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The Situation Room

Americans' Opinions on Trump Economy?; New Info Emerges on FSU Shooting Suspect; Interview With Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI). Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired April 18, 2025 - 11:30   ET

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

[11:30:00]

REP. DEBBIE DINGELL (D-MI): She was trying to earn money to send here, and they got separated, and they couldn't find anybody.

These children, why are they here? So many of these children are escaping horrific situations. We need to try to help them. I just think that one of the fundamental principles of our Constitution is due process. And this is Easter weekend. This is Good Friday.

If this isn't a day that we can't think and reflect about how do we help other children -- when we see someone that is in crisis and needs help, don't we have a moral obligation to be helping them in some way, even if it's returning them to family in another country? They shouldn't be on their own, especially at age 3.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: You talk about due process, that brings me to the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia.

Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen was able to finally get a face-to- face meeting with him. The administration admitted that he was wrongly deported to El Salvador. Where do you think this goes from here?

DINGELL: You know, I don't know where it goes. I'm glad that the senator was able to see him yesterday. There are some in the administration that are trying to play this that -- like we care more about immigrants, still accusing him of being a member of a gang, which he has never -- as a matter of fact, four years ago, they could not find proof.

They said that he wasn't. I can tell you this, I have been at home. I did three town halls in a 24-hour period. One was in a very conservative part of my district that voted for Trump, one was with seniors, and one was with young people in a high school. The question they all asked me at the very beginning is, what do you do when the president ignores the courts? How do we protect our Constitution?

I had people of all kinds of different beliefs and principles asking me that question. We're going to fight hard. This was a Supreme Court -- when is the last time anybody can remember the Supreme Court voting unanimously? This is a constitutional issue for this country.

BROWN: Yes, I mean, both sides are spinning the Supreme Court ruling as a win.

You say, we are going to fight. You said you heard from your constituents, and even the conservative constituents, it sounds like, expressing that concern. So what are you going to do to fight, being in the minority?

DINGELL: Well, I think that you see that the court -- it's the people.

I want to say this. I'm not afraid to speak up. I think that, right now we have to worry about freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of press -- you all are under attack -- and due process every single day. And I will not be silenced. And I will speak up. And I will work with my colleagues.

But it is the collective people in this country. We all have to be engaged. And it is our collective voices that are standing up, not being silenced, not being afraid to say, this is not what our Constitution protects. It's the collective we that protects our Constitution.

BROWN: I imagine, in these town halls, tariffs were also a big talker.

We're following these new developments in the Trump administration's trade war with China and how that is playing out. The administration just revealed these plans to impose new port fees on Chinese ships with the aim of reviving the American shipbuilding industry.

Do you support that move, especially given that the U.S. shipbuilding has dwindled to approximately 0.13 percent?

DINGELL: You know, I am somebody who has said tariffs are a tool in the toolbox when used strategically. That's what has been missing on the tariff strategy. It's been chaos.

But I have testified before the -- on the need to bring shipbuilding back to this country, steel manufacturing, many of the kind of basic economic issues -- or economic kind of product we need to be manufacturing in this country.

This is what I'm going to tell you. When you are competing with the government that is subsidizing -- the Chinese communist government is subsidizing its manufacturing of many of these products. It's manipulating their currency. It's using slave labor. You're not competing on a level playing field.

It's appropriate in those circumstances. The chaos, the attacking allies of decades has left a lot of uncertainty. But I do think that, if we had a strategic strategy and we were like, what's he going to do today, is it going to stay, is it going to go, and are going after a country like China, where we don't have a level playing field in the government subsidizing the product, it is appropriate.

BROWN: So do you think the level that he has now on China, that 100 -- I believe 145 percent, is good? DINGELL: Well, yes, I do.

[11:35:00]

But I also want to say that I don't want people to think that I think the way that he's doing this is OK,when you see an unstable stock market, when you see businesses not knowing what is happening. It has to be as integrated strategy.

What is our policy on bringing manufacturing back to this country? But you know what all businesses need? Certainty. And what we're doing now is total uncertainty. And companies don't want to be a ping-pong ball in total chaos.

So I think we need a tariff strategy, but it needs to be appropriate, not chaotic.

BROWN: All right, Congresswoman Dingell, thank you so much.

DINGELL: Thank you.

BROWN: And just ahead, we're learning more about the suspect in yesterday's mass shooting at FSU.

We will be right back.

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[11:40:10]

BROWN: And happening this morning, students at Florida State University in Tallahassee are being allowed back into the student union building to collect any belongings left behind following yesterday's mass shooting.

Two people were killed and five others were wounded. The university has confirmed the suspect is a student there. And we also heard from the Leon County sheriff that he's the son of one of the department's deputies.

