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Suspect Charged With Attempted Murder, Terrorism, and Arson for Attack on Gov. Josh Shapiro's (D-PA) Residence; Trump Says, New Tariffs on Semiconductor are Coming Soon; China Chokes Off Critical Supply of Rare Earth Minerals to U.S. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired April 14, 2025 - 10:00   ET

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

[10:00:00]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, arson attack. New details coming into the situation room right now about the fire at the Pennsylvania governor's mansion. We're getting our first look at the man right here, police say, caused Governor Josh Shapiro and his family to flee for safety.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: And the fight for Garcia mistakenly deported and despite a U.S. Supreme Court intervention, the Trump administration says it's not required to work with El Salvador to bring Kilmar Abrego Garcia home. We have new reporting just into The Situation Room.

We want to welcome 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.

This morning, we're getting harrowing, new details on the very disturbing attack on Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro's residence. Police say 38-year-old suspect Cody Balmer, seen here has been not, has now been charged with attempted murder, aggravated arson, and terrorism, after allegedly breaking into and setting fire to the house as Governor Shapiro and his family slept.

Governor Shapiro issuing a scathing response following that attack, which took place just hours after he and his family celebrated at the Passover Seder.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. JOSH SHAPIRO (D-PA): This kind of violence is becoming far too common in our society. And I don't give a damn if it's coming from one particular side or the other directed at one particular party or another, or one particular person or another. It is not okay.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: All right. Let's go live right now to CNN Correspondent Jean Casarez, who's joining us from New York. Jean, I understand you're getting some disturbing new details about the suspect and how he allegedly carried out this act of arson. JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Wolf, this criminal complaint came out over through the overnight hours, and what we now know is that his former girlfriend called up police and they said he wants to confess. And so he met police at the station, a full confession. The narrative here is so descriptive. He says that he walked an hour from his home to the governor's mansion. He had a bag with him and he took that first homemade incendiary device out after he jumped the fence of the governor's mansion, threw it through a window, and according to this complaint, that would be the piano room, and it erupted into flames.

After that, he went to another window. The complaint says that would be very close to the dining room. He broke the glass again with his hammer. He went in, went into the dining room, set that homemade incendiary device. He says it were Heineken Beer bottles with gasoline inside that he'd gotten out from the lawnmower.

And so then after that, he pushed the dining room door through and was able to get outside, and that's how he left.

He was asked by police, do you know that this could have caused destruction? He said he was well aware of that. That's an important fact. That shows that he knew he was doing. He was also asked if the governor had confronted you because they were inside, what would you have done? He said, I would've taken that hammer and I would have beaten him.

And, Wolf, when they went to the home in the residence and executed that search warrant, they found that hammer and it was a very serious -- not just your small hammer, it was a large one.

But, Wolf, looking at the charges here, attempted homicide is the first count. There are eight counts altogether. But the one that has the most potential for incarceration is actually a terrorism charge, terrorism affecting the conduct of government. That is up to 40 years right there.

We don't know the motive because they don't have to put that in the criminal complaint. They're alleging the elements so they have the probable cause to arrest. But the closest thing to motive is the terrorism charge, I think, affecting the conduct of government, that there was a political reason for doing this. So, we need to see how this plays out.

BLITZER: And the fact that he allegedly did this act, this arson attack, shortly after the governor posted on social media that he and his family enjoyed a Passover Seder, was there any evidence, at least, that has emerged so far that this was an act of anti-Semitism?

CASAREZ: Verbally, no. But in some of the rooms we need to see, especially the dining room area, right? We need to see what was set up. Where was that incendiary device placed next to, or close to? You know, devil's in the details with some of these facts. But I think that law enforcement, as they go forward, we will hear what the full account of what this defendant told them.

BLITZER: And we know that Governor Shapiro is very proud of his Jewish faith. We'll watch that part of the story as well.

Jean Casarez, thank you very, very much. Pamela?

