15 percent this early on in his presidency, and that was George W. Bush back in 2001. But, of course, he was, in fact, inheriting the dotcom bubble bust.

And so this is truly unique where you come in with a bull market and then boom, right through the floor, Donald Trump, the S&P 500 dropping already 15 percent, Jessica.

DEAN: And so there's also -- there's the market, but then there's the chance of broader economic problems. And that chance is -- that possibility is rising. Right?

ENTEN: Yeah. Yeah. That's exactly right. A chance of a recession, something none of us want to see. And what's a chance of a recession? I mean, JPMorgan, look at this, now up to 60 percent. It was 40 percent in early March. How about Goldman Sachs? It was 20 percent in early March. We're now up to 35 percent. Basically, at this point, you average all these different companies together who put forecast out in the chance of recession.

It's about 50-50 way up from where we were at the beginning of this year. Polymarket where you can trade was, I think, a 30 percent chance at the beginning of the year. Now it's 60 percent. No bueno. What stays in the stock -- what happens in the stock market may not stay in the stock market, Jessica.

DEAN: And Americans do seem to be having an issue with how Trump is handling the economy right now.

ENTEN: Yeah. I mean, you look at these numbers, you wouldn't be surprised to see Donald Trump's net approval rating. Compare it now to where it was at this point in the first term. In the first term, he was above water at plus five points. Where is he now? He's way underwater. He is swimming with the fishes. Look at this. He is the worst ever for a president at this point in a term on record at minus 12 points.

I just never thought I would see the day because as we were hinting at the beginning, Trump promised an economic boom, voters bought into it, but so far, they ain't liking what they're seeing.

DEAN: Jimmy Carter's probably the best example of a president getting taken down by the economy recently. How long did it take 39th president to go into negative territory on the economy?

ENTEN: Yeah. Always when you think of economic bust, you think of Jimmy Carter, the recession that occurred under him. Right? How long did it take him to get a negative net approval rating on the economy? It took him 11 months. It took him all the way until December '77, January of '78. Donald Trump already has a net negative approval rating only two months. Two months in to this term, he is the fastest on record to go negative.

And comparing to Carter, I mean, you don't have to be a mathematical genius to know that two is a lower number than 11. Carter took a while. Trump, right on in. The voters have turned right against him.

[17:25:03]

DEAN: I also want to talk about the protests that we saw across the country yesterday. Those protests were protesting the Trump administration. They generated a lot of interest online. What did you find?

ENTEN: Yeah. So, you know, when we entered the Trump presidency the second time around, there really wasn't that resistance. Right? Not what we saw in January of 2017. Well, now we're starting to see what we saw in January of 2017. Look at this, Jessica. This is Google searches for protests. Get this. Up 1,200 percent versus a year ago. It was the highest level on Saturday, and I went back into the record books. You know I like to do that, Jessica Dean. And what did we see?

We see that the percent in number of folks who are searching for protests, interested in going out in those protests is finally matching what we saw in January of 2017, if not exceeding it. If the democratic resistance seemed to be nowhere at the start of this Trump presidency with approval ratings for Democrats down at their lowest level ever, all of a sudden, Donald Trump has supercharged it, and the protests and the resistance is on.

DEAN: All right. Harry Enten walking us through the numbers as he always does. We appreciate it.

ENTEN: Thank you.

DEAN: Yep. Still ahead. How will President Trump's tariffs hurt Americans? We're going to talk to a restaurant owner about how she's planning to navigate these increased costs. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX) (voice-over): If we're in a scenario 30 days from now, 60 days from now, 90 days from now, with massive American tariffs and massive tariffs on American goods in every other country on Earth, that is a terrible outcome. It's terrible for America. It will hurt jobs and hurt America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: That was Republican Senator Ted Cruz saying bluntly if Trump's sweeping global tariffs remain in place, it will cost Americans. For businesses trading in and relying on any imported goods, prices are set to increase almost immediately, starting a cycle that could mean increased costs for customers or potentially layoffs or bankruptcy.

Joining us now is Christine Kondra. She and her husband, Nick, own Cornerstone Bistro. It's a restaurant in Wayne, Pennsylvania. Thank you so much for being here with us. We really appreciate it.

CHRISTINE KONDRA, OWNER, CORNERSTONE BISTRO: Thank you for having me.

