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Trump to IMPOSE Full Tariffs On Movies Made Overseas; Russia, North Korea Strengthens Military Ties; United Nations Calls For Restraint As India-Pakistan Tensions Continue. Aired 3-3:45a ET

Aired May 06, 2025 - 03:00   ET

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

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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, enticing undocumented immigrants to leave the U.S. The White House offers cash and travel assistance to those who return to their home countries.

With the cardinals in place and the conclaves set to begin in the Vatican, we will introduce you to one of the dark horse contenders to be the next Pope.

And as Moscow and Pyongyang strengthen their military ties, we'll take a closer look at the impact of North Korean troops on the front lines.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from Atlanta, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: Good to have you with us.

The Trump administration is unveiling its latest plan for mass deportations, promising cash to those who leave on their own. On Monday, the Homeland Security Department announced it will make payments of $1000 as well as travel assistance to undocumented migrants who voluntarily returned to their country of origin.

U.S. officials claim one person has already taken advantage of the program and that other migrants have booked tickets. President Trump says those who don't take the offer and who are detained and deported will quote, "never get a path to come back in." But he's promising benefits to those who leave voluntarily.

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TRUMP: We're going to get them a beautiful flight back to where they came from and they have a period of time. And if they make it, we're going to work with them so that maybe someday with a little work, they can come back in if they're good people, if they're the kind of people that we want in our company, industrious people that could love our country. (END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: More now from CNN's Priscilla Alvarez in Washington.

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PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Trump administration on Monday announcing a new program, one intended to have undocumented immigrants in the United States self-deport. According to the Department of Homeland Security, this would include a one-way airline ticket and also a $1000 stipend.

According to senior Trump officials, this would still be more cost effective. They say that arresting an individual, detaining them and deporting them can cost the administration around $17,000 and a ticket and a stipend would be less than that. They also teased incentives down the road saying that it's possible that someone who is undocumented now and leaves voluntarily may have a chance of returning in the future.

Now, immigration attorneys say it's more complicated than that and many cases are unique. There's also the question of travel documents and what would happen for someone who doesn't have one even if they want to return to their home country. Now, it's also in many ways a concession of how difficult it is to deport undocumented immigrants.

That has been true for multiple administrations as the federal government deals with limited resources and personnel. The administration intent on trying to see through President Trump's mass deportation pledge now offering another way for undocumented immigrants to leave the United States.

Priscilla Alvarez, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Some of President Trump's latest economic plans once again have heads spinning. Hollywood was rocked when he announced his intention to impose a 100 percent tariff on movies made outside the U.S. A lack of clarity over how that would work and what it would cost quickly led to concern across the industry. On Monday, the president said no final decisions have been made and that he would go back and consult with the industry.

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TRUMP: Hollywood doesn't do very much of that business. They have the nice sign and everything's good but they don't do very much.

A lot of it's been taken to other countries and a big proportion and I'm actually going to meet with some because you know there's some advantages I guess and I'm not looking to hurt the industry. I want to help the industry.

(END VIDEO CLIP) CHURCH: The uncertainty sent shares of major entertainment companies tumbling on Monday, including Warner Brothers Discovery, CNN's parent company.

Tariff concerns are hitting other industries as well. Mattel, which makes Barbie dolls, told the "Wall Street Journal" it plans to raise U.S. toy prices.

And tariffs on cars and some auto parts went into effect over the weekend. Automaker Ford says tariffs will cost the company $1.5 billion this year, though it expects only modest price increases for buyers.

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Still, the Trump administration continues to insist better trade deals are coming soon.

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SCOTT BESSENT, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: I think we're very close to some deals. As President Trump said last night on Air Force One, maybe as early as this week.

I am highly confident that we have 18 important trading partners. We'll put China to the side. The 17 other partners, many of them have approached us with the very good trade proposals.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Justin Wolfers is a professor of economics and public policy at the University of Michigan. He joins me now from Ann Arbor. Good to have you with us.

JUSTIN WOLFERS, PROF. OF ECONOMICS AND PUBLIC POLICY, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN: Good day Rosemary.

CHURCH: So President Trump says that new trade deals could be announced this week, but he and his administration have been saying that for three weeks now, and we haven't seen a deal yet. So the markets ended down Monday. How will they likely respond if no trade deals are announced this week or next?

