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One World with Zain Asher
Trump Welcomes Meloni To White House; Trump Blasts Fed Chair After Powell's Tariff Warning; Trump's Net Approval Rating On Immigration Remains Positive; CNN Speaks To Voters In South Dakota; Trump Administration Steps Up Threats Against Harvard; Resentencing Hearing For Menendez Brothers Set To Begin; ;Aired 12-1p ET
Aired April 17, 2025 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[12:00:29]
ZAIN ASHER, CNN ANCHOR: Donald Trump says that the Fed Chair's termination can't come soon enough.
BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN ANCHOR: The second hour of ONE WORLD starts right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD QUEST, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, CNN BUSINESS: It would be disastrous for this country, and for the economy. Absolutely disastrous.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Experts say if Trump were to fire his Fed Chair, the worst would follow. Soon, we'll hear from the president himself.
ASHER: And could there be a path to parole? A resentencing hearing for Lyle and Erik Menendez is set to begin this hour.
GOLODRYGA: And later.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: How is it with the black hair? How is --
GEORGE CLOONEY, AMERICAN ACTOR: It's horrible? The only good news is I can walk in the streets of New York and nobody can recognize you?
TAPPER: People don't recognize you?
CLOONEY: It's the craziest thing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Jake Tapper sits down with George Clooney and asks his thoughts on aging, the Democratic Party, and who he thinks can take back the White
House in a CNN exclusive.
ASHER: All right. Coming to you live from New York. I'm Zain Asher.
GOLODRYGA: And I'm Bianna Golodryga. You're watching the second hour of ONE WORLD.
U.S. President Donald Trump is hosting Italy's Prime Minister at the White House this hour for a high stakes meeting on trade relations.
Giorgia Meloni has just arrived as a Trump ally and conservative. Maloney is hoping to ease tariff tensions between the U.S. and Europe and strike a
deal that would be favorable to the E.U.
ASHER: Meantime, Trump wants U.S. Federal Reserve Chair, Jerome Powell, terminated from his position for not cutting interest rates. It comes a day
after the central bank chief gave a stark warning about the effect of the president sweeping tariffs on the economy.
Powell says, the Fed does not play politics with its decisions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEROME POWELL, CHAIRMAN, U.S. FEDERAL RESERVE: Never going to be influenced by any political pressure. People can say whatever they want. That's fine.
That's not a problem. But we will do what we do strictly without consideration of political or any other extraneous factors.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: Last week, the former chair of the Federal Reserve, Janet Yellen, discussed with us the possibility of Powell being fired.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JANET YELLEN, ECONOMIST AND FORMER CHAIRMAN OF U.S. FEDERAL RESERVE: If President Trump was successful in replacing Powell with someone who I had
very non-mainstream ideas, I would -- I would really wonder if that person could successfully chair the committee and produce a coherent monetary
policy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: You've got team coverage on these developments for you, Richard Quest. We'll have a report for us in just a few minutes. But first, let's
go to Alayna Treene at the White House.
Alayna, I want to start with you on this visit by the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, to the White House. Obviously, Donald Trump has
not so nice words to say about Europe in the past.
How much of a bridge can Giorgia Meloni actually be between the United States and the E.U. this time when it comes to trade?
Alayna treene, cnn : Well, I'll put it this way, Zain and Bianna, I think having Giorgia Meloni being the person, the first European leader to sit
down face-to-face with President Donald Trump since these tariffs started to go into effect. Of course, he has now paused the reciprocal tariffs on
Europe in most countries, except for China.
But it's a valuable asset for Europe because the president views Meloni as one of his closest European allies. He views her as someone who is largely
in line with a lot of his policies. You mentioned she's a conservative far- right leader in Italy. And the two get along very well.
I remind you that she actually flew to Florida to meet with President Trump up Mar-a-Lago earlier this year. They met on the sidelines in Paris shortly
before he took office when he went for the Notre Dame reopening.
And so they have history and they have a good friendship. She's also very close with one of the president's top allies, Elon Musk.
But she has a heavy task today because she's not here necessarily just to represent Italy, but also the entire European Union. And they are really
looking for some sort of progress on negotiations regarding trying to reduce or even eliminate that initial 20 percent tariff that was placed on
the E.U. overall that is now paused until July 9th.
Now, administration officials today had said that they view her as being a valuable, you know, go-between for the United States and for the European
Union. And so, you know, it's still to be seen whether or not that will actually happen.
Now, just to give you a little sense of what this is going to look like today, she just arrived behind me a short moment ago. The two were going to
have lunch with some of their aides. And then they'll meet in the Oval Office at 1:00 P.M. Some reporters are going to have the opportunity to ask
both the president and the prime minister of Italy questions.
[12:05:11]
I am sure, top of the list, of course, is going to be how they expect to work out, you know, some of the disagreements and the distance on tariffs
that, of course, will be one of the key priorities during their talks today.
