Return to Transcripts main page
CNN This Morning
Two Dead in Florida State University Shooting; Peace Not Possible in Ukraine; Abrego Garcia to Remain in El Salvador; Trump Comments about Homegrown Criminals; Judge Rules in Google Case. Aired 6:30-7a ET
Aired April 18, 2025 - 06:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[06:30:00]
ERIC GARCIA, AUTHOR, WE'RE NOT BROKEN: CHANGING THE AUTISM CONVERSATION": Does not diminish the fact that many autistic people do have high support needs, that they do have significant requirements for accommodations and they need full funding.
But to hear the idea that they're responsible for the destruction of their families, or to hear them being described in such dehumanizing language is heart-wrenching. And it basically makes them worry what the top public health official in America thinks about them and sees them as something to be changed, or something that is a mistake.
AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: Eric Garcia is the Washington bureau chief at "The Independent." You can read his book, "We're Not Broken: Changing the Autism Conversation."
Coming up on CNN THIS MORNING, President Trump is taking on the Federal Reserve chairman. Will the president's pressure campaign on him take the heat off the tariff turmoil?
Plus, new this morning, Secretary of State Rubio warns the U.S. is running out of patience when it comes to ending Russia's war on Ukraine.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:35:56]
CORNISH: Good morning, everybody. I'm Audie Cornish. Thank you for joining me here on CNN THIS MORNING.
It's half past the hour. And here's what's happening right now.
Senator Chris Van Hollen, successful in his quest to meet with Kalmar Abrego Garcia. He has been detained in an El Salvador super prison. Now that country's president insists that the Maryland dad will not be returned to the U.S.
And at least 58 people confirmed dead and more than 120 injured following U.S. airstrikes on an oil port in Yemen. That's according to the Houthi militant group. U.S. Central Command said the strikes were aimed at cutting off revenue to the Houthis and not to harm civilians.
And a doctor who operated on those injured in the shooting at Florida State says the victims are in good spirits and doing well this morning. He says they are expected to make a full recovery. Even those with serious injuries.
We're going to talk more about that shooting. Two people did lose their lives in Thursday's attack on campus in Tallahassee, Florida. So, police say the shooter is an FSU student. One witness tells CNN about the moment shots rang out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCKENZIE HEETER, WITNESSED FSU SHOOTING: He missed, longer distance and turned to his car and grabbed the handgun out, the pistol. And he turned towards the union. And that's when I saw him shoot a woman in purple scrubs in the back - in her back. And I just started running. I ran a mile all the way to my apartment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: We're joined now by CNN's Ivan Rodriguez. And, Ivan, can you start about the state of the investigation?
IVAN RODRIGUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Audie, good morning.
Well, we have to go back to yesterday. Hours after the shooting took place, we know that authorities were going through a crime scene, which we were told really encompassed a large area. They were also conducting multiple witness interviews to try and get a better idea of the timeline and what led up to that shooting.
Right where I'm standing is the student union building. This is the area where that gunman began firing at victims. Before then, you could picture students going about their day here. Some of them even lounging here on the grass, all before that gunman opened fire.
We're also learning a little bit more about who this gunman - alleged suspected, the shooter, is, Audie. He's a 20-year-old FSU student. His name is Phoenix Ikner, I should say. And officials have also confirmed that he is the son of a Leon County sheriff's deputy, and that he also had access to his mother's gun. That gun that he used, at least one of them we know, is his mother's old service weapon. And we were also hearing from the Leon County sheriff here yesterday, who gave us a little bit more of an idea of who his mother is. And we know that she's been with the department now for more than 18 years and has served well, the sheriff said.
And we've also seen a multitude of images come out since yesterday, many of them on social media. One that really stood out to me, Audie, was a picture that was seen of a pile of desks barricaded in front of a door. And in that picture you can really just sense the desperation that students had. And just one example of what they must have felt during that time.
CORNISH: That's CNN's Ivan Rodriguez. He's reporting from Tallahassee. You'll be able to see more of his reporting today.
I want to turn to some international news, specifically the war in Ukraine. When Donald Trump was on the campaign trail, he frequently made this particular promise.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: That is a war that's dying to be settled. I will get it settled before I even become president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Well, Inauguration Day has, of course, come and gone. Now, three months later, it seems like the Trump administration might be the one on the verge of giving up. Here's Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaking to reporters just hours ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARCO RUBIO, SECRETARY OF STATE: We need to figure out here, now within a matter of days, whether this is doable in the short term. Because if it's not, then I think we're just going to move on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[06:40:02]
CORNISH: These comments come one day after Rubio and U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff met with European and Ukrainian allies, and they presented a peace plan that received a, quote, encouraging reception.