WOLFERS: You know, he's also been telling us for 10 years he has a health care plan, terrific health care plan is coming next week or it's coming in two weeks.

Then we had infrastructure week, which happened every second week for I think four years. So I think I'm a little less surprised than others might be that we're yet to see a trade deal.

Look, the reality is a trade deal, a real trade deal takes a couple of years to negotiate. You've got to hammer all sorts of things out.

There's politically sticky stuff with governments on one side or the other side. What he's going to have is a single piece of paper with a few bullet points on it. And we're all meant to take his word for it.

Now, of course, that single piece of paper the bullet points will come after he's taken existing trade agreements, ripped them up and torn them in shreds and thrown them on the White House floor.

And if the gossip is anything to go by, it sounds like India might be the first cab off the rank. Terrific, lovely country, lovely people. That's the U.S.'s 12th biggest trading partner, accounting for 2.5 percent of American trade, leaving the other 97.5 percent completely in the air.

CHURCH: So President Trump said on Air Force One Sunday night that he sets the tariff deals, he makes the trade deals, and he insists China's deal will come down at some point. But President Xi Jinping is heading to Russia this week for a meeting with Vladimir Putin. So what does that signal in terms of when a tariff deal might be made with China?

WOLFERS: Well, I'm not very good at geopolitics, but I want to tell you how an economist thinks about this. Trump is right to say that at some point there will be a deal with China. You know, it's not going to be 145 percent tariff forever.

So I don't know if it's, you know, and he's sitting by the phone waiting for Xi to call. That's the current White House position. Now, I'm told actually the White House is capable of outgoing phone calls as well.

I'm not sure why he won't avail himself of that possibility. But the way an economist thinks about this is one day there's going to be a deal. That might be in six months, might be in 12 months, might be in three months.

Between now and then, all trade between the two countries, essentially all trade is going to be cut off, which means that businesses are going to have to reorganize their production.

They're going to have to reorganize their supply chains and so on and so forth. And it's incredibly expensive. It may even cause a recession in the United States in order to get to that outcome.

So here's the efficient thing to do. And here's, listen up, Mr. President, figure out what that is and then make that deal today instead. And then we can avoid all the pain along the way.

CHURCH: You mentioned the R word on weekend T.V. talk shows, President Trump said the economy is okay and dismissed concerns his trade and tariff policies could lead to higher prices and even conceded that a short term recession is possible. What could that mean? And how does the U.S. economy actually look right now?

WOLFERS: The U.S. economy right now is on a precipice, which is the day that Donald Trump took a baseball bat to the global economy was so-called Liberation Day, that was April 2. We don't have any hard data for what happened after April 2. We know the economy shrank in the first quarter, but we know that jobs

have continued to grow throughout. There was an April jobs report, but really many companies were reporting on their headcount in March.

So we still don't have a real glance at what's happening around the corner. But I want viewers to recognize that the two most recent recessions we've had, which were the pandemic, and before that, the global financial crisis were both unusual. They're unusually rapid.

We saw the pandemic shut the whole world down overnight. We saw the collapse of Lehman Brothers basically cause Wall Street to freak out overnight. What normally happens is a slow build and a slow roll.

So those who are looking for everything to be resolved in the next month or two, you need to shake that habit and realize that this is going to be a play that plays out throughout the rest of 2025.

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CHURCH: And what do you expect to come out of the Federal Reserve meeting this week?

WOLFERS: Nothing.

Nothing for a very good reason. Jay Powell has been very clear about this. He said, I could go and make monetary policy based on a guess about what the environment will be, what the president will do. I'm not going to indulge in that guess, because I'm just better off waiting and finding out what's going to happen from the White House side. And then I'll respond after that.

So in many respects, Jay Powell is like most American businesses right now in a holding pattern, doing nothing, watching the White House, and eventually the White House will sort stuff out. And then he, like the rest of America, can get back to business.

CHURCH: Justin Wolfers many thanks for joining us. I appreciate your analysis.

WOLFERS: A pleasure, Rosemary.

CHURCH: President Trump will welcome Canada's Prime Minister to Washington today. It's Mark Carney's first visit to the White House since he took office in March. The two are expected to focus on tariffs and the U.S.-Canada relationship.

Carney broke tradition by visiting Europe instead of the U.S. on his first official foreign trip. His Liberal Party won elections in Canada just last week, keeping him in the role of Prime Minister.

