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CNN This Morning

Trump Calls Dealmaking with China Hard; Steel and Aluminum Tariffs Now in Effect; Trump Privately Complains about Supreme Court Picks; Elizabeth Renter is Interviewed about the Economy; Kelly Hyman is Interviewed about the Combs Trial; Trump Hosts Budget Bill Talks. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired June 04, 2025 - 06:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:30:50]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We don't want America's future to be built with shoddy steel from Shanghai. We want it built with the strength and the pride of Pittsburgh.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: A new set of President Trump's tariffs just went into effect overnight.

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

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

President Trump doubling U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum, which went into effect just a few hours ago. The number now stands at 50 percent. Now, while the import tax is getting support from the American steel industry, experts warn you can expect prices to go up on construction projects, cars, appliances and at grocery stores.

And the jury in the movie mogul Harvey Weinstein's New York rape retrial is expected to begin deliberations later this morning. It took the jury five days to convict him of rape in 2020. That conviction was overturned on appeal last year.

And today, aid distribution sites run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation will be closed for one day. The group's spokesperson says it's because of logistical preparations so that they can better handle the massive number of people arriving. It comes after three straight days of Palestinians being killed near the distribution sites.

And as the new steel tariffs kick in, President Trump expressing frustration there still isn't a deal with China. In the wee hours of this morning, the president posted on Truth Social, "I like President Xi of China, always have, and always will, but he is very tough, and extremely hard to make a deal with!!!" The White House suggested this week that there may be a call between Trump and President Xi to talk trade, but as far as we know, that hasn't happened yet.

CNN's Marc Stewart joins me now from Beijing.

Good morning, Marc.

And I -- President Xi isn't actually going to be pulled into like some Oval Office meeting to talk about any of this, right? So, what do you make of kind of how Trump is, in a way, publicly admitting that this is tougher than he thought it would be?

MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I'll tell you, Audie, I'm going to hold up my phone. I keep the ringer up very loud just in case, in the middle of the night, we get word that the two leaders have a conversation. That has still not come to fruition.

In fact, this is not the first time the White House has made overtures of a possible phone call between President Trump and Chinese Leader Xi Jinping. In fact, if we look at the beginning of Trump 2.0, at the beginning of his second presidency, after an agreement was reached on TikTok, he said that he would have a follow up call with Xi Jinping. And that still has not happened.

And as far as whether or not this will truly happen, it's not in China's way it does business. The one thing which I have picked up on from living here in China is that Xi Jinping and -- and the Chinese party, they prefer back-channel, diplomatic conversations. And then, once a deal is reached, a phone call would occur.

But obviously, we are seeing some snarls in this process. As we've reported before, there's been a lot of issues with the export controls that China has put on rare earth minerals, which are so important in making products like iPad, like EVs, even airplanes. So many different uses. That has still not come to fruition. So, that's -- that -- that's the sticking point right now, or one of the many sticking points.

It was just on Friday I talked to the former U.S. ambassador to China, and he said he felt this 90-day period was -- was rather ambitious. That it would likely have to be extended, this cooling off period.

CORNISH: The U.S. ambassador to China, David Perdue, the current ambassador, he actually met with the Chinese foreign minister yesterday, to your point about back-channels. Can you just give me, in a nutshell, in the time we have left, like, what is the state of the tariffs between the U.S. and China right now? Ten percent, 12 percent? Like, what's the number at this point?

STEWART: Right. I -- I think the number is a sliding scale. I mean, I think the one thing that China wants out of this is respect. That is not being told by the U.S. would -- it has to do.

[06:35:02]

They want -- the optics are going to matter. They want a deal that -- that looks equitable to them and to the United States.

But look, you mentioned the talks. We see these two leaders sitting side by side. I mean that was at 11:00 last night, and then 2:30 in the afternoon, when I'm having coffee, we get this -- this -- this post on Truth Social. So -- so -- so things are fragile right now. I don't know if it's about numbers as much as it is about principle and optics, Audie.