Group chat is back. We're going to do a little international now.
And there are some who benefits from a delay because some people would say Russia is going to say, sure, you've run out of patience, great for us.
Tiffany.
TIFFANY SMILEY (R), FORMER WASHINGTON SENATE CANDIDATE: Yes, I mean, well, let's - let's back up a little bit and say, the only reason that we are in this position to begin with is, you know, you look back at the failed departure out of Afghanistan. That emboldened the evils of this world, emboldened Putin to even take on Ukraine. So, Trump is now in a position where he's cleaning up the mess from the previous administration. You know, President Biden drug his feet on getting weapons and just drug this out to the point where it is now.
So, President Trump will - is, obviously, the master negotiator. He's working also on making sure that this deal works for the American people, whether we can mine rare minerals -
CORNISH: But I think he's talking about patience.
SMILEY: Right. CORNISH: Dragging something out versus not dragging something out. You think that there is a limit to patience?
SMILEY: No, I think President Trump will get the deal done. I think they're working day and night. This is the first 100 days of his presidency.
CORNISH: Yes.
SMILEY: He's been working fast and furious. And he has made it very clear -
CORNISH: But not in the next - we just want to kind of address Rubio. It sounds like they're saying, look, short term, maybe not.
SARA FISCHER, CNN MEDIA ANALYST: I just think back to that really chaotic Oval Office meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Donald Trump. And the message that was being sent there was that we are running out of patience here.
I hear that echoed in Marco Rubio's statement. They came a long way to get to the point where they are this close to a deal.
CORNISH: Yes, came a long way very quickly, we should say.
FISCHER: Very quickly.
CORNISH: Yes.
FISCHER: I was shocked. So, I think now what you're seeing is the same type of tactic moving forward, which is, you need to move fast, Ukraine, or else we're going to lose patience. This is just sort of the deal-making process that you're seeing with the Trump administration.
CORNISH: Yes.
FISCHER: Quickly, though, the one thing that's interesting to me, Rubio being the person coming out with this message. Do you remember him during that meeting, Audie?
CORNISH: Yes.
FISCHER: He was sitting there slumped, not saying a word.
CORNISH: He was.
FISCHER: Now he's the spokesperson? How the cards have turned over.
NAYYERA HAQ, HOST, SIRIUSXM: Well, because he was, when he was a senator, one of the people who was advocating for pushing back against Russia. And from what I recall, the invasion of Ukraine is blaming on Russia. Regardless of what you think about whether or not the United States helped as much as it could or couldn't, this is a war that was started by Russia and their invasion of Ukraine.
CORNISH: Yes.
HAQ: But the pressure right now that the Trump administration is putting on is on the Ukrainians, right, to settle this. Really, at the end of the day, Russia could just stop. That would be easy.
CORNISH: It's interesting, for the point you made about Rubio, because for a time I thought, if Witkoff isn't there, is there really a deal? Like, I wasn't totally sure what Rubio is doing or if he was on the things they didn't have time to be focused on.
FISCHER: Yes.
CORNISH: Is that a bad - I've heard that perception.
FISCHER: Remember that tension between Rubio and Musk, right? I think that Rubio wants to step into this role and make sure that he has power. This is the most - one of the most important international diplomacy things that we're dealing with right now as a country.
CORNISH: Yes.
FISCHER: Of course he wants to be the spokesperson, the person who's up front managing it, because in the past I think he was taking too much of a backseat and he didn't like feeling disempowered.
CORNISH: There are still Republicans who are concerned about how the Trump administration is treating Ukraine. And there are still republicans who are concerned about Ukraine itself. It's an intraparty conversation about the nature of the U.S. role in the world. So, where - where - what happens now? Do they get to speak up, or do you think they've pretty much been shunted?
SMILEY: Who, Ukraine?
CORNISH: No, the Republicans who are pro-Ukraine?
SMILEY: No, I don't think so. I think everyone's voice is - is open at the table. But look, we have to get to a deal. And I think what we're seeing is a little bit of a pressure campaign to get this deal done.
Zelenskyy did not have a good showing when he came to the White House at all. And, you know, he was talking to the American people, who have given that country tons - millions and millions and millions of dollars. So, no, I think Trump's laser focused on getting a deal done that works for the American people.
