Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Donald Trump Signs Executive Order To Ease Some Auto Tariffs; Japanese Auto Tariff Negotiator To Meet With U.S. Officials; Mark Carney Vows Canada Will "Never" Yield To The U.S.; Americans Worried About Rising Costs and Food Insecurity; World's Largest Solar Telescope Shows Sun in Ultra-detail; ESA Launches Satellite to Study World's Forests. Aired 2-2:45a ET

Aired April 30, 2025 - 02:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:00:29]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world, and everyone streaming us on CNN Max, I'm Rosemary Church.

Just ahead, Donald Trump celebrates his first 100 days in office, touting his record and boasting of retribution, but his sinking poll numbers tell a different story.

Americans are feeling the pain. We look at how some are struggling to feed their families and worried economic conditions in the U.S. could get far worse.

And as deadly drone attacks hit Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy offers a stark warning on what Russia may be planning next.

ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta. This is CNN NEWSROOM with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: Good to have you with us. U.S. President Donald Trump is wrapping up his first 100 days back in the White House with bold claims of economic prosperity. Banners at his campaign style rally in the battleground state of Michigan read 100 days of greatness and the Golden Age.

But the latest economic data tells a very different story. Wall Street suffering the worst first 100 days of a presidency since Gerald Ford in 1974. Consumer confidence at its lowest level since the COVID pandemic, and economists predicting the weakest GDP growth since 2022. The president also bragged about his tariff policies, which he says have countries lining up to make new trade deals.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They're coming from all over the world to see your president. They want to make a deal. They want to make a deal. And you know, we'll make deals, but we don't have to.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: The president also appears to have made another concession on tariffs, signing an executive order with exemptions for U.S. automakers. It allows reimbursements for duties on imported car parts if the vehicles are assembled in the U.S. and prevents manufacturers from facing multiple auto related tariffs.

More now from CNN's Jeff Zeleny traveling with the president.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: With his first 100 days now behind him, President Trump wrapped a rally in Macomb County, Michigan on Tuesday night, waxing nostalgic about the last decade of his public life, far more than talking about the challenges ahead.

But he said that his administration, so far in his first 100 days, has been the most successful and busy in history.

TRUMP: We're here tonight in the heartland of our nation to celebrate the most successful first 100 days of any administration in the history of our country. And that's according to many, many people.

This is the best they say 100 day start of any president in history, and everyone is saying it. We just -- we've just gotten started. You haven't even seen anything yet.

ZELENY: But that belies, of course, the challenges that remain for the president. His buzzer agenda, his tax agenda, and so much more.

The president spends very little time dwelling on the economic anxieties that are so clearly coursing through the American country. Nearly six in 10 Americans believe that the policies of the Trump administration have worsened the economy. That was clear as we spent time talking to voters here in Michigan that they want to hear more from President Trump on the economy. There is no doubt the tariff policies and how that is ultimately resolved, including the trade war with China, will go a large degree to determining how successful the Trump administration will be.

But for now, at least the president fasting in the glow of his supporters as they filed out of this rally. The next 100 days begin on Wednesday in Washington. But so much more and so many challenges to accomplish.

Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Warren, Michigan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Larry Sabato is the director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics. He joins us now. Good to have you with us.

LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR OF THE CENTER FOR POLITICS, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: Thank you so much, Rosemary.

CHURCH: So, President Trump marked his first 100 days in office with a speech at a rally in Michigan Tuesday, outlining what he considers to be his big achievements so far, while at the same time ignoring widespread polling that shows his job approval dipping to historically low levels. What was your overall reaction to what he had to say?

SABATO: There was absolutely nothing new in it, but that's often the case. He did shift emphasis a bit, though, and the White House has generally, they're trying to stay away from detailed discussions of the tariffs or the economy generally, or prices, and they're putting the focus on the one area where they have nearly 50 percent support and where, arguably, they've been the most successful, and that's border protection.

