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Deadly U.S. Storms; Protests Against Trump and Musk Around the World; DOGE Takes Aim at DHS; Impact of DOGE Layoffs; Trump's Tariffs Create Fears of Global Recession; Mexican Companies Shift Strategy Amid Tariff War; Gaza Emergency Workers Killed by Israeli Troops; Russian Attack on Zelenskyy's Home City Kills 19 People; DHS E-Mailing Ukrainians in U.S. to Leave the Country; State Department Revokes International Student Visas. Aired 4-5a ET
Aired April 06, 2025 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:00:00]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was like, is it worth it? Is this whole idea flawed? Is social media good or is it just like -- was it a bad idea? Was it just the wrong idea? Should we just move on? Should we say, hey, that was an interesting experiment. Goofy things happened. We had some laughs. And let's move on. I don't know.
KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada, and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN Newsroom.
Deadly Storms hammer parts of the Central and Southern U.S. for days, but a reprieve may finally be on the way. We'll have the latest. Demonstrators sound off against Donald Trump and Elon Musk, not just in cities around America, but around the world. We'll have details on Saturday's hands off rallies. And video shows the final moments for Gaza emergency workers. We'll look at what happened and why it contradicts what Israeli troops have said.
ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN Newsroom with Kim Brunhuber.
BRUNHUBER: We begin here in the U.S. where there's expected to be some relief in the coming hours as the deadly storm system that's hammered parts of the country for days is expected to start breaking and push eastward. Although storm threats remain in effect for Florida, Alabama, and Georgia, the death toll from the storms across the central and Midwest has now climbed to at least 16 people across five states.
On Saturday, severe thunderstorms and heavy rain triggered catastrophic flooding. Some of those areas had already been hit hard by days of storms and deadly tornadoes. Millions of people in the greater Memphis Metro area remain under a flash flood emergency while tens of thousands are without power.
More than 6,000 flights were delayed on Saturday, and as severe flooding hit, a naval base in Tennessee ordered its residents in military housing to evacuate. Authorities have warned the water level could top the levy overnight. CNN's Michael Yoshida has more from Arkansas where the storms have left behind life-threatening flooding and a trail of devastation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAEL YOSHIDA, CNN REPORTER (voice-over): A series of strong storms triggering historic flooding across the central U.S. This in Hardy, Arkansas, a small town in the northern part of the state just below the Missouri State line, where water from the Spring River has swarmed the area.
ETHAN BARNES, MAYOR OF HARDY, ARKANSAS: And we're just getting a lot of water right now. This affects a lot of people. This has changed a lot of people's lives.
YOSHIDA (voice-over): Many homes surrounded by water. And some structures, all you can see are the roofs.
YOSHIDA: The Spring River which flows through Hardy, Arkansas is supposed to be between the trees on those banks and these trees. As you can see though, the waters flooding out over the banks, taking over this entire park. You can see debris throughout buildings with water right up to the roofs. The water also overtaking nearby train tracks, a historic flooding event for this town.
YOSHIDA (voice-over): The rushing water has made it tricky for emergency crews to rescue people stranded.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got to the point where it was too dangerous to put a boat in the river.
YOSHIDA (voice-over): Further south in Lake City, Arkansas, a tornado causing catastrophic damage. Cars mangled in trees and many homes destroyed.
DALLAS AND MORGAN HILL: So, it was like we couldn't do anything and we had to leave it behind. And we're just like, we're trying. And today, hopefully, we can get, if not all of it done, the actual things that we need. You know, hopefully it's salvageable.
YOSHIDA (voice-over): More extreme weather is on the way. Millions of people from Northern Texas up to Pennsylvania could see excessive rainfall and severe storms through Sunday.
In Hardy, Arkansas, I'm Michael Yoshida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: People around the world are denouncing Donald Trump and Elon Musk in mass demonstrations as sweeping tariffs take effect and fuel concerns over the market's downward spiral. Every single U.S. state saw protests on Saturday as part of the Hands-Off Protest Movement. Organizers are demanding an end to attacks on American rights and freedoms.
Now, all of this comes as the Trump administration continues to impose mass federal layoffs. We're learning Elon Musk's DOGE team is expected to make major cuts across the Department of Homeland Security in the coming days. Sources to tell CNN that includes the Secret Service, though no final decisions have been made. CNN's Brian Todd Reports from Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Several thousand people have turned up out here today at the foot of the Washington Monument, one of the largest shows of resistance to what President Trump and Elon Musk are doing with DOGE, the federal government cutbacks, the layoffs, the downsizing. This is the voice and the look of the resistance movement to that. Take a look. Thousands upon thousands of people here at the foot of the Washington Monument, speeches going on, music, chants, signs as far as the eye can see.
