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Wholesale Inflation Eases, Before Trump's Tariffs; China Raising Retaliatory Tariffs on U.S. Imports to 125 Percent; NTSB, FAA Investigating Deadly New York City Tourist Helicopter Crash. Aired 10- 10:30a ET

Aired April 11, 2025 - 10:00   ET

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

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PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, breaking news, China hits back American goods now facing a 125 percent tariff. And while Beijing saying it's done with the tariff tit-for-tat, it's what's behind that headline that's causing even more uncertainty.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: And what went wrong? That's the question as investigators are at the scene right now of a deadly helicopter crash.

Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer with Pamela Brown and you're in The Situation Room.

We begin this hour with breaking news this morning. We have a new measure of inflation here in the United States. The producer price index falling four tenths of 1 percent in March. That's better than economists expected. But a big caveat, this is before the back and forth on President Trump's tariffs announced earlier this month.

BROWN: Also breaking overnight, China announcing it's raising tariffs on all American goods entering the country, Beijing's latest retaliation, raising tariffs to 125 percent from 84 percent. And just 30 minutes after the opening bell on Wall Street, here's how investors are reacting after a turbulent week of losses. We're going to have more on that in just a moment.

BLITZER: I want to begin our coverage this hour with CNN Correspondent Marc Stewart. He's in Beijing. Marc, sources are telling CNN that the Trump administration privately actually warned Chinese officials against retaliatory tariffs. Clearly, that didn't work. What more can you tell us?

MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. Well, if no one should be surprised by this, retaliation is a big part of China's foreign policy, especially when it comes to these trade issues. What's notable is that Beijing said it's not going to raise tariffs any further, and that if it needs to take any kind of future action, it has other tools. What's also significant is some of the language that we're hearing from the government, saying that this is nothing more than a numbers game and that the United States is turning itself into a joke. That's from the Commerce of Ministry. We're also hearing today from Chinese Leader Xi Jinping, who said, China is not afraid in that there are no winners in a tariff war, such as we are seeing very much language consistent that we've heard from other government officials during the week.

Something to look forward to, though in the days ahead, Xi Jinping will be making a road trip of sorts to Vietnam, Cambodia, and Malaysia. These are nations that China is depending on to forge new economic relationships. This visit by Xi Jinping is meant to strengthen that, but also to show the world that China too could be an economic force, Wolf.

BLITZER: Lots going on. Marc Stewart reporting from Beijing, thank you very, very much. Pamela?

BROWN: And we have some more breaking news. We just received a new snapshot of how Americans are feeling about their wallets and the economy. So, let's go live now the CNN's Matt Egan in New York.

Matt, you just went through this report. What does it say?

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Well, Pamela, it says the mood on Main Street is dark right now. We just learned that consumer sentiment for the month of April tumbled by 11 percent to 50.8. Some context, that is the second lowest level since records began in the 1950s. This is actually a lower level of consumer sentiment than at any point during the Great recession, which is pretty staggering when you think about it.

The only lower reading was almost three years ago, back when Americans were panicking over record high gas prices. Of course, today, the focus is not gas prices. It's all of this volatility that we've seen in the stock market, all the volatility out of Washington, the confusion and chaos in the trade war.

Let me read you a key line from this report that just came out a few moments ago. University of Michigan says that this decline in sentiment, just like last month, was pervasive and it was unanimous across age, income, education, geographic region and political affiliation. Pamela?

BROWN: So, I want to follow up with you because just reading about the CEO of asset management for BlackRock, he just said on CNBC, and I'm quoting here, that, basically, this is similar to the 2008 financial crisis that the U.S. is very close to a recession and may in one now.

EGAN: Yes. You know, that is a sentiment that we've heard from a number of CEOs and economists.

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The issue here is there's just been so many simultaneous shocks to the system, right? We've had the financial shock from the trillions of dollars that have been wiped out of the stock market. We've had the trade shock from the highest level of tariffs in over a century, higher than even what we saw during the Great Depression.

