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CNN This Morning

Salena Zito is Interviewed about Arson at the Pennsylvania Governor's Home; Trump Says Tech Tariffs Will be Back in the Future; Trump to Host El Salvador's President; Trial Over Meta's Ownership of Instagram and WhatsApp; Sanders Speaks at Coachella. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired April 14, 2025 - 06:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:30:39]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think he's doing a fantastic job. And he's taking care of a lot of problems that we have.

We have some very bad people in that prison. People that should have never been allowed into our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: More migrants deported over the weekend to El Salvador's mega prison. Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the ten men were members of international gangs.

Good morning, everybody. I'm Audie Cornish. I want to thank you for joining me on CNN THIS MORNING.

It's half past the hour here on the East Coast. And here's what's happening right now.

The president of El Salvador will visit the White House. That's happening in just a few hours. He's a key ally in Trump's immigration crackdown. The administration has already sent hundreds of migrants to a notorious prison in El Salvador.

The Federal Trade Commission is looking to break up Meta. Today, a major antitrust trial is set to begin. A federal judge will decide whether the company can continue to operate Instagram and WhatsApp.

And some of earth's biggest celebrities are about to embark on a space launch like no other.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATY PERRY: Here on the New Shepard. I think I'm going to sing. I'm going to sing a little bit. I got to sing in space.

(END VIDEO CLIP) CORNISH: You might recognize that voice. Of course, Katy Perry and Gayle King among the six female passengers. Part of the Blue Origin space tourism launch. The flight is set to last about ten minutes. They'll get a chance to feel a few minutes of weightlessness while they're up there.

And right now, a 38-year-old suspect is facing arson and attempted murder and terrorism charges for allegedly breaking into the home of Pennsylvania's Democratic governor, Josh Shapiro, and setting it on fire while the governor and his family were asleep inside. The home suffered significant damage. Shapiro, his wife, their four children, two dogs, and another family were all safely evacuated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. JOSH SHAPIRO (D-PA): Hear me on this, we celebrated our faith last night proudly. And in a few hours, we will celebrate our second Seder of Passover, again, proudly. No one will deter me or my family or any Pennsylvanian from celebrating their faith openly and proudly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: We're going to bring in Salena Zito, national political reporter for the Washington - Zito, sorry, Salena Zito for "The Washington Examiner."

Sorry about that.

SALENA ZITO, NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER, "WASHINGTON EXAMINER": No worries.

CORNISH: I want to find out what more you're learning about what happened.

ZITO: Well, as much as we know right now is that a man has been identified and arrested. His name is Cody Balmer. He is from Harrisburg. Not far, actually, from the governor's mansion on Front Street. And that he somehow got over the fence. I'm assuming he climbed. That's the sort of indication that we were given by the state police lieutenant colonel. He got into the residence. The - the state police, as they said in the press conference yesterday, he was able to elude them momentarily, just long enough to get into the residence, set those fires - he had his own homemade incendiary devices - and then get out. They found him later on that day. I'm going to make the leap that they probably had cameras that were able to identify him and see his face. And no - there hasn't been an affidavit, at least there wasn't late last night, as to what all the charges are, but I suspect it's going to be something that's associated with terrorism and arson and probably much more severe charges.

CORNISH: One of the other things people are talking about, because, as the governor said, it's Passover.

ZITO: Yes.

CORNISH: And the concern that this is an act of anti-Semitism. What is known, if anything, about the suspect or his possible motives?

ZITO: There are - you know, there are - there are some scatterings of his -as of last night, his Facebook page was still, you're available to go through it. But there really, you know, it is hard to make a conclusion. But, you know, it - look, he did it just hours after the governor posted a photo of his - his family table setting for Passover.

[06:35:02]

The governor has never been shy about talking about his faith, other faiths, and how important it is in his life. You know, Governor Shapiro is known to be a great political athlete in terms of, he knows how to respond well. He has handled crisis situations, whether it was the catholic church prosecution back in - when he was attorney general, or I-95 when it collapsed two years ago.