ASHER: All right. Alayna Treene live for us there at the White House. Thank you so much.
GOLODRYGA: Let's stay on this with CNN anchor and business editor-at-large Richard Quest. And, Richard, let's turn to the president. At this point,
we've become quite familiar with his criticism and views of Jay Powell, a Fed chair who he appointed in his first term and then later on went to
regret.
We should remind viewers that during his first term, at one point, he even called him a bigger threat to the United States than President Xi of China.
Now all of that being said, we know that he has no legal right to fire Fed chair Powell. And this comes at a time when there is already so much
uncertainty from international investors and countries about the stability of the United States.
Just give us more on that aspect and not as much focused on whether or not he can or will fire him because he can't.
QUEST: OK. There are two phrases that are hallmarks of property and integrity when it comes to the Fed or it comes to economic policy. The
first that Treasury secretaries and presidents always say is a strong dollar is in the best interests of the United States. Any deviation from
that phrase is dynamite.
The second, the Fed is independent and will do what it sees it fit for the economy and I have total confidence in the Fed or some version thereof.
Any deviance from that dynamite and that's what President Trump is playing with, because even though he can't fire him, the mere thought that you're
going to make trouble for the Fed, you're going to put political pressure, you're going to undermine its credibility, who we might be a point as vice.
If a chair comes up, who's he going to pressure? It's very damaging.
The only line that governments or private presidents are supposed to say is the Fed is independent and will do what it sees fit.
Any of this nonsense about the termination, the this, the that, the other, it's undercutting the Fed's independence credibility.
ASHER: And, Richard, just in terms of what Jerome Powell said at the Economic Club of Chicago yesterday, I mean, he really underscored that he
was sort of taken aback and a bit surprised by the sheer magnitude of these tariffs and really said in very plain terms that the U.S. economy was
essentially going to suffer if these tariffs went into effect.
He's -- he really outlined that, and that is one of the reasons why the markets were down yesterday. Just give us your take on what he said there.
QUEST: The word significantly higher tariffs. We heard that a couple of weeks ago, but the difficult, the different bit was this mention of the
dual mandate, full employment and price stability being intention with each other as the Fed chair put it.
And he gave us a roadmap. He said, if there comes a choice, which do we deal with, the full employment or the price stability? We deal with the
most urgent. We deal with the one that is most pressing. And in this case, it would have probably be the higher inflation.
But what that means, higher inflation, by the way, would mean keeping interest rates higher. So that would suggest that the Fed is preparing
itself for some form of stagflation, where growth slows to almost nothing. Inflation remains high. Unemployment starts to rise. And they're only
powered to do one versus the other, which would be dealing with inflation.
ASHER: All right. Richard Quest, live for us there. Thank you so much.
All right. I want to welcome Dominic Thomas, CNN's European affairs commentator to the program. He is an author and editor of a wide array of
scholarship on contemporary Europe.
Dominic, thank you so much for being with us. Just talking about what Giorgia Meloni can actually achieve, the Italian Prime Minister, during her
visit to the White House. She literally just arrived and they are speaking right now. We know that the U.S. is the EU's largest trading partner. What
is that stake for Europe economically here?
DOMINIC THOMAS, CNN EUROPEAN AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: Well, Zain, a lot is at stake, and I think that's why Giorgia Meloni is there and on the heels of
other European leaders having come to the White House to privilege in- person discussions with President Trump, with the hope of trying to get some kind of rational approach to the question of tariffs, which stand to
negatively impact the entire European space and to make the argument that this is also related to American business and positions in the world.
So I think that that in-person meeting is important. What's going to be interesting to watch is the fact that both of these leaders are eye-lined
ideologically, but both of them need to deal with the reality that the European Union is ultimately the decision-maker here when it comes to trade
and those sorts of questions moving forward.
[12:10:15]
GOLODRYGA: And we know that Meloni is expected to make the case for zero- to-zero tariffs, something that has been supported by Elon Musk.
However, the president, at least on the issue as it relates to tariff, is not listening to his views on this subject matter.
What is the most realistic endgame here, from your perspective, as to where things end up between the United States and the E.U. on trade? Because the
U.K., also a special relationship has developed between President Trump and Keir Starmer.
They're isolated from the E.U. here. They've been able to somehow avoid his wrath. The E.U. is in a different position.
THOMAS: They are in a different position, but the questions are also related. The big argument with Brexit was that Brexit was going to be able
to go out there in the world and strike these bilateral trade agreements.
That was one of the motivating arguments here.
GOLODRYGA: Dominic, I'm so sorry. We're going to have to cut in because President Trump is meeting with Meloni in the cabinet now, too. Interesting
to see this venue. Let's listen in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Oh, there'll be a trade here, 100 percent. Well, you think it won't be, of course, there'll be a trade
deal. Very much. They want to make one very, very much. And we're going to make a trade deal. I fully expect it, but it'll be a fair deal.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are they on your priority list?