And you also have a potential price shock coming. You mentioned we had better than expected inflation numbers this morning. We also had pretty good inflation numbers yesterday, but the problem is that economists are warning again and again that if you spike tariffs this high and you keep them high for any significant period of time, you're going to have even higher prices.

And one last point, Pamela. There was another update in this consumer sentiment report today on what consumers are expecting for inflation. And it went higher and higher to the highest level that we've seen in more than 40 years, which, again, is another reason why we've seen consumer sentiment come so sharply down.

Back to you.

BROWN: Matt Egan, thank you. Wolf?

BLITZER: Larry Fink of BlackRock, very, very smart guy. Yes, so those words are important to watch.

Also happening now, authorities are on the ground in New York investigating what caused the sightseeing helicopter to crash in the Hudson River yesterday afternoon. The pilot and a family of five were all killed in including three children.

We must warn you the video you're about to see is disturbing. Witnesses watched in total horror as the chopper simply spiraled while falling from the sky, then plunged into the water, the Hudson River, upside down.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: River traffic, be advised. You do have an aircraft down Holland Tunnel. Please keep your eyes open for anybody in the water.

Please keep your eyes open. You guys see anything in the water, please let us know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're just circling over Holland now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: All right. Let's go live right now to New York. CNN's Brynn Gingras is watching, what's going on. Brynn, what are investigators doing right now? What's the latest?

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Wolf. Well, you know what, the NTSB, as you said, the FAA, they're on the scene. The go teams are here. They're going to be looking at that major body of the aircraft, which has been pulled out of the water. That's going to be part of their investigation. They're going to be looking at maintenance records of that aircraft. They're going to be looking at any sort of -- you know, any sort of work that might've been done on that aircraft, along with have they complied with any FAA directives on that specific type of aircraft. So, this is all going to be looked into the company that owned that aircraft.

At this time, Wolf, we're also learning some devastating details about this family. We've learned the name of the father of that family of five. His name is Augustine Escobar. He was 49 years old. And we've learned from the Jersey City mayor that he was actually over here on work. He's an executive with Siemen, which is a global technology company. He was here, his wife and three children came at the end of his work trip to extend their holiday, and they were actually taking that sightseeing tour as part of her 40th birthday celebration.

Just some devastating details, of course, we know there was also a sixth person on board, a pilot. We don't really much have much details on that pilot as of yet. But, of course, that video that you showed the viewers and all of those details I explained to you are all going to be part of this investigation, trying to figure out why that aircraft went into the water. And we're hoping to get an update from the NTSB later today. Wolf?

BLITZER: All right. When you do, let us know. Brynn Gingras reporting for us, thank you very much. Pamela?

BROWN: So sad, this family coming to do an aerial tour of the city, and then this tragedy.

Also happening right now, Iran is setting out red lines ahead of nuclear talks with the U.S. except for this weekend. That's according to an Iranian news agency.

With us here is CNN Chief National Security Correspondent Alex Marquardt. So, tell us more about these red lines, Alex.

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is a very big moment for the Trump administration. The Israelis are encouraging the Trump administration to strike Iran's nuclear program. Donald Trump has threatened to do that if he can't reach a deal. But it is clear that the Trump administration wants to find a deal that will prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon.

That's essentially what the previous nuclear deal had laid out that Donald Trump pulled out of. So, the big question now, Pamela, is how does the Trump administration try to enlarge an agreement with the Iranians. Steve Witkoff, the Middle East envoy, is on his way to Oman, which is where this meeting is taking place tomorrow. He actually stopped today in Russia. We believe that he's going to be meeting with Vladimir Putin, who, of course, is a close ally with Iran, but ahead of this meeting.

