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Connect the World
China Gives a 90-Day Pause on Reciprocal Tariffs; E.U. Pauses Retaliatory Tariffs; Amazon Cancels Orders for China-Made Products; France Could Recognize Palestinian Statehood; Israeli Air Force Reservist Fired; Ksenia Karelina Released in Deal; Dominican Republic Nightclub Deaths Rises Above 200; Major Tarifs on Pharmaceutical Imports; Using A.I. in Killer Whale Conservation. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired April 10, 2025 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[10:00:00]
CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to our second hour of "Connect the World." I'm Christina Macfarlane in London where global
markets have been reacting after Wednesday's huge gains. Stocks in New York are lower as investors feel the impact of Donald Trump's tariff turnaround.
The Israeli military has fired Air Force reservists who signed a letter saying the IDF is fighting for, quote, "political purposes without military
gain." We'll bring you more from Tel Aviv. And more than 200 people are now confirmed dead in the Dominican Republic after the roof of a nightclub
collapsed. The search for survivors continues.
Well, next hour the White House will hold a cabinet meeting to hash out how it will move forward on trade policy. The U.S. claims it had explicit
offers on deals from about 15 countries. That news, of course, follows President Trump's abrupt decision to put what he calls as reciprocal
tariffs on hold for 90 days. That is for everyone except China. Instead, he upped levies on Chinese goods to 125 percent.
Well, meantime, the European Union has announced it will pause countermeasures against the United States for the time being to make room
for negotiations, but warned that if talks are unsatisfactory, the block will move forward.
Well, CNN's Anna Stewart is here joining us in London to discuss. So, Anna, after the huge highs of the surge in markets yesterday, it seems it's back
to reality today on Wall Street opening just half an hour ago. What are you seeing across the board, especially after the announcement there from the
E.U.?
ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. So, looking at U.S. markets, they have opened lower 2 or 3 percent. And actually, there were expectations
just a couple of hours ago for the markets to open even lower. And I think it was actually some pretty good inflation data in terms of the U.S. for
March that has pulled it back from where it could have been.
I think you're right. I think this is reality really sinking in here. There was a bit of jubilation yesterday, a real relief rally. Honestly, it was
quite extraordinary to watch. What we're seeing now is perhaps investors realizing that the trade war is not over. There is a huge trade war now,
particularly between China and the U.S.
The tariff level at this stage is ginormous, and then you have to consider that 10 percent tariffs are still existing for other countries, and this is
just a pause and there is a lot of policy uncertainty. So many flip-flops in U-turn from the U.S. administration it's hard for investors to know
really what to expect next and how to position themselves in that sort of environment.
It's very interesting that we are seeing very little movement actually in terms of the 10-year U.S. bond. This was a metric that even concerned the
U.S. president. He said he was watching it yesterday and the U.S. dollar fell sharply against major currencies.
J.P. Morgan is one bank that has said that their recession outlook, which they raised from, I think, 40 percent to 60 percent has not changed as a
result of the 90-day pause. So, recession fees -- even if you look at the oil price, which is down significantly today, recession fees are very much
still there, still baked in. And I think that is what we're seeing in the U.S. markets.
Europe though, Christina, looking much more positive, 4 or 5 percent. They didn't have the relief rally, of course, yesterday because the news of the
pause came after the markets closed. There is, of course, hope that the E.U. will strike some negotiations here. They are also pausing on their
reciprocal tariffs. This was on steel and aluminum. They were only announced yesterday. They're going to hit the pause button.
But the E.U. commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said, if negotiations are not satisfactory, our countermeasures will kick in. So, a
little bit of a warning shot there.
MACFARLANE: Yes. And as we know, the Trump administration have been trying to spin this pause as a win. But in what you're saying, Anna, really, in
reality, not much has changed since that U-turn yesterday. Anna Stewart for -- there for us. Thanks very much.
Now, I want to bring in Corey Brettschneider in New York. He's a Brown University professor and author of the book, "The Oath and The Office: A
Guide to the Constitution for Future Presidents." Thank you so much for joining us, Corey.
Well, look, I mean, as we consider what went into that decision made yesterday by the Trump administration, Americans have been looking at the
chipping away of their 401(k)s. The fact that this -- all of this is about to hit them hard, you know, in the price of commodities and everyday goods
and on the horizon, the Republicans have an election in 18 months' time. How much do you think that might have been playing into this decision to
reverse course?
COREY BRETTSCHNEIDER, BROWN UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR AND AUTHOR, "THE OATH AND THE OFFICE": Well, there's no question that much of what the president has
done has not hurt him with his base, but when it comes to your pocketbook and you look in your 401(k), and many of Americans, of course hold stocks
through their 401(k), that's a direct implication, and he is really taking the lead in saying that I'm responsible for the American economy.
[10:05:00]
And so, the worry was that this was going to impact his base. I think he doesn't care much about those who didn't vote for him, but he certainly
does care about the core supporters.
