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The Situation Room

China Imposes 84 Percent Retaliatory Tariffs on U.S. Goods; House Votes on Key Budget Blueprint; Rivers Overflooding in Kentucky; Investigating the Rise of Extremism in America. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired April 10, 2025 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:00]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, China has begun its 84 percent tariffs on all U.S. goods coming into the country. It's part of the dizzying trade war with the U.S. as President Trump raises tariffs on Chinese goods to 125 percent.

Joining us now is Congressman Jim Himes, a Democrat from Connecticut. He sits on both the Financial Services and Intelligence Committees. Congressman, thanks so much for joining us. As you know, President Trump has said China wants to make a deal to diffuse this trade war. You're the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee. First of all, do you agree with him?

REP. JIM HIMES (D-CT), RANKING MEMBER, INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE AND FINANCIAL SERVICES COMMITTEE: Well, it's not whether I agree with him or not, Wolf, you know, the Chinese, of course today and yesterday, announced countervailing tariffs. So, no, they're calling the president's bluff here. And you know, we're now imposing almost embargo-like tariffs on the importation of Chinese goods.

Now, remember, when I say Chinese goods, it's kind of everything that most people are wearing, it's furniture, it's electronics, it's iPhones, and of course, they've imposed that on our exports. So, our farmers are about to get absolutely clobbered.

And so, no, they are absolutely not backing down. And I know that it's fashionable for Donald Trump to claim victory, but, you know, you already see the markets reacting badly today because they've realized that everything that the president said when he backed down yesterday doesn't touch our third largest trading partner, and that's China. And the fact that we are at embargo level tariffs with China is going to create havoc in the United States economy.

BLITZER: And the other picture we're showing right now, Congressman, the vote on the budget issue. So, we'll keep monitoring that. But let's talk a little bit more about this trade war that's ongoing with China. At what cost do you think the U.S. potentially could win this trade war?

HIMES: Well, the problem, Wolf, that this desire that the president has and that people like Peter Navarro have to bring manufacturing back to the United States, that's not a bad idea. Now, there's two problems with that idea, even though it's not a bad idea. Number one, manufacturing today in the modern era is not a worker intensive thing. Go to a manufacturing plant today and you'll see there's lots of machines and there's not a lot of people.

The second thing that is a huge problem is that you can't just all of a sudden, in a matter of months, grow a whole new manufacturing sector, right? It takes businesses years to come up with the plans to actually invest in manufacturing. And by the way, they're going to be a lot less likely to do that now because they've seen the utter chaos that comes out of the Oval Office.

So, you know, if they're thinking about building a plant in Scotland or in Canada or in Taiwan, and they're saying, we could put it in the United States, but we may wake up tomorrow to 50 percent new tariffs, they're not going to do that.

So, look, the underlying idea here of trying to bring American manufacturing back is not a terrible idea, but it's just not going to work in a way that doesn't create huge havoc, you know, that's going to raise the price of iPhone, it's going to raise the price of automobile, it's going to raise the price of pretty much everything that we buy as consumers. And of course, it's going to devastate those farmers whose livelihoods rely on exporting grains and pork and other things to the Chinese people.

BLITZER: President Trump's advisers, at least some of them, say this pause in the tariffs was always part of the White House strategy. Do you believe that?

HIMES: Well, I mean, look, of course they are, right, but Donald Trump said himself, he said, OK, people were feeling squirrely. You know, they got to look at the bond market. No, of course not. He looked at one of the biggest market routes, equity market route in history and he looked at the fact that the bond market was losing confidence in the United States government, and he said, you know, I got a reverse course.

So, I -- look, his flunkies need to always say what they always say, which is that this is a master negotiator who does everything right, but we -- you know, Americans need to take a quick look at their 401(k)s to see what this master negotiator has done to their wellbeing.

[10:35:00]

BLITZER: While I have you, Congressman, I want to ask you about President Trump's decision to have the U.S. Department of Justice go after two officials who have been highly critical of him, Miles Taylor and Chris Krebs. What sort of precedent potentially does this set? Both of these individuals worked for him at one point, but then they issued statements and articles critical of him?

HIMES: Yes. Yes. I mean, this is the kind of stuff that we used to see in Soviet Union, you know, where if you fell out of favor with the dear leader, you were prosecuted for having done so. I know Chris Krebs personally. He is one of the smartest, most capable, most ethical people around. And of course, this will go nowhere. This will go nowhere because they will not find a single thing that Chris Krebs did wrong. But what it will do is chill people who might want to actually go to work for the elements of our federal government who keep us safe from cyber-attacks. They're going to say, wait a minute, under this president, there is no way that I'm going to go to work to try to defend the American people, because if I fall out of favor, because I tell the truth, because I tell the truth, you know, the Department of Justice may be knocking on my door.