The cardinals are in place and the conclave will begin on Wednesday. Still to come, we'll tell you about the lengths the Vatican is going to ensure total secrecy during the vote to select a new pope. Back with that and more in just a moment.

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CHURCH: All 133 cardinals who will vote to elect a successor to Pope Francis are now in Rome ahead of the conclave that starts on Wednesday, according to the Vatican. The conclave begins with a single ballot on the first day. After that, four ballots will be held every day until a pope is chosen.

Italian state media says mobile phone signals will be deactivated and signal jammers will be used in the Vatican. All cardinals will also have to give up their phones and electronic devices, part of an effort to ensure complete secrecy during the conclave.

Well this conclave will be crucial in deciding the future direction of the Catholic Church. During his pontificate, Pope Francis chose cardinals more representative of the worldwide church.

Our Jeremy Diamond has more on one of them.

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JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the old city of Jerusalem, the faith of Jesus Christ endures. Outnumbered by Jews and Muslims, a small minority of Catholics carry on 2000 years of religious tradition. And for the last year and a half, they have been led by Jerusalem's first cardinal, Pierbattista Pizzaballa.

The late Pope Francis elevated the 60-year-old Italian to the rank of cardinal one week before the start of the Israel-Hamas war. He is now considered a dark horse candidate for pope, after the conflict thrust Pizzaballa into the spotlight.

CARDINAL PIERBATTISTA PIZZABALLA, LATIN PATRIARCH OF JERUSALEM: As pastor, you have to denounce what is going on. You cannot remain silent, just to say go and pray. Of course, you have to pray, but also you have to say a word, a clear word as much as you can, but without becoming part of the struggle, of the fight.

DIAMOND (voice-over): In the first days of the war, Pizzaballa made international headlines when he said he would take the place of any Israeli hostage. Reactions were largely positive, but not everywhere.

PIZZABALLA: In the Arab world, not that much. Why for the Israeli children and not for the Palestinian children?

My answer was also for them already. No problem. The question was there.

I didn't think. I mean, I was very naive at that moment.

While you are seeing this message, I am in Gaza.

DIAMOND (voice-over): Like Pope Francis, Pizzaballa has been an outspoken critic of the war. He has visited Gaza twice since October 7th, where a tiny Catholic community struggles to survive.

In many ways, the conflict has come to define his time as cardinal. And in frustration, he admits it has even led him to ask God, where are you?

PIZZABALLA: Then I come to myself, I understand. The question should be, where is man now? What we've done of our humanity? We cannot consider God guilty of what we are doing.

DIAMOND (voice-over): He bought food aid from Jerusalem's Muslim community, stored it with a Jewish company, and brought it into Gaza.

PIZZABALLA: I see in this sea of darkness a lot of lights everywhere. And this is what gives me hope.

DIAMOND (voice-over): In his role as the cardinal in Jerusalem, he has spoken with Israeli leaders and Hamas officials.

PIZZABALLA: In this moment, my impression is that the institutional leaders are in a way paralyzed by their role. The lesson I see here is that faith and power don't go well together.

If you want to be free as a religious leader, you have to be independent from any kind of power. Economical power, political power, social power, whatever. And we are not there now.

DIAMOND (voice-over): Born in a small village in northern Italy, Pizzaballa has spent most of his life in Jerusalem, at the crossroads of culture and conflict. He says his faith has helped him through the loss and desperation of the war that surrounds him.

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PIZZABALLA: Faith is the only thing you can grasp, you can have in order to keep alive a little light in your life. But also faith is a way to transcend yourself, to go beyond yourself.

DIAMOND (voice-over): Rome is the heart of the Catholic Church, home to the Vatican and the Pope. But to Pizzaballa, Jerusalem is the heart of Christianity itself.

PIZZABALLA: In Jerusalem, you don't see this power, you see the wound of our division, but at the same time also the call and the desire for unity.

DIAMOND (voice-over): Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Jerusalem.

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CHURCH: Moscow and Pyongyang are continuing to strengthen their military ties. Coming up, a closer look at the impact of North Korean troops on the front lines in Kursk.

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CHURCH: Welcome back to "CNN Newsroom." I'm Rosemary Church. Let's check some of today's other top stories.