MACFARLANE: And there's also been some movement illegally as well, a growing sort of right-wing backlash to Trump's tariffs. We've seen a number
of legal challenges put forward over whether he has the power to enact these sweeping changes. Where do you see those lawsuits going as a test of
his executive powers?
BRETTSCHNEIDER: Well, it's part of a -- I wouldn't call them right-wing. I think what you're seeing is a coalition starting to forum of people on the
left, moderates, and now increasingly, traditional conservatives, I've called them, who are worried about what really amounts to increasing
dictatorial powers by the president of the United States.
In our system, unlike the British Parliament for instance, the president has an enormous amount of power. And what Trump is trying to do is
aggrandize that power to crush both any power really of Congress or of the courts.
And so, now that we've moved from just the civil liberties questions, for instance, the deportations, the shutdown of free speech, of universities to
economic matters, those who are being impacted are starting to say, wait a second, maybe the rationality of this president extends to economic
matters. And Congress has the ability and should push back. And it could say, for instance, that we're revoking the powers that we gave you under
various laws, some of which were passed in the 1970s, to enact these tariffs and we're reclaiming this power for ourselves.
Of course, this new coalition is also looking to challenge Trump in court because one of the arguments is that he doesn't have the power under, for
instance, an emergency statute, that this isn't a true emergency. But really the most straightforward way to limit the president -- or wannabe
authoritarian president is for Congress to wake up and start to act.
MACFARLANE: Yes, whether they will or not, I guess is another question. Bear with us, Corey. I just want to turn to another issue we saw on
Wednesday, obviously a dramatic day on Wall Street, filled by the president's surprise moves in trade. But investors who followed the
president's early morning advice to buy saw massive gains after he rolled back key tariffs later in the day.
Now, at 9:37 a.m. Trump posted on Truth Social, quote, "This is a great time to buy." Or just after 1:00 p.m. Trump announced a 90-day pause on so-
called reciprocal tariffs for all countries except China.
Now, the Dow Jones closed almost 8 percent higher by the end of trading. The NASDAQ and the S&P 500 also posted significant gains. However, those
market moves have raised an eyebrow from Democratic Senator Adam Schiff who is asking whether anyone in the administration profited from insider
knowledge. Take a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): I'm going to be writing to the White House also to find out who knew about this most recent change in tariff policy.
Because we want to find out whether people are insider trading on the basis of knowledge about this move or that move on tariffs. So, we're going to
try to find out who was aware of this in advance. Was anybody aware about this in advance?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: Well, a lot of questions in the aftermath of this. And two key business community allies told CNN the presidents had not yet made the
decision to pause the new tariff rates when he was posting on social media on Wednesday morning.
Corey, I want to bring you in to discuss this. So, what do you make of the timing of all this, the possibility of foul play within Trump's circle?
BRETTSCHNEIDER: Well, I think that the senator is right to be worried that it's weird timing, to say the least. And of course, it's a crime to trade
on non-public information that somebody has gotten, for instance, through private access to the president of the United States.
So, the suspicion is there. We don't have the evidence yet that people knew about this and acted on it. Certainly, if anyone did do that, it would be
incumbent on the attorney general to seek charges and a criminal investigation. But the worry is that right now the attorney general is a
Trump loyalist and so won't pursue charges against the president's close allies, even if a crime was committed.
And to get to the bottom-line story here, over and over you're going to hear this over the next four years, but the colossal disaster, that was the
Supreme Court led by Justice Roberts in the immunity decision, saying that even former presidents are immune in their artificial duties and certainly,
it's likely that sitting presidents are immune from prosecution. That's a get out of jail free card.
So, when you see the president acting in a way that looks reckless, to say the least, and might even be, depending on what this investigation shows
criminal, the immunity decision shields him from any prosecutions, even if he didn't have a loyalist in that position as attorney general.
So, we really are in a dangerous way in the United States right now with the president of the United States really acting recklessly, possibly
committing crimes. I've called this a criminal presidency based on the multiple indictments or indictments before he became president related to
January 6th and other matters.
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Now, you see him -- and I don't think it's a coincidence, the incentives are there to continue to commit crimes while in office, because if you hand
somebody a get out of jail free card and they're criminally inclined, that's what they're going to do. So, I want to see this investigation
continue. And there is a remedy here. It's not just the criminal law, there is the impeachment proceeding. And increasingly, as this president acts
incompetently, and as you said before, we see resistance even from conservatives, that possibility, which is not real now might become more
real in the future.
MACFARLANE: Yes. And we will wait to see in what form that investigation takes as was outlined the Democrats are planning. There was a pretty
dramatic moment as well. You know, as all of this U-turn got announced on the Hill, Jamieson Greer was being grilled by Congressman Steven Horsford
yesterday. It's worth playing a snippet of this. Just take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. STEVEN HORSFORD (D-NV): The trade representative hasn't spoken to the president of the United States about a global reordering of trade.