[04:05:00]
This is clearly one of the biggest shows of resistance that we have seen anywhere in the country since President Trump took office on January 20th. And we did speak to rally goers and members of Congress about what motivated them to come out here. Take a listen.
What's your main message for coming out here and wanting to be part of this crowd and speaking here?
REP. DON BEYER (D-VA): It's just so encouraging. And what's been a pretty depressing nine weeks to have, I don't know, hundreds of thousands of Americans show up here and across the country to say, we're not going to take this line down. We are fighting back. We are going to resist the evils of Trump and Musk. We're going to take back our country.
TODD: Your parents are both federal government employees. What are they going through right now?
JENNA SANTUCCI-FREEMAN, PROTESTER: Yes. My dad had to take the fork in the road deal. And so, he had to leave the federal government after over 20 years. And my mom works for Health and Human Services right now and she's worried, you know, about her job security at this point.
TODD: And this is not going on just here in Washington, Moveon.org and Hands Off have organized a whole system of rallies to take place today. And what they want, they want people to turn out in 1,300 cities and towns just across America, but also, towns overseas like London, Paris, Berlin, and elsewhere. This is, in their minds, a worldwide movement against what President Trump and Elon Musk are doing here in Washington.
Brian Todd, CNN Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: And a glimpse at what that worldwide movement looked like on Saturday. Have a look. Hundreds of protesters gathered at the Place de la Republique in Paris. Some of their protest signs said hands off immigrants and we can't decide who we hate more over pictures of Trump and Elon Musk.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CROWD: Hey, ho-ho. Elon Musk has got to go. Hey, hey. Elon Musk has got to go.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Well, that was the scene in London's Trafalgar Square. One activist explained his motivation for attending the rally.
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DAVID, CO-FOUNDER, INDIVISIBLE LONDON: The tariffs this week are announced just yesterday, I think, hugely damaging to the world order. Hugely damaging to this country. So, that's just the most recent of a long set of attacks. But you know, what he's doing to dismantle the federal government, what he's doing at the border, how he's sending people without due justice -- due process back to concentration camps in El Salvador. There's a long list of things. But today, we really want to send a message of solidarity to our friends and families back in America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Now, despite the anger growing around the world, President Trump's advisers are defending his tariffs. Betsy Klein has more on that from Florida.
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BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE PRODUCER: Well, we are witnessing a historic reconfiguration of the global trade order and so much economic upheaval as a result of President Trump's tariff policy, including a market selloff, a foreign retaliation, anger from corporate America, as well as skepticism from the chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve.
But it was business as usual here in South Florida for President Trump who hit the golf course on Saturday in Jupiter, Florida, and really a remarkable split screen as protestors took to the streets to counter his tariff policies. The White House issuing this official statement, quote, "The president won his second round matchup of the Senior Club Championship today in Jupiter, Florida, and advances to the championship round tomorrow."
But even as he arrived at his club, the president remained defiant saying in a post to social media to, quote, "hang tough." And his team overall is staying the course. Listen to what his trade adviser, Peter Navarro, told CNN on Saturday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETER NAVARRO, TRADE ADVISER TO THE U.S. PRESIDENT: The market will find a bottom. It will be soon. And from there, we're going to have a bullish boom, and the Dow's going to hit 50,000 during Trump's term, the S&P 500 is going to have a very broad-based recovery, and wages are going to go up, profits are going to go up, and life's going to be beautiful here in America. Trust in Trump.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KLEIN: The Trump team maintaining that they are on the right track here, even as markets are spiraling. The Dow down 12 percent from a recent high, and the NASDAQ down more than 22 percent. And while the president acknowledges that short-term disruption to the markets is to be expected, the reality is they just don't know what is going to happen here.
The president himself has expressed some openness to cutting deals with different countries, and CNN has learned that there are active discussions underway on bespoke trade deals with India, Vietnam, and Israel. To that end, we do expect President Trump to host Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Monday.
Betsy Klein, CNN, West Palm Beach, Florida.
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BRUNHUBER: And one Republican congressman out of Florida supports the Trump tariffs and is downplaying their effects on the market. Listen to this.