CORNISH: What are you going to be watching for, Nayyera, in the next couple of days? Because we're running out of time. What are we looking for?
HAQ: Yes, I - the truth is that it's - I'm not sure what they're running out of time is based on. Is it just based on whether or not we, you know, Trump has the attention span for this because this is a war that Ukraine is fighting for their livelihoods and for their land. And there's been zero pressure on Russia to do anything or pull back or make any concessions. It seems to be that Ukraine is being blamed for being the victim.
CORNISH: I want the group chat to stick around. We're going to talk more in a bit.
But first, straight ahead on CNN THIS MORNING, a judge rules that Google has built an advertising monopoly. Will that change the way we search online?
Plus, why the Menendez brothers will have to wait a little longer in their bid for freedom.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:48:55]
CORNISH: Maryland's senator, and Democrat, Chris Van Hollen says he finally got to meet face to face with Kalmar Abrego Garcia. The senator posting this photo on social media before returning home overnight. El Salvador's president insisting the Maryland dad will remain in custody there.
And President Trump seems to be just fine with that. In fact, he wants El Salvador to build even more prisons.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Homegrown criminals next. I said homegrowns are next, the homegrowns. You got to build about five more places.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: CNN legal analyst Elliot Williams is here. He's a former federal prosecutor.
And, Elliot, you're also here because sometimes there's just like legal news in the week that I need to process. And instead of texting you, I have brought you on.
ELLIOT WILLIAMS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: All right. I love it.
CORNISH: OK.
So, the homegrown citizen thing, a lot of people were talking about this week. You worked at ICE. What would that even mean? Is there some legal loophole that the rest of us don't know about?
WILLIAMS: No.
CORNISH: OK.
WILLIAMS: There is no legal loophole. And, you know, Audie, most questions, legal questions, political questions, reasonable minds can actually differ on policy, on immigration, even the affirmative action, abortion, all that business, people can fight about it.
[06:50:01]
There is simply no dispute, the Constitution forbids, and would forbid moving American citizens to foreign prisons. It just - where we knew that they would be tortured or mistreated in prison, that would violate -
CORNISH: That's the other element.
WILLIAMS: Yes.
CORNISH: Yes.
WILLIAMS: I would violate the 8th Amendment to the Constitution against -
CORNISH: But he also - so much of this legal conversation has been about bad people.
WILLIAMS: Yes.
CORNISH: So even as the - the aperture opens to people who are here legally, the - they are always talked about in their criminality.
WILLIAMS: Yes.
CORNISH: Which is true in some cases.
WILLIAMS: Yes. And they very well might be. And these folks might be gang members. They might be - they might have committed horrific acts. They're still entitled to basic due process and the protections of here it would be the 8th Amendment against cruel and unusual punishment. Full stop, it's just, everybody is entitled to basic rights, even folks we really don't like or don't want in the country perhaps.
CORNISH: OK, speaking of which, this is not a judgment. Harvey Weinstein's retrial is getting underway.
WILLIAMS: Yes.
CORNISH: Of course, he was accused of rape, among other sexual assault allegations, in the past few years. Lawyers asked the judge to let him spend his nights at a New York City hospital instead of jail for health reasons.
WILLIAMS: Yes.
CORNISH: So, help us understand this ask.
WILLIAMS: I find this whole story truly fascinating, partly because, you know, there's a few rights at play here. Number one, it's really hard to find him a fair jury because you need to find 12 New Yorkers who can credibly assess this individual's guilt or innocence. Now, he hasn't just been accused, he's been convicted in both Los Angeles and New York.
CORNISH: Right. Yes.
WILLIAMS: Now, the New York one was overturned. So, one, there's this question of the jury, but, two, he's old and quite infirm. Its tongue infection, weight gain, diabetes, apnea, coronary disease. He's in a wheelchair. And the question is, does he need to stay in Rikers Island, a notorious prison -
CORNISH: Yes. But the victims are asking -
WILLIAMS: Yes. Well, and that's the thing.
CORNISH: Why should you accommodate this person who they feel has violated.
WILLIAMS: Yes, and who quite possibly has, who's committed horrible things. But the question that the court needs to assess is, you have an elderly defendant. How do you secure the elderly defendant's presence in prison - or in court - in court every day in a manner that still gives him his rights as a defendant? But absolutely, there's a balance here because there are people who are survivors of horrific acts from one of the least sympathetic defendants probably in American history. So, it's a balance.