TRUMP: Everybody's on my priority list.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President --
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: Say it. Wait, wait, wait. One at a time.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi.
TRUMP: No, no. No, no. You and then you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you plan to meet with the President of the E.U. or some other one? And do you plan to have other meetings with E.U. leaders as
well?
TRUMP: Many. We had a meeting yesterday with Japan. As you know, we've had numerous talks very, very at the highest level, frankly, with other
countries. Yes. We're doing very well and we're moving along on trade very well.
The United States was ripped off and taken advantage of by every country in the world, practically. I mean, they have to say practically, but just
about everyone. That's not going to happen anymore, but we're going to make fair deals.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, you've been in talks with Japan and Italy this week. Do you expect to announce an initial trade deal with any
of these countries?
TRUMP: At a certain point. Yes, we're in no rush. We're in no rush. You have to understand, we're getting right now 25 percent on cars, 25 percent
on steel, 25 percent on aluminum. We're getting a 10 percent baseline. We took that down just because it was, you know, the appropriate thing to do
until we decided what the number will be.
And we're, you know, taking in a lot of money, which we've never done before, frankly, with Biden. We will lose a fortune on trade.
But we're, you know, we're moving along very nicely and we're going to end up with a baseline of a substantial number, which we never got anything.
You know, the United States never got anything. Until I came along and then I put very substantial tariffs on China, if you remember. And we took in
hundreds of billions of dollars.
But -- then we had a rigged election and it was just one of those little things. And it got away from us because Biden allowed every country in the
world to rip off the United States. And I'm here to save our country.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, on China -- on China, Mr. President --
TRUMP: Yes, please.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You have said the last time that you are worried about allies growing closer to China as a result of the tariffs. And this week,
we saw Chinese President Xi Jinping visit with three of our allies.
Should you be worried about they're growing closer?
TRUMP: No. No.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, will you pick up the phone --
TRUMP: Nobody can compete with us. Nobody.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You said there was a relationship with President Xi. Why not pick up the phone and call him and make a deal?
TRUMP: We're going to make a deal. We'll have a deal. I think we have a --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President --
TRUMP: I think we're going to make a very good deal with China.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you guys really --
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: I think that you will see we'll make a very good deal with China.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President Trump. Mr. President, you told me this morning --
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A couple minutes ago, I like her very much regarding Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. Will she be the one to maybe aid your
relationship with Europe do you think?
TRUMP: Well, I do like her very much. I think she's a great prime minister. I think she's doing a fantastic job in Italy. We're very proud of her.
I knew her right from the beginning. I knew her as a very early prime minister. And I knew she had great talent. She's one of the real leaders of
the world. And I'm very proud to be with her.
I can't do better than that, right?
(CROSSTALK)
We should end the press conference.
Yes. Please go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Prime Minister, how quickly can you raise your defense spending?
[12:15:00]
GIORGIA MELONI, PRIME MINISTER OF ITALY: Oh, well Italy is the (TECHNICAL DIFFICULTY) raise to two percent (INAUDIBLE).
TRUMP: It'll go up. Yes. It'll go up.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is it enough?
MELONI: And then Europe -- and then Europe (INAUDIBLE).
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is it enough, Mr. President?
TRUMP: It's never enough.
MELONI: Europe, as you --
TRUMP: It's never.
MELONI: Europe, as you know, is committed to more is working on tools to allow how the member states in increasing the (INAUDIBLE). And we are
convinced that everyone has to do more.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Prime Minister, are you ready -- are the retaliatory tariffs will pass the performance and spending still on the table?
MELONI: No. Sorry, please repeat it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The retaliatory tariffs that the European Commission has and then suspended, are they still on the table if you cannot make the deal
with President Trump?
MELONI: I'm sure we can make a deal. And I'm here to help with that. I cannot be feeling the name of the European Union.
My goal would be invite President Trump to pay an official visit to Italy and understand if there's a possibility when it comes to organize also such
a meeting with Europe.
I think the best way is that we simply speak frankly about the needs that everyone of us has. And final results for -- that's useful for all.
I really -- somebody calls me such a Western nationalism. I don't know if it is the right word. But I'm sure that (TECHNICAL DIFFICULTY) stronger.
And I have to find a way, and here to find the best way to make us both stronger on the performance of your country.
TRUMP: We're going to have very little problem making a deal with Europe or anybody else. Because we have something that everybody wants, you know what
that means, right? We have something that everybody wants. We're going to have very little problems.
So we'll see you in a couple of minutes. We'll be right there in the Oval Office. Thank you very much.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: All right. We've just been sitting in essentially on a cabinet meeting with President Trump and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
At the very top of that cabinet meeting, President Donald Trump expressed a lot of optimism about reaching a deal with China and also with the E.U. as
well. He was asked about meeting with Ursula von der Leyen. It's worth noting that she has tried to meet with the president, but she has not met
with the president just yet.
