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Trump Targets Showers, First Term Critics In New Executive Orders; Trump Orders Investigations Into Two Vocal Critics; Dow Drops Nearly 2,000 Points As Wednesday's Gains Fade; Trump Slaps 145 Percent Tariff On All Chinese Goods. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired April 10, 2025 - 12:30   ET

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

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[12:32:45]

DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR: In the midst of yesterday's economic turmoil, the President took action on a series of different matters. He signed one executive order rolling back what he's calling the Obama-Biden war on showers. You heard that right, showers. Some might call that a water pressure campaign.

He signed a pair of executive orders. In addition to that, in a much more serious note, aimed at carrying out retribution against two of his perceived political enemies.

My panel is back now. And those two that he signed executive orders about and against are Miles Taylor and Chris Krebs. Again, people who worked in his first term doing different things.

One -- there you go, Miles Taylor, former DHS official. He wrote a New York Times op-ed saying that he was part of the resistance to the Trump presidency. And if you guys remember, he did write that book "Anonymous".

Now, Chris Krebs worked in the Trump administration 1.0 during the election as the director of Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. And what he did there was he said what Donald Trump was saying about widespread voter fraud was not true because he was looking at the data and looking at the security there. And that's why they are being targeted by Donald Trump.

I mean, it is classic retribution, what he promised and now he's doing it. The question is how it's going to play out in the real world.

JASMINE WRIGHT, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, I mean, I think this has become part and parcel of his two plus months in office. This is not the first time that he's doing this. Obviously, he stripped security clearances from people like Kamala Harris, former VP, Letitia James, people who was unclear whether or not they actually had much of a security --

BASH: I'm glad you said that.

WRIGHT -- security clearance in the first place. BASH: Yes.

WRIGHT: Their names were just on these executive orders to now Chris Krebs, Miles Taylor. And it's in, you know, kind of an unfortunate way, kind of becoming a normalized part of this administration. It doesn't make much noise. But people recognize that it is something that he said quite publicly he would not be doing.

[12:35:02]

And yet we see him kind of taking these retribution actions multiple times a month, if not every week or so. And, you know, kind of frankly, you're just watching who is next. And so I think that this is something that's going to continue in a fashion because Trump really has a long list of enemies.

And now that he's in power and what he, I think, believes is kind of the most powerful position he's ever been in as President, he's going to continue enacting these types of responses and frankly attacks against some of these people.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN ANCHOR & CHIEF DOMESTIC CORRESPONDENT: It's egregious. It's antithetical to everything as a country. I think we try to believe in and conduct the way we conduct ourselves, aspirationally at least. You're always kind of working towards the better union.

It is untethered to any thread, the remotest thread of factual basis or legitimate concerns. It is very clearly intended as a chilling effect writ large on the government. And I just like shout out to the campaign advisers who were like, no, no, sir, don't say retribution and revenge. We don't actually want that.

And then would come out and say, he doesn't actually mean that. He meant it. And I think if we've learned anything, particularly over the course of the last three months, you can even go on the economic side with tariffs. Like, what he said in this moment, in this second term, given the environment is absolutely what he's going to do. And to think otherwise is just to be willfully blind.

WRIGHT: And it's not just people, right? We're seeing lawmakers, or excuse me, not lawmakers --

BASH: Law firms.

WRIGHT: -- we're seeing law firms having to come in and basically kind of bend the knee to Trump. We're seeing all of these different facets of American culture basically be in the knee to Trump so that they don't face additional penalties because of something that maybe at that time they believe they were doing that was right.

BASH: And I do want to talk about insider training, but allegations of that. But I just want to put up this executive order because it is real. This is a real thing that happened. It is an executive order maintaining acceptable water pressure in shower heads.

Now, I do think this probably has like 99 percent approval rating, but really?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I mean, but we see this on Capitol Hill too, that there is really, there's been debates about stoves, there've been debates about all kinds of appliances that you might find in your home. And it is a really remarkable moment because it's spending time on something that I think a lot of people would question when the stock market's in freefall. Why are we spending time on this, right?

BASH: OK. Yes. Real quick, Phil, this is a post from the President yesterday at 9:37 a.m. "This is a great time to buy. DJT". 1:18 p.m., "I have authorized a 90-day pause".

You've seen Democrats, Adam Schiff has said he wants information about this. Is this one of those things where it's like put this in a long list of things that should be questions that are being questioned, but might not get the appropriate time and space?

MATTINGLY: I think it's more recognition of this is a moment -- and this is actually somewhat similar to the first term where like what he puts on social media is market moving, determinative for every business in America, for every household in America. And I think it's sometimes we forget that that's really different than what we're normally used to.