CORNISH: So, Coda (ph), to what seems like a random story, but Drake's lawsuit over Kendrick Lamar and performing "Not Like Us" at the Super Bowl, in which the song, of course, famously accuses Drake of being a pedophile.
WILLIAMS: Yes.
CORNISH: Why does this case continue?
WILLIAMS: Yes, why does it continue? It started over just the song and the lyrics of the song. But this is just - it's turned from a rap beep into a messy family dispute because the suit is not against Kendrick Lamar, it's against their parent company that they both share, Universal Music. It started over the lyrics of the song and their promotion of it, and the pedophilia allegations. He just amended a complaint earlier this week, I think just yesterday, adding the Super Bowl, saying that merely bleeping out the word pedophile suggests that they know its defamatory. He even -
CORNISH: And the defamation is the part of this, right?
WILLIAMS: Yes.
CORNISH: Like, he is trying to protect his reputation, again, public perception, that you are a bad or vile person can be damaging.
WILLIAMS: Absolutely. And defamation is making a reckless statement that hurts someone's bottom line or their reputation. And in the Super Bowl, Kendrick Lamar looks at the camera and says, say, Drake, I hear you like them young, and then bleeps out the word pedophile. The suggestion from Drake is, you knew you were defaming my character, Universal. This isn't about Kendrick Lamar. This is about your promotion of material that actually impedes my ability to sell your own records. And so, it's this love triangle.
CORNISH: Yes, power of public perception.
WILLIAMS: Yes.
CORNISH: Yes. It's a weird story, and it's oddly not going away.
WILLIAMS: Not going anywhere.
CORNISH: So, thank you for clarifying, Elliot, on this, what seems like a random mix, but actually very helpful.
WILLIAMS: Important, yes.
CORNISH: CNN legal analyst Elliot Williams.
Now it is 53 minutes past the hour. Here's a morning roundup. Some more of the stories you need to know to get going.
The Menendez brothers will have to wait until next month for a crucial hearing in the push for their resentencing. Thursday's legal hearing was delayed because of a disagreement over a risk assessment that was done by the parole board. Erik and Lyle Menendez are serving life sentences for killing their parents in 1989.
And the president lashing out at Fed Chairman Jerome Powell. The president is now publicly trashing Powell after unsuccessfully trying to pressure the Fed chair to lower interest rates.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRESET: I don't think he's doing the job. He's too late. Always too late. A little slow. And I'm not happy with him. I let him know it. And, oh, if I want him out, he'll be out of there real fast, believe me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: While speaking at an event in Chicago this week, Chairman Powell said the Fed would never be influenced by any political pressure.
And Easter will look different this year at the Vatican. Pope Francis is having the cardinals handle the major services as he continues his recovery from double pneumonia. He did make a surprise appearance Thursday at a prison in Rome, where he spoke to inmates.
And a showdown between the most powerful tech companies in the world and the federal government playing out this week in courtrooms.
[06:55:03]
First up, Google declared a monopoly in a ruling that could force owner Alphabet to sell off part of its ad business. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JONATHAN KANTER, CNBC CONTRIBUTOR: Google is coming up with the algorithms that determine the terms of trading, and then they're buying and selling on their own market in order to pump or - or - or de-inflate or deflate demand or supply at any given moment in time. These are basic principles that were violated, and the trust of the industry has been violated.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Meanwhile, Meta also facing a potential breakup. Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg taking the stand this week in a case that could force him to sell off Instagram and WhatsApp.
The group chat is back.
And in this Venn diagram, Sara, your circle is media and tech. So, I got to come to you first because you've been writing about the implications of the Google case in particular.
FISCHER: Yes.
CORNISH: Do you mind laying that out for us? Because there are some of us who still Google things.
FISCHER: Totally.
CORNISH: Like, what does this matter?
FISCHER: All right, there's two cases. And Google has now been found guilty in both. There's a search case, and the government is trying to get the judges in that case to force Google to divest its chrome browser. So, that's one thing.
Yesterday, a judge ruled that Google illegally abused its dominance in the advertising technology space. So, that's the second case. And they want Google to divest part of its ad tech arm.
Audie, I'd say this, when it comes to both of these cases, the ad tech one is less punitive than if they were being forced to divest Chrome. Chrome's -
CORNISH: Right. Being told, like, hey, ditch this product that's making you money.