Wolf, look, the American people understand this. This is like Bolivian dictator stuff from the 1950s and it has no business in the United States of America in the 21st century.

BLITZER: All right. Congressman Jim Himes, thanks as usual for joining us.

HIMES: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: And, Pamela.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: And just ahead, we'll be joined by the mayor of Louisville, Kentucky as rivers overflow in the city, only adding to the flooding damage across my home state.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:40:00]

BROWN: Well, right now the bluegrass State of Kentucky is beginning to assess damage after devastating floods. Their river levels are slowly receding after the region was inundated by days of heavy rain. Last week, the Ohio River crested yesterday just shy of 37 feet in Louisville. Joining me now is the mayor of Louisville, Craig Greenberg. Mayor, I know you've had so much on your plate with this flooding. Tell us now, what is the situation in Louisville now that the river is receding? Are you getting a better sense of the damage there?

MAYOR CRAIG GREENBERG, LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY: Well, good morning. Yes. We're very pleased that the river is finally receiving receding. This has been one of the top 10 flooding events in our city's history, over 25 feet above normal for the Ohio River.

Now, fortunately, our flood protection system is working as designed and planned. The levies. We installed floodgates in anticipation of this flood. We're pumping over 2 billion gallons of water a day to the other side of the levee to keep our city dry. But areas all along the river are under significant pressure still, and we expect that to continue for the rest of the week.

The only good news is that for --

BROWN: Go ahead.

GREENBERG: I was going to say, have not been any losses of life or serious injuries as a result of the flooding this time, or the tornadoes that we had tear through our city last week. BROWN: Yes, that is certainly good news. I want to talk a little bit more about the damage that you're seeing and how people are directly impacted there.

GREENBERG: Well, it's impacting us in a lot of ways. School has been canceled for several days, even though a significant part of our city is dry. The impact on our large school system and getting kids to and from school safely has been impacted, difficult to get the main artery into our downtown. Business district has been closed off. It is totally submerged underwater right now. So, getting to downtown has been a little bit more challenging. And then, of course, there are businesses along the river that right now are not accessible. There's some that you're showing right there, the image there of Captain's Quarters is a local favorite that's been around forever. That's totally submerged in water.

So, it's definitely impacted businesses. And our -- one of our public golf courses is totally underwater at this time. We're hoping by next week the cleanup is going to be well underway.

BROWN: Because you have a lot coming up in Kentucky and in Louisville in particular, right? You have the Kentucky Derby right around the corner.

GREENBERG: We do.

BROWN: You have the -- yes. I mean, are you going to be ready for the derby?

GREENBERG: We will be ready. We always are in Louisville. Unfortunately, this Saturday was the originally planned big kickoff for the Kentucky Derby Festival, Thunder over Louisville, the biggest firework show and air show in North America every year. We had to cancel that because it happens right above -- there you go. It happens right above the river. And we couldn't safely pull that out off with the barges in the river or to protect the air show with divers in the water. So, that's been canceled.

But our community comes together and we are going to be very ready for all of the other Kentucky Derby Festival events and the hundred 51st running of the Kentucky Derby, the first Saturday in May.

BROWN: I'm glad to hear that as a Kentuckian who grew up watching the Derby, going to the Derby, I'm very glad to hear that. Just one more question for you. We're looking at these images and they are just incredible. You know, you see all the debris in the Ohio River making it treacherous, frankly, for anyone on the water. What are crews doing to clean up and what is your advice to people who want to go out on a boat or go fishing?

GREENBERG: Definitely do not go fishing. Don't go out on a boat. We've seen some kayakers out there exploring. None of that is safe. It's not safe for you. And it's also putting first responders at risk if they have to come get you. So, we're encouraging people to stay far away from the water. As the river starts to recede, we're going to start to clean up immediately. We're not waiting until it all comes all the way down.

[10:45:00]

But our community has a history of coming together. You know, Pamela, it was two years ago today, coincidentally, that I was speaking with you on CNN about a mass shooting that occurred in our city on April 10, 2023, where five individuals were killed in a bank, a tragedy. Our city came together and we were stronger on the tail end of that. The same is going to happen here.

Volunteers are going to show up to support our crews, to clean our city up, have our city shine and ready in a few weeks for the Kentucky Derby. That happens time and time again here in Louisville and throughout Kentucky.

BROWN: Yes, Louisville has been through so much, but as you said, it's resilient. The people are resilient. As my sister Sandy said, though, hopefully, Louisville can be in the national news for a positive reason soon. But certainly, it is positive that you say you're going to clean up and be ready for the Derby. Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg, thank you so much Wolf.

BLITZER: Mayor did a very excellent job and we wish all the folks in Kentucky --

BROWN: Absolutely.