However, this is a completely different situation. This involves his family. It is clear that he was targeted. And there's a responsibility as a parent. I'm sure there's - any parent out there that can - that can understand how this feels. Your children are there. Your wife are there. Your other members of your family are there. And you have to protect them. And I think this made him feel incredibly vulnerable.

CORNISH: Salena, thank you for your insights here. Appreciate your time.

Now, I want to talk about what happened over the weekend in terms of tariffs. The Trump administration announced a pause specifically on those charges related to smartphones, other tech that might be on your wish list. But the tech industry celebration over a tariff pause might be short lived. So, in a social media post, President Trump says, nobody's getting off the hook and hinted at another tariff announcement on those very products coming soon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The tariffs will be in place in the not distant future because, as you know, like we did with steel, like we did with automobiles, like we did with aluminum, which are now fully on, we'll be doing that with semiconductors, with chips, and numerous other things. And that will take place in the very near future.

You have to show a certain flexibility. Nobody should be so rigid. We will - you have to have a certain flexibility.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: OK, group chat is back.

I'm going to kick it off with you, Stephen, my Sunday night read, because you were actually writing about the stakes in this tariff conversation right now. You know I'm learning that a majority of Americans believe tariffs are going to raise prices over the short term. CBS had some new polling looking at the president's approval on his handling of the economy. And those numbers are kind of upside down from where he was in term one, which you've mentioned a bunch of times.

So, what's different about this week to you? Why are the stakes different?

STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: I think we've gotten to this situation whereby every time the administration does something that seems to reverse their previous tariff policy, they tell us, well, that was the plan all along. And this - this is the case again with this. These tariff exemptions came in on Friday. It seemed - late at night on Friday, by the way. It seemed that the - perhaps the president didn't like the perception that he'd backed down. So, then he came out and said, well, there's going to be new tariffs on these products in the future. This will get to the uncertainty.

I think what it does is, it takes away from the main point here is that he's set off this confrontation with China, the world's second largest economy upon which we rely for all sorts of goods, for pharmaceuticals and everything else.

CORNISH: Yes.

COLLINSON: And he doesn't seem to be able to way - find a way to get them to the table.

The allies are coming, and they want to do deals, supposedly, with the United States. China has its own political reasons why it doesn't want to be seen to be bending to - to a U.S. president. So, I think in the couple of days ahead, can they get China to the table before this really hurts the U.S. economy.

CORNISH: Right. Americans also, I think, are 50/50 on whether Trump does have - your nodding. You know this. People have some - they're not sure if this is like crazy like a fox situation or a crazy situation.

SHELBY TALCOTT, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, "SEMAFOR": Yes, right. And again, as you said, we've heard the administration say - you know, I remember Peter Navarro, the other day, was on TV saying - after saying that this was not a negotiation, he said, well, this was the plan all along.

CORNISH: Right. Never mind Elon Musk kind of dissing Navarro online repeatedly.

TALCOTT: Exactly.

But I think, you know, I think this does hint at the administration recognizing that their tariff policy is going to affect Americans perhaps more than they had publicly alluded to. And you're seeing them consistently sort of shift, both on messaging and on exactly what they're going to do with the tariffs as they -

CORNISH: Yes, you can't do like a, you break it, you bought it with the economy, I think. That's a little harder. TALCOTT: Exactly.

MARGARET TALEV, SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR, "AXIOS": And the president's branding is as a populist leader. And, I don't know, $3,000 iPhones, populism, it's hard to see how those two things comport. If you try to flip a switch and make everything made in the United States, you get $3,000 iPhones, which, you know, most people can't afford the iPhones that they already have.

So, I think - I look at it this way. Usually when a decision gets rolled out in the middle of the night on a Friday night, it's not something that a -

CORNISH: You're proud of.

TALEV: An administration is trying to draw attention to.

CORNISH: Yes.