JAMIESON GREER, U.S. TRADE REPRESENTATIVE: Yes, I have. I've just been in the hearing with you, sir.
HORSFORD: But yet, he announced it on a tweet. WTF. Who's in charge? Is this market manipulation?
GREER: No.
HORSFORD: Why not? If it was a plan, if it was always the plan, how is this not market manipulation?
GREER: It's not market manipulation, sir.
HORSFORD: Well, then what is it? Because it sure is not a strategy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: The U.S. trade representative very quick to be questioned there on market manipulation. But this also speaks to a broader problem,
and frankly, one we have seen throughout this entire tariff process over the last week, of a breakdown of communication within the team.
BRETTSCHNEIDER: Yes. I mean, look, this is an erratic presidency. Normally, you would have a baseline of rationality that would go into, for
instance, calculating these tariffs. And one speculation that The New York Times and others have made is that the tariffs not only weren't done
through serious economic analysis, but that they were done through some of these DOGE children, as I think we're calling them increasingly, young
adults to be more specific, using ChatGPT because nobody can understand how these tariffs were calculated.
So, that kind of erratic nature is going to filter into the various messages that you get from different members of this administration who
don't know what's going on. To really pull back, I have a podcast, "The Oath and the Office" that I've just launched because it's about the
obligation of a president of the United States, the first few seconds in office to take an oath to preserve, protect, and defend the constitution
and the law. And instead, what you have, as we've noted, is a criminal president. And that's going to trickle down in all sorts of ways, erratic
behavior. And that's what you're seeing in these economic matters.
MACFARLANE: Yes. Well, we will wait to see how not just this plays out economically, but how this plays out politically for Donald Trump in the
months ahead. But for now, Corey, we really appreciate you being with us. Thank you.
BRETTSCHNEIDER: My pleasure, as always. Thanks for having me.
MACFARLANE: And a quick programming note. Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will join CNN's "One World" today to talk about President
Trump's trade war. Don't miss that. That is at 11:00 a.m. in New York, 4:00 p.m. in London.
Well, tech leaders and their companies who donated to Donald Trump's campaign or inaugural fund have lost nearly $1.8 trillion in value since
the start of the year. Tech brands are also scrambling in response to the steep new tariffs on imports from China. Amazon has reportedly canceled
orders for multiple products made in China. And sources told Reuters that Apple chartered flights to bring 600 tons of iPhones to the U.S. from India
have happened after it stepped up production there.
Well, CNN's Clare Duffy is on the story for us live from New York. And, Clare, the impact of Trump's trade war on China really beginning to result
in real world moves here in the tech industry.
CLARE DUFFY, CNN BUSINESS WRITER: Yes, Christina, it is really interesting because these five tech leaders, the CEOs of Amazon, Apple CEO Tim Cook,
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Tesla CEO Elon, Musk, and Amazon -- I'm so sorry, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, these were the guys who sat front and center at
the inauguration. They -- or they -- their companies donated to Trump's inaugural fund or his campaign. And presumably, they had hoped that they
would benefit, their businesses would benefit in some way from his policies, but that is not what we've seen in -- at least in these first
three months of his presidency.
Instead, even after yesterday's market rally, as you said there, these five companies have lost a combined $1.8 trillion in market value. For Meta, in
particular, it's been tens of billions of dollars in market value loss since the start of this year. For the other companies, it's been hundreds
of billions of dollars in market value loss.
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And a lot of that has to do with this uncertainty around tariffs. And the decline in these companies share prices and valuations is also impacting
the personal wealth of the leaders. None more so, of course, than Elon Musk. Elon Musk donated at least $290 million to President Trump's
campaign. He has now lost 107 billion in net worth since the start of this year. And so, we really are starting to see the impact of Trump's tariff
policies impact the companies and the leaders that supported him heading into this presidency, Christina.
MACFARLANE: Yes. And we've seen in recent days, you know, tech billionaires' kind of -- and billionaires, in general, speaking up about
the extreme losses that they are suffering. How can tech companies move or what can they do in this moment to try and protect their losses?
DUFFY: Yes. I mean, I think we are starting to see them take some of those steps. As you mentioned, Apple reportedly chartering a flight to get
iPhones out of China and into India to avoid some of those heavy tariffs on China. We have seen much of the tech industry over the past few years start
to try to diversify its supply chain away from China. But that takes time and it takes a lot of money. It's not something that is going to happen
overnight.
So, I imagine behind the scenes, there are calls happening from the heads of these companies to the White House. We know that Apple CEO Tim Cook
spoke with Trump about tariffs prior to his inauguration after he won the election. And so, you have to think that these conversations are happening
behind the scenes. And then of course, we're seeing some leaders of these companies speaking out publicly, especially Elon Musk, saying that Tesla
would experience significant impact from these tariffs if they are to go forward.
And so, it is interesting to see these CEOs, the heads of these companies who have supported Trump start to break with him on this really key issue.