The Iranians did lay out the red lines, the way that they want the U.S. essentially to act and to talk about this conversation in public. I want to read a couple of those red lines. They say they don't want to hear threatening language by the Trump administration. That's certainly something that we have heard from Trump himself. They don't want to hear about excessive demands regarding Iran's nuclear program. We're taking that to mean that that they don't want to talk about civilian nuclear program. And then the U.S., they say, must also refrain from raising issues relating to Iran's defense industry. So, that would be things like creating and building ballistic missiles. They go on to say that Iran will not accept any form or threat or any attempt to cross these red lines.

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I think the bottom line here is this is going to be a meeting to get the ball rolling. It's going to be kind of 30,000-foot. The two sides will be agreeing on what they can talk about going forward, but this is going to be a long and complicated process.

BROWN: It certainly will. Steve Witkoff has his work cut out for him on many fronts. Alex, thank you.

BLITZER: And it's very significant Pamela that the U.S. and Iran are actually talking directly, even if it isn't Oman, with an official from the Amman government there on the scene as well, very significant development indeed.

We have some breaking news right now. The White House special envoy, Steve Witkoff, is in Russia where he's set to beat with President Vladimir Putin, that according to an official statement from the Kremlin. He's already had a meeting with Putin's top negotiator.

I want to go live right now to CNN Senior International Correspondent Fred Pleitgen, who is joining us from Berlin. What do we expect, Fred, will be at the top of the agenda for this important meeting?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Wolf. We found out a couple of hours ago that Steve Witkoff landed in St. Petersburg, actually this time not in Moscow, where Vladimir Putin is also, as he's been with the Russian Naval Command there throughout the course of the day. You already mentioned that he did meet Kirill Dmitriev, who, of course, is one of Russia's top negotiators, and also the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund. And the Kremlin has indeed said that there will be a meeting with Vladimir Putin. That meeting could actually already be going on.

Now, the Kremlin says that they will be dealing with some pretty tough issues, but first and foremost, it will be trying to come to grips with the conflict in Ukraine, trying to end the conflict in Ukraine, but then also trying to get bilateral U.S.-Russian relations back on track. That's always been the two things that the Kremlin has been talking about, not just a ceasefire for Ukraine, but then also a full restoration of ties between the United States and Russia, and certainly the Kremlin is saying that there are going to be some pretty tough issues at hand.

Another thing that Dmitry Peskov, of course, is the Kremlin spokesman, said as well, is they could also be talking about a possible face-to- face meeting between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Of course, that's something that's also been under discussion for quite a while now. The Kremlin saying that because so many tough issues are going to be at hand, it's not clear how long this meeting could last. They do, however, say they believe it will be several hours, and that Vladimir Putin will take, as the Kremlin puts it, as long as he needs. Wolf?

BROWN: Fred Pleitgen in reporting for us from Berlin, Fred, thank you very, very much. Pamela?

BLITZER: The Supreme Court has ruled unanimously that the Trump administration must, quote, facilitate the return of a Maryland father who was deported by mistake to a notorious El Salvador prison nearly one month ago.

BROWN: The court, however, stopped short of actually ordering Kilmar Abrego Garcia to be returned to the United States or setting an actual deadline for this to happen. This morning, both sides are claiming victory.

Priscilla Alvarez has been tracking all these developments for us. She's joining us here in The Situation Room. Update our viewers. What are you learning?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, this is a pretty open-ended ruling from the Supreme Court, and there is so much more to come in this space. So, as you mentioned, they said that the administration has to facilitate the return, but did not require the return. There was also no deadline that was put on this. But they also punted this back to the lower court where this all originated.

But they made a really important emphasis in doing so by talking about deference to foreign affairs. The idea that the courts need to bear in mind the executive authority when it comes to foreign policy, as the administration has said publicly.

Now, this is why it's a win for both ends. For the attorneys of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, this is the Supreme Court telling the government to facilitate the return, that's a win for them. But for the government, the deference to foreign affairs is a victory for them, at least a practical one.