CORNISH: All right, that's Marc Stewart in Beijing. Thanks so much.

OK, entering the group chat because there is a Pittsburgh area code in the group chat. So, you care about these steel tariffs. And, you know, the notes I was reading is that basically there -- he's saying this is a good thing. And there are some people cheering it. What are your concerns?

CHARLIE DENT (R), FORMER PENNSYLVANIA CONGRESSMAN: Well, I think steel tariffs are a terrible thing. Being from a steel family, being from a steel community, there are going to be much more impacts on those who use steel. Even in places like Pennsylvania.

Just look at the headline in the Washington -- in "The Wall Street Journal" today, "tariffs are projected to slow U.S. growth, raise inflation." This is what we've been saying all along.

Now, Trump announced these 50 percent tariffs at the same time he was announcing the Nippon-U.S. Steel deal, which is a good thing. I'm glad he did that.

CORNISH: Yes.

DENT: To bring in fresh capital and technology from Japan so we compete -- American steel can compete better against China. But raising tariffs to 50 percent is going to harm those people who make the cars, who make the appliances, who make the machines. And the costs -- we will lose far more jobs among the steel users than we will save among the steel producers and steel makers.

CORNISH: Yes. It will be interesting who speaks up for it and who does not.

DENT: It is bad stuff.

CORNISH: OK, I want to turn to the Supreme Court because there is some reporting from CNN that President Trump is very disappointed with the supreme -- Supreme Court justices that he appointed to the bench. And sources say he is most upset with his most recent appointee, Justice Amy Coney Barrett. He feels like she's not sufficiently supported his agenda. He doesn't want to attack her publicly, though. And in March, after Barrett voted against Trump's plan to cut foreign aid, Trump declined to criticize her publicly then, too, telling reporters, she's a very good woman. She's very smart.

While the president has been privately complaining for more than a year about Barrett, as well as Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, you wouldn't know it from his public comments. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Because I withstood vicious attacks to pick and confirm three great Supreme Court justices, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett. Good people too.

I took a lot of heat. I took a lot of heat. A lot of hits. But we did the right thing. They're great people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: I feel like it's not a coincidence that, you know, CNN is getting this -- learning from sources about him being upset when he has taken legal hit after legal hit after legal hit in the last six weeks.

What's the sort of public sentiment among Republicans about the court?

KRISTEN SOLTIS ANDERSON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, let's also take a step back to how many of these judges got on the court. There is a lot of infrastructure on the conservative side that during Trump's first term helped propel a lot of these folks into these positions that Trump is now sort of complaining about his first term appointees not giving him the victories he wants, which, in my view, represents sort of a fundamental misunderstanding of what judges are supposed to do. Judges are not supposed to be loyal to any particular politician. Appointing someone a judge does not -- is not supposed to guarantee that they give you what you want down the road.

And so, I think it's going to be fascinating because, for the most part, if you think about those Supreme Court judges, those were huge victories for conservatives.

CORNISH: Yes, they were.

ANDERSON: I think about focus groups I've done where you will hear conservatives sort of complain about someone like Mitch McConnell, at the same time that my Democratic friends would view him as, he's the reason why you have this many Supreme Court justices.

CORNISH: Yes.

ANDERSON: That it's just the sort of thing where conservatives being appointed to these courts, these victories by getting them in these seats is not necessarily a victory that is being appreciated by Donald Trump and (INAUDIBLE).

CORNISH: Well, just to give you an example, right wing supporter and conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer has been bashing Justice Barrett in their conversations with Trump. I wouldn't normally quote this, but she posted that Barrett was a DEI hire last month.

EVAN MCMORRIS-SANTORO, REPORTER, "NOTUS": Well, I would say this. Look, the -- part of this is what makes the Trump administration extremely different. Part of it is what makes it the same. Let's start with the same.

A president being annoyed at his Supreme Court picks, not weird. Happened a lot of times. They hired you for a lifetime position. They put them on. They're going to be judges. They're not going to be your -- part of the administration.

CORNISH: But he calls them his court.