MACFARLANE: All right. Clare Duffy, we will watch to see where all this goes in the tech industry. Thanks for now.
Still to come, we have the latest on a prisoner swap between Russia and the U.S., which took place in Abu Dhabi a short time ago.
Plus, why the Israeli military says it fired Air Force reservists who signed a public letter about the war in Gaza.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MACFARLANE: France's president says his country will, quote, "fight for Gaza." Emmanuel Macron said France could possibly recognize Palestinian
statehood in June, saying, quote, "At a given moment, it will be the right thing to do." Well, Mr. Macron made the comments to broadcaster France Five
as he returned from a trilateral summit with leaders of Egypt and Jordan about the situation in Gaza. More than 140 U.N. member states have already
officially recognized Palestinian statehood.
The Israeli military says it has fired Air Force reservists who signed a public letter, which was published in Israel's major newspapers. Hundreds
of Air Force reservists and retirees said the IDF is fighting the war in Gaza for political purposes without a military goal. CNN's Jeremy Diamond
has this.
[10:20:00]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: They are basically saying that what the Israeli prime minister is doing here is sending troops into
combat in a way that lacks a clear military objective. And in a way, that will lead to the, quote, "death of the abductees," meaning the 59 Israeli
hostages who remain in Gaza, about 24 of whom are still indeed believed to be alive.
And this is part of a pattern that we have started to witness in Israel over the course of the last few weeks, in particular, growing discontent in
Israeli society with the resumption of the war, the fact that it is still going on after more than 18 months now, and the fact that it had is yet to
lead to the release of the 59 hostages who still remain in Gaza.
You know, 69 percent of the Israeli public, according to a Channel 12 Israeli poll here just a couple of weeks ago, 69 percent of the public want
to see a deal that would lead to the return of all of the hostages and an end to the war, and that's simply not the position that the Israeli
government has taken as we have heard them focus more it seems on the destruction of Hamas in addition to the goal of returning the hostages.
We have also seen ways in which the strain on reservists from a, you know, personal and financial perspective is also starting to manifest itself with
more and more reservists expressing concern or uncertainty that they will answer up additional calls to serve after multiple tours. Many of these
reservists who have served, you know, hundreds of days in some instances since October 7th, serving in the military, being away from their families,
being away from their businesses in some case.
And for a country that relies very heavily on reserve military service to fulfill its military and national security needs, that raises serious
concerns. We haven't yet seen it rise to the level that we saw in 2023 when Israeli reservists started saying that they were not going to serve in the
military because of Benjamin Netanyahu's judicial reform proposals at a time when we saw these enormous protests out in the streets of Tel Aviv.
But certainly, the Air Force's move here to fire the reservists who did sign this letter is a sign that they're trying to clamp down on this kind
of public show of discontent and dissent before it gets to those kinds of numbers.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLANE: Well, the U.S. and Russia swapped prisoners a short time ago in Abu Dhabi, Russian-American woman Ksenia Karelina who was serving a 12-
year prison sentence for treason in Russia was swapped for an accused smuggler Russian-German Arthur Petrov who was held in the U.S. The
discussions for the prison swap have been ongoing, one official said, but took shape when President Vladimir Putin's advisor, Kirill Dmitriev,
visited Washington last week.
CNNs Fred Pleitgen is across it for us now. So, Fred, tell us more about why Ksenia Karelina was being held in Russia.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it was essentially for donating $50 or I actually think it was $51 and 80 cents to
a Ukrainian non-governmental organization, and the Russians are deeming that as having been material support for the Ukrainian military because
they claim that weapons were purchased from that money.
Now, the United States, of course, has claimed that she's wrongfully convicted and had wrongfully been detained by the Russian Federation.
However, one -- when the swap actually took place, she was actually inside a prison colony where she was serving that prison term of 12 years. So, no
doubt, the United States very relieved to get her out.
And then, of course, you have Arthur Petrov who was actually extradited to the United States from Cyprus and then charged with wire fraud smuggling
and other crimes as well. Some of them apparently also pertaining to try and get microelectronics from the United States to the Russian Federation.
Also, possibly for Russia's war effort against Ukraine as well.
So, those are sort of the framework things, but you already mentioned some of the things that were going on and how this deal took place. One of the
things, Christina, that we've been taking note of is it seems as though these prisoner swaps that have been taking place, you had one that happened
in February where the American teacher, Marc Fogel, was released by the Russians and now this one as well. They seem to be serving somewhat as
catalysts as the Trump administration and the Putin administration try to normalize relations between the United States and Russia.
And of course, the two main figures in all of that, as you mentioned as well, is Kirill Dmitriev, the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund,
who said that this was a trust building measure and that trust is being built between Russia and the United States as these talks, as these
negotiations go on. And of course, for the U.S. side, the president special negotiator, Steve Witkoff, who has already been on the ground in Russia
twice to speak with Vladimir Putin.