[02:05:25]

CHURCH: Yes, indeed. And Donald Trump says the economy is great. That's about all he said about it. He talked about eggs coming down, 87 percent which is false.

But polls show the majority of Americans disagree with him, and clearly the economy is central to Trump's problems, but he barely talked about it. As you point out, he barely mentioned tariffs during his speech, or his budget and tax plan that now has a July deadline.

Why avoid speaking about the very issue that swept him into the White House when there's clear economic anxiety right across America?

SABATO: He doesn't want to remind people that he did not bring prices down on day one, as he promised. He doesn't want to remind people that in fact, he caused at least on two occasions, the stock market nearly to crash. It's recovered somewhat, but it's clear that everyone is very nervous about what he's doing and why he's doing it, and whether he really has a plan. He says he does, but then Trump says a lot of things that aren't true, a.

CHURCH: And on Tuesday, President Trump also announced he's easing some auto industry tariffs, but anxiety and uncertainty surround the impact of these tariffs, it hasn't, the majority of Americans very worried.

But Trump's going to need to make more significant changes to his tariff policies, isn't he? If he wants to reverse this downward trend in his approval rating, with around 60 percent of Americans saying the economy is worse under him and his tariff price hikes haven't even hit yet, have they? I mean, in six or eight weeks we'll know about it, won't we?

So, what more does he need to do to change that sentiment among voters? Because presumably, that's something he would want to do.

SABATO: Well, you would think so. He seems very determined to follow through, because he's insisted on it for years and years and years, and now that he's finally been able to do it, and it doesn't seem to be working, he's loath to admit he was wrong. That's always the case. He really never admits he's wrong.

But notice what he did. He went to Macomb County, Michigan. That's the home of the Reagan Democrats. Michigan is the key state for him that arguably put him over the top in both 2016 and in 2024

And the auto workers in Macomb are very unhappy with what's going on, so he took some of the tariffs back to please them. Maybe that's the key. Maybe every locality in America that specializes in a particular good or service can invite Trump in, and then he can get rid of all the tariffs. That may be the best solution.

CHURCH: Right. And of course, earlier Tuesday, reports were out that Amazon was possibly planning to show the added costs of tariffs on goods. Trump's press secretary called that a hostile and political act. Trump then called Amazon boss to Jeff Bezos directly, and he backed down. The company, saying, "This is not going to happen."

So, Larry, when did transparency become a hostile act?

SABATO: Yes, imagine transparency being described this way, letting people know why they're paying more for certain goods and services.

Who knows what Amazon had really planned to do or how far this had gotten. But what's important here is that it reminds us that all those billionaires sat in front of Donald Trump's cabinet at Trump's inauguration, it showed how important they are and how close they are to Trump.

And to this point, they have done everything that Trump has asked them to do, and then so. So, we'll have to watch this carefully, because I don't know that many Americans or many people around the world would really want billionaires to be running things.

CHURCH: Larry Sabato, always appreciate your political analysis. Thanks for joining us.

SABATO: Thank you, Rosemary, I enjoyed it.

CHURCH: Asia Pacific markets opened down on Wednesday amid the escalating tensions caused by the trade war, but some have managed to recover in the hours since. Here's a live look at some of the markets as the trading day winds down.

In Asia, you can see there, Japan's Nikkei up nearly half a percent and Hang Seng up nearly a quarter percent there.

Well, Japan's tariff negotiator is set to meet with officials in Washington for a second round of trade talks. It comes amid calls from China for the international community to stand firm against President Trump's tariff threats.

CNN's Hanako Montgomery joins me now from Tokyo with more on the global trade war. So, Hanako, what more are you learning about Japan's upcoming tariff negotiations with the Trump administration? And of course, any other possible trade deals in the pipeline?

[02:10:14]

HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Rosemary, it's good to see you. So as you mentioned, Japan's top tariff negotiator Ryosei Akazawa is on his way to the United States as we speak right now to engage in a second round of tariff talks with the United States.