BROWN: And, Wolf, happening now, Americans will soon have a new Trump tariff to consider when buying electronics. The president says within the week, he will announce a tariff on semiconductors imported into the U.S. That likely means that the latest pause on tariffs on things like smart phones and laptops could be short-lived. Here's what the president said last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: The tariffs will be in place in the not distant future because, as you know, like we did with steel, like we did with automobiles, like we did with aluminum, which are now fully on, we'll be doing that with semiconductors, with chips and numerous other things. And that'll take place in the very near future.

You have to show a certain flexibility. Nobody should be so rigid. You have to have a certain flexibility.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: So, let's go live to CNN Business and Politics Correspondent Vanessa Yurkevich in New York. So, Vanessa, there is a lot of mixed messaging from the White House. Let's listen to the public comments yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETER NAVARRO, TRUMP SENIOR COUNSELOR FOR TRADE AND MANUFACTURING: The policy is no exemptions, no exclusions. The policy is in effect. No, there were not exclusions.

HOWARD LUTNICK, COMMERCE SECRETARY: What he's doing is he's saying they're exempt from the reciprocal tariffs, but they're included in the semiconductor tariffs, which are coming in probably a month or two.

JAMIESON GREER, U.S. TRADE REPRESENTATIVE: What happened is it's not really an exception. That's not even the right word for it. What happened is. This type of supply chain moved from the tariff regime for the global tariff, the reciprocal tariff, and it moved to the national security tariff regime.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: So, these officials all fanned out over the weekend after Friday night. Officials said that certain electronics would essentially be exempt from the tariffs. This is how they're explaining it now. I'm not sure most Americans could tell you with any level of confidence about what the tariffs will target and when. Help us sort through this.

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Pamela, it is really hard for the average consumer to keep up with all of this, but here's where we're at. On Friday, the administration announced that electronics would be exempt from tariffs, including those really high tariffs that you saw go into effect on China, 145 percent. They would still be though under the 20 percent fentanyl tariff that is hitting China. But that was welcome news for the tech industry. You saw tech stocks really soar after that news.

However, we are now waiting for more information about a tariff set to go into effect on semiconductors. Semiconductors are incredibly critical to people around the world. They are in our phones, they are on the television or the computer that you may be watching this very show on, also for aerospace, for missiles, for cars in particular.

And, Pamela, just to put this into perspective, if you remember during COVID, we could not get semiconductors into this country fast enough. You had cars sitting at manufacturing plants waiting for the semiconductor chips and new cars were basically not able to roll off the lawn, and you saw the price of used cars go up. That is just how important semiconductors are to every day Americans.

And worth noting though that we're waiting, Pamela, to understand what this tariff rate might look like. Is it now electronics under that specific rate, all electronics, or is it just the chip itself? A lot of confusion. Hopefully, we're going to get some answers from the administration this week.

People want to know at the end of the day, Pamela, how much is their iPhone going to cost? How much is their next laptop going to cost? How much is their next car going to cost? The semiconductor is so critical to that, Pamela.

BROWN: Right, and businesses need a plan, right? And so they're looking for certainty.

Vanessa Yurkevich, thank you so much. Wolf?

BLITZER: Critically important information, indeed.

Meanwhile, China's retaliation now includes suspending exports of rare earth minerals and magnets to the United States. Those materials are essential to a number of American industries, including carmakers, aerospace manufacturers, and semiconductor producers.

I want to go live right now to CNN Senior International Correspondent Ivan Watson, who is joining us from Hong Kong.

Ivan, is China revealing what its long-term plans are for supplying the U.S. with these crucial materials?

[10:10:00]

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, the Chinese government said it does not want a trade war, but if one comes, it has a number of weapons in its arsenal to respond with. And I think these export controls appear to be part of that strategy.

This was announced back on April 4th by the Chinese government. That's a lifetime ago in this trade war between Washington and Beijing, but basically saying that 7 out of 17 rare earth metals, their export would be restricted.

Why are they important? Well, the International Energy Agency says that China controls the refinement, the production of about 90 percent of the world's rare earth metals. And they show up in things like your phone, in the touch screen, in the microphone and the vibration device in here. They're also used in these high power magnets that can operate at very high temperatures, and they're also used in defense systems. The Department of Defense says the F-35 stealth fighter jet uses hundreds of pounds of rare earth metals that U.S. Navy destroyers and submarines use, thousands of pounds of this stuff. And if they're not coming anymore to the U.S., it has to look to a small number of alternative sources to try to find this important stuff.