One thing I would say is my understanding of kind of the process timeline for the decision doesn't line up with the idea that this was some kind of overt insider trading effort. In fact, there was a kind of a jump in markets shortly before the announcement that was far more tied to a successful treasury auction. We're talking about the bonds earlier than it was any type of front running of things.

That said, I have no idea. The fact that we have to think about it, talk about it, and it could be is certainly representative of the general approach that we've seen these first three months.

BASH: All right, everybody, stand by. Up next, we are going to look at how the remaining tariffs will still be a big pain in the wallet for Americans. That is on Inside Politics next. Don't go anywhere.

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[12:43:29]

BASH: We've got breaking news on the markets and they are tumbling. With the Dow hovering now around 2,000 points down, the reason? Donald Trump's trade war is not over, especially when it comes to China.

Former Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen spoke about all of this turmoil this morning with my colleague, Bianna Golodryga and Zane Asher.

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JANET YELLEN, FORMER TREASURY SECRETARY: We had a very well- functioning economy and President Trump has taken a wrecking ball to it. This is the worst self-inflicted wound that I have ever seen in an administration impose on a well-functioning economy.

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BASH: CNN's Richard Quest joins me now. Richard, the worst self- inflicted wound. She is not somebody as a former member of the head -- and -- former member of the Fed and Treasury Secretary who speaks in hyperbole. I would imagine what you're seeing on the markets right now continue to bear that out.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS EDITOR AT LARGE: Yes, and I'll give you one good example of this amateur hour that we're seeing from the administration. This morning, the White House has had to clarify what President Trump said yesterday. He said yesterday that the tariff against China was 125 percent now, the new one.

And now this morning they clarified it. Oh, no, it's actually 145 percent because they forgot about to add in the 20 that they put on some months ago.

[12:45:11]

This is just amateurish when you're talking about something as significant as the large bilateral trade relationship between the two largest powers. 14 percent of U.S. imports now being subjected to a tariff of 145 percent.

Now, the Chinese haven't reacted yet to that last bit, but it gives you an indication. I made a list there for you, Dana, because I know you'd appreciate it. And you're now -- you want to know why the market is down and not jumping for joy --

BASH: Yes.

QUEST: -- on what it saw yesterday. Because you've got 145 percent on China. You've got a new 10 percent tariff rate on the world, which is three times the previous U.S. average of 2.5 percent. Three times.

You've got auto tariffs of 25 percent. You've got 20 percent steel and aluminum tariffs. And you've got the prospect and promise of pharmaceutical tariffs.

Now, you show me any business with a sort of Damocles for 90 days. And that's why you've got this market like this. Yesterday was just a sort of a whiff in the dark.

BASH: Well, you know, it is so interesting because it was definitely good news. And we did see that almost historic rally yesterday afternoon. But it is important to note, as you did, that these tariffs are so wide and so deep --

QUEST: Yes.

BASH: -- and so vast that the markets, even on Main Street as well, they understand that --

QUEST: No. BASH: -- it could cost Americans a lot of money. And Richard, I want you to react to what the Yale Budget Lab said, that they estimate the average household will be paying four thousand four hundred dollars more in --

QUEST: So --

BASH: -- in goods.

QUEST: Right. So I read the report. I've read the report from the Yale Budget Lab. That 4,400 is, if you like, the pre -- what they call the pre synchronized value. In other words, that's -- if the tariffs are all now and nobody changes their behavior, because we will change our behaviors and how we spend because of this tariff on China.

But if nothing changes, it's 4,400. But even if we do change our behavior and buy different things, it's still several thousand dollars more. Here's our basket. We put together a basket of goods that are pretty typical of the sort of things that people are buying. I think you might have a graphic that shows the basket.

It's all -- it's everyday items that you and I might buy. It's groceries. It's T-shirts. It's all those sort of things. And over the next few months, we're going to track that. There we go.

But now these are the current prices that Quest tariff basket foods, clothing, electronics, say you change your phone, other essentials. And it's not scientific in a sense of, you know, this is what we know from viewers, by the way, who emailed me at richard.quest@cnn.com. These are the sort of things you're buying and we're going to follow how they adapt. But that's where your 4,400 comes from.

BASH: You know, and if you look at those goods, that is everything that you put up there --

QUEST: Yes.

BASH: -- are things that people can relate to. Richard, I'm being told that we do have cameras in the President's Cabinet meeting. Thank you for joining us. Let's listen in.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: -- energy costs are down. Interest rates are probably down. They scatter, but they're probably down. Prescription drug prices are even to down. We're doing very well. It's been amazing.