DEAN: I just want to start first -- you guys own a great restaurant there in Wayne, Pennsylvania. How are you thinking these tariffs are going to impact your business? How are you thinking about this? How are you planning for it?

KONDRA: I think it has been -- it has been a lot already just leading up to it with the pandemic, with everything that we've gone through the last five years.

But the tariffs in particular, if you look at our business alone, specifically from our cheese charcuterie, our imported beef that comes out of Japan, we have scallops that come in from Japan, you're talking an immediate overnight that will be in the next couple of days that are happening right now. All of our wine, we have over 1,200 selections in house, about 7,500 bottles in house, about 70% is going to be imported directly from all over the world.

But those impacts immediately are happening right now between already happening from the fifth to the eighth and then on the ninth, which goes into effect.

DEAN: Hmmm. And so, what are you telling your customers?

KONDRA: I think that there has been a lot of talk. There has been a lot of conversations as to clearly when this happened. And I think that it's -- you know, having people stay calm and not reacting immediately to it. But it's something where we are going to have to really see. And one of the things -- talking with from our wagyu importers, we direct -- directly from Japan on our wagyu, and it's something that they didn't even have the time. So, when the tariffs came into place, it was something where there is no time to react to how to figure this out. And so that's something that they're trying to -- to figure out on their own from every industry.

And it's something where the conversation that I have with all of our guests is we don't know. And I don't think a lot of people do know the answers right now as to how that is going to shape out and how that is going to affect -- it's not only those frontline immediate cost, it's also I was sharing with a number of our guests of what happened during the pandemic of there were times where we couldn't get certain products and products that people bought from, you know, vinegars and certain things because the tops -- the plastic tops were brought in from other, you know, places all over the world that we couldn't get. Therefore, we couldn't make a dish, we couldn't make a vinaigrette, we couldn't make -- but it all starts to add up. So, I think our guests are -- are right on edge as well, trying to figure out what -- what the next step is.

DEAN: Yeah. Do you anticipate that you will have to raise your prices?

KONDRA: We're going to do everything in our power not to. We didn't raise our prices as much as we possibly could. The margins in this industry are razor, razor-thin. We have not increased our prices due to -- you know, the usual which everybody is talking about is from credit card fees to the high increase in health care costs.

But there is -- when it comes to -- when wagyu is going to go from 26% now to almost over 50%, there is nothing that we can do when it comes to that. We're going to have to increase our prices. But with other things, we're going to stay as strong as we possibly can to holding that. And, like, everything that we've had to do, we're going to have to maybe not put something on the menu, and we're going to have to change to something else, which is going to be quite -- quite different from --

[17:35:01]

DEAN: From -- yeah, from -- sorry, you cut out there, but quite different probably, I think, what you said with -- from -- from what you've done in -- in the past. Listen --

KONDRA: In the past, we've been used to just supporting people.

DEAN: Right. And, listen, you know, the margins in the restaurant business are notoriously tough. It is hard to make a restaurant work. It is hard to keep a restaurant open and to make a living off of that. And you guys are small business owners in America. These are ostensibly the people that should be benefiting from American economic policies. Do you feel that way?

KONDRA: A 100%. I mean, this is -- we should be -- we are -- we are living the American dream. Too small, husband and wife that opens up a restaurant, and we should be -- this should be going, you know, to help us and benefit us and -- and -- and everybody in community. I mean, I think -- I think we saw that pretty clearly during the pandemic as to the small businesses or the livelihood of a community.

DEAN: Yeah. And some of the advice from the administration, both people we've talked to here on the show, but also others that have appeared on other programs and in other briefings have been take a deep breath, trust in Trump, this is all going to work out just fine, it's going to be short term pain. Is that helpful to you? Do you trust that ultimately this will be okay for you?

KONDRA: The answer is I don't know. I think that I would love for the answer to be yes and we would trust, but it's we don't know, and it has already been -- we've been open -- it'll be 10 years in October. We have already gone through five years of trying to figure out an everyday during the last four years of the pandemic of trying to figure that out. This is -- the margins are so razor-thin. We have already, all of us collectively as a whole, as an industry, had to continually move and shake and try to make it work.

I don't know how long some people can hold on. And I think that it might be short term for some people or -- you know, the pain might be short term, but there's a lot of people that, in our business in particular, that can't keep holding on. And that's really a shame because I think that this should all be, you know, you should be helping the true small business owner.

DEAN: Yeah. All right, Christine, thank you so much. We wish you the best of luck. We appreciate your time.