And the Chinese government isn't sitting still. The president, Xi Jinping, he arrived in the Vietnamese capital today, part of a tour through Southeast Asia, to also Cambodia and Malaysia. These three countries were all hit by these so-called retaliatory tariffs by the Trump administration, which have been suspended for 90 days, but it was 46 percent on Vietnam, a 49 percent tariff on Cambodia, and 24 percent on Malaysia. And guess what the Chinese president said to Vietnam? Quote, our two countries should resolutely safeguard the multilateral trading system, stable global industrial and supply chains, and open and cooperative international environment. We're getting reports that dozens of trade deals could be signed between China and Vietnam.

So, the Chinese leader taking this opportunity to present his country as a reliable trading partner at a time when the U.S. has stated a goal of trying to disrupt and redefine international trade. Wolf?

BLITZER: Ivan Watson in Hong Kong for us, Ivan, thank you very, very much. Pamela?

BROWN: Happening now in Vermont, a federal hearing on the detention of a Tufts University student who was detained by masked ice officers, you see the video right here nearly three weeks ago, and then sent to Louisiana. Now, the government accuses Rumeysa Ozturk of supporting Hamas, but The Washington Post reports that the State Department found no evidence tying the 30-year-old PhD student to anti-Semitism or terrorism just days before she was arrested.

BLITZER: CNN's Priscilla Alvarez is joining us right now. Priscilla, what do we know about the conditions of this Louisiana facility where Ozturk is being held?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, according to her attorneys, they have described this as poor and unsanitary. They have also said in court filings that she has had four asthma attacks while she has been detained.

Now, as a point of context here, about half of all ICE detainees are held in Texas and Louisiana, but her attorneys are arguing, there is no reason why she needs to be hundreds of miles away from home. And in this hearing, they're going to argue that the case should be heard in Vermont, we have seen similar avenues taken with some of these other attorneys of students as well, and that she should be immediately released.

Now, the attorneys have always said that the only evidence that they could find that really they didn't or they say is not sufficient is this op-ed that she wrote in her student newspaper about the activism on campus and the university's response to that activism.

Now, we're learning through this Washington Post reporting that you mentioned that the State Department, in a memo, didn't find any evidence that she had been anti-Semitic, that she had been a supporter of Hamas, the way that the administration has publicly said that she has been, and that they could, or that didn't allow for them to use that authority of, that obscure law that essentially says that these nationals are for or adverse to foreign policy consequences. But a reminder that there is wide discretion that the State Department has when it comes to revoking visas. So, we'll see how this all plays out in court.

BROWN: Right. And we should note that in the next hour, President Trump is set to meet with the president of El Salvador, and the timing is crucial, right, because of the case of Kmar Abrego Garcia, the man that the administration admitted. Was mistakenly deported to El Salvador, but now the White House is pushing back on a federal court order to bring him back. What is the reasoning there?

ALVAREZ: Well, look, this has been a meeting that has been months in the making. I remember the day that the president won the election. The first thing I heard from sources is El Salvador is going to be the key ally to the president's immigration agenda. And, of course, we are seeing that with the way the administration sent migrants to El Salvador, which is now the center of multiple legal battles, including that of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, that Salvadoran national, who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador, according to the administration.

[10:15:10]

Now, the Justice Department has said that the Supreme Court decision on this basically gives discretion to foreign relations, which is true, and they're going to double down on that point, basically arguing that the court can't force them to have these conversations with Salvadoran nationals, nor can they share or divulge information from those conversations.

So, we'll see if it comes up during the Oval Office meeting today between the two presidents. But, certainly, the remarkable is -- the timing is remarkable because you have this legal battle about whether the administration is doing anything to bring this man back while the two presidents meet in the Oval Office, of course, both of them critical to all of us as well.