So, there is more to come in this space today, for example, a hearing at 1:00 P.M. back at the lower court to get more details on how exactly this may unfold. We'll be watching that space to see what the Justice Department says. I'll also note that on Monday, the president of El Salvador will be visiting the White House. That is what's expected. So, all of this is really coming to a head over the next 72 hours.

BLITZER: Because there's a relatively decent relationship between the Trump administration and the government in El Salvador. What I don't understand is why doesn't the president simply pick up the phone, tell the leader in El Salvador, we made a mistake, we need this Maryland man back in the United States?

ALVAREZ: Well, you can imagine that is one of the questions that this federal judge, whose hearing I sat on last week, is probably going to ask, especially knowing that this meeting is coming between the -- coming up between the two of them.

I will say, Wolf, it is more than a decent relationship. It is a very good one. The El Salvadoran president is a Trump-friendly president, and the administration has also given money to El Salvador for this effort. So, certainly one of the questions that DOJ will have to answer.

BLITZER: We hope he is back in Maryland and back soon. All right, thanks very much, Priscilla, for that report.

BROWN: CNN interviewed his wife a few days ago, right?

BLITZER: Yes, we did.

BROWN: And she was talking about the kids and how they keep asking, when is dad going to be home?

BLITZER: Yes.

BROWN: Well, new this morning, the House passing a controversial bill requiring proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections.

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Now, Republicans say this bill is meant to target non-citizen voting, but critics say the measure could disenfranchise millions.

CNN's Lauren Fox is here with the latest. Lauren, tell us more about why this bill is raising these alarm bells among Democrats and voting rights groups?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, there's two separate issues. The first is the fact that there's very little evidence that non-citizens are voting regularly in elections, and when they sometimes do, those are largely seen as errors in judgment and really not some kind of concerted effort to try to rig an election. So, that's the first thing that voting rights groups are pointing out.

The other issue is that you have to prove that you're a citizen of the United States. And the way that you do that is perhaps you can show a real I.D. that shows you're a citizen, but not every state's real I.D. has some marker that shows that you are a citizen of the United States. That means perhaps you would have a passport. Half of Americans don't have a passport.

There's also a question about if you have an I.D. that does not show that you were born in the United States, then you can use your birth certificate. But if you are a woman who has changed your name perhaps after you got married, your birth certificate may not match your I.D. So, there are these hurdles that exist for people, a proof, a burden of proof that exists for people to try to go and register for voting. And that is the. Key concern from some of these voting rights groups.

Now, we should point out that the SAVE Act did pass the House of Representatives. It faces a very steep hurdle in the United States Senate. This bill would be required to be voted on at a 60-vote threshold. Democrats are largely opposed to this bill. It's really unclear how this would get through Congress this session given the numbers in that chamber.

BROWN: All right. Lauren Fox, thanks so much. Wolf?

BLITZER: 60 votes threshold because there could be a filibuster, right?

FOX: Exactly.

BLITZER: You need 60 votes to break that filibuster.

BROWN: Yes, and Republicans don't appear to have the votes for that.

BLITZER: Excellent explanation. Thank you very much, Lauren, for that.

In the next hour, by the way, President Trump is expected to leave the White House on route to Walter Reed Army Medical Center just died outside of Washington in Bethesda, Maryland. He's scheduled to spend much of the day there for his annual physical exam.

I want to go live right now to CNN's Alayna Treene. She's over at the White House for us. Alayna, what does the president's day look like and what can we expect to learn from today's physical exam?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, as you mentioned, Wolf, in just under an hour now, the president is going to depart for Walter Reed to have his annual physical.

Now, it's still very much unclear how soon we are going to learn some of the public details about that exam, how long it might take for them to give us those details, but also if they will make a physician for the president public to us. But I can say if history is any indication, they're likely to put out a letter that is pretty scarce on details. We know in the past the president and his physician and in letters have really painted a rosy picture of the president's health, but haven't provided much details on exactly what that looks like.