TALEV: They're like, let's just get this done. And you wonder, like, that first week of the inauguration, why are all the tech leaders falling all over themselves to be by the president and show that they are supportive of him, give all this money to the inauguration.

[06:40:08]

Apple lost more than $600 billion, almost $650 billion in market value after those tariffs were first announced. This pulls it back. I think Stephen's right, the idea that there could be more coming, it's, I think, mostly meant to offset the fact that they dialed them back. But it is whiplash trying to follow it.

CORNISH: OK, you actually just took my breath away with this number. We have to process this for a minute. Stay with me. We've got a lot more to get to this morning.

I want to go back to international news for a minute and that meeting at the White House with El Salvador's leader. He's a top ally in the Trump administrations immigration crackdown. That's happening in just a few hours.

El Salvador President Nayib Bukele will sit down with President Trump for a meeting that could reshape the region's politics. Ahead of that meeting, it's worth taking a closer look at how Bukele and his model of governing actually works.

He's incarcerated nearly 2 percent of El Salvador's population, suspended civil liberties and militarized security. And this has dramatically reduced crime, but at the expense of human rights.

Gustavo Valdez joins me now. He's a correspondent with CNN Espanol.

And, Gustavo, good morning. I want to start with this Bukele model. How popular - what is it? How popular is it?

GUSTAVO VALDEZ, CNN EN ESPANOL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. So basically what he did is he came and said that the whole country

needed to be reset. He established a - basically suspended some laws that allowed him to go after the gangs, the maras (ph), how they are known in El Salvador. And he's been successfully stopping the crime, building these huge jails where he's placed anybody who they find to be associated with a gang, to the point that they often tout how few crimes happened in El Salvador on a daily, weekly or monthly basis.

This has turned El Salvador into a safe place. The citizens like their policies. They feel safe going out at night. It - but it has come at a cost to civil liberties, as many civil rights groups have pointed out over the past few years that civil liberties have been suspended. Many people have been detained without due process. The government defends their actions, saying, well, if somebody is innocent, they can prove it in a court of law and we'll correct that.

But it's been a model that, at least for this small country of El Salvador, has worked. And it's where the United States, Donald Trump, in his second or third presidential campaign, saw a model that they thought they could follow by sending the migrants they consider a threat to the United States, they found a place where they can say, here, they're going to house them in these high security prisons. We're going to make them pay, keep them from coming.

So, I think what's going to come out of the White House today is a reinforced message from both presidents. One, we're going to keep sending people we think they're a threat to the United States. And for Bukele, he's going to say, look, our policies are working and they are being rewarded.

CORNISH: Any chance we're going to hear anything about the migrant who was wrongly deported?

VALDEZ: Well, like we heard earlier, this is going to be on the White House. Bukele is only housing the people Trump, the White House, say they need to be housed there. They're paying him $6 million to do that. So, it's not like Bukele is going to say, here, here's this guy that the Supreme Court said has to come back. I don't think he believes that is his place. He's housing the people sent to him. And if the White House requests a return, perhaps that's when he can free the man to be returned.

CORNISH: All right, Gustavo Valdez, thank you so much for this context ahead of today. I appreciate it.

Still ahead on CNN THIS MORNING, Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump taking center stage this weekend. What their appearances at Coachella and UFC, respectively, say about the state of our national politics.

Plus, police in Wisconsin making a disturbing discovery during a double murder investigation.

And we're going to have more from the group chat after this.

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[06:48:36]

CORNISH: Today, a major trial that will determine the future owner of your Facebook and Instagram apps. That trial is set to begin. The Federal Trade Commission is looking to break up Mark Zuckerberg's tech giant, Meta. If they're successful, the company could be forced to sell off some of its most popular services.

Joining me now, CNN media analyst and "Axios" media correspondent, and my personal fave, Sara Fischer.

Welcome.

SARA FISCHER, CNN MEDIA ANALYST: Hey.

CORNISH: Welcome to the morning.

So, this has been cooking for a long time. What are the legal arguments that the government is making? What is Meta saying?