We had a big day yesterday. There will always be transition difficulty. But we had a history. It was the biggest day in history. The markets. So we're very, very happy with the way the country is running.

We're trying to get the world to treat us fairly. This is something that should have been done 25 years ago. And it wasn't. Should have been done 40 years ago, and it wasn't. But no President was willing to take it on, but you had to. It's not sustainable. It wasn't sustainable. As you know, without a lot of money being added, which is a lot of money that we could add, the country is making approximately $2 billion a day. And when you think of it, that's -- we've never done that before. Never come close to it.

And the number is probably $3.5 billion a day. And that makes us a very strong country. But we have Scott here and Howard and some of the people that are working on deals.

[12:50:00]

And the biggest problem they have is they don't have enough time in the day. Everybody wants to come and make a deal. And we're working with a lot of different countries. And it's all going to work out very well. I think it's going to work out really very well.

But we're in good shape. There's no inflation. There's very little inflation. And I went four years without inflation. And I tariffed. I took in hundreds of billions of dollars from China and others. Taxes in China.

But we took in hundreds of billions of dollars a year from China. And we had no inflation, essentially. So we think we're in very good shape. We think we're doing very well. Again, there will be transition costs and transition problems. But in the end, it's going to be a beautiful thing.

We're doing, again, what we should have done many years ago. We let it get out of control. And we allowed some countries to get very big and very rich at our expense. And we're not going to. -- we can't let that happen. It's not a sustainable formula.

So I want to just thank everybody at the table. And maybe I'll go around and ask some of you a little short couple of answers. Pete just got back from Panama. And he's been all over the place. And you want to give us a little report on that and whatever else you might have to say.

Everyone at this table is doing an incredible job, by the way, I have to say. Incredible. And the relationships are -- it's like they're friends. It was really -- the relationships are very strong, really good and really strong. And these meetings are very good.

And I think, you know, having -- I don't believe there's any other president that allowed the press to come into a meeting such as this. These are very sacred meetings. These are very private meetings. But we have nothing to hide.

And I think it's good. I think it's a good -- we want to be -- a word you like to use, Jeff, is transparent. So we want to be transparent. And we'll do that by starting with Pete.

Go ahead, Pete.

PETE HEGSETH, UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Yes, Mr. President, we just got back from Panama last night. We were at the Panama Canal with our SOUTHCOM commanderships, F-18s, troops, and signed a couple of historic deals. One which is with the Panama Canal Authority, a framework for U.S. vessels.

BASH: OK, as the President is going around the room getting briefings from his Cabinet members, I want to bring back Richard Quest. Richard, just even in that brief statement --

QUEST: Yes.

BASH: -- there is a lot to unpack and correct. The one that jumped out at me where I believe he said that there's very little inflation right now.

QUEST: He's right and he's wrong. This morning's figures show that inflation is down at 2-point-something percent and larger inflation is just over 3 percent. So it's higher than the Fed's target. But you've got to look at why. A, because inflation was coming down anyway.

He can't -- but B, because since January everybody's so uncertain that consumer demand has fallen through the floor. Consumer sentiment has disastrously disappeared. So that is what is pulling down inflation. It has got nothing to do with anything that he has done so far other than to make things more uncertain.

We have two new phrases, Dana. We now know what this is all about. These are transition costs and they are transition problems. Unfortunately, I've never seen a transition problem quite of this nature. He says he just said about $2 billion a day is coming in in the new tariffs. That's probably about right.

But then he just decided, well, why not just up it by 50 percent to $3 billion? We've no way yet of checking that particular number. We do know billions of dollars are coming into the U.S. Treasury as a result. But when he says it's coming in and it's not costing, he's wrong.

BASH: Right.

QUEST: That $2 billion is being paid by the importer that's going to pass it on to the wholesaler --

BASH: Yes. Richard --

QUEST: Go ahead.

BASH: I'm just going to --

QUEST: Of course.

BASH: -- jump back in. Let's --

QUEST: Yes.

BASH: -- go into the Cabinet room. Howard Lutnick is speaking.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So very excited. TRUMP: Good. Thank you very much. Good job. Linda?

LINDA MCMAHON, UNITED STATES SECRETARY EDUCATION: Well, on a couple of fronts, we have been addressing the issue of anti-Semitism on campuses. There's been some grant funding and contract funding that we've reviewed. And some have canceled and some we've put on hold waiting for that while we do an investigation.