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REP. CARLOS GIMENEZ (R-FL): Look, I'm 70 years old. I've seen the market go up and down. I've seen these selloffs before and I know what happens. It's always come back and it's always comes back stronger. And so, yes, there's going to be some rough waters initially, as the world is now reacting to a new reality where America will no longer be taken advantage of. And I'm very happy also with the tariffs that are imposed on China.
[04:10:00]
I've been saying for a long time, probably even on this network, that we need to decouple from China. Every dollar that we send to China is used against us. They want to be the leading economic and military power by the year 2049, and they're using our money to do it.
And so, the more tariffs that we put on China, the more we decouple from China, and the faster we do it, the better I like it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Well house minority leader Hakeem Jeffries says Trump's tariffs are an unmitigated disaster for the United States and will lead to a historically bad ending. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY), U.S. HOUSE DEMOCRATIC LEADER: These Trump tariffs represent the largest tax increase on the American people since at least 1968. What we're seeing is that he is crashing the economy in real-time. Costs are going up. The Trump tariffs are likely to result in thousands of dollars in additional costs on the American people in terms of groceries and gas and goods. And at the same time, we're seeing the retirement savings of the American people plummeting as well. This guy is driving us toward a recession.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: I want to bring in Thomas Gift, who's the director of the Center on U.S. Politics at University College London. Great to see you again. I want to start with that ongoing chaos over the Trump tariff. So, as we saw earlier President Trump wrote, hang tough. It won't be easy, but the end result will be historic. The problem is it could be historically bad.
An AP poll from about a week ago found just four in 10 voters view Trump's handling of the economy and trade favorably. It doesn't seem as though this is winning over many voters.
THOMAS GIFT, DIRECTOR, CENTRE ON U.S. POLITICS, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON: Well, not so much, Kim. And it's great to be with you. Trump is really taking a torch to what's been an almost completely uninterrupted 80-year streak of U.S. pro-globalization policy, really dating back to the Smoot-Hawley tariffs in 1930. That's a period over which the U.S. economy has grown to some 30 trillion and become the world's economic superpower.
You know, the one thing I'll say about these tariffs is that I find it bit surprising that both Democrats and Republicans, not to mention Wall Street, seems so shocked by Trump's tariffs. You know, say what you want about them, that they're inflationary, that they isolate the United States from its allies, that they're triggering a global trade war. I think all that's true, but it is hard to say that Trump didn't warn us. Trump telegraphed explicitly in the campaign, his intent to impose tariffs, and this is really him delivering on that pledge. So, I guess the lesson is to take Trump both seriously and literally.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. Although I think the shock was more the extent of them all. They proved to be worse than many, worse case scenarios as many economists said. Now, some Republicans have been speaking out against this. Here's Senator Ted Cruz.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): 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 and 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)
BRUNHUBER: Now, they've been in the extreme minority, but a handful of Republicans in Congress have rebuked Trump for his tariffs. But most, if they don't wholeheartedly support him, they kind of echo Senate Majority Leader John Thune who said that he'll give Trump the benefit of the doubt. The question is how long will that continue, do you think? I mean, there have already been moves in Congress to reign in Trump's tariff power.
GIFT: No, you're absolutely right, and we're definitely seeing growing consternation among Senate Republicans, because a lot of this orthodoxy flies in the face of what traditional Republican policy has been for so many years. You know, Ted Cruz's colleague, Senator Chuck Grassley, co-sponsor a bill that would reassert congressional authority over tariff policy. In essence, new tariffs would expire after 60 days without House and Senate approval. Additionally, another bill was passed in the Senate last week with four Republicans and every Democrat voting yes, which would essentially terminate new tariffs on Canada. The problem is these bills are just going to get shelved whenever they get to the Republican controlled House. And so, they're really not going to have much of effect.
I think it's really hard to see anyone stopping Trump's tariffs right now, except Trump himself. The president really has wide latitude to direct trade policy. That's been true dating back to the Trade Act of 1974, which essentially granted executives significant powers to rectify trade imbalances. So, Trump has this authority and he seems to intend on using it.
BRUNHUBER: Let's look at the Democratic response to all this, kind of in the wake of the Trump election. We saw many Democrats sort of retreating into themselves. There was a sense of fatigue. We were talking about the end of the hashtag resistance movement. Now, with these growing hands off protests this weekend. Are Democrats finding their voice here?
[04:15:00]
GIFT: I think to an extent. You know, there is some sense that momentum is starting to change, but I think it's more against Trump rather than in favor of Democrats. A recent poll by CNN showed that congressional Democrats in particular had an approval rating of just 21 percent.