BROWN: Just to quickly follow up, so the White House is saying, look, you know, you can't force us to interfere in foreign affairs, but at the same time, the Supreme Court also said that it must facilitate the return of him. So -- ALVAREZ: Facilitate the return, not require the return. And they put an emphasis on due deference to foreign relations. So, the Supreme Court did give them some wiggle room here on how they navigate the foreign policy of all of this, and that is what the Justice Department is really leaning in on in these filings.

BLITZER: Priscilla Alvarez, thank you very, very much. Pamela?

BROWN: We're following a disturbing case out of Wisconsin where new details are emerging in the case of a teen accused of killing his parents this year. Now, newly unsealed court documents show the killings were part of a much larger plot, one that included plans to assassinate President Trump and overthrow the U.S. government.

Let's go live now to CNN Law Enforcement Correspondent Whitney Wild in Chicago. Whitney, what more are we learning about this disturbing case?

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: Pamela, this is a really sprawling case that began February 11th when police say his parents were found dead. They conducted a welfare check -- excuse me, they were dead February 11th. They were not found until February 28th when police conducted a welfare check. And it was that day, Pamela, that they figured out that, again, his parents were dead, that the SUV that belonged to his parents had gone missing. They send out a nationwide lookout for this SUV.

Nikita Casap, the 17-year-old at the center of this case, was found in Kansas. And, Pamela, when they found him in that stolen SUV, they found $14,000. They found a firearm, they found jewelry, and they say that the intention here was for him to kill his parents to gain financial autonomy so that he could continue on with this plot that he had dreamed up that included assassinating the president. Police now say that he had also intended to flee to Ukraine. Obviously, he never got that far.

But through the course of this investigation, Pamela, what they found was information on his phone that suggested he identified with a neo- Nazi organization called The Order of the Nine Angels. And, Pamela, the intention here, the overall goal was to create a political revolution to, quote, save the white race. To do that, he intended to assassinate the president to create chaos, again, all part of this goal as, again, quote, his intention here was to, quote, save the white race.

He is now in custody facing nine felony counts, which includes first degree murder and presidential assassination. Pamela?

BROWN: Whitney Wild, thank you. Wolf?

BLITZER: A very disturbing case indeed.

Also happening today, Democrats up on Capitol Hill are intensifying their calls for an insider trading investigation into comments that President Trump made just before his massive tariff reversal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CORY BOOKER (D-NJ): There's enough smoke here that should demand congressional hearings.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: CNN Congressional Correspondent Lauren Fox is joining us right now. She's here in The Situation Room with us.

Lauren, are the Democrats suggesting the president tipped his hand before he announced his pause on tariffs?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this all goes back to just hours before that announcement when he tweeted, this is a great time to buy. It was around 9:37 in the morning and then it was about four hours later that that pause announcement became public. And what Democrats are really zeroing in on is, was this an attempt potentially to warn people in his orbit, to warn investors that this was coming and potentially giving them some kind of heads up?

Now, what you're seeing from Democrats who do not control the House, nor do they control the Senate, is they want an investigation. And there are a couple avenues that they're looking to do that. One of the ways is they have sent a letter, a couple of Senate Democrats, Senator Mark Kelly, as well as Senator Chuck Schumer, have sent a letter to Paul Atkins, who is the chairman of the SEC, asking for an investigation. We've also seen letters sent to Susie Wiles, the chief of staff, by Senator Adam Schiff, asking for an investigation asking if anyone in the president's family may have profited off of this four-hour period.

[10:20:05]

So, that is what Democrats are really asking for at this point. But given the fact that they don't control the house nor the Senate, it does make it really hard for them to launch their own investigation.

BLITZER: It certainly does. All right, Lauren Fox, thank you very, very much. Pamela?

BROWN: All right. New this morning, a star-studded all-female crew has just returned from the edge of space.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Congratulations and welcome back to Earth.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Six passengers, including Katy Perry and Gayle King, were part of this morning's Blue Origin space launch from West Texas. It's the first all-female mission since 1963.