[10:25:00]
And the date of the exchange that took place today, of course, is not a coincidence either, because they do happen as in Istanbul today there were
talks between the U.S. State Department and the Russian Foreign Ministry to try and normalize diplomatic ties between Russia and the United States,
both sides saying that this has nothing to do with the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. However, that these are talks aimed at normalizing the diplomatic
relations.
Of course, one of the things that we've taken note of over the past couple of years is that as each side ratcheted up the sanctions against one
another, a lot of diplomatic installations, Russian diplomatic installations in the United States and U.S. diplomatic installations in
Russia were forced to close. And if you look at, for instance, the U.S. embassy in Moscow right now, it is a pretty empty place.
So, as that process moved forward, it seems as though these prisoner swaps of which we've now seen too in the very little time that the Trump
administration has been in office, really seemed to be an important thing to try and get that trust going. But of course, at the same time, the
process to try and get a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine going still seems as stalled as ever. Christina.
MACFARLANE: All right. Fred Pleitgen there, breaking it down. Thanks very much, Fred. OK. Let's get you up to speed on some of the other stories that
are on our radar right now. This hour, defense ministers from more than 30 Western countries are gathering at NATO for a meeting of the so-called
Coalition of Willing. The United States will once again not participate in the meeting convened by France and the U.K. Ministers are set to discuss
ways they can support Ukraine's defense in the event of a peace deal with Russia.
President Trump said he would use the Justice Department to go after two officials who criticized him during his first term, another sign of his
willingness to punish those that he perceives as his enemies. Mr. Trump signed executive orders stripping Miles Taylor and Chris Krebs of any
security clearance that the former officials may still hold.
And Britain's King Charles and Queen Camilla stopped by the Vatican to visit Pope Francis on Wednesday during their trip to Italy. The royal
family released this picture. The Vatican says, Pope Francis expressed his good wishes to the king and queen on the occasion of their wedding
anniversary.
And more than 200 people are now confirmed dead from the Tuesday nightclub roof collapse in the Dominican Republic with hopes of finding any remaining
people fading, those trapped and pulled out alive. Authorities say the rescue operation has ended and the focus is now on recovering bodies. The
tragedy sent shockwaves through the Caribbean Island nation with three days of mourning declared in its wake. The cause of the collapse is still under
investigation.
Well, CNN Contributor Stefano Pozzebon has the latest from Santa Domingo.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fernandez Reyes Reyes (ph), Joel Manuel Santana (ph).
STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: The names read out loud by forensic doctors. Each of them alive cut short. More than a hundred bodies have been
recovered, but dozens yet to be identified in the rooftop collapse of a nightclub in Santo Domingo. A growing death toll cutting through the soul
of this nation.
The Jet Set was an iconic venue. Monday night, many local celebrities had come here to celebrate its 50th anniversary. Several are now been mourned.
Including two former Major League baseball players, a Latin music star, and the governor of a local province.
Dominican President Luis Abinader, declared three days of national mourning to commemorate the victims. Outside the venue, relative search for the
names of their loved ones in list hanging on a field hospital.
I've lost two brothers. This is a national tragedy. We are just heartbroken, says these men.
The rescue operations continue in the dark. There are still people to be found a race against time, even when hope is fading fast. A small group of
faithful singing their pain, and refusing to let go.
Stefano Pozzebon, CNN, Santa Domingo.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLANE: And we can take you to live pictures here of the memorial of singer Rubby Perez, the Latin American singer who died at the Jet Set
nightclub when that roof collapsed.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:30:00]
MACFARLANE: Welcome back to "Connect the World" with me, Christina Macfarlane. Here are your headlines. Ukraine's president says, Ukrainian
intelligence has identified 155 Chinese citizens fighting alongside Russian forces. It comes a day after Ukraine said two Chinese nationals were
captured in the country. China, who has consistently denied any involvement in the war, calls the claims groundless.
This hour, members of the U.S. House of Representatives are voting on a budget plan after a planned ballot was scrapped last night. House Speaker
Mike Johnson has been holding talks with Republicans who object to the proposals. They have called for more spending cuts.
Donald Trump ordered a 90-day pause on his reciprocal tariffs except for Chinese imports. China will now see tariff rates on its imports to the U.S.
rise by whopping 125 percent as the U.S. president ratchets up his trade war with Beijing. The move is meant to put pressure on China to come to the
negotiating table.
And in the last hour, National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said that there are about 15 countries that have made explicit offers to the
U.S. He also said that the pause in the tariffs was based on, quote, "good faith conversations."
Well, joining me now to discuss Richard Quest, CNN business editor-at- large, anchor of "Quest Means Business." Good to see you, Richard. Now, if Trump is to be believed all of this was just a strategic masterclass that
is now playing out in his favor. What say you, Richard?
RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS EDITOR-AT-LARGE AND CNN ANCHOR, QUEST MEANS BUSINESS: I shall spare the administration the embarrassment and dignity.