KONDRA: Thank you very much.

DEAN: Thank you. Still ahead, 22 million people at risk for severe weather as a relentless line of violent and deadly storms targets the southeast, threatening torrential rain and tornadoes, hail. We're going to be live in one hard hit area next. You're in "CNN Newsroom."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEAN: Twenty-two million people across the southeast are at risk for severe storms today, under tornado watches and flood risks. Now this violent line of storms has killed at least 17 people as it tears through Texas to Ohio. It started on Wednesday. Over a foot of rain has fallen across the mid-southern states. Almost unheard of, really, outside of hurricane season. Runoff from the heavy rainfall means flooding will still be a major threat as rivers crest over the coming days.

CNN senior national correspondent Ryan Young is joining us now live from Hardy, Arkansas. Ryan, what are you seeing there? Clearly, a lot of destruction around you.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A lot of destruction, a lot of damage, and a lot of people trying to pick up the pieces. Look, this is some of the damage that we've been able to find, and it is utter devastation as we look through this area. They said they knew for days that they had to tell these people who lived around here that something was coming and it was going to be historic. And that's what happened. It hit here. This is the fire truck that's left behind, that they were actually using to rescue someone when it became trapped by water.

But first, before I get to the rest of that story, Jessica, we're walking you back this direction. As we've been seeing hour after hour, people have been showing up trying to assess the damage. As you can imagine, as you look at this wide field here, every single plot in front of us used to have a home on it, and people loved enjoying the scene in the lake. These homes were wiped out in a matter of hours.

And as we walk back this direction, I also want to draw your attention to video that we shot a few hours ago. You see the roadway just completely washed away. That made a lot of emergency services and a lot of people trying to get out of here very difficult as they kept trying to drive down roads that they thought were going to be there and then they were gone.

But as we turn back this direction, let's talk about this fire truck. This fire truck was brought in here. It sat more than 10 feet high, and it was trying to rescue someone who was going through diabetic shock. And at this point, it became stuck. They had to rescue it. Take a listen to the fire chief talk about how dangerous that was even for his crews.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSHUA MOORE, CHIEF, HARDY FIRE DEPARTMENT: The water was up over the hood. The second trip back with the boat, the -- the river caught him, and it capsized the boat. We almost lost the guy. Thankfully, we got everybody out of the water. I did send him to the ER to get checked out. And now we're here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG: Yeah, so tough. You know how tough these trucks are and you just see how this metal is just bent like someone just punched it and was able to dent it in. They're going to be assessing this damage for quite some time. We're going to also show you some video that we had to deal with.

[17:44:57]

Jessica, we lost connection with our CNN and everyone else for a few hours as we were trying to make our way around, and we couldn't make it through certain roads because the water was moving so fast and a lot of roads are being closed. And communication is spotty. Cell phone service being knocked out for much of the area.

Now back here live, they're going to have to pick up the pieces and emergency services are going to have to try to help folks try to put this all back together. On top of that, they have to worry about more storms, more rain as they've never seen anything like this before. Jessica?

DEAN: Yeah. That's my home state. I ache for them, and I hope that they're able to come together and get a little relief from the weather, too. Ryan Young, thanks so much.

YOUNG: Hopefully.

DEAN: Still ahead, a major CNN investigation as state attorneys general, Democrats and Republicans, take lavish trips. But who's paying? You're in the "CNN Newsroom."

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[17:50:00]

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DEAN: Major CNN investigation revealing more than a dozen attorneys general, Republicans and Democrats, took extravagant trips paid for by major corporations. Now those trips cost tens of thousands of dollars and were funded by the very people they're investigating. CNN's Kyung Lah has this report.

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KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Attorney general Torrez? Excuse me, sir. Hi. Can I just grab you for one second?

(Voice-over): New Mexico's attorney general Raul Torrez is on his way into a public meeting.

RAUL TORREZ, ATTORNEY GENERAL, NEW MEXICO: We got to run.

LAH: We'd reach out to your office. We hadn't heard back.

TORREZ: Sure. Let me -- let me do this, and let me -- we can have a talk.

LAH: Afterwards? Okay. Thank you, sir.

(Voice-over): What we're trying to find out is why he and a bipartisan group of attorneys general would accept invitations to join corporate lobbyists.