So, you know, there's still a lot of dissatisfaction with the party and all the postmortems haven't necessarily yielded a consistent or a clear direction forward. You know, Democratic strategist James Carville said that essentially Democrats should just play dead and let Trump self-combust. By contrast, we saw Cory Booker with 25 hours on the Senate floor trying to articulate a positive vision for Democrats and against Donald Trump.
But, you know, going into 2026, I think what I'm looking for is how many Republicans are willing to oppose Trump on at least some issues like tariffs, because after the midterms you're going to essentially have a Trump administration that is a lame duck and term limited. So, that's where you might start to see Trump stranglehold over the party begin to wane at least a bit.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, lots of twists and turns before then, I'm sure. Thomas Gift in London, always appreciate it. Thank you so much.
GIFT: Thanks Kim.
BRUNHUBER: Key House conservatives are rejecting a new budget blueprint adopted by the U.S. Senate on Saturday. That was is meant to kickstart President Trump's agenda. But several Republican lawmakers say they can't support the budget resolution as it stands with one calling it unserious and disappointing. The hardline conservatives in the House are seeking at least $1.5 trillion in cuts compared to the Senate's $4 billion. Now, Speaker Mike Johnson said he plans to bring the Senate proposal to the house floor next week.
All right. Still to come, the impact of Elon Musk's DOGE cuts is being felt thousands of miles away from Washington. Hear what some federal workers are facing in Kansas City.
Plus, some Ukrainians in the U.S. get an alarming government e-mail warning them to leave the country. Officials now say it was a mistake. We'll have more on that and more coming up in the program. Stay with us.
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[04:20:00]
BRUNHUBER: The U.S. federal judge has blocked White House efforts to cut funding to the National Institutes of Health. The judge in Massachusetts made permanent what had previously been a temporary restraining order. It would've applied only to the 22 Democratic led states that sued for the reinstatement of the funding. The cuts were part of DOGE money saving measures, which affected research intended to save lives.
Layoffs in the U.S. are reaching the highest level since the pandemic, that's according to a new report, which says the main culprit is the federal government. CNN's Kayla Tausche spoke to some workers in Kansas City who are reeling from Elon Musk's DOGE Cuts.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KAYLA TAUSCHE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): More than a thousand miles from Washington, D.C., the impact of DOGE is hitting the heartland. In Kansas City, the federal government is the largest employer. A growing presence in recent years.
In Trump's first term, the Department of Agriculture relocated two divisions to the area to save money and move closer to farmers. Now, USDA is among the many agencies scaling back here. All told, job cuts are expected to be in the thousands.
MAYOR QUINTON LUCAS (D), KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI: It's going to hurt the city. It's going to hurt the people a lot. It's going to hurt their families, and it's going to hurt a lot of secondary businesses.
TAUSCHE (voice-over): Kansas City's Democratic mayor says the city won't be able to absorb all the laid off workers.
LUCAS: We're not building a new 4,000-person factory to replace 4,000 jobs at the IRS at the same time, and frankly, these folks will have very different skills.
TAUSCHE (voice-over): At Kauffman Stadium, Jason Buck has picked up bartending part time. He used to manage fleets of government vehicles until he was fired a month ago. The search for a new job was slow going.
JASON BUCK, GSA PROGRAM SUPPORT SPECIALIST: Get a spattering of interviews over the course of a month and, you know, haven't really had any headway on that.
TAUSCHE (voice-over): While we spoke with him, his manager called to say he'd been reinstated. He doesn't know for how long.
TAUSCHE: Do you worry that this is temporary?
BUCK: Absolutely. Yes. I -- yes, I don't' know if I'm going back just to get be a part of a reduction in force at some point, or. I have no idea what to expect.
TAUSCHE v (voice-over): Daniel Scharpenburg worries his job is on the line, too. He joined the IRS 16 years ago. With two teenage kids, he's taken a second job to save money.
DANIEL SCHARPENBURG, VP, NATIONAL TREASURY EMPLOYEES UNION AND IRS EMPLOYEE: Some days, I get off work here and I go straight to the movie theater. I bring my work uniform with me and I change, and I go straight to the movie theater and work there. I'm 45 years old. I'm too old to be working two jobs.
TAUSCHE (voice-over): The owner of Whataburger Coffee says business has picked up with federal workers ordered back to offices, but he fears its short lived.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Definitely the mood just feels sort of different. Everything feels kind of stressful, uncertain. It's just kind of created this mood of anxiety overall.