Giorgia Meloni is the first E.U. leader to meet with Donald Trump after these tariffs were announced.
One thing I thought was quite interesting is that Giorgia Meloni was asked the question, are these retaliatory tariffs that Europe had planned to
announce? Are they still on the table if there is no deal? And her response was, I am sure that we're going to get a deal. Very diplomatic answer
there.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. She also invited the president for an official trip --
ASHER: Yes. Yes.
GOLODRYGA: -- and visit to Italy. Something that she has learned that he appreciates and some of the other predecessors from Europe that have come
to visit the White House have extended to him as well.
ASHER: Let's bring in Dominic Thomas again, CNN's European Affairs Commentator to the program.
Just explain to us Giorgia Meloni's strategy here when it comes to negotiating. I mean, obviously, she can't really negotiate on behalf of the
E.U. technically because we're talking about 27 member states. But what can she do?
THOMAS: Well, I think the fact that she's there is -- shows that the European Union takes this very seriously, and that individual leaders,
prime ministers, presidents and so on are very concerned about the potential impact of tariffs on European exports and imports.
What's also of concern, I think, is that when President Trump mentioned at the end of that segment that you were covering there, that the United
States has something, and we all know what that something is that the United States has.
The fact is there is a broader military context and threatening tone to his conversation because these negotiations are about power.
What we have to disentangle this in this particular discussion here is the way in which Trump looks at and understands the question of trade,
surpluses and deficits.
Yes, Italy, among many other European countries, may have a substantial trade goods surplus with the United States, but there are also major
importers of American goods, products and so on, which allows America to focus its energies in other areas of technological innovation and so on and
so forth.
And it's -- so the goal is to reconcile those two in a broader context where it's clear that Giorgia Meloni is there because in terms of the
protectionist nationalist agendas, she's closely aligned with President Trump.
The big question is how you go about negotiating your national interests under the aegis of the European Union that ultimately is the trade
negotiator when it comes down to these questions.
ASHER: Yes. That's a really important point. Dominic Thomas, thank you so much. We appreciate it. Have a good weekend.
GOLODRYGA: Thank you.
[12:20:01]
And still to come for us, Trump's attacks on Harvard University are heating up. The latest on the escalating feud just a little later this hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GOLODRYGA: President Trump campaigned on a sweeping immigration crackdown, but how do Americans feel about how it's being carried out?
Our friend Harry Enten joins us with more on this. So, Harry, I mean, this is an area where Trump has been quite popular. This is one of this, in
addition to the economy. That was a polling showing us that those were the two most important issues for voters.
We know where things stand right now in terms of the economy. What about immigration?
HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Yes. We know where stand thing -- where things stand on the economy when it comes to Donald Trump. Voters
hate him on it. Hate him, hate him, hate him.
Immigration, my dear friends, is a whole other kid at (INAUDIBLE). What are we talking about here? Well, let's talk about the simplest measure that we
can take here. That is Donald Trump's net approval rating on immigration.
And you go back eight years ago, you go to April of 2017, you see Donald Trump was way on the water at minus 12 points. But look at where he is this
time around. He's actually on the positive side of the ledger. Very much unlike the economy. There's been a big switcheroo on it, right? The economy
was to strengthen the first term. Now, week, this immigration was a weakness. Now it's a strength in the second term.
And more than that, voters' opinions on Trump in this second term have remained positive. They're about the same level they were back in January.
But here, of course, beyond that, is the comparison between where voters are right now on immigration and how they felt things were under Joe Biden.
I think this really gives it away.
This, to me, is one of the more fascinating movements in American public that I've been have a pleasure to bring to you.
On immigration, what track are we on? The right track. In December, it was just 14 percent. Look at where we are -- well, look at -- look at where it
was on wrong. It was 62. And look at where we are now. Again, a total flip- flop.
Now, 45 percent of the public says were on the right track compared to 42 percent on the wrong track.
So back when Biden was president, the vast majority thought we were on the wrong track. Now that plurality think that we're on the right track.
And, of course, what about views on immigration just generally speaking? And I think this will give the whole ball game away.
Deport all undocumented immigrants back during when Trump was running the first time around, 38 percent. Look at where we are now, 56 percent. Just a
complete switcheroo, guys.
GOLODRYGA: And this isn't polling of just Republicans, right, or Trump supporters?
[12:25:00]
ENTEN: No. This is everybody.
GOLODRYGA: Yes, everyone.
ENTEN: This is everybody. This is everybody. This is not just Republicans. We have just become so much more hawkish on immigration as a public at
large. And that was a big reason why Trump won it back in November.
ASHER: I love the gestures, Harry. You really put emphasize in there.
ENTNE: I get so excited.
ASHER: You just want to get it through to us. Understand people.