But that doesn't seem likely. The reality is we know from what the president said in the Oval Office that there was a conversation between the
president, the commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, and the -- excuse me, the treasury secretary, when they wrote the statement in which they said
that, you know, it was going to come from the heart.
And the reality is, they were spooked. They were spooked by what they'd seen in the bond market. The stock market reaction was more violent and
didn't seem like it was going to go away. And the evidence is there, by the way. The market is now coming down once again for good reason. Because
nothing's really changed, Christina.
I mean, yes, you've got this pause, you've lifted the sword of Damocles again above everybody, but it's still hanging there, and now we've got a
90-day wait. And you've still got 125 percent China tariffs, auto tariffs 25 percent. You've got steel and aluminum tariffs of 20 percent. And a new
general tariff of 10 percent, which is three times the previous average.
MACFARLANE: And I was just saying, Richard, there that Kevin Hassett saying about 15 countries have now made offers to the U.S. I mean, we've
got, what, over 75 countries who've now got to come forward within the next 90 days. I mean, just the logistics of that alone are mind-boggling,
especially when you consider that the Commerce Department who's having to deal with all of this has had cutbacks by DOGE.
[10:35:00]
QUEST: Yes. And it wouldn't be commerce anyway, it would be USTR that supports -- normally would do this. And we're not talking now about the
headline number. It's really important we understand this. The 24 percent on Japan, getting that number to zero is not the issue. The president was
right when he said it's about non-tariff barriers. So, each country is -- the U.S. has a list.
So, for South Korea, it is rules on procurement, local ownership, local content, anything that is a barrier to U.S. goods entering South Korea.
Australia has a restriction on GM modified beef, crops and the like, anything. And what you have to do with each country is you have to take
that country and go down the list of non-tariff barriers and say, that rule has to go, that regulation needs to change, that needs to be altered, and
that's the time-consuming part.
But it's doable. And I'll tell you why it's doable, Christina. Because they've been at this for decades. Everybody knows what rules the U.S.
hates. Everybody knows what the U.S. wants to change, and that's why when a country comes to the U.S. with its explicit offer, they know what the U.S.
is demanding they get rid of.
MACFARLANE: Yes. And then we saw, Richard, as you were saying, market stress kind of decline yesterday. But this --
QUEST: Oh, this will continue. This is will continue.
MACFARLANE: But the situation is still bad, right, for the U.S., for global economies, for the prospects of recession, it's still as it was.
QUEST: Nothing's changed except higher tariffs on certain countries like Japan, 24 percent, the E.U., 20 percent. And even then, we've only delayed
that for 90 days. The new -- you know, the new 10 percent tariff is three times what the average U.S. tariff was of 2.5 percent. The U.S. used to
charge on average 2.5 percent to most countries, even most favored nation. This new tariff of 10 percent is three times that. And you've still got
China, which is 12, 13 percent of exports, and you've still got auto tariffs.
And so, you've got this disruption of the global supply chain, particularly vis-a-vis China. This disruption is there, and that's why the market is
saying the recession cake, the ingredients are there already.
MACFARLANE: Well, we will be watching very closely in the hours and days ahead to see where the next shoes will drop. Richard, appreciate --
QUEST: Oh, by the way -- whoa. That shoe, by the way, 98 percent of which, 98 percent of shoes imported into the United States, including the ones I'm
wearing now, are --
MACFARLANE: Nikes.
QUEST: No, no, no. A New Balance. They're made in Vietnam, Indonesia, or China.
MACFARLANE: Worth pointing out. Richard Quest, appreciate you. Thank you.
QUEST: Thank you.
MACFARLANE: President Donald Trump warns that major tariffs will soon be hitting pharmaceutical imports, speaking of where the shoe will fall next,
because it is a tremendous problem that the United States can no longer produce enough antibiotics to treat the sick. Drug experts across the
country are sounding the alarm and warning tariffs could raise already high prices even more. America relies on China and India for a lot of generic
drug manufacturing. Meg Tirrell takes a closer look at the numbers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, pharmaceutical tariffs were left out of that original round of tariffs that President Trump announced
on what he called Liberation Day, April 2nd. But he did talk in that speech about why he has pharmaceutical tariffs in his sights. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: The United States can no longer produce enough antibiotics to treat our sick. We have a tremendous problem. We have
to go to foreign countries to treat our sick. If anything ever happened from a war standpoint, we wouldn't be able to do it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TIRRELL: Now, essentially, universally experts agree that this is a problem that needs to be fixed, but they warn that tariffs are
unfortunately likely to make this problem worse before they bring any manufacturing back to the United States if they do that at all. And it
really comes down to the fact that most antibiotics are generic medicines. These are older medicines that sell sometimes for pennies per dose, which
is really great for their accessibility, but it creates a very fragile ecosystem around creating them. And in fact, 92 percent of prescriptions
dispensed in the U.S. are for generic drugs.