Now, as for someone, I should say, who routinely attacked President Joe Biden's mental and physical capacity, like I said, the president has often kept details of his own personal health under wraps. But, look, this is so significant because, one, of course, this is the first time we're going to get a picture of what the president's health looks like. Really, the last time we saw him go to the doctor was after his, that assassination attempt in July when he was in Butler, Pennsylvania. And also, of course, keep in mind President Trump is the oldest president to ever have been sworn into office. So, that, of course, is important context for today. Wolf?

BLITZER: And do we know why they decided to drive the president in a motorcade up to Walter Reed instead of doing the Marine One helicopter route, which is very often used for a president to go to Walter Reed?

TREENE: Yes. Honestly, they made a bad weather call. I don't know if you can see behind me, but the weather -- the rain today is pretty bad and so often they will forego using Marine One, have him take the motorcade when there is bad weather, like the rain we're experienced in today, Wolf.

BLITZER: Good point. Better to be safe than sorry. Alayna Treene at the White House for us, thank you very much. Pamela?

BROWN: All right. Still ahead, how will everyday Americans be impacted by the escalating trade war? We're going to check in with one of our global economic experts up next.

You are in The Situation Room.

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BLITZER: We're following breaking news this morning. As China retaliates raising its tariffs on U.S. imported goods to 125 percent, both Beijing and Washington appear to be digging in deeply and each waiting for the other to blink first.

BROWN: Joining us now is CNN Global Economic Analyst Rana Foroohar. She's also a columnist and associate editor for The Financial Times.

You know, Rana, I think we're all just trying to make sense of this and what this means for us. How will everyday Americans be impacted by this latest escalation in the trade war?

RANA FOROOHAR, CNN GLOBAL ECONOMIC ANALYST: Well, I think the very first way that we're all being impacted is by market volatility, right? So, these tariffs are not really, in effect, creating inflation in products yet, but what they are doing is making the stock market a rollercoaster ride. I mean, we've just -- we've all felt it in the last few days, many of us that have money in the market, or a 401(k), even a little bit of stock, are just like, wow, hang onto your hat. What's going on?

That creates a broader sense of instability, anxiety. You know, there's a lot of economic research to show that when people are in these periods where you just don't know what's going to happen next, you kind of hunker down.

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You know, you become more cautious. You've seen that even before these tariffs war -- the tariff war, you saw that people were just feeling jittery about the economy. Now, they're feeling more so and they're not spending as much, and businesses are uncertain as well. And so we may begin to feel it in terms of job growth, you know, opportunities.

Then if you do see the tariffs really beginning to hit, you will immediately start to feel it in the price of products. And the things that you'll feel first, of course, will be the stuff in the grocery stores, things that people can't keep on hand for a long time. Later on, you'll start to feel it in things like cars, you know, homes. So, it's a big situation coming down the pike here. BLITZER: Quickly, Rana, while we have you, I want to shift gears to this morning's new measure on consumer confidence. We just got the new consumer sentiment numbers and it plunged 11 percent to the second lowest level since 1952. It's worse than at any time during the great recession. What does that say about purchasing and markets right now going forward?

FOROOHAR: Oh, I think it really increases recession risk. I mean, if you think about it, that's -- 70 years we haven't seen confidence this low. People are not going to be making purchases. They're going to be foregoing that vacation, they're going to be using their car a little longer. That's then going to have a knock-on effect for companies. They're going to say, we don't need to hire, we're going to button down. I wouldn't be surprised if we saw a pretty serious slowdown by summer or fall.

BROWN: Well, that's not good news, right?

BLITZER: No, not good news at all.

BROWN: Rana Foroohar, thank you so much.

BLITZER: Right now, President Trump's top negotiator is in Russia meeting with Vladimir Putin. We'll be joined by The New York Times Columnist Tom Friedman about the gravity of what's going on during this meeting. That and a lot more coming up next.

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