TAUSCHE (voice-over): The layoffs will ripple through the economy. Many federal workers say they may have to sell their home. Others canceling family vacations. For each federal worker who loses their job, economists say the pullback in their spending could cost the city another one and a half jobs, multiplying the effect on unemployment.
The Kansas City metro is blue, but polls show that voters in Missouri still largely support Trump. Shannon Ellis leads the treasury employees union here and says her members feel the cuts hitting close to home.
SHANNON ELLIS, CHAPTER PRESIDENT, NATIONAL TREASURY EMPLOYEES UNION: I've had people approach me in this building and state, look, if I knew that this was what was going to happen, that all these attacks on federal agencies, I would have voted a different way. So, you can't say that all Americans still support what's happening.
TAUSCHE: Republican Senator Josh Hawley was among the proponents of moving these agencies from Washington to states like Missouri. He told CNN that he thinks the state's voters are largely supportive of the move to downsize. The next major wave of federal layoffs is expected in mid-May, but employees say they expect to learn their fate in the next two weeks.
Even so, as we were leaving Kansas City, employees reached out to tell me about ongoing cuts at the Department of Health and Human Services, with some workers terminated on the spot. So, this is happening in real-time and with very real-world impact. Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[04:25:00]
BRUNHUBER: The U.S. Justice Department has placed a government immigration lawyer on administrative leave after he expressed frustration in court over a mistaken deportation case, that's according to the people familiar with the matter. Erez Reuveni was representing the government in the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was sent to his native El Salvador despite a court order that he not be deported.
In court, Reuveni said that Garcia should not have been sent to El Salvador. Attorney General Pam Bondi took issue with Reuveni's handling of the case saying, all DOJ attorneys must zealously advocate for the U.S.
Some international students attending universities in California had their visas revoked this week. According to officials, at least 15 students and recent graduates were affected and was apparently part of a crackdown by the Trump administration, some F1 visas, which are required for full-time academic study here in the U.S. are being terminated at private and public institutions across the country.
Now, similar reports have emerged from Massachusetts, Texas, Ohio, and Colorado. The University of California confirmed the terminations were issued without warning and without explanation. Stanford University says it wasn't even aware that immigration authorities were on campus.
All Trump's tariffs have created fears of a global recession. Well, how realistic are those fears? We'll ask the head of the International Chamber of Commerce. That's next year on CNN Newsroom.
Plus, how companies across Mexico are shifting strategies and looking closer to home as Trump's trade war grows. Stay with us.
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[04:30:00]
BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada, and all around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN Newsroom.
China's foreign ministry says, quote, "The market has spoken." The ministry spokesperson issued a statement on Saturday with an image of all three major U.S. indices down more than 5 percent. China announced on Friday that it was imposing 34 percent reciprocal tariffs on all imports from the U.S. Meanwhile, China says it's willing to work with the European Union to oppose protectionism and unilateralism. And a top E.U. official says he had a frank two-hour conversation with the U.S. commerce secretary. He says he was clear that the tariffs are damaging and unjustified.
Now, even the head of Donald Trump's Department of Government Efficiency, Tesla CEO Elon Musk says he's not happy with the tariffs. In fact, he says he's told the president that he thinks the U.S. and E.U. should establish a free trade zone.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELON MUSK, TESLA CEO AND TRUMP PRESIDENTIAL ADVISER: I am hopeful, for example, with the tariffs that, at the end of the day, I hope it is agreed 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. And also, more freedom of people to move between Europe and North America, if they wish. If they wish to work in Europe or wish to work in America they should be allowed to do so, in my view.
So, that has certainly been my advice to the president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: All this as Donald Trump is telling Americans to hang tough. I want to bring in John Denton, who's the secretary general of the International Chamber of Commerce, and he joins us live from Berlin. Thank you so much for being here with us.
So, we've already seen some countries respond with tariffs of their own, which you've come out against. I want to read a quote from you here from your organization. We continue to encourage governments to place an emphasis on negotiation and de-escalation to the greatest extent possible. Tariff retaliation is a lose-lose game.
So, that sounds a lot like what the Trump administration is saying basically to countries that have been hit, don't hit back.
JOHN DENTON, SECRETARY-GENERAL, INTERNATIONAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: Well, that's right. By the way, we're based in Paris, not in Berlin. Look, thanks for having us on the show. And I just heard Elon Musk on the introduction as well. I mean, what we're saying here is that you've got to be realistic. First of all, the U.S. only accounts for 13 percent, 1-3 percent of global trade. So, on its own, it cannot actually engender a global trade war.