Now, here's how experts say tariffs could cause more drug shortages. Generic medicines have very low profit margins. So, they're sold for not
much more than it costs to make them. But there are also limits on how much generic drug makers can raise the price of generic drugs, both because of
group purchasing organization contracts that typically are locked in for a few years. Also because of laws that exist that limit their ability to
raise drug prices faster than the price of inflation.
[10:40:00]
So, if the price of the inputs, the ingredients that go into these drugs starts to rise, but you can't raise the price commensurate, that could
actually make it unprofitable to manufacture these generic medicines, and that could cause some of these manufacturers' experts tell us to just
decide to stop making the drug or providing it for the U.S. market.
And already we see a lot of drug shortages out there that are causing problems for patients and for hospitals and doctors. And antibiotics are
one of the top five categories where we see these shortages, but we also see them in things like cancer and chemotherapy drugs and many other drug
classes. So, this is a major problem. But unfortunately, tariffs, experts tell us, will likely make this problem worse in the short-term, and they're
not convinced because it's so expensive to build manufacturing plants and takes a long time in the United States that this is actually going to bring
manufacturing back.
We should also note that on branded medicines, those pricier drugs, this could potentially raise those prices even further, making pricey drugs even
more expensive.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLANE: Meg Tirrell there. Now, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders delivered a wholesale rejection of President Donald Trump's escalating trade war
during Wednesday's CNN Town Hall. The independent lawmaker from Vermont criticized the Trump administration's economic policy and he condemned what
he called a quote, "horrific drift towards oligarchy and authoritarianism." Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): There is a lot of anxiety out there. There is a lot of fear. People in the richest country in the history of the world
are wondering why 60 percent of our people are living paycheck to paycheck. Do all of you guys know what paycheck to paycheck is? All right. You know,
I grew up in a family that was living paycheck to paycheck, and one of the manifestations of living paycheck to paycheck is working class people in
America now live six years shorter lives than the rich.
Anyone have an idea why that is? Poverty. And what else? Stress. When you are living paycheck to paycheck and you're wondering whether you can pay
the rent, whether you can provide -- get your kid to a doctor when you need to, that eats away at your mind and it eats away your body and you die
younger. And what I have seen, Anderson, all over this country is people living under incredible stress, wondering why in the richest country in the
world, they can't afford healthcare, they can't afford childcare, why the cost of housing is soaring.
And in the midst of all of that, while 60 percent of our people are living paycheck to paycheck, why is it that three people on top now own more
wealth than the bottom half of American society? And you got some zillionaire named Mr. Musk going all over Washington, D.C. dismantling
Social Security and the Veterans Administration.
Tariffs used selectively are a good idea if they're going to protect American jobs. But to arbitrarily, out of nowhere, come up with a tariff
that they can't even justify or explain to virtually every country on Earth is absolutely counterproductive.
The immediate harm is going to be very significant. It is going to it -- I was just in Target the other day buying something. And I looked around
there, virtually all of those products sold in stores like Target are going to see significant increases in prices if Trump gets his way with tariffs.
That's going to hurt working people a whole lot.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: Sanders, who is Jewish, also express some strong opinions about the Israel-Hamas war.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SANDERS: I feel very strongly that the United States government should not give another nickel to the Netanyahu extremist government that has killed
50,000 people in Gaza (INAUDIBLE) over 110,000 people. All right. That's my view. You may disagree with me, but you got APAC telling any Democrat who
stands up to Netanyahu, guess what, we're going to primary you. We're going to spend millions of dollars to defeat you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: That's Bernie Sanders speaking to Anderson Cooper. OK. You're watching "Connect the World."
Coming up, scientists in British Columbia are using art artificial intelligence to help monitor killer whales. Discover how this technology is
transforming marine conservation efforts.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:45:00]
MACFARLANE: In British Columbia, Canada, many indigenous communities view orcas as guardians of the sea. But these majestic creatures are facing
growing threats in the Northern Pacific. Today on Call to Earth, we meet a small research team turning to artificial intelligence to track and monitor
orca populations, and help shape strategies to protect their habitat.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, good morning, Wolf (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good morning. I assume you're looking for the Bigg's.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. I'm just creeping along here at the Pierce reefs and the fog super slow. I'm sure I'll see them here in the next few
minutes.
HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Scientist, Jared Towers and PhD student Chloe Kotick are on the lookout for dolphins, but not just
any dolphins. They're looking for the largest and most deceivingly named member of the dolphin family, the orca, also known as the killer whale.
JARED TOWERS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, BAY CETOLOGY: I spent a lot of time as a kid here in Alert Bay in the surrounding waterways. And this area has
always been a mecca for killer whale research since the 1970s. So, I was kind of brought up into this field.
My job basically entails keeping track of killer whales. And I collect photo identification data, predation data, social and behavioral, as well
as genetic data.
MONTGOMERY (voice-over): Jared has been studying whales for about 20 years, focusing mainly on the big species, also known as transients that
live in the North Pacific Ocean.