On an exclusive trip to South Africa in 2023, featuring a safari, a stay at this five-star hotel, wine tours, and gourmet restaurants that serve Wagyu steaks. Costs covered if you're an AG, including a flight allowance of up to $26,000.

CNN obtained text messages about the trip, including the guest list, which shows more than a dozen attorneys general, the chief law enforcement officers of their states, these Republicans and these Democrats. Also invited, this long list of corporate lobbyists and lawyers from some of America's most powerful companies like Amazon, Uber, Pfizer, Albertsons, some of the same companies the AGs have sued. The group that put it all together is the AGA, the Attorney General Alliance, an association funded by those private businesses. It calls donations sponsorships. And as you can see on this AGA document, the more the corporations pay, the more they get.

For example, $150,000 would get a company special projects and collaborations and access to two invite-only events. The AGAs hosted international trips to Spain, France, and scheduled for next month, Italy.

(Voice-over): Invited with the AGs on these work trips, a plus one, like when Ohio's Republican attorney general Dave Yost and his wife booked business class tickets to France last year. The South Africa trip did include meetings on topics like cybersecurity and international relations, but also a wildlife bus tour as seen in a separate text chain of African animals, as an AGA staffer shared.

Replying to those photos, Chris Carr, Georgia's Republican attorney general who texted, that's fantastic, thank you again. Once home, Carr's staffer texted, the boss had a blast last week and asked for the calendar of upcoming events. At the time, Carr's office had an ongoing investigation into TikTok, which had a lobbyist invited on that South Africa trip. In a statement, Carr's spokesperson told CNN that investigation continues and added Carr supports AGA's educational forums that are essential to staying ahead of emerging threats. Neither Carr nor any of the Republican AGs agreed to interviews.

We caught up with Torrez and other Democratic AGs at this public event. His office is part of a multistate case against Amazon. The company had a representative invited to the AGA South Africa trip. Also on that trip and part of the suit against Amazon, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison.

I wanted to ask about the international trips.

KEITH ELLISON, ATTORNEY GENERAL, MINNESOTA: Yeah.

LAH (voice-over): Ellison's office had not replied to our two emails asking about AGA trips.

Why go on those international trips that are sponsored by corporate lobbyists?

ELLISON: Well, so the -- in the -- from Mexico, we have a large amount of fentanyl coming through. Well, there are a lot of international issues that we deal with every day --

LAH (voice-over): Ellison did not mention South Africa or France in our discussion.

ELLISON: I mean, I -- I understand how this game is played. I mean, as reporters and politicians always, oh, you went on a trip and then try to embarrass the politician. I understand that thing. But I will say that there is real work that we're doing that is important for our constituents and has a lot to do with the fact that we live in a globalized world. LAH: Well, the concern from --

ELLISON: I get it.

LAH: -- ethics.

ELLISON: I know where you're coming from and -- and I'm just telling you that we have substance of programs. Our constituents are at a disadvantage if we are not having meaningful conversations with international partners. I'd like to end the conversation right there. Thank you.

LAH: Thank you for your time.

ELLISON: Yeah. Whatever.

LAH: Appreciate it. Thank you.

[17:54:55]

(Voice-over): The AGA would not talk to CNN on camera, but in a statement said foreign delegations have a key goal of strengthening bipartisan relationships and educate all delegates on pressing civil and criminal issues. Asked about the safari, the group said the visit included discussion on combating the illicit trade of endangered species.

New Mexico's AG did not stick around like he promised to respond to our questions. Our CNN investigation did find that not all AGs go on these lavish international trips like Arizona's Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes.

Is that an intentional move on your part to avoid these trips?

KRIS MAYES, ATTORNEY GENERAL, ARIZONA: I think it's an intentional move on my part to -- to put my focus here in Arizona. I'll leave it -- leave it at that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: And that was Kyung Lah reporting. Now, the AGA added that it hosts many U.S. trainings that offer legal education credits for attorneys and that not all event speakers are donors. We did not hear back from all attorneys general offices that we contacted.

In a statement, though, New Mexico's attorney general's office pointed to lawsuits filed against private companies and said -- quote -- "AGA programs promote equal enforcement of to law." Illinois' attorney general also told us AGA trainings have led to -- quote -- "more effective enforcement efforts."

Still ahead, breaking news, a second child in West Texas now dead from measles as the outbreak there continues to grow. What we're learning about the child as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy junior visits the state. You're in the "CNN Newsroom."

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[18:00:00]

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