CNN's Brian Todd is here with us now.

Brian, we're learning more about the suspected shooter, right?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Pamela.

There's still a pretty good degree of mystery surrounding the shooter and specifically surrounding his motive. And we're going to get to that in just a second. But here's what we can tell you regarding the shooter himself, and much of this information compiled by CNN's really good investigative team, who has been digging since yesterday afternoon into the suspect.

Here's what we know about him. Phoenix Ikner is his name. He's 20 years old. A university spokesperson confirmed that he is a student at Florida State University. Now, authorities say he is the son of a local sheriff's deputy. According to officials and records, when he was taken into custody, Ikner was carrying a handgun that used to be the service weapon of a sheriff's deputy named Jessica Ikner.

Authorities say Phoenix Ikner also spent time training with law enforcement and served on the sheriff's advisory council in the years before the shooting. So he did have some knowledge of weapons and some knowledge of law enforcement training.

Now, according to the Leon County sheriff, Walter McNeil, that deputy who is his mother, Jessica Ikner, has served in the sheriff's department for more than 18 years. And he says she has a -- quote -- "exceptional record." Jessica Ikner did not respond to CNN's request for comment.

Now, in addition, CNN's investigative team has learned that Phoenix Ikner had a very tumultuous relationship as a child with another woman who is identified as his biological mother. That is not Jessica Ikner. This is another woman we're talking about.

According to court records, the biological mother was accused of taking him to Norway when he was 10 years old, and that was in violation of a custody agreement. The biological mother pleaded no contest to removing a minor from the state against a court order. She was sentenced to jail time at the time, and she was also ordered to have no contact with her son or any of his teachers, doctors or counselors unless allowed by a court.

She later tried to have that plea vacated, but that plea was -- that attempt was denied by a court. It is unclear whether the biological mother has spent any time with him over the past decade. The biological mother also did not respond to CNN's requests for comment.

A law enforcement source does tell CNN that, during that period when he was 10 years old and having that -- those problems with his biological mother, at some point since that period, he changed his name from Christian Eriksen to Phoenix Ikner.

Now, what we don't know, Pamela, is the motive for the shooting. Authorities have not established a motive. They have said that he has invoked his rights not to speak to police since he was taken into custody. So there's still a lot we don't know about his specific motive. We know the two adults who were killed were not students there.

The question is, was he targeting them specifically? There are accounts that he fired indiscriminately. Again, the targeting, the motive, that's what we're drilling down on, trying to get more information on.

BROWN: Yes, so a lot to learn in this case.

Brian Todd, thanks so much for the latest there.

And up next: retirees stunned as market turmoil shrinks 401(k)s, inflation going up again. But are Trump voters satisfied with the president's moves so far? Don't miss our conversation with two financial talk radio hosts about what their listeners are calling in to say.

You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

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[11:47:44]

BROWN: And now to our weekly series "Your Voice."

Every Friday, we check in with podcasts and radio hosts across the country to hear what their listeners are thinking and saying about what's going on in Washington. This week, we're talking tariffs, trade war volatility and the impact on your wallet.

So, joining us now is Ricky Mulvey, co-host and senior producer of "Motley Fool Money," and Jean Chatzky, CEO of HerMoney.com and host of "HerMoney" podcast.

Great to have you both on.

So, Ricky, what are some of the biggest concerns you're hearing from your listeners?

RICKY MULVEY, CO-HOST AND SENIOR PRODUCER, "MOTLEY FOOL MONEY": Some of the biggest concerns are that investing has unfortunately become intensely political.

I hear feelings of whiplash and uncertainty. And I also am getting this sense from some of my listeners that, hey, this is -- we're finally sticking it to China. What a wonderful thing that's going on. And then there's also a portion of listeners that see this as dark clouds they can see through and have an opportunity to hold on to great companies for long periods of time and maybe buy some of them at a discount.

BROWN: Just to follow up with you -- and, Jean, I will go to you next, but what do you mean when you say some of your listeners are saying that investing has become political?

MULVEY: I mean, there's a feeling that when you have the president saying now is a great time to buy stocks, and then we announce a 90- day trade pause, and then the stock market goes up by trillions of dollars, that's -- that doesn't feel right. You don't like to see that.

And there's a sense of frustration with that, that I understand. There's also sort of the messiness with tariffs that our co-founder, chief rule breaker said. David Gardner said that this feels like a self-inflicted gunshot wound in terms of the tariff madness going on.

Unlike past market declines, this one is not systemic. It seems a little bit more caused by one person.

BROWN: So, Jean, what are you hearing from your listeners? Are they reflecting those concerns or are you hearing other issues?

JEAN CHATZKY, CEO, HERMONEY.COM: Many, many of those same concerns.