So, let's go live to Van Horn, Texas and CNN Senior National Correspondent Ed Lavandera. Ed, you are there at the launch site. Tell us about the flight. ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the good news is everything went smoothly, and as Gayle King had been talking about for several days, you know, extreme nerves going into all of this for her and for several members of the crew as well. But we've been watching them just a short while ago. The entire crew exited the capsule that landed not too far from where it launched about ten minutes before. And everything appears to have gone smoothly so far. We're going to get a chance to speak with the crew here.

But they've been doing interviews with the Blue Origin production and, and talking about their experiences there. One of the moments that the crew has talked about is that as they got back into their seats after experiencing weightlessness, they were descending back to Earth, and Katy Perry started singing What a Wonderful World, the classic Louis Armstrong song, all of them, extremely emotional, talking about their experiences on this brief flight to, as you mentioned, to the edge of space. They were -- two of them as they came out of the capsule kissed the ground.

BROWN: What an emotional, amazing experience for those women. Ed Lavandera, thank you so much. Wolf?

BLITZER: I give those women a lot of credit for doing what they've done.

BROWN: Would you go up in space?

BLITZER: No.

BROWN: You wouldn't do it?

BLITZER: Would you?

BROWN: I have claustrophobia, but I think I would have to overcome it for that opportunity I give, but I don't have billions of dollars, so it's not going to happen.

BLITZER: I give them a lot of credit, indeed.

All right, still ahead, no one is off the hook, those words for President Trump when it comes to impending tech tariffs. We'll be joined by Democratic Senator Peter Welch to discuss the ambiguity of the timeline from the Trump administration.

Stay with us. You are in The Situation Room.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:25:00]

BLITZER: We are tracking yet another volatile day in President Trump's trade war. Markets are up this morning after the Trump administration announced temporary tariff exemptions for some electronics. But the president insists no one is off the hook and says tech-specific tariffs are coming soon. Joining us now is Democratic Senator Peter Welch of Vermont. He sits on both the Senate Finance and Senate Judiciary Committee. Senator, thanks so much for joining us.

How can any business right now in Vermont or anywhere around the country make serious decisions with this constant whiplash?

SEN. PETER WELCH (D-VT): They can't. I mean, when the history of this tariff is written, it's going to be seen as one of the biggest economic blunders in a hundred years. Nobody is safe. They have no control over what the tariffs are going to be. Prices are going up.

So, the Vermont farmers are going to be paying 25 percent more for fertilizer from Canada. We're going to be paying higher utility bills. We get a lot of our electricity from Canada. The price of beer is going up both for grain and for aluminum. So, this is going to increase prices at a time when inflation is already really tough on folks. And then, secondly, that reduces demand. So, down the road, we're going to see employment, unemployment increasing. So, this is really quite a catastrophe in the making.

BLITZER: I know, Senator, you're helping lead a bipartisan effort right now to try to reassert congressional authority over tariffs. Are you winning Republican support, desperate Republican support you need to get that bill passed with a veto-proof majority?

WELCH: I don't think we're going to be able to overcome a veto, but what I'm seeing, you get a senator like Chuck Grassley, who was there in 1977 when there was a delegation of authority, and this is not what he had in mind. So, I think a lot of Republicans are feeling the same thing. They're -- people they represent are going to be paying these higher prices.

You know, there's another issue here. We're seeing these carve outs where there's exemptions being made. Essentially, what's really dangerous here is that Trump is the one who makes the decision. So, if you're connected and you've got his number, you've got Bessent's number, you may get a break, like Tim Cook makes a call, no problem.

But if you're a small manufacturer, like we have one here in Vermont, that imports about a million dollars worth of parts from China, they're going to go out of business with these tariffs. They don't know who to call. And you are going to see the transformation of our economy based on competition where a good product, good sales prevails to one that's based on access. Who do you know, whose number do you have? That's a real damaging introduction of that arbitrariness into economic decision-making.

BLITZER: And, Senator, amidst all of this, China's suspending exports of critically important rare Earth minerals in retaliation to President Trump's tariffs. These minerals are almost exclusively mined in China and are crucial for everything, from auto manufacturing to semiconductors, to American defense companies.

[10:30:03]

How problematic is that?

WELCH: It's huge.