On the other side of what my responsibilities are in having education go back to the states, we're meeting and talking with governors. I was with this week all 50 commissioners of education around the country. And because we also want to provide them with tools and best practices as education does go back to the states. Making great progress, great response from the states, and very positive.

TRUMP: And what about colleges? You're holding back $400 million from Columbia.

MCMAHON: From Columbia.

[12:55:05]

TRUMP: $8 million from Harvard. Can you imagine the money we pay Harvard? They have $60 million fund and we're giving them $8 million. And we're trying to figure that out. And then they hire de Blasio, the worst mayor in the history of New York. And they hire the woman from Chicago who was a disaster, a total disaster.

BASH: OK, and we are going to continue to monitor that. But we do want to stay on the big story, which of course are the tariffs that the President paused. But the fact that there are still lots of tariffs in effect, that is still affecting the stock market.

Jeff Zeleny, let me get to you. And I want you to bounce off of what Richard was saying about the President trying to, as he has wanted to do, discuss the -- what he claims is $2 billion in new revenue coming in from tariffs.

And just to underscore what Richard said, we don't know exactly how much. Of course, a tariff does put money into the federal treasury.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Sure.

BASH: But it also is passed on to the consumer traditionally and that is why the markets are going very volatile still.

ZELENY: Absolutely, and that $2 billion number is something that the President has been talking about for several days. In fact, since late last week, it's impossible to check but that is being paid for, in some respects at least, by consumers. A tariff is a tax on a good. There's no doubt about it.

But I'm struck by the President still continuing or trying to continue this victory lap, calling them transition costs. Well, that is real money in a lot of people's retirement accounts and others. But we are learning that Elon Musk, of course, one of the President's top advisers, is in the Cabinet meeting.

He does not have a seat at the Cabinet table, but he's just off to the side. We're told we will see if he speaks. This, of course, is the portion that is on camera. About 45 minutes or so, a little bit more, has been off camera.

So the reality is there is a divide among the President's advisers on this trade policy. Unlikely that many dissenters speak up in that room. But it is clear that Scott Bessent, the Treasury secretary, who has not had his turn speaking around the room here, as the President likes to do, he won the short game. There's no doubt.

But the long run is this trade war is underway. That's exactly what Peter Navarro, who represents the other view, believes. So this is performative in some respects, but at a very important moment. And we know now the President watches the markets of all kinds.

Dana?

BASH: Yes, including and especially the bond market, which we now know. Thanks in part to Phil Mattingly, who is also watching this. Phil, what's your takeaway from what we've heard from the President so far on this trade war?

MATTINGLY: I mean, it's fascinating that the President is right. The inflation data that came out this morning was great. It was great. It was great economic news. And I think that it underscores the fact that they've decided by choice to go the direction they've gone with these tariffs.

And a tariff regime at a scale unseen in a century and certainly in a very different, very interconnected global economy, it was a choice. It was a decision. It was intentional.

The two other things that I would point out that I think are important to keep in mind, the revenue piece is real. I don't know about the exact numbers as they stand right now, but it was always going to be significant.

The tradeoffs were the big question in terms of what would that mean, Dana, as you were pointing out, to inflation and kind of how would that kind of destabilize on some level the global marketplace.

The view, which you heard from the President there, is actually shared by his economic advisers in the sense of they believe their experience in 2018, 2019 and that version of the China trade war is significantly smaller. Underscores that their theory of the case here means it won't be inflationary in a significant level means they will be able to raise at --

BASH: Phil, I'm going to go back in --

MATTINGLY: Yes, go ahead.

BASH: -- forgive me. Susie Wiles, the White House chief of staff, is speaking. SUSIE WILES, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: -- and they deserve a lot of credit.

TRUMP: It's true. You're doing a great job.

WILES: Thank you so much.

TRUMP: The chief, chief of staff. Great job.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, the Biden EPA was strangulating the economy. The Trump EPA understands it's not a binary choice. We can protect the environment and grow the economy. Working with DOGE and Elon Musk, we've now canceled $22 billion worth of grants. And we have launched what is the largest deregulatory action in the history of the country just in one agency.

That's how much of a mess the Biden EPA left us. It is going to end up reducing the cost of living. It's going to create jobs. It's going to make it easier to purchase a car. It will be easier to heat your home.

We're proud of this effort. The effort that we have is fulfilling the mandate that you earned from the American public. Clean air, land, and water for all Americans. Unleashing energy dominance. Permitting reform. Advancing cooperative federalism. Making America the AI capital of the world, and bringing back American auto jobs.

When you called me that day asking for me to take this position, I was honored. And you were very specific and clear in what you wanted us to accomplish. We understand our mission and --