FISCHER: So, the Trump administration, the first term, is the one that brought the suit to bear. So, that's an important thing to know.

What they allege is that Meta illegally abused its dominance in social media by acquiring smaller companies and squashing the competition. Basically, you acquire them so that they can't grow and beat you. So, those two companies, Instagram, they acquired that for $1 billion in 2012, which is crazy, Audie, considering the fact that Instagram is now more than half of Meta's revenue. We're talking tens of billions of dollars annually. And then WhatsApp for almost $20 billion two years later.

Meta argues, we did nothing wrong. We did not abuse our dominance. We acquired these companies legally. FTC, you approved those acquisitions more than a decade ago.

CORNISH: And there's plenty of competition, they say, right?

FISCHER: Exactly.

CORNISH: Like, we're still competing.

FISCHER: Exactly.

CORNISH: Here's the thing. "The New York Times" wrote this story titled "tech CEOs spent millions courting Trump. It has yet to pay off." And, of course, we have seen Mark Zuckerberg speak very disparagingly of the sort of Meta and Facebook of the past.

[06:50:03]

People think he's trying to curry favor with Trump, getting rid of DEI policies.

So, what are we looking at with that relationship? I think some people thought maybe Trump might even somehow step in. FISCHER: So, you have this weird dynamic, Audie, where you have these

tech companies who are sucking up, but behind the scenes, we talked to sources at the DOJ and at the FTC, they're not planning on going easy on these companies. Like, they still want to break these companies up.

I think, though, that this is helping them. And I'll tell you why. Not only has Mark Zuckerberg done the things you said, he's going above and beyond every other tech firm. And Donald Trump clearly wants to have a sway over these independent agencies.

Look at what he just did a few weeks ago. He fired the two Democratic independent commissioners on the FTC.

So, I think it's going to help Meta. I think that the government has a long way to go to prove this case. But ultimately, if - there's going to be a lot of compelling witnesses here. If the government feels as though Meta is guilty, we'll go into another trial. That will determine what the sort of remedy or punishments might be. And if Meta's forced to divest these companies, oh my gosh, it would change the entire tech landscape.

CORNISH: Yes, you said forced to divest.

FISCHER: Yes.

CORNISH: Which is hard to picture. Here's the thing that's complicating this for me. For a time you had J.D. Vance and a lot of Republicans who were, like, big tech needs to be broken up. Their moderation policies are censorship. We don't like these guys, and we actually, like, they had praise for the Biden era FTC.

FISCHER: Yes.

CORNISH: So, help me make sense of this. Like, Trump removing the Democrats and this case still going forward. I can't tell who's at an advantage here.

FISCHER: So, when the conservatives thought that the tech companies were censoring them, they were all about punishing them. But then, let's revert back to what republicanism really is, right? It's getting rid of big government. It's taking government away from business. And so, it's not really a conservative argument to want to break up these companies.

And that's where I think a lot of the switch has been. I think a lot of republicans want to hold these companies to account for things like content moderation. But to actually go that step further and break them up is a whole nother ballgame.

CORNISH: OK, people are going to be watching this because a lot of people do their business through Instagram and Facebook.

FISCHER: Oh, my God, millions of businesses.

CORNISH: Yee, exactly.

Sara, you are my fave. OK, thank you so much.

FISCHER: Thanks, Audie.

CORNISH: Sara Fischer, CNN media analyst, media correspondent for "Axios."

All right, so it is almost ten to the hour. Want to give you your morning roundup. Some of the stories you might need as you're getting your day going.

So, a teen was charged with killing his parents in Wisconsin and is now being accused of a plot to assassinate President Trump. Investigators say the 17-year-old killed his parents two months ago so he could fund his mission to kill the president. The FBI says the teen holds neo-Nazi views, and the plot was part of a desire to create a political revolution.

And 34 people confirmed dead in Ukraine, another 117 wounded after Russian airstrikes. Ukrainian officials say at least two ballistic missiles hit the city of Sumy during a busy holiday Sunday. The strike is the deadliest attack against civilians in the war this year.