The U.S. Defense Secretary is calling for significant cuts to Pentagon leadership. Pete Hegseth plans to slash the number of four-star generals and admirals by at least 20 percent, according to a memo obtained by CNN. Hegseth wrote that the cuts are a critical step toward removing redundancies.

The Trump administration is freezing billions of dollars in federal research grants to Harvard University. It's the administration's latest effort to demand changes from the school amid a clash over federal funding, academic freedom and campus oversight. Harvard is suing for the release of federal research funds already being withheld.

Music mogul Sean Diddy Combs appeared in court on Monday as jury selection began in his federal criminal trial. He told the judge he was a little nervous as lawyers questioned potential jurors. Combs has pleaded not guilty to five charges, including sex trafficking, he faces up to life in prison if convicted on all counts.

Russian officials say a Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow forced several of the city's airports to close. So far, Moscow's mayor says there have been no reports of serious damage or casualties. However, emergency services are working to clear down drones from roadways.

Joining us now live from London is CNN's Clare Sebastian. Good morning to you, Clare. So what more are you learning about this attack on Moscow?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Rosemary, this is the second straight night that we've seen drones attacking Russia, including Moscow. This night, the defense ministry says 105 drones were shot down over multiple different regions, making it the larger of these two consecutive nights of attacks. About a dozen airports had to temporarily introduce flight restrictions, including four in Moscow.

So some significant disruption there. Though, as you say, damage is pretty limited. No reports of casualties in any of these regions, as of yet.

But I think if we look at recent commentary and past Ukrainian drone attacks, destruction isn't always the point here, given that we had comments over the weekend from President Zelenskyy saying that he couldn't make any guarantees to foreign leaders heading to Russia's Victory Day celebrations at the end of this week, given that Xi Jinping, the Chinese Premier, is set to arrive in Moscow on Wednesday. I think this is quite likely designed to send a message, and we haven't heard anything officially from Ukraine as of yet.

But look, this is one way that Ukraine can embarrass Russia, can undermine its sense of security, can undermine its efforts to use the Victory celebrations to build public support for its war in Ukraine. And as Ukraine tries to call on its allies, especially the U.S., to ramp up pressure on Moscow to agree not to a three-day ceasefire over Victory Day, but to a 30-day ceasefire, this is one way I think Ukraine can take matters into its own hands.

Rosemary?

CHURCH: All right. Our thanks to Claire Sebastian joining us live from London with that.

Well Ukraine says its troops still have a presence in Russia's Kursk region and hold a buffer zone in the border areas. Last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that his forces had defeated the Ukrainian incursion there, and they were aided by troops from North Korea.

CNN's Will Ripley has more on that.

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WILL RIPLEY, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was the worst-kept secret of the war in Ukraine. For months, North Korea and Russia denied teaming up on the battlefield, even as the evidence and casualties began piling up.

[03:30:04]

Ukraine said they had a hard time capturing North Korean soldiers alive, claiming they blew off their own faces with grenades, choosing death over the risk of exposing the mission, then seemingly out of the blue.

UNKNOWN (through translator): Comrade Kim Jong-un decided on our armed forces participation in the war and informed the Russian side.

RIPLEY (voice-over): North Korean troops in Kursk honored on state T.V., praised as selfless warriors, shedding blood to defend a brother nation. Kim Jong-un invoking a rarely cited mutual defense clause, saying Russian territory was under attack, and North Korea answered the call.

RIPLEY: What other reasons would there be for both of them to reveal this essentially at the same time?

SHEREYAS REDDY, LEAD CORRESPONDENT, KOREA RISK GROUP: Right now, the Trump factor is perhaps paramount. They've got a strong alliance. They have some leverage.

RIPLEY (voice-over): That leverage may have come at a cost. Ever since Kim and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed sweeping military pact in Pyongyang, U.S. and South Korean officials say at least 12,000 North Korean troops have been rotated into Russia. South Korea's National Intelligence Service estimates 5000 North Korean casualties, including at least 600 deaths.

RIPLEY: Even in a country with such restrictions on information, North Korea wouldn't be able to hide that many casualties from its people. REDDY: Definitely not. And that may have been a big factor in why they

had to come clean.