I'm hearing that this time feels different, and it's for many of the reasons I think that Ricky's listeners were reflecting. My audience is largely women. I run an investing club of 500 women. And we meet on Zoom every other Monday night.

[11:50:04]

We had an emergency meeting because the members said, we have to talk about this. We have to talk about this now. This feels urgent.

And, in the past, I think the volatility, although present, hasn't felt like something that you aren't sure if you're supposed to react to. And, as investors, we have all been changed -- we have all been trained to ride out the dips, ride out the roller coaster.

But the fear this time around is a lot more pervasive than it has been in quite some time.

BROWN: So it sounds like this has risen to another level.

Ricky, you mentioned that some of your listeners are actually applauding this, that, hey, we're finally sticking it to China. The White House and Republicans -- we just had one on yesterday -- are saying, look, we're going to have to endure some short-term pain for the long-term gain.

Do you get the sense from your listeners, some of them, at least, that they're on board with that and that they're willing to stick it out and endure that pain for the larger cause here?

MULVEY: Well, I think any investor has to be willing to stick through some pain and uncertainty in order to do that.

I get the sense from some that, yes, they believe that, that this is for a greater good. I don't know if that will remain to be the case in the months and years ahead. We will see, I don't have a good answer for that.

BROWN: So, Jean, I mean, what are you -- go ahead.

CHATZKY: It's not just as invest -- yes.

No, it's not just as investors that we understand that we need to endure this short-term pain. I think people are willing to ride with that. It's as consumers that my listeners are more concerned. They want to know, if they are going to be in a market for a car, should they get in now, rather than waiting a few months? Is the opportunity going to blow by because prices are going to be so much higher?

Is this an environment where leasing actually makes a lot more sense, because you can control some of the factors in the transaction that you can't perhaps when you buy? There's a lot of concern about how this is actually going to affect our greater wallets, not just our portfolios.

BROWN: So then what advice are you giving them on that?

CHATZKY: I'm telling them to control the things that they can control.

When it comes to your discretionary purchases, this is time to keep some powder dry. It's really the time to sort of bulk up on your savings and not go for some of those discretionary purchases that maybe you can wait on. I mean, if you need a new car -- we had a long discussion about this. Yes, I think you want to go out and you probably want to do it sooner, rather than later, because it does look like those things will get more expensive.

But that's not true of all purchases across the board.

BROWN: And, Ricky, that's interesting because I, for one, actually did that. And I know a lot of people have been rushing out to try to buy a car right now before the tariffs really kick in.

Ricky, you asked your e-mail subscribers if they were excited about investing in the stock market. I'm curious what you found and what your advice is, particularly to the younger generation that has been investing in the stock market. And the advice always is, keep your money in. We're going to get through this volatility period.

But there's that larger question looming of how long is this going to last.

MULVEY: Yes, quickly, I think Jean brought up a great point with consumer purchases. I got my pre-tariff war Nikes. I was pretty excited about that.

(LAUGHTER)

MULVEY: And, look, now is a great time, a great reminder that you need to have -- of what your time horizon is. If you need money in three to five years, it should not be in the market. And this is a reminder of that.

But the Standard & Poor's 500 is the greatest wealth generation tool ever created. And by staying in that, staying invested, it's one of the best things you can do for yourself. There's a study from Morningstar that found over 1990 -- from 1995 to 2024, if you missed the best 10 days in the market, your returns would have been cut in half.

And so this is not a time to jump in and out of the market and to remember that this is a long-term game.

BROWN: I think there's concern, though, and, Jean, very quickly, about, are the underpinnings that have held up the market and made it such a big wealth generator, are those going away, like foreign investment and that kind of thing, because others, investors, especially foreign investors, have lost faith in the United States?

What do you think, Jean?

CHATZKY: Yes. No, I think we're feeling -- we're feeling a crisis of confidence to some degree.

And the people that I'm worried about -- and I have a lot of these people in my listenership -- are people who are closer to retirement. You don't want to be going into retirement and experiencing a down market and having to pull a certain percentage out of your portfolio. It completely ruins your retirement math.

[11:55:15]

And having some cash built up inside that portfolio that you can draw on has not felt this important in a really long time.

BROWN: I think that sums it up.

Thank you both for coming on, sharing all of your wisdom, Ricky and Jean. Much appreciated.

MULVEY: Thanks, Pamela.

CHATZKY: Thanks, Pamela.

BROWN: And thank you all so much for joining us this busy Friday morning. You can keep up with us on social media @WolfBlitzer and @PamelaBrownCNN.

We will see you back here on Monday and every weekday morning for our expanded two-hour SITUATION ROOM at 10:00 a.m. Eastern.

"INSIDE POLITICS WITH DANA BASH" is next after a short break.