ENTEN: Understand the numbers I'm bringing to you and understand that they're important. If you feel the enthusiasm about numbers that I feel and
you feel it about life, you are the happiest person on the planet.
GOLODRYGA: We have become increasingly hawkish on Harry Enten. More Harry.
ENTEN: Ooh.
GOLODRYGA: More Harry. More Harry everyday.
ENTEN: I like it.
GOLODRYGA: Thank you, Harry.
ASHER: Good to see you, Harry.
ENTEN: Bye.
ASHER: Bye.
GOLODRYGA: Bye.
ASHER: All right. Donald Trump's tariffs and federal cuts are set to have a major impact on farmers with China, a key market for U.S. agricultural
products.
So how are the president's economic policies being received in the rural states that largely voted for him? CNN's Elle Reeve went to South Dakota to
find out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAIME BAYSINGER, WAITRESS, RED HOG SALOON: I wanted Trump.
ELLE REEVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You wanted Trump?
BAYSINGER: Yep. There was no way in hell I wanted her out there. But now, I don't know. What would have been better?
REEVE: What were you expecting?
BAYSINGER: I was expecting the lower cost of a lot of just your everyday living things. And hoping that he would make things better for everybody in
America because that's what we need.
Groceries are already outrageous. And then we put the tariffs on across the seas or whatever, like China, all that. It just makes everything more
expensive for everybody.
REEVE (voice-over): Jamie Baysinger is the only person we met in eastern South Dakota who openly questioned her own political views.
Most people we talked to said it was risky to talk about politics here, even as the effects of Trump's tariffs loomed over the agricultural economy
in an area that voted for him by about 70 percent.
Generally, opinions were divided between trust Trump's plan and how can you still like this guy?
REEVE: Wait. So, Becky, let me ask one thing. Are you in a politically mixed marriage?
BECKY HOFER, FREIGHT BROKER: Yeah. Did you see the (BLEEP) Joe Biden sign? Would you like to talk about that a little bit?
REEVE: Yes.
REEVE (voice-over): Becky Hofer was not afraid to talk. She's a Democrat and her husband is a conservative nonvoter. She's a freight broker.
Basically, if a company needs to ship bricks, she'll find you a flatbed truck. If you need to ship meat, she'll get you a refrigerated truck.
HOFER: Ooh. You need the truck tomorrow. Can you guys, like, fork a pallet jack into the back of the trailer for him to pallet jack him to the front?
REEVE (voice-over): This gives her a window into real time shifts in the economy.
HOFER: Everybody's nervous. People are making different decisions for different reasons. But, you know, some of its hesitation, some of its
actual price changes. Everybody just wants some stability right now.
REEVE (voice-over): And those shifts can be complex. She says Chinas retaliatory tariffs on American pork and beef could lead to higher prices
on fruit.
HOFER: Right now, it's produce season in California. We need to get out to California. What goes out to California? Meat. We haul pork, we haul beef.
Where does it go? It goes to Asia. If it doesn't go, the price produce is going to go up even that much more, because they're going to have to pay
more for the trucks.
REEVE: Yes. As we've talked about, you're in a really conservative area, very pro-Trump area. Like, do you feel frustrated in trying to talk to your
neighbors about what's going on?
HOFER: Yes. You know, it's -- the biggest thing that frustrates me is that I just feel like nobody cares right now until it affects them. And I don't
understand how they don't see that. They're not dumb. These people aren't dumb.
And they're not unkind to people and selfish people. And thoughtless people. So I don't understand why they're okay with it.
REEVE (voice-over): Hofer introduced us to her neighbor, Rod Olerud (ph), who was feeding cattle and who for now is OK with it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just think we need to let the president do what he's doing. And we need to just see what's going to happen here and give him a
little latitude so that, you know, if it doesn't work, then we're going to have to try something different.
REEVE: OK. So you're willing to let the president try some stuff to see?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. To see if this works. Just give the president a chance. And we'll just have to go from there.
Looks like a little boy.
REEVE (voice-over): Tommy Baruth thinks we already gave it a chance. He's a retired soybean farmer who saw what happened in 2018 when Trump put tariffs
on China.
TOMMY BARUTH, RETIRED FARMER: The export market just went right down the tube because these countries could buy them from other places cheaper.
Brazil and other countries were the ones that benefited from that.
REEVE: I read that it stayed that way, that now China buys a lot more from Brazil.
BARUTH: Exactly. And a lot of times, those markets don't come back.
REEVE: Doug Bjorke runs a lawn mowing business. He says Trump's plan will work out in the long term, even if some crop prices fall.
DOUG BJORKE, LAWNMOWER REPAIRMAN: Yes. The price might come down, but when then people start starving, they're going to come back to the table.
REEVE: You mean in the other countries?
[12:30:00]
BJORKE: Yes. We're a gracious, gracious nation feeding the world. And we shouldn't have to without getting something for it.