Now, Japan hasn't specifically outlined what it looks to achieve in these tariff talks, but according to Akazawa himself, the 25 percent tariff that currently exists for Japanese automakers and other foreign automakers that export cars to the United States is simply too high. Car makers just simply cannot absorb those additional costs, so it's likely that Japan will look to reduce those tariffs in one way or another.

And Rosemary, it's also important to note here that Trump recently signed an executive order on Tuesday that actually does offer some reprieve to foreign automakers, specifically car makers that produce or assemble cars in the United States.

Now, in this executive order, it states that some reimbursements could be offered to these car makers of about 3.75 percent of the value of the car produced domestically. Now in the following year, that reimbursement value would go down to 2.5 percent, that cap goes down to 2.5 percent and the year after, those reimbursements would be phased out entirely.

Now, this executive order is quite confusing for a lot of automakers around the world and countries around the world, because it's not clear how these reimbursements would be paid, or really the math behind this.

But according to the U.S. President Donald Trump, these reimbursements exist to really help U.S. automakers as the country is in this transition period right now of moving auto manufacturing from competitors like China, Japan, Mexico and Canada, for example, back to the United States.

In fact, the U.S. president made some comments about his recent tariff policy changes at a rally on Tuesday in Michigan. Here's what the U.S. president said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We don't want them building them in Japan. We wanted to build them here. We want China to build them in here.

So, I want to just let you know you're going to be very proud of this country very soon. And with my China tariffs, we're ending the greatest job theft in the history of the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MONTGOMERY: And Rosemary, Japan and China haven't responded directly to Trump's recent comments, but again, Japan is currently engaging in tariff negotiations with the United States. And I also do want to point out here that a 3.75 percent reimbursement

is actually not that high. Japan, China, Mexico, Canada, for example, still face those tariffs. And in fact, China still faces a 145 percent tariff.

So, still hugely, hugely painful for that country and for that country's economy.

And also, of course, for car makers that have already a huge presence in the United States, like Toyota, for example, they have lots of factories in the U.S., they could be eligible for these reimbursements.

But for Japanese car makers like Mitsubishi, Mazda, that still produce a lot of their cars outside of the U.S., they won't be eligible. So, you'll still see a lot of foreign automakers scrambling to make deals with the United States to hopefully make sure that those tariffs don't hit their companies that significantly, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Hanako Montgomery in Tokyo. Many thanks for that live report. Appreciate it.

Well, Canada's Prime Minister said his country will never yield to Donald Trump's threats. Hours later, he took a call from the U.S. president, details on that and the liberal party's election win, just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:18:01]

CHURCH: Pakistan believes India may soon launch a military strike in retaliation for a deadly attack on civilians in India controlled Kashmir. Pakistan's Information Minister says there is credible intelligence it could happen in the next day or so, but he did not elaborate on how Islamabad reached that conclusion.

Tensions between the two nuclear armed rivals have been rising after militants massacred 26 tourists in India's Kashmir region one week ago. India accuses Pakistan of being involved in the attack, which Islamabad denies.

The U.S. and China are urging both sides to show restraint.

Police in Sweden are searching for a suspect in the shooting deaths of three people north of Stockholm on Tuesday. Witnesses told local media they heard what sounded like gunshots at a hair salon. Police believe the suspect fled the scene on an electric scooter. The motive is unclear, but authorities say there's no indication it was terrorism or a hate crime. The European Parliament says Sweden is currently battling a wave of gang violence.

The U.S. president is congratulating Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on his liberal party's election triumph, according to Canada's readout of the call. The two leaders stressed the importance of their countries working together as independent nations, and agreed to meet in person sometime soon, no mention of Donald Trump's taunts about making Canada the 51st state.