87 percent of economies are actually happy to continue to trade on our existing system, which has delivered them, quite frankly, enormous economic opportunity since it came into existence. So, let's not lead -- follow a pathway down to mutually assured destruction here, because we've all seen what a global trade war looks like unless we've read about it in the history books, and it's devastating for people's and communities and devastating for economies. What we're trying to do here is ensure that economies take a realistic look at where their best interests lie. The best interests lie in maintaining a revitalized multilateral trading system and working to do that, not focusing on the retaliation, because where that will lead is to recession, not just for the economy involved in putting the retaliation in place, but also potentially from neighboring economies as well and hurting their own, hurting themselves. There's an act of self -- of economic self-harm. That's what we're trying to avoid here.
BRUNHUBER: Well on that, you said it may lead to recession and many economists agree they are predicting now a global recession because of these tariffs. So, looking at other market shocks, you mentioned history. I mean, is that where we're going or could it get worse? How bad could this get?
DENTON: Well, this could get very, very bad and that it will only get very, very bad if this massive round of potential retaliation actually takes place. And that's what we're trying to avoid here. I mean, in a way it's similar -- different but similar to the oil shock in the '70s, and you saw the way in which that reorganized even the liberal economic order at the time and actually led to a number of government changes. So, it has the potential, particularly for emerging economies, to lead to sovereign debt downgrades again.
So, there's some very serious ramifications here. In particular, very serious ramifications for the U.S. economy and for people and the citizens working and living there. I mean, the reality is when you look at the circumstances that are now emerging clearly post this announcement and actually partly pre this announcement as well where the market and the real economy was gearing itself up for something, you actually saw a slowdown occurring already now with what's been announced and the dramatic nature of that, there's actually all the elements there that could lead to quite a serious economic recession or a serious economic downturn in the U.S.
[04:35:00]
The market doesn't like it clearly. That's one thing. And the real economy is not enjoying this process either because they don't know can they continue to buy goods? Should they be actually looking at the way in which they stockpile? All these sorts of issues are running through the heads of small, medium businesses. And I know congressmen are receiving a lot of complaints and a lot of concerned e-mails and telephone conversations from citizens in their electorate.
BRUNHUBER: You've urged a return to the multilateral system, but it seems as though the Trump administration is consciously trying to break away from the global trading system that ironically the U.S. helped create.
DENTON: Yes, well, that is right. The administration is U.S. business is not, however. U.S. business, as you know, operates very significant global value chains. It actually has subsidiaries and economies like in Nigeria, has a subsidiaries and economies in Asia, all around the world. They don't want to see those economies going to downturn and hurt their interests and hurt the operation of their supply chains. And even if they able to recalibrate and I think restart their supply chains and actually have them much more integrated into the U.S. economy domestically, that will take a long, long time. These things do not happen quickly. So, U.S. business actually wants the system to continue as well.
The reality is the system is not perfect. The system does need work. And a number of the U.S. criticisms of the citizens that the system itself are actually very valid, and we support them. But what we're saying is use this opportunity of the shock that the U.S. announcement has created to recalibrate, this is the governments in the 87 percent who want to continue with this system and revitalize that system. There's plenty of work to do and there's also something that people should be aware of. A lot of change since President Trump was first in power. There's a lot more south trade now.
There's a lot more trade where you actually see new regional blocks and regional movements emerge. You've got the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, which is one of the largest trading groups in the world. You've got the Comprehensive Partnership for Transpacific as well, which the U.S. has originator of but could never actually engage. These are very significant trading agreements which allow for tariff like engagement across those economies, and more countries will be seeking to join those, plus others that are emerging. You've got the African Continental Free Trade Area. All these things are happening.
The downside is that a number of economies now are turning away from the U.S. as the market. You see that in the announcement by the South African trade minister in the last 24 hours, where they've effectively said the African Growth and Opportunity Act is dead now, which gave people tariff free access to the U.S. economy, which means they now have to find alternative markets. That wasn't actually in the playbook. I think in the thinking behind the number of these announcements that were made in the Rose Garden.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. So many reverberations all around from this. Really appreciate getting your analysis. John Denton, thank you so much.
DENTON: Thanks for your time.
BRUNHUBER: So, as President Trump's tariffs rattled the global economy, a Mexican company making car parts for the U.S. is now turning its attention home. CNN's Gustavo Valdes has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GUSTAVO VALDES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is what it looks like inside a Mexican factory that's been making and sending car parts to the United States for more than 70 years. But that's changing. At MegaFlux in Mexico City, they produce water pumps, hydroelectric turbines, motors, and generators.