REEVE: Rick Eckmann says in the three days after the tariffs, cattle futures dropped below the point of breakeven for his farm.
REICK ECKMANN, FARMER: We had him do this before.
REEVE: Yes, he really likes you.
ECKMANN: Yes.
PRODUCER: Did you vote for Trump?
ECKMANN: No, I did not. No, I did not.
REEVE: Why not?
ECKMANN: You want me to be truthful?
REEVE (voice-over): Yes.
ECKMANN: I think to get to where he's at today, he's stepped on people and he's got no morals, I don't think. I don't like the man. I don't like him.
REEVE: Why do you think so many of your neighbors do support?
ECKMANN: I don't know. I guess I don't see anything good about him.
REEVE: Does it affect the way you think about America?
ECKMANN: It scares me.
REEVE (voice-over): Terry Nebelsick, a lifelong Republican and retired school superintendent, was very careful in how he talked about the
political climate. He's concerned that Trump's push to dissolve the Department of Education will cut public school funds for needy kids,
potentially at a time of economic turmoil.
TERRY NEBELSICK, FORMER HURON, SOUTH DAKOTA SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT: If poverty is happening to adults, children are hurting. And where adults
sometimes just have to work through it and work through it and make sure there's food on the table, during that time, we have children and
adolescents who are forming who they're going to be, and I do think that the public school is a collecting point for people to be able to reach
those kids and make sure that they're fed and have medical attention and have their basic needs met.
REEVE (voice-over): Again and again, our conversations in this Midwestern nice town came back to character and values.
BARUTH: When Sheila and I raised our children, we taught them to be honest, you know, not try to cheat anybody, to respect. Trump is -- doesn't do any
of those things.
REEVE: Do you find a lot of farmers around here agree with you? Or are they fans of Trump?
BARUTH: This is a very Republican state. I think it's too soon for them to say they're wrong.
REEVE (voice-over): Elle Reeve, CNN, Huron, South Dakota.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:35:47]
ASHER: The Trump administration is stepping up its threats against Harvard University. The Department of Homeland Security is now threatening to
revoke Harvard's ability to enroll international students if it doesn't turn over student disciplinary records to the agency.
GOLODRYGA: The department also announced two federal grants to Harvard worth millions of dollars are being canceled. This on top of the more than
$2 billion in grants and contracts that is being frozen. And sources tell CNN the IRS is making plans to revoke the university's tax exempt status.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LINDA MCMAHON, U.S. EDUCATION SECRETARY: We'll see what IRS comes back with relative to Harvard. I certainly think, you know, a lead to schools,
especially that have these incredibly large endowments. You know, we should probably have a look into that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Professors are scrambling to salvage what they have, saying that they'll need to euthanize animals and lay off workers because of the
freeze.
ASHER: Keep in mind, things like the internet, GPS, some vaccines, and the touch screen on your iPhone are actually all thanks to government grants.
GOLODRYGA: Time now for The Exchange. Joining us is CNN political national security analyst David Sanger. David, good to see you.
Every day, something new. This has become a personal vendetta now that the president has an animus towards Harvard in particular. But obviously, other
universities are paying close attention to what is transpiring.
On the issue of banning international students from the university, we should note that international students in the U.S., as a whole, are at a
record high, I believe, over one million as of last year, and they bring in some $44 billion to the United States in terms of economic contribution.
Legality aside, because we can talk about that, whether or not this is even a legal approach, and Harvard is definitely taking up that question.
What is the impact on the global dominance the United States has right now in terms of higher education if this is something that we see continue and
actually go into effect?
DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, Bianna, I think it's pretty clear that universities and our whole education system,
including what the administration is calling elite universities, although I noticed that in the interview you just said before, they called them
elitist universities, which is somewhat different, are one of the great sources of American soft power.
They are the great attraction that the United States offers to young people around the world. And the beneficiaries of them go far beyond the economic
advantages for the U.S. of bringing intuition and other spending.
It's an opportunity to sort of spread the word about the nature of American society. Its constitutional sensibilities, it's view of freedoms around the
world, and hope that that helps when those students go back home, though many of them I think the United States would want to have stay here. And
all of a sudden, the U.S. has got people to go talk to.
I can't tell you how many students I've seen who then went back to their countries, and at some point, it become conduits to the United States.
I should just add for full disclosure here, I think that applies to all universities. I teach as an adjunct in a course at the Kennedy School at
Harvard, just so that you understand that I've also gotten affiliation there.
GOLODRYGA: You're also an alum.
ASHER: Yes.
GOLODRYGA: Yes.
ASHER: You graduated --
SANGER: I am. I am.
ASHER: -- Magna Cum -- you graduated Magna Cum Laude from Harvard. And on top of that, you are staffed at the Harvard Crimson. In addition to that,
Mr. Well-Credentialed.