BLITZER: -- the best.

BROWN: Because it's not just Louisville, it goes beyond.

BLITZER: To be sure. Coming up, with Canadian tariffs still very much in place, the premier of Ontario, Doug Ford, standing by to join us live here in the Situation Room. We will discuss what's going on as far as U.S. and Canada relations are concerned.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:50:00]

BROWN: We're following to breaking news on Capitol Hill. The House is voting on a key step in passing a budget blueprint.

BLITZER: Want to go right to our chief congressional correspondent, Manu Raju. He's got the latest for us. What is the latest, Manu?

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this bill -- this measure on the floor right now, the speaker of the House can only afford to lose a handful of votes and get -- on the Republican side and adopt this budget blueprint, which is essential in advancing the Trump agenda. And right now, he's only lost one Republican vote on the floor.

Now, if all members are present in voting, he can only -- he can lose at most three Republican votes there. We do expect some absences here. So, that could change the ultimate threshold, but really is virtually no margin for error or very little margin for error. The one Republican no vote right now is one that we had been expecting Thomas Massie of Kentucky.

But in good news for the speakers, some of these holdouts are indicating that they are flipping. I just caught up with one Andy Ogles of Tennessee. He just told a group of us that he does plan to vote to advance this budget blueprint. The rub had been over spending cuts. Some of these hardliners had pushed for deeper spending cuts. They had been concerned about changes that the Senate made to its plan, but some assurances seems to have won over some of the skeptics like Congressman Ogles. The question will be if there are others that decide ultimately to vote for this plan as well. But right now, only one Republican voting against that point. Good news for the speaker as they tried to move past this key hurdle before they tried to actually write the legislative details for the sweeping Trump agenda. Wolf.

BROWN: All right. Many Raju, thanks so much.

BLITZER: Also happening this Sunday, 8:00 p.m. Eastern only here on CNN, the latest installment of "The Whole Story" and then this one is entitled " MisinfoNation: Extreme America," where CNNs Donie :O'Sullivan examines how changes in technology are radicalizing Americans. The episode also considering -- coinciding, I should say, this month with the tragic 10-year commemoration of the Oklahoma City bombing. It's a very grim chapter of American history that I personally remember well when CNN sent me to Oklahoma City to report on the terrorist bombing of the Murrah Federal Office building that killed 188 innocent people. Very sad moment in my career. Just to cover that.

BROWN: Yes.

BLITZER: Our Senior Correspondent Donie O'Sullivan is here with us in the Situation Room. Donie, Timothy Mcveigh was in part inspired by, what, anti-Semitic white supremacist novel, "The Turner Diaries." how has this path to radicalization changed? And you've done some serious studying on this over the past 30 years.

DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Wolf, as you mentioned and remember well, "The Turner Diaries," which was that book, it was a novel. It was difficult to get your hands on. But it was an anti-Semitic white supremacist novel that sort of, in part, inspired the Oklahoma City bombing attack by Timothy McVeigh.

What we're looking at in this episode of "MisinfoNation" this week is just how, over the last 30 years, how, you know, McVeigh had to go to some effort to try and get a copy of that book. But today, extremists and just even normal Americans are getting served real extreme radicalizing type content to their social media feeds every day through algorithms. So, just taking a look really at how "The Turner Diaries" and words are now being served to Americans every day.

BROWN: Yes. And we should note, it's not just the way people are being radicalized, right, it's even how they are making the weapons to carry out the attacks that have changed. O'SULLIVAN: Exactly. Yes. And you might remember "The Anarchist Cookbook," which was a banned -- another banned book, which sort of laid out plans for homemade explosives that was linked to numerous attacks down through the years. If we think about, you know, the equivalent today, is very much 3D printed guns. And we actually -- of course, the murder assassination of Brian Thompson, the alleged shooter there used a 3D printed gun prosecutor's alleged.

We spend some time in Austin, Texas with the godfather of the 3D printed gun who puts these plans up online, instructions how to print a gun, and it's incredible, really. 3D printing has become so cheap, you can literally download these plans and print a gun at home.

BROWN: Yes.

BLITZER: We're really looking forward to your report Sunday night. Donie O'Sullivan, thank you very much. And "The Whole Story: MisinfoNation: Extreme America" airs this Sunday, 8:00 p.m. Eastern only here on CNN.

[10:55:00]

BROWN: And coming up, we have some new CNN analysis on the negotiations behind the scenes, over the tariffs against China. We'll be back,

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Happening now. Breaking news, U.S. markets are down again this morning as reality sets back in for Wall Street, and this comes as President Trump plans to hold a cabinet meeting this hour where his administration will try to get on the same page about its trade war with the rest of the world.

[11:00:00]