ROBERTO GOTTFRIED, CEO, MEGAFLUX (through translator): We make them upon request. We export more than half of our production to the United States and Canada. VALDES (voice-over): Now, this assembly line is also manufacturing electric cars and buses, which will mostly be used in Mexico. Amid fears that U.S. President Donald Trump's new tariffs could trigger a global trade war.
FELIPE GALLEGO, OPERATIONS DIRECTOR, MEGAFLUX (through translator): The best way to deal with tariffs is to buy locally. If you have an automotive industry and want to manufacture electric vehicles, sell them domestically, or look at South America.
VALDES (voice-over): The company makes this bus called Taruk, which means roadrunner in the local Geki (ph) language. It's the first electric bus manufactured in Mexico and is expected to run in Baja, California.
It's part of Plant Mexico, a program launched by Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum bound giving companies incentives to invest in domestic production and generate jobs.
GOTTFRIED (through translator): I think we're experiencing a situation that could also become dramatic, but having our own technology allows you to better manage your next steps as a country.
VALDES (voice-over): Mexican companies now thinking of ways to expand domestically rather than across the border.
Gustavo Valdes, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[04:40:00]
BRUNHUBER: Startling new video shows the final moments of 15 emergency aid workers who were shot and killed by Israeli troops in Gaza. Their bodies were later found in a mass grave. Ahead, we'll look at why the video doesn't match what Israeli troops say happened before the shooting began.
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BRUNHUBER: There's new video showing the final moments of 15 aid and emergency workers who are shot and killed by Israeli troops in Gaza. Their bodies were found in a mass grave along with their vehicles and the United Nations' vehicle. Israel claimed the emergency vehicles were, quote, "advancing suspiciously and without lights." But video tells a very different story. CNN Jerusalem Correspondent Jeremy Diamond explains. And we just want to warn you, some of the audio and video in his report are disturbing.
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JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: New video footage has emerged of the deadly attack on a convoy of emergency response vehicles in Gaza. The video directly contradicts previous Israeli military claims about this attack and really collapses much of their narrative about how this attack unfolded. The Israeli military previously claimed that the ambulances in this convoy and one firetruck approached troops suspiciously, without headlights or emergency signals. But you can see in this video that the vehicles are well lit, emergency signals are on, and these are clearly marked ambulances and a fire truck. And as soon as they get to the scene of a previous attack, Israeli troops opened fire.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): There is no God, but God. There is no God but God and Muhammad is the messenger of God. There is no God but God and Muhammad is the messenger of God.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[04:45:00]
DIAMOND: Now, the gunfire continues for several more minutes, and as that is happening, you can hear the paramedic who filmed this video reciting the Shahadah, the profession of faith that Muslims recite when they are facing death. That paramedic, Rafat Radwan, he was killed along with 14 other emergency responders in that attack.
Now, the Israeli military said earlier this week that it would investigate this incident. acknowledging that Israeli troops had indeed carried out this attack and that they had also buried these individuals in a mass grave. The head of Southern Command will present the findings of this investigation on Sunday to the Israeli military's top general chief of staff Eyal Zamir.
As for the claims about the lights of these vehicles being off, I'm told by an Israeli military official that that actually came directly from the Israeli troops who were involved in this attack, and those claims have clearly proven to be false based on this video. This investigation that the Israeli military is carrying out internally, it is also based on the review of aerial surveillance video of this attack. The Israeli military has so far declined to share that video publicly citing this ongoing investigation. But we will certainly be pressing them to release that footage.
The Israeli military is also still claiming that several of the emergency responders who were killed in this attack were Hamas members. But so far, they have provided no evidence to back up that claim at all. And certainly, in light of this latest contradiction, the Israeli military certainly facing questions about its credibility relating to this incident.
Jeremy Diamond, CNN. Tel Aviv.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: Turning to Ukraine now where earlier residents in the capitol sought cover in underground metro stations after Russian missile strikes, Ukraine State Emergency Service says three people were injured. It seems another three were injured in a separate Russian airstrike, this time in Southern Ukraine. A military official says the attack used Iranian-made Shahed drones. And the Ukrainian president's hometown is now in mourning after one of the deadliest attacks so far this year. I want to go live now to (INAUDIBLE) CNN's Barbie Latza Nadeau. So, Barbie, bring us up to speed on the latest.