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: But I will say this, back -- you know, to Kristen's point, there was a time that Trump was seen as a vessel for another conservative movement. Get him in here so you can get the federal society judges on there. There are the federal society thinks (ph).

Now we're looking at a moment with Trump where Trump is like, no, I'm the movement.

CORNISH: Yes.

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: I don't want federalist society judges. I want MAGA judges. People that are going to do what I want to do. And that is sort of what the Republican Party is dealing with right now, is that you -- they got a lot of stuff from Trump, but now Trump is saying, no, but I want stuff, and that -- those things don't always sort of align.

[06:40:05]

CORNISH: Align. Yes.

OK, you guys, stay with me because we've got more to discuss today, and I want to turn to something else, OK? And, I know, it's a little early for a quiz, but here goes. What do you get when you combine rising prices, soaring personal debt, sky high interest rates? The answer is economic trouble. Because even though inflation is cooling, President Trump's tariffs are expected to trigger higher prices soon. High interest rates are also suppressing sales of larger goods.

And I was talking recently with the CEO of Klarna, the popular buy now, pay later service. He sees American consumers sinking further and further into debt.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEBASTIAN SLEMIATKOWSID, CEO, KLARNA: I would not recommend anyone to put a burrito on buy now, pay later, for clarity. But it is also partially because Klarna in the U.S. has become very associated with buy now, pay later.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: So, according to "Business Insider," the average credit card balance in America in 2024 was $6,730.

Joining me now to discuss, Elizabeth Renter, senior economist at NerdWallet.

Thank you for being here with us this morning.

ELIZABETH RENTER, SENIOR ECONOMIST, NERDWALLET: Thank you. Good morning.

CORNISH: So, I look at something like debt and credit card delinquencies when I look for sort of red flags in the economy for us, not for Wall Street. What do you look for?

RENTER: I absolutely look at delinquencies. So, to your point, consumer debt is rising. Across debt types, it hit $18.2 trillion in the first quarter. That's a huge number. However, if you look at the growth in consumer debt, it's a little bit more modest if you're controlling for inflation. What is concerning is the delinquency rates. And primarily the accounts that are moving into delinquency. So, newly delinquent accounts and newly seriously delinquent accounts are rising. And that could spell trouble for households.

CORNISH: And I'm glad you said across loan types because buy now pay later debt, sometimes it's not clear. They don't have to report all that to credit bureaus. And it's not clear how much debt there is sometimes.

At what point can personal debt become a destabilizing problem for the bigger economy, right? I'm thinking back to the housing crisis in 2008.

RENTER: Right. Well, I think that's -- that's the most obvious answer, right, if you're late on your mortgage and you have to foreclose. I don't see that in the -- in the data that we have available to us right now.

What concerns me primarily right now at a household level is credit card debt and that -- credit card debt. And that's because credit card interest rates are incredibly high right now and people are taking on more credit card debt. So, while they may be able to afford their payments now, the probability of having a late payment in the coming three months, that's another metric that's rising.

So, we do think consumers see trouble on the horizon. If they reach a point where they're having a difficult time making those payments, those high interest rates can really be a compounding effect and -- and make getting out of debt a significant struggle.

CORNISH: While we're talking about this, Congress is planning, in their bill, to make changes to the student loan program. These things may not seem related, but it means a lot of people may be hit with their debt repayment requirements or new rules very soon. Is that something that we should kind of keep an eye on?

RENTER: Yes, absolutely. That and the fact that student loan delinquencies are now being reported to the credit bureau. So, this is another type of debt that we're seeing increase in the official data as it's been tracked a little differently after we had, you know, the long forbearance and then -- then an on ramp period. So, these delinquencies are coming into the data now. And that will be an additional burden on households that have student loan debt, which is a considerable number of Americans.

CORNISH: Elizabeth, one more thing. You mentioned that social media sometimes can play into people's concerns about prices, the recession. How much should we pay attention to the people who are recession proofing their life online?