GOLODRYGA: Underachiever.
ASHER: Underachiever. You're a lecturer at the Harvard Kennedy School. So, I mean, David, from a personal perspective, I mean, this is your alma
mater. You went to school here. Just as I did that the federal government is withholding, you know, $2.2 billion from Harvard without any kind of
real evidence that this university has done anything wrong. Just give us your personal perspective of that.
[12:40:06]
SANGER: Well, clearly as you said, this goes to something of a personal grudge, not just with Harvard, I mean, obviously, last week, we were
talking about Columbia, right?
But about half the students in the course that I co-teach with Graham Allison are foreign students. They bring an enormous amount to the American
-- foreign students who are there, so understand a foreign land, and they learn a lot about, I hope they learn a lot about the United States.
The penalties that the administration is discussing here, withholding $2 billion, thinking about stripping them of their -- of their tax exempt
status, and so forth, is clearly out of proportion to whatever missteps the university may have made along the way in handling these protests and so
forth. That doesn't mean the university did all of this perfectly.
But what's going on here is something that is much bigger and much broader. And I think, to my own view, to the detriment of the way the world views
the United States, and why it wants to send its students here.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. I mean, you raised good questions. We saw how the university presidents handled or mishandled their testimony before Congress
as it relates to their response to anti-Semitism. Most people condemn to that as they should have, but this is taking it into a much broader scale
sort of sweeping demands that the United States is now putting, the government is putting on these private institutions.
David Sanger in Washington, DC. Thank you, Professor.
ASHER: Thank you.
GOLODRYGA: Should we call you professor? Yes.
ASHER: Thank you.
SANGER: You guys can listen to the class anytime.
ASHER: Oh. I actually love that.
SANGER: Come in and forget --
GOLODRYGA: We're going to take you up on that. All right.
SANGER: OK.
GOLODRYGA: Thank you, David.
SANGER: We want you. Take care. Bye-bye.
ASHER: Goodbye.
GOLODRYGA: Coming up for us, more than 30 years behind bars for the murder of their parents. Could a new look at the case set Erik and Lyle Menendez
on a path to parole? That's up next.
ASHER: Plus.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLOONEY: His two tours of duty in Afghanistan, active duty. He speaks sort of beautifully. He's smart. He ran a hedge fund. He ran the Robin Hood
Foundation. He's a -- he's a proper leader.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: Oscar winner, George Clooney, talking about a Democrat that he thinks could retake the White House in 2028, sits down with CNN to discuss
politics and his new Broadway show.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:45:25]
GOLODRYGA: A hearing is set to get underway in Los Angeles this hour for convicted murderers Erik and Lyle Menendez.
ASHER: Yes. The infamous brothers were jailed back in 1989 for the murders of their parents in Beverly Hills. They were sentenced to life in prison
without the possibility of parole. That was more than 30 years ago.
Now, the brothers are seeking a lesser sentence and a path towards release.
CNN's Nick Watt has more from LA.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Erik and Lyle Menendez have been in jail about 35 years. Nobody questions whether they killed their parents. They
did. They gunned them down in 1989 in their Beverly Hills mansion.
The question now is, have Erik and Lyle Menendez changed? Are they rehabilitated? Should they be resentenced? Should they potentially be
released?
Now when they were charged and convicted, they were sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.
The previous DA here in Los Angeles and the Menendez brothers' defense team and indeed their family argue that they have paid their debt to society.
They are changed men. They have done great work in prison. They have been model prisoners and it's time they were let out.
They've also thought that perhaps changing attitudes towards people who have suffered sexual violence as the Menendez brothers say they did at the
hands of their parents, that attitudes have changed lightly towards that as being a mitigating factor or a defense in a case like this.
So what happened? There's the previous DA in L.A. said, yes, I would like resentencing. The new DA elected in November said, I don't want
resentencing. These brothers have not changed. They are still lying. They lack insight into their crimes.
So this resentencing hearing is supposed to start 9:30 A.M. Los Angeles time, but the DA has now filed a petition asking for it to be pushed so
that the court can see a new risk assessment carried out by the California parole board, a risk assessment of whether the Menendez brothers would pose
a danger to society should they be released. So that is another question.
One more question in this long running saga that has captured the public imagination for decades, frankly, since this was one of the first televised
trials back in the '90s on American television. And, of course, a recent drama and a docu series reignited interest in this case for a whole new
generation.
We've seen people standing in line, trying to get into the courthouse for any of these hearings. Still unclear whether this hearing will happen
today, but the Menendez brothers are continuing their fight for freedom on three fronts, resentencing, a new trial, or perhaps clemency from the
governor of California.
Nick Watt, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GOLODRYGA: And we'll be right back with more.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:50:53]
GOLODRYGA: Hollywood actor and Democratic Party donor, George Clooney, has told CNN that it is his, it was his civic duty to call on Joe Biden to drop
out of last year's election race. Speaking at his new Broadway play, the politically charged "Goodnight, and Good Luck," Clooney called the 2024
campaign difficult, but he told Jake Tapper who think who he thinks could lead the party next.