And new this morning, the tour company that operated the sightseeing helicopter that plunged into the Hudson River last week will be shut down immediately. The FAA announcing Sunday it is also launching a review of the company's license and safety records. Six people were killed in the crash.

And former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin's retrial against "The New York Times" set to begin today. Originally she sued the paper for defamation, but a jury found that Palin didn't prove actual malice, which is the legal standard she had to meet because she's a public figure.

And finally, Senator Bernie Sanders and President Trump were both taking a break from Washington, D.C., but not from politics this weekend. Both men showed up at venues which could not be more different. Saturday night, Senator Sanders appearing center stage at Coachella after holding a rally in downtown Los Angeles. President Trump was taking the spotlight in south Florida, becoming the first sitting president to attend a UFC event.

So, group chat is back to talk a little bit of culture, because, first, let's talk about Bernie-chella, which is what Clairo, the singer/songwriter who brought him on stage, called it. She's 26. And sharing your stage at Coachella is kind of a big deal, and to bring him before this audience. What's significant about this moment?

TALEV: Well, there are two brands of populism in the country right now, and one is led by President Trump and the other is led by Bernie Sanders, AOC and Max Frost, which is the kind of group that's been on tour. But I think you see Sanders messaging here to younger Americans, progressive Americans. And you remember in the old days, if people booed when they said an opponent's name, like someone like Obama would be like, don't boo, vote. Sanders just said -

CORNISH: Yes.

TALEV: They booed, and he said, I agree.

CORNISH: Right. Right. It was a very different vibe.

I want to play some sound of kind of what these back-to-back interactions sounded like.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Every one of them came up at the end and they were great. I mean, they're all warriors. You know, they're modern day warriors.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): You can ignore what goes on, but if you do that, you do it at your own peril. We need you to stand up, to fight for justice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[06:55:09]

CORNISH: What's interesting thing about this moment is not just that amazing shot of Bernie's hair blowing in the wind, but the fact that that's going to launch a ca-billion TikTok's, I think, which is part of the point. While Trump is the first sitting president to be at UFC, he goes constantly. He has been a fight guy since the '80s. He and Dana White are best buddies in terms of combat sports. So, he's always been in that space.

But Coachella doesn't have like a podcast row of left wing bros there. So, like, what, is this a one off? Do you guys see something being built?

TALCOTT: I think -

CORNISH: Shelby, you're young. You're supposed to help me here, OK.

TALCOTT: I'm not that -

TALEV: You're young compared to us.

TALCOTT: I'm not - I'm not Coachella young, but -

CORNISH: Oh, OK.

TALCOTT: But I will say, I -

CORNISH: I think the blazer gave you away.

TALCOTT: I - I think it's - I do think it's kind of a one-off. I don't see, for specifically Coachella, becoming somewhere where -

CORNISH: But could any other Democrat - could a Democrat, I shouldn't say any other, Bernie's a - is an independent. Could you picture another Democrat in that space? TALCOTT: Yes, I think I could picture like an AOC going there. But

again, is it going to sort of boost the Democratic Party back into, you know, a focus where they have a ton of young voters focusing on them? No. I think that they have to do more. I think you have to sort of follow the model that the Republican Party did, which was not only go to those UFC fights and go to sporting events, but they also went on all of these different podcasts that were targeting towards young men. They have to find their own sort of niche. Maybe a part of that in Coachella.

CORNISH: But it was embedded in the culture. That's where it feels different.

TALCOTT: Yes.

CORNISH: I feel like the right wing move from right wing pod - from right wing radio, as we knew it, to podcasting was a very natural evolution. What is the evolution elsewhere?

COLLINSON: Yes, I mean, I've been to many Bernie Sanders rallies, and you actually -

CORNISH: I thought you were going to say you've been to many Coachella. I was, like, tell me more, Stephen.

COLLINSON: No. No, I've no - I'm not even completely sure what it is. But, anyway. But there are a lot of young people at Bernie Sanders rallies.