TOWERS: Bigg's killer whales are transients. They primarily feed on marine mammals like seals, porpoises, dolphins, sea lions, and even other whales
occasionally.
MONTGOMERY (voice-over): But as apex predators, they also ingest high concentrations of harmful contaminants found throughout the marine food
web.
TOWERS: So, when you have something like a killer whale come along and eat the seal that ate the fish, then it bioaccumulates those toxins at a much
greater rate. So, that's why this mammal eating killer whales we have on the coast here are some of the most toxic animals on the planet.
MONTGOMERY (voice-over): The toxic chemicals from things like industrial waste and oil spills collect in whales' blubber, which can affect their
health and the survival rates of their offspring.
CHLOE KOTICK, PH.D. CANDIDATE, UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA FAIRBANKS: My hope for this work is that by quantifying some of the effects that contaminants are
having on these killer whales. We can provide a little bit of evidence for how we're affecting them, and that might motivate us to clean up our act.
MONTGOMERY (voice-over): Their work relies heavily on photo identification through digital cameras, citizen submissions, and drones.
TOWERS: Well, right now I'm just waiting for these whales to come up. I'll fly over each one of them and get a look at the body condition.
MONTGOMERY (voice-over): Over the last few years, Jared has been tapping into A.I. to help process and organize the vast amounts of visual data they
collect.
TOWERS: So, when we click on a photo, for example, the model suggestion automatically shows up, and then the model predicts who the individual is.
And you can see that even though this isn't a great ID photo the model's correctly identifying this as T90.
MONTGOMERY (voice-over): They can then take a deeper dive and apply other analytical tools to look at specific parameters like cath mortality.
KOTICK: What we're finding so far is that individuals that are getting a higher dose of contaminants for mom seem to have an increased risk of
mortality before age three.
[10:50:00]
MONTGOMERY (voice-over): This research helps provide insights not just into the health of these killer whales, but also their ecosystem.
TOWERS: So, all the data we collect, month after month and year after year, is crucial for informing management decisions and conservation
efforts to protect these populations.
In this part of the coast, we have some of the strongest viewing guidelines and regulations when it comes to killer whales, and that is one example of
a protection measure, which has been implemented over time. When it comes to killer whales, I think it's really important that we really make an
effort to coexist with them and find ways that we can both live in harmony and have successful populations moving forward.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLANE: Let us know what you are doing to answer the call with this hashtag, #CalltoEarth. And stay with us. We're back after this quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MACFARLANE: New research has revealed secrets of the prison where gangsters Al Capone and Machine Gun Kelly were once locked up. Researchers
used a special drone, lasers, and a robot dog to create a 3D map of the Alcatraz Island prison in California. CNN's Louise McLoughlin report.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LOUISE MCLOUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're about to show you parts of Alcatraz that hasn't been seen in more than a century. Pete Kelsey was
called in to 3D map the infamous island now under threat from rising sea levels, using a $100,000 drone.
PETE KELSEY, PROJECT MANAGER, VCTO LABS: So, we sent that thing into some of the worst places you can imagine, sewer lines, cisterns, up the
smokestack at the power plant.
MCLOUGHLIN: Pete and his team also used robots, and most importantly, Lidar, cutting edge laser mapping technology that allowed the team to
essentially go back in time and capture data that may save Alcatraz future.
KELSEY: I mean, think of it like an x-ray or a CAT scan of the entire island, and that's where a lot of discovery potentially can come from is
when you can give scientists, researchers, academics a view that no one has ever seen before. So, what we're looking at is a modern building only about
a hundred years old, which abuts, which is right up against the original Civil War era gate to Alcatraz.
And because they were constructed right up next to each other, this original sign over the gate was blocked, literally blocked. So, by cutting
a cross section through this data, like we see here, we see a view that no one has seen in over a hundred years.
MCLOUGHLIN: The team's discoveries have also lifted the veil on the prison's famous 1962 escape.
KELSEY: And this is where this -- one of the three guys dug his way out of his cell into this corridor. Then they climbed up all these pipes every
night for weeks. They come up here and start building stuff that they needed for the escape until on escape night, they got out through this air
vent up onto the roof.
[10:55:00]
I've been doing this kind of work for decades and literally all over the world. This project, however, I think it just might be my Mona Lisa.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLANE: Absolutely fascinating that. Now, do you like golf? Not everybody likes golf, but everybody certainly likes to see a start in the
making. Meet four-year-old Poppy McIlroy, daughter of Rory, who seems to have her father's talent. In the traditional competition on the eve of the
Masters where players take to the course with their family members, Poppy showed her father and the Augusta crowd how it's done on the Ninth Green.
Look at that.
She took such a gentle little approach to her putt and she nailed it. Wild celebrations from everyone there, but the star of the show herself walking
in her father's footsteps already without even knowing it. And that is a nice note to end it on for this edition of "Connect the World."
Stay with CNN. "One World" is up after this break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:00:00]
END