FISCHER: It's the biggest ad - it's the biggest search browser in the world. Like, there's no comparison. But if you zoom out, what this represents is that you could cozy up to Donald Trump all you want. He is not involved in these court decisions. And at the end of the day, his DOJ and the FTC, which is taking Mark Zuckerberg and Meta to trial, they still want to break these companies up.
CORNISH: Yes.
FISCHER: So, despite the fact that these companies are going to inauguration, contributing to the - Trump's inauguration fund, cozying up, it's not -
CORNISH: Yes.
FISCHER: Doesn't mean that they're going to be let off the hook.
CORNISH: All right, let me take it to you guys, because this is where the politics are scrambled. You have antitrust Republicans who say, look, you got to break up the tech businesses for a variety of reasons, whether it be censorship, et cetera. You have famously, the, you know, FTC and SEC and people under the Bush - the, sorry, Biden administration, who also were like, look, we got to be more aggressive. So, help me understand what we might be looking at in terms of response, political response.
HAQ: I think we're looking at this idea of who can possibly benefit from the companies being broken up. Is that going to create more of a democratic information system space for Americans?
CORNISH: How interesting.
HAQ: Is it going to be more access for smaller businesses or other business opportunities? I mean Mark Cuban, a famous Democrat and advocate for anti-Trump, is also - was anti-Biden's FTC. So, businesses and billionaires will have a different perception of the opportunity than those who, frankly, just want to know that they have free access to information.
CORNISH: Now, Tiffany, you?
SMILEY: Yes, you know, it's interesting. These big tech, they literally control almost every aspect of our life politically, socially, economically. And I think there's new accountability under President Trump.
But it will be interesting. These cases will be interesting, especially with the Republicans kind of cozying up and in support of TikTok because Meta and some of these other places, they - they have a voice - they have a stance now to say, hey, you're - you're going to allow China to run freely. And here you're - you're going to come at us to break up.
But I think, you know, they'll - if they determine that they've, you know, broken their trust, then they'll break them up.
CORNISH: Yes, interesting point also because Mark Zuckerberg, in his Meta case this week, I think brought up TikTok, saying, like, that's a serious competitor here. You're calling us a monopoly.
FISCHER: Yes, these are just such different issues.
CORNISH: Yes.
FISCHER: Like, the TikTok thing is a national security issue.
CORNISH: Yes. FISCHER: The Supreme Court upheld a - the congressional ruling on that. This is totally different. This is, are you abusing your dominance in a particular market?
But I do think, big, big, big picture, when social media first became a thing, we all were celebrating it.
CORNISH: Right.
FISCHER: Oh, this is the best thing. These apps are free. They're making our lives great. We've come such a long way to now we have so much scrutiny on these types of companies.
CORNISH: Yes, the vibe shift.
FISCHER: And I will say, that vibe shift is kind of necessary because we're now entering an AI era, and these are the companies that are trying to take a leadership position in AI. So, having some form of accountability, regardless of what these punishments end up being, I think is a good thing.
CORNISH: OK, lightning round, keeping an eye on it. What are you watching for in the next day or two?
HAQ: Oh, well there's a case in Florida in which a U.S. citizen, born in the United States, has not only been arrested by ICE, he appeared before a judge in Florida, was waving his birth certificate, and the Florida judge said, I can't help you because of new state laws that don't allow the judge in Florida to undermine, quote/unquote, ICE.
CORNISH: OK.
HAQ: So, we are now looking at a case of a U.S. citizen being held by ICE.
CORNISH: I want to look into that. That's very intriguing.
HAQ: It's disturbing.
CORNISH: Yes. He was released, but I want to know more.
Tiffany Smiley.
SMILEY: Yes. You know, I wish there was good news out of Washington state, but I am keeping an eye on our activist supreme court, just ruled against 75 percent of the voters and the lower courts in allowing homeless encampments within 1,000 feet of parks, schools and playgrounds.
[07:00:05]
And I - I just think -
CORNISH: You're talking about Washington state, yes.
SMILEY: Washington state. We have to - we have to get back to common sense leadership and protecting our kids and not these dangerous - not protecting dangerous criminals.
CORNISH: Last word to you, Sara. What are you reporting on?
FISCHER: There's a two big court cases happening right now in the media. The AP suing the Trump administration and then former employees of the Voice of America also suing the Trump administration. The outcomes of those cases have big indications for press freedom. That's what I'm watching.
CORNISH: OK. Keeping an eye on it.
Thanks for the group chat. Thank you to you for waking up with us. I'm Audie Cornish and "CNN NEWS CENTRAL" starts right now.