Clooney's bets are on Maryland governor, Wes Moore.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLOONEY: It was a very difficult campaign. I think we should have seen from some people that I think we have some really good governors. And I would
have liked to have seen an expedite, quick primary, I think we would have sustained it, and she may have come out on top. I don't know.
TAPPER: Who do you have your eyes on?
CLOONEY: I really -- there's one person in particular, I think is spectacular. There are a few. I like Andy Beshear. I like --
TAPPER: Oh, you're Kentucky.
CLOONEY: I'm a Kentucky guy. Yes, I like him. He's a good guy. And they're smart. He's won in a red state. He's a Democrat. I like -- Gretchen, I
think, is very good.
But who I think is -- who I think is levitating above that is Wes Moore. I think he is a guy that -- that's handled this tragedy in Baltimore
beautifully. He's two tours of duty in Afghanistan, active duty. He speaks sort of beautifully, he's smart, he ran a hedge fund, he ran the Robin Hood
Foundation.
He's a -- he's a proper leader, and Democrats, you know, the thing is, we say Democrats fall in love and Republicans fall in line.
Although I think Republicans have fallen in love a little bit. I like him a lot. I think he could be someone we could all join in behind.
We have to find somebody, it's rather soon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: At a more lighthearted moment, Clooney actually discussed the look that he's wanting to work as a Broadway debut. If you hadn't noticed, the
trademark gray hair that he usually has, has been actually dyed, very dark brown.
Clooney told Jake that it has taken some getting used to. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: How is it with the black hair? How is --
CLOONEY: It's horrible. The only good news is I can walk in the streets in New York and nobody recognize.
TAPPER: People don't recognize you.
CLOONEY: It's the craziest thing. I've never been -- I put a hat on, anything else before.
TAPPER: That's so far.
CLOONEY: I couldn't walk anywhere. Now, I walk in --
TAPPER: You've been a Silver Fox for a while.
CLOONEY: I've had it going for a bit, and I hate it. My wife just thinks I look like, you know, I don't know what she thinks I look like, but she's
like, that is just a bad look on you.
TAPPER: So did you -- so after the Signalgate scandal, my wife and I re- watched "Burn After Reading."
CLOONEY: Oh.
TAPPER: And that character --
CLOONEY: Yes.
TAPPER: -- who is such a horrible guy.
CLOONEY: A horrible guy.
TAPPER: But did you -- were you not -- did you dye your hair for that also? Because this is --
CLOONEY: No, that was actually my hair.
TAPPER: That was actually dark.
CLOONEY: No. I've been getting rapidly gray. But that was 20 years ago.
TAPPER: Yes, yes.
CLOONEY: So yes. No, I said -- when did you get gray? When did you start getting gray?
TAPPER: The first Trump administration.
CLOONEY: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SHERYL LEE RALPH, ACTRESS AND SINGER: What in the earth, wind, and fire is going on here?
You could hear a wig drop.
It's a wig, baby Jesus. I'm the grown one too.
You are not a Jojo Sea-bass.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You mean JoJo Siwa (ph)?
RALPH: I'm Miss Tech, you know. I love Tech. Shop at the App Store. Got a hot mail. I once even rode in a Tesla.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: I could listen to her talk all day. The wisdom of Abbott Elementary's Barbara Howard, played by the Emmy-winning, Sheryl Lee Ralph.
Now the icon of stage and screen has received a new honor, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
ASHER: Yes. Ralph was joined by her avid Elementary co-star and show creator, Quenta Brunson, as well as Loretta Devine, who starred opposite
Ralph in the original Broadway production of "Dream Girls."
Ralph thanked anyone who has ever discouraged or rejected her for pushing her to where she is now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RALPH: Look, honey, this star, it is not the finish line. It's the starting block.
And I just want to thank the people who told me no. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. You're not this, you're not that. You're too black, you're too
short. You're not black enough, you're not this, you're not that. Woo. And some of them were not kind about it, but I thank you.
[12:55:16]
I thank you because your rejection was a redirection. And look where it landed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: That is the best thing I've seen in a long time. No, no, no, no, no.
GOLODRYGA: I'm going to keep that line. Thank you to everyone that's ever said no to you.
ASHER: Oh, my god. That was brilliant.
GOLODRYGA: As Ralph's character, Barbara once said, people have thrown dirt on my name. Others have given flowers, but it's all a garden to me.
ASHER: That was fantastic.
GOLODRYGA: I have nothing to follow up after that, other than that's it for ONE WORLD today. I'm Bianna Golodryga.
ASHER: I'm Zain Asher. Appreciate you watching. "AMANPOUR" is up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:00:00]
END