BARBIE LATZA NADEAU, CNN REPORTER: Yes. You know, I mean, on Friday, it was one of the deadliest attacks yet in this war, 19 people killed. Nine of those were children. 72 people injured, three, including a three-month-old baby.
You know, you look at some of these images, just utter devastation. And all the while, of course, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy really struggling to be heard, struggling to keep his -- keep -- every -- the world on message, basically, after losing some U.S. support. Now, let's listen to what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Staying silent about the fact that it is Russia killing children with ballistic missiles is wrong and dangerous. It only encourages the criminals in Moscow to continue the war and ignore diplomacy. Weakness has never ended a war. That is why I am grateful to every country whose representatives have spoken out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NADEAU: And you know, Kim, when you listen to him, he really is struggling with the support. There are U.S.-led peace talks allegedly going on, and it really calls into question just how serious of Moscow is in terms of wanting to stop this war in terms of making any sort of a negotiation.
You know, it is not just in Ukraine too. We had the -- in Poland, the military activated their Air Force in order to protect airspace. So, you know, this war, we've been talking about for years now, doesn't seem to be coming to an end anytime soon. The killing continues. The devastation is ongoing. You look at these buildings, schools, residences, you know, businesses, just an utter devastation, Kim.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. So much suffering, as you say. Barbie Latza Nadeau, thanks so much. Well, some Ukrainians living in the U.S. under a Biden-era humanitarian program were told, it is time for you to leave. But that message was sent in error.
Now, in an e-mail, the Department of Homeland Security wrote, DHS is terminating your parole. Do not attempt to remain in the United States. The federal government will find you. Well, that e-mail was sent on Thursday. Now, one day later there was another. This one retracting the previous notice, calling it an error. Telling the Ukrainians, no action will be taken. The department says the Uniting Free Ukraine program hasn't been terminated.
Now, the U.S. is suspending the visas of all South Sudanese visa holders. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the change Saturday with immediate effect. It also means that no new visas will be issued to people from the country. And the Canadian government has updated its online travel advisory to warn U.S. bound citizens that their electronic devices are subject to search.
[04:50:00]
Now, this can include border officials demanding passwords to unlock devices for inspection. Travelers who refuse run the risk of having their electronics confiscated and being denied entry to the U.S.
Well, U.S. college basketball is nearing its peak as March Madness whittles down to the final four teams. Still to come, the latest on the winners heading to Monday's National Championship game.
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BRUNHUBER: And "Saturday Night Live" had a rather cheesy cold open last night as a popular communion return to lampoon Donald Trump's DOGE Ally. Have a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because South Africa puts 60 percent tariff on everything we send them, and they've never even sent us one good thing.
MIKE MYERS, COMEDIAN AND ACTOR: Whoa. What about me? Kidding, kidding, kidding. Late night comedy. That was from when I tried to buy the election in Wisconsin. I'm an idiot. I should have just bought Wisconsin. Glitch.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[04:55:00]
BRUNHUBER: Well, that's the second time Mike Meyers has poked fun at the Tesla and SpaceX billionaire. Musk wore the cheesehead prop, of course, to curry the favor of voters ahead of the recent Wisconsin Supreme Court elections. Musk poured millions of his own dollars into the campaign with his preferred candidate, a conservative lost handily.
After the pandemic, it largely closed North Korea's borders to the outside world. The hermit kingdom has opened its doors to host the Pyongyang International Marathon for the first time in six years. According to state media, at least 200 runners have arrived in the nation's capital to compete. The race follows a route through Pyongyang's landmarks and the nearby countryside before finishing in front of a stadium crowd of 50,000 locals. The marathon is part of a series of events this month commemorating the upcoming birthday of Kim Il-sung, founder of North Korea and grandfather to the current leader Kim Jong un.
All right. Now, to U.S. college basketball where March Madness is reaching fever pitch. In the tournament's final four round, Duke had their hands full against Houston. The Blue Devils lost their lead in the final minute after late games surged by the Cougars, put Houston up by three points. And in the end, Houston hung on for a narrow win, 70 to 67. Meanwhile, the Florida Gators went punched for punch with Auburn's Tigers after falling behind six points. Second half comeback fueled Florida victory, closing out the game 79 to 73. Houston and Florida are now set to face off the National Championship game Monday night.
And then, later today, South Carolina set to battle it out with the University of Connecticut for the Women's National title. And that game is scheduled to tip off at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
All right. That wraps this hour of CNN Newsroom. I'm Kim Brunhuber. I'll be back with more news in just a moment.
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