RIPLEY (voice-over): CNN obtained handwritten battlefield notes from a dead North Korean soldier, revealing early days on the ground filled with loyalty, but not clarity. Diaries from two captured North Korean soldiers revealed many didn't know where they were or why they were fighting. The North Koreans even carried notes about using soldiers as bait in a drone attack.

But Ukraine says the North Koreans are learning fast in real time, mastering drone warfare, artillery coordination, 21st century battlefield tactics, more valuable and deadly than decades of military drills.

There's even talk of North Korean soldiers marching in Russia's Victory Day parade next week. Whether or not Kim shows up, the message to Trump is clear. North Korea is no longer on the sidelines.

Will Ripley, CNN, Taipei.

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CHURCH: Multiple explosions have erupted in Port Sudan on the Red Sea. These images show huge plumes of heavy black smoke billowing into the sky, as well as fires.

According to Reuters, there's no word yet on the cause of the blast. This is happening near Sudan's main maritime port, where hundreds of thousands of displaced people have sought refuge from their country's civil war and what's become the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

Aid agencies and government ministries, aligned with the army, have set up their headquarters in the coastal city. Until recently, it had been relatively untouched by attacks.

And we'll be right back.

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CHURCH: Welcome back everyone.

Two weeks after the deadly massacre in Indian-administered Kashmir, tensions between India and Pakistan appear to be escalating. Pakistan reportedly carried out a second missile test on Monday. India ordered new security drills and multiple major airlines have stopped flying over Pakistan.

The U.N. Secretary-General is urging both sides to show restraint, warning, quote, "a military solution is no solution." CNN's Nic Robertson made a rare trip to the line of control separating the two nuclear powers. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): High in the Himalayas, Pakistan's army is taking us deep into disputed Kashmir toward the line of control, the de facto border with India, and one of the most militarized conflicts in the world.

Tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbors, rising since a terror attack killed 26 civilians, mostly Indian, almost two weeks ago. Militaries on both sides readying for possible escalation as India blamed Pakistan and Pakistan denied responsibility.

It's a war of words. Civilians on both sides of these rugged mountains fear, not for the first time, will be victims of events way beyond their sway. Control of the towering peaks unresolved for 75 years.

ROBERTSON: Just driving through the mountains here, it's easy to understand why Kashmir is still a disputed area. So hard to fight a decisive war in this rugged terrain.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): The other thing you see here is poverty, meagre villages clinging to the hillside. People here say the spiking tensions making it harder to eke a living, as we're about to find out.

On foot now, the village we're heading to, a few hundred feet from the line of control.

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ROBERTSON: And just look over there, you can see how close the front lines are. That's the last Pakistani position there, the Indian army position a few hundred meters away. Are those trees? That's the line of control.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): When we arrive, most villagers clustered around one house, some hiding in the dark inside, children peeking from unglazed windows.

This villager telling us they live in fear now. Elderly children and women are incredibly scared, he says. We want to take our livestock out to pasture, but the Indians are right there in front of us and we're very concerned.

Their fears may be well-founded. This 17-year-old says Indian troops killed his father, Malik Farooq.

He had gone to the line of control to chase our cattle, he says. The Indians shot him and accused him of being a terrorist. He is not, he is a good man.

The day after the massacre in Indian-administered Kashmir, the Indian government announced it had foiled a terror plot killing two Pakistanis.

Malik's brother denies the allegations too, says he was just a herder like me. Believes India wants their land before breaking down in tears.

India's done a great cruelty to us, he says. If they want me to leave, put a bullet in my head, that's the only way I'll go.

With no end in sight on both sides of the border, civilians as ever the losers in this decades-old conflict.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Sajeewa, on the line of control in Pakistan- administered Kashmir.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: With this decades-long conflict showing no signs of resolution, there's no shortage of grievances and accusations being levied on both sides of the border. Officials in India have long accused Pakistan of backing armed groups and separatist forces inside the Indian-administered portion of Kashmir. Pakistan says this was true in the past but is not happening now.

With the killings of 26 civilians still fresh in the minds of many across the border and calls for revenge, it's no surprise that global powers, including the U.S. and China, have stepped in to urge restraint in this tense standoff.

And thank you so much for your company. I'm Rosemary Church. Have yourselves a wonderful day.

"Marketplace Middle East" is next, followed by "Amanpour". Then stay tuned for "Early Start" with Rahel Solomon, starting at 5 a.m. in New York, 10 a.m. in London.

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