RENTER: You know, I don't think recession proofing your life is never a bad idea. Recessions happen. It's a business cycle. The cycle word implies that it will happen eventually. And so I think looking for the one thing or the things that you can control to sort of tune out the chaos that you're seeing in the headlines is always a good idea. Whether it's paying down your debt, bolstering your emergency fund, or revisiting your budget.

CORNISH: That's Elizabeth Renters, senior economist at NerdWallet. Thank you.

RENTERS: Thank you so much.

CORNISH: Still to come on CNN THIS MORNING, a brown paper bag stuffed with cash, a nondisclosure agreement. A hotel security guard explains how rap mogul Sean Combs allegedly tried to buy his silence to keep a damaging video private.

Plus, why a U.S. Navy ship named in honor of gay rights -- of a gay rights activist is now being renamed. We're going to have more from the group chat after this.

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[06:49:12]

CORNISH: The trial of rap mogul Sean Combs gets back underway in a New York courtroom in just a few hours. We're expected to hear testimony from a forensic video expert and another Diddy accuser. And this testimony comes just one day after a hotel security officer, Eddie Garcia, took the stand. He told the jury he was paid $100,000 by Combs to help make the now infamous hotel hallway video of Combs assaulting Cassie Ventura disappear. He said Combs told him, quote, "I sounded like a good guy, that I sounded like I wanted to help, that something like this could ruin him." And that "he was concerned that this video would get out and that it would ruin his career."

Eventually, Garcia turned over the video and signed a non-disclosure agreement. Garcia testified the payment was handed over, all in cash, in a brown paper bag, along with some advice from Diddy, do not make any big purchases with the money.

[06:50:03]

So, joining me now to talk about this, Kelly Hyman, trial attorney and host of "Unresolved: The Diddy Cases" podcast.

Thank you for being here.

So, this security guard stood out to me because he was testimony -- his testimony came with immunity. What were the concerns? Like, what could they have charged him with?

KELLY HYMAN, TRIAL ATTORNEY: So he was going to plead the fifth. And so you plead the fifth because of self-incrimination. You don't want to say anything that's going to harm you.

Now, what they could potentially charge him with was obstruction of justice. Also they could charge him with tax evasion and bribery.

So, let's go back to the story of what allegedly happened. He was working as a security guard at the Intercontinental Hotel. There was this video that CNN published of Diddy coming out in a -- a towel. He was hitting Miss Ventura. And so Diddy allegedly paid him $100,000 to make sure that the video went away.

So, in regards to bribery, taking money for something in exchange for doing something, obstruction of justice, for the fact that he was interfering, the security guard was interfering with a potential police investigation.

CORNISH: And instead, he testifies, and now prosecutors get to have something that contributes to their RICO charges, right? The idea that this is a criminal enterprise. Paying people off left and right would be one of those -- those operations of an enterprise.

HYMAN: Right. The -- what Diddy is charged with. He is charged with RICO. He's also charged with sex trafficking and transportation across state lines. This goes to the heart of the RICO charge. Because in a RICO charge, there's allegations that there was this criminal enterprise and that Diddy was the king pin of the enterprise.

CORNISH: Yes.

HYMAN: And so, based on these predicate acts, and these are crimes that must occur in ten years, such as extortion, such as bribery, obstruction of justice. And based on these alleged crimes that the prosecution assert that Diddy should be charged and convicted of RICO.

CORNISH: One more thing I have got to get in. There's going to be another accuser to take the stand under a pseudonym. It's a -- it's a Jane Doe. Is this a significant moment? What do you think prosecutors are doing here with her?

HYMAN: It's a powerful moment for a survivor, someone who represents women that have been sex trafficking and been human trafficked. This is powerful. And this goes to the heart of the sex trafficking charges and also the transportation across state lines. Jane Doe, is not her real name to protect her identity, allegedly is going to testify that she was Diddy's ex-girlfriend and that she participated in these freak offs without her consent, because that is key to go to the sex trafficking. The argument is that it was force, fraud, or coercion.