CORNISH: Yes.

COLLINSON: He does appeal to the kind of student lefty bloc of voters. So, I don't think it's -

CORNISH: And even not students.

COLLINSON: Yes.

CORNISH: Yes.

COLLINSON: I don't think it's that much of a stretch. And it's interesting that both of these politicians style themselves as fighters. Bernie Sanders has always talked about fighting for the values of the working class.

CORNISH: Yes. And the tour is called Fighting the Oligarchy.

COLLINSON: Right.

CORNISH: Yes.

COLLINSON: And UFC is a way of understanding the politics of the smash politics of Donald Trump. So, I think they're both being actually authentic to themselves. And that's something that voters do look for.

CORNISH: You know, what's interesting is, when I think about Democrats, they have been traditionally preoccupied with the college educated, especially with young people. You would talk to a Democrat, like, if you're on the campaign trail and they start talking to you about student loans. But right now we're in the midst of this moment where universities are facing this backlash, who are facing cuts in funding. The war in Gaza also created a cultural backlash as people, kind of, the public basically kind of hit back at these students in the way they talked about Gaza.

And so, it feels like, I don't know if there's a policy, right, that you could appeal to someone who's not in college, even some of these voters in the horseshoe, the Bernie/Trump horseshoe.

TALEV: Yes. I don't know if it's about the policy. I think it's about the emotion. That's what you really see him tapping into there. Younger voters want young people to run for office, except Sanders, who's 83. They're like, you go, Bernie.

CORNISH: Or maybe they just want authentic people. Like, are they convinced by, sorry, Gavin Newsom podcasting, because I want you to podcast, but it feels like it's not being thought of the same way?

TALEV: Well, I mean, Sanders is, like, a movement leader. He's an activist. And if - when you are young, you are inspired by people who speak a truth that resonates with how you're feeling. And he's tapping into that. And Trump is also a very emotional leader. He taps into emotions.

I really do think, although they believe in very different things and speak to different constituencies, there is a common element in that constituency. And what he's trying to do is get younger Americans who are not always engaged in the political process excited.

CORNISH: Yes.

TALEV: Either excited about being against Trump or excited about being for Democrats. Whatever gets the job done from his perspective.

CORNISH: OK. In our last minute, what are we keeping an eye on? Shelby, let me start with you.

TALCOTT: I am keeping an eye on which country is going to be the first to make a deal with the U.S. on tariffs.

CORNISH: My bet's on Vietnam, which said that it wanted to do zero tariffs.

TALCOTT: Perhaps - I can tell you it's probably not going to be China. A hot take.

CORNISH: Fair. Fair.

TALCOTT: But, I think, you know, El Salvador could be it. I also think Japan is one to look at. I asked Secretary Bessent last week what they were looking for, and one of the things he pointed out was that pipeline deal. So, I think that's key in the administration's mind.

CORNISH: OK.

Stephen.

COLLINSON: The Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, is here this week. She's one of these leaders that are trying to balance between Europe and Trump. She's a populist. The administration started to talk about, maybe we could get the allies together to help us against China.

CORNISH: The European allies, right.

COLLINSON: But a lot of these allies are not really sure if they're actually U.S. allies anymore.

CORNISH: OK.

Margaret.

[07:00:01]

TALEV: I'm giving you a bonus Monday.

First one, FCC chairman images went viral over the weekend because he was wearing a gold Trump bust pin in the place of what might be a flag pin. Are we going to be seeing more of this? The White House is denying that they're telling it to happen. You can buy a cheap-o version for $8 on Amazon.

Also going to be watching for Mr. Garcia, who's being held in El Salvador, what happens.

CORNISH: And whether or not - yes.

TALEV: Does - how does the administration return him without admitting that they had to?

CORNISH: All right, you guys, thanks for the group chat. Thanks for waking up with me. Thank you for watching. I'm Audie Cornish. And "CNN NEWS CENTRAL" starts right now.