Meanwhile, the CBC projects Canada's Liberal Party has fallen just short of a parliamentary majority. More now from CNN's Paula Newton.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARK CARNEY, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: Who's ready? Who's ready? Who's ready to stand up for Canada with me?

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A rallying cry for Canadian sovereignty as Mark Carney declared victory in the country's federal elections.

[02:20:05]

CARNEY: We are once again, we are once again at one of those hinge moments of history. Our old relationship with the United States, a relationship based on steadily increasing integration, is over. We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons.

NEWTON (voice-over): The Liberal Party leader issuing a stunning rebuke to President Trump as he promised his country would never yield to the United States.

CARNEY: As I've been warning for months, America wants our land, our resources, our water, our country.

CROWD: Never.

CARNEY: Never. But these are not, these are not idle threats. President Trump is trying to break us so that America can own us. That will never, that will never ever happen.

NEWTON (voice-over): The 60-year-old former central banker also sending a message of unity to the millions that did not vote for him. And my message to every Canadian is this. No matter where you live, no matter what language you speak, no matter how you voted, I will always do my best to represent everyone who calls Canada home.

PIERRE POILIEVRE, FORMER MINISTER OF DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS OF CANADA: So I would like to congratulate Prime Minister Carney.

NEWTON (voice-over): Conservative opposition leader Pierre Poilievre conceded defeat early Tuesday, saying Carney had won enough seats to form a razor-thin minority government. Throughout his campaign, Carney rode a wave of anti-Trump sentiment since winning his party's leadership contest in the landslide after former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stepped down last month.

CARNEY: We are fighting unjustified U.S. tariffs.

NEWTON (voice-over): Trump's tariffs on imports from Canada and continued threats to annex the country as the 51st state only helped him ride that wave to victory.

Paula Newton, CNN, Ottawa.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: New Russian drone attacks on Ukraine are rattling hopes for a possible cease fire. Ukrainian authorities report at least one person was killed in what they say was a massive Russian drone attack on the city of Dnipro on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, at least 30 civilians were wounded after more than a dozen Russian strikes on Kharkiv. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Kyiv is preparing to speak with the U.S. about slapping new sanctions on Russia to try and put pressure on Moscow to end the war. Mr. Zelenskyy also warned that Vladimir Putin might be planning to launch further attacks from neighboring Belarus in the coming months.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: Look at Belarus. Russia is preparing something there this summer, using military drills as cover, and that's usually how they start a new attack. But where will it go? I don't know. Ukraine, Lithuania, Poland, God bless, no, but we all need to be -- we all need to be ready.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: President Trump's envoy for Ukraine flatly rejected a Russian proposed three day cease fire, calling it absurd. The Trump administration has warned it will walk away from mediating an end to the war if progress is not made.

Still to come, making America hungry again. The Trump administration slashes programs that provided fresh food to those in need. I'll ask the head of a food bank how people struggling to feed their families are coping with the cutbacks.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:28:29]

CHURCH: Despite sinking poll numbers and a slew of economic warning signs, Donald Trump insists he just completed the most successful first 100 days of any administration in U.S. history. And the president told a crowd of supporters on Tuesday, there's more to come.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We're going to have something that you won't even believe. We will end inflation, slash prices. We've already ended inflation, raise wages and give you the greatest economy in the history of the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: But a new CNN poll shows nearly 60 percent of Americans believe his economic policies have hurt the country, only 27 percent consider the current financial climate an improvement. Many Americans are not just worried about making ends meet, but also

about putting food on the table. Last month, the Trump administration's Agriculture Department announced its cutting funding for two pandemic era food programs have provided more than $1 billion to farmers in 40 states supplying fresh food to food banks, pantries and schools.

According to Feeding America, 47 million people in the U.S. face hunger, including one in five children and some 50 million Americans turn to food programs in 2023.

Cyndi Kirkhart is the Chief Executive Officer of Facing Hunger Food Bank in West Virginia. Appreciate you joining us.

Thanks for having me.