CORNISH: Right. Which is why they were showing Cassie's texts, maybe, of her speaking sweetly to Combs because they're trying to show that she was not coerced. And you're saying this new accuser is an attempt to sort of show a pattern maybe? HYMAN: Show -- absolutely show a pattern, but also to go to the other

charge of the sex trafficking charge as -- as well. Absolutely. But the defense argument is going to be that the person was a willing participant, that they agreed to do it. As you pointed out, Miss Ventura, there was text with her saying that she enjoyed these freak offs as well. But ultimately, it's going to be up to the jury to make a determination whether he is guilty or innocent. But it's important to note that in the Southern District of New York, the conviction rate is over 95 percent.

CORNISH: OK. Kelly Hyman, trial attorney, thank you for that data point.

And if you can't get enough of following the legal ins and outs of this trial, please check out the CNN podcast hosted by my friend Laura Coates, "Trial by Jury." New episodes are out almost every day wherever you get your podcasts.

It's now 53 minutes past the hour, and here is your morning roundup.

The wife and five children of the Egyptian national charged in the Boulder, Colorado, anti-Semitic Molotov cocktail attack are facing an expedited deportation. The State Department revoked their visas. CNN previously reported the family's U.S. immigration status as unclear.

And Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordering the Navy to rename a ship honoring murdered gay rights activist and Navy veteran Harvey Hilk. This is as June pride month gets underway. It's rare for a ship to be renamed. It hasn't happened on the order of the defense secretary in recent memory. We don't know yet what the new name will be, but that will officially happen later this month.

And the nuclear deal with Iran seems to be crumbling. Just a short time ago, Iran's supreme leader called out Americas, quote, "rude and arrogant leaders," saying they will not abandon their nuclear enrichment. That's a hard line for the U.S. president. Trump posting on social -- Truth Social earlier this week that the U.S. will not allow any enrichment of uranium.

[06:55:06]

And in just a few hours, Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee will be meeting at the White House with President Trump. They'll be trying to iron out issues they and other Republicans have with the president's big, but apparently not so beautiful budget bill.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JAMES LANKFORD (R-OK): We need to try to reduce spending as much as we possibly can.

SEN. MARKWAYNE MULLIN (R-OK): We want to make the bill better. And so, the House, like I said, they sent us a great framework. We don't plan on tearing down the frame.

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R-ME) :I'm still going through the issues that I see as problematic. I'm looking at the changes in education programs, like Pell grants.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: When NOTUS aske Senator Thom Tillis what he expects to come from the meeting, he said, a miracle.

The group chat is back.

The author of that story. Subtle description of the nuanced conversations at play. What -- what do you see in what's coming out of this?

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: Well, you know, I'm just harmonizing the great reporting from the NOTUS reporters all over the place (ph).

CORNISH: Yes, but a miracle.

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: Yes. I mean, look, this -- I think that there is -- there are a lot of divides and splits over this bill. Sort of what people actually want to see in it, how it's going to work. You know, these -- these various lawmakers who are worried about their elections next cycle, right?

But I will say this, we saw in the House a lot of this arguing, but Mike Johnson said we're going to pass it by Memorial Day. And they did. So, we'll see what happens in the Senate. But I don't think that anybody has told us directly yet that they're not going to vote for it.

But -- but I do think that that they do think it's going to be a lot -- take a lot of lift to get it to a place where they can.

DENT: Remember the only thing this reconciliation process is about is extending the 2017 tax cuts. All the other stuff, all the cuts, I don't think Donald Trump is particularly interested in it. All they want to do is extend the tax cuts. That is the complete and total motivation.

CORNISH: But don't you need the math to work to extend the tax cuts?

DENT: No, you don't need the math because what the Senate will do is they'll -- they'll say this, they'll call it current policy. In other words, that the -- the law is the law and that if you -- if it gets into the scoring, but it's current -- current policy.

CORNISH: Yes, yes, yes, we're now in accounting trick (ph) surgery (ph).

DENT: There's no impact on the deficit. They just -- that's what they're going to do.

CORNISH: Kristen, see, once you start explaining.

ANDERSON: Well, and see when, you know, back when we were in the wings just moments ago, I was showing them some of my polling that had shown, when you ask Republicans and you give them the choice, you have to rank, what do you care more about lower taxes or cutting the deficit, they tend to pick lower taxes, and that's probably what we're going to see in this (ph).

CORNISH: So that, to me, sounds like a messaging thing, because right now, when I think about how this bill is talked about, it's about cutting Medicaid. Like, I feel like if you ask the average person, they might think it's just a Medicaid bill.

ANDERSON: Well, that's what the Democrats' message is, or I think is the one that they're sort of coalescing around. I think Democrats have been --

CORNISH: Or like Republicans raising it doesn't help that, right, if you have a Hawley or --

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: Well, it does, in fact, cut Medicaid by a lot.

CORNISH: Yes.

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: So, I mean, it's also in the bill, right? I mean, we have some polling, actually some -- it's not -- I don't know if it's just up to stuff with your polling --

CORNISH: Yes, I know.

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: But we have some polling in the "NOTUS" newsletter the other today. Well, it's a Democratic -- you know, it's a -- it's an anti-bill coalition has done some polling. And, you know, they say that there's a lot of messaging that can be done on this. There's only a third of people actually have a strong opinion on this bill. Of that third, most of them don't like it. And when they get told what is in it and they -- and what these -- this group, you know, proclaims to be a neutral way, they don't like it because --

CORNISH: Yes.

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: Because it does a lot more stuff besides just cut taxes.

CORNISH: So, that's one thing we're keeping an eye on. I want to know what else you guys are keeping an eye on this week.

Kristen, can I start with you?

ANDERSON: Sure. So, I'm a proud Florida Gator, and there's a little bit of drama happening down in the sunshine state. The appointment of the next president of the university was put forward by the UF board of trustees, but it has to be approved by a statewide board of governors appointed by Ron DeSantis. This candidate, the now former president of the University of Michigan, was accused by those in Florida of being too progressive, of having been too lenient on protesters in the wake of --

CORNISH: Too woke. Just say woke.

ANDERSON: And -- well and -- and -- CORNISH: Yes.

ANDERSON: And that is part of why this board voted him down. So now UF has to re-begin its whole presidential search. This plugs into so many of the sort of tentacles around this whole debate over what does higher ed look like in the U.S. today?

CORNISH: Yes. Yes. For sure.

Charlie.

DENT: What I'm paying -- you know, usually the White House is very chatty on Truth Social, the president. And I'm waiting for the president's tweet or comments on Ukrainian -- Ukraine's very successful attack on all these Russian assets. I haven't heard --

CORNISH: Yes, which was all over social media. Like the -- yes.

DENT: I haven't heard anything from the president and also haven't heard anything from the president on, oh, Elon Musk's comments yesterday. Again, usually we get a reaction.

CORNISH: OK.

Evan.

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: Well, tonight is scheduled to be the first televised debate in the New York mayor's race. A really fascinating time in New York, where I live. Democrats are sort of fighting Democrats a lot right now.

CORNISH: Yes.

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: The lieutenant governor is running against the governor. You know, we -- a former governor is going to be on stage for the first time, really being televised. Cuomo in this mayor's race. It's a really fascinating election, and I'm excited to see the next phase and what happens now that it really gets in front of voters.

CORNISH: Yes, and interesting. I feel like New York has become some kind of weathervane about Democratic politics specifically. So, it'll be interesting to see what people talk about on stage.

[07:00:02]

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: Well, yes, it'll be interesting because mostly the way this campaign has been run is that Cuomo has not been seen that much in a lot of press events or, you know, taking questions. This is the first time we're going to see the -- like a real test of his campaign against other candidates.

CORNISH: OK. Appreciate all of you. You got me looking out on Truth Social now to see if Trump's going to say anything about this.

Thank you to the group chat. And thank you for waking up with us. I'm Audie Cornish, and "CNN NEWS CENTRAL" starts right now.