[02:30:00]

CHURCH: Indeed. Now, your organization works directly with people in your community who are really struggling at this time to put food on the table for themselves and their families. Have you noticed any significant change in how people are coping since Donald Trump came to office, given the significant role the federal government has previously played in helping to address hunger in the community?

KIRKHART: Yes. Well, with the most recent changes with USDA in terms of not following the previous administration's administration of CCC funds with TEFAP. As an example, we had 11 loads of food, about 330,000 pounds of valuable food resources canceled for the month of April, which would've been distributed in the next few weeks. So for a food bank that distributes about a million pounds a month, a full third of that going away is significant for us.

And our communities are struggling. We're very rural with a lot of remote areas and already barriers to access for food. So people are really feeling those challenges, especially when we don't have the food resources to supplant what they have.

CHURCH: So when those resources are not coming in, what do you do? What is plan B in that situation?

KIRKHART: Well, we always say that the way that we get food is either through donations or purchase. And if I don't get the food donated, then I have to find ways to purchase product, not necessarily having that built into my budget for the volume that I would be having to replace. So we're going to have to really get creative, but one thing we are is hopeful that the partnerships that we've always experienced with USDA in particular, will find a way to move forward and hopefully to find a way to have Congress push forward a good farm bill.

CHURCH: And of course, we know that Trump's trade tariffs will go into full effect in about six to eight weeks. So, that is when we can expect more price hikes on groceries. How will that impact what your organization is trying to do at this point when you are struggling to sort of make ends meet as it is? KIRKHART: All right. Well, certainly, when the public pays higher prices for food, food banks do as well. But one thing that we are reminded of is, in the previous Trump administration, when we did have the tariffs, we also had trade mitigation product. So if that comes about, that will certainly offset some of the food resource challenges that we're experiencing currently.

CHURCH: So, what are your biggest concerns going forward and what do you need Congress to do right now to ensure that people don't go hungry?

KIRKHART: Well, a couple of great concerns, and thank you for asking. One of the programs that we really relied on in the last couple of years was LFPA, and that was the Local Food Purchase Agreement with USDA. That brought about $4.5 million into the state of West Virginia, which for us represented about $1.5 million going to local farmers and the local community economies.

So, we would love for Congress to find a way to make LFPA a lasting product. We also need Congress to really step up and reject the cuts to nutrition programs in the budget reconciliation. We have to move forward with passing that bipartisan farm bill that protects our farmers and our neighbors facing hunger. TEFAP and CSFP, which are commodity programs, are critical food sources for rural America. And TEFAP is rural America's hunger lifeline.

West Virginia is a very rural state. We rely heavily, about 40 percent of our food products, in terms of those commodity programs, go to 89 percent of the folks in need -- underemployed, seniors, veterans, and children. So we're hoping the Congress and the administration can come forward with a solid farm bill and let us get back to work.

CHURCH: Cyndi Kirkhart, thank you so much for talking with us and for all that you do. Appreciate it.

KIRKHART: Thank you. We will.

CHURCH: And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:39:25]

CHURCH: The world's largest solar telescope is shedding new light on our understanding of the sun. A newly released image shows the surface of our nearest star in unprecedented detail, close-up reveals a cluster of (inaudible) sized dark sunspots that are areas of intense magnetic activity. Detailed images like this allow scientists to learn and predict potentially dangerous solar weather.

The European Space Agency has successfully launched its Biomass Satellite into space.

[02:40:00]

The satellite will collect data on the carbon content of the earth's forests and measure the effects of deforestation and climate change for the next five years. The mission manager says the satellite's radar is able to see through layers of ice and sand, which could tell researchers more about the structure of ice in Antarctica and what the world looked like thousands of years ago.

CHURCH: I want to thank you so much for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church. "World Sport" is coming up next. Then I'll be back at the top of the hour with more "CNN Newsroom." Do stick around.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:45:00]

(WORLD SPORT)