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The Brief with Jim Sciutto
Trump Marks 100 Day With Rally; Trump Eases Auto Tariffs; Zelenskyy Says Russia Planning Something In Belarus; Kellogg Calls Putin's Ceasefire Plan "Absurd"; Canada Chooses Mark Carney; Korean Air To Navigate Global Trade Tensions; Champions League Semifinal. Aired 6-7p ET
Aired April 29, 2025 - 18:00 ET
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[18:00:00]
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Jim Sciutto in Washington. And you're watching
"The Brief."
Just ahead this hour, President Trump takes a victory lap to mark his 100th day in office. The president due to speak this hour at a rally in Michigan.
Canada gives Mark Carney a mandate to defend his country from Trump's tariffs. But projections show his liberal party falling just short of an
outright majority. The CEO of Korean Air tallies the cost of trade wars, and looks ahead with a new logo and a big acquisition. That conversation
and much more coming up.
Well, that was quick. Today, marks 100 days since President Trump's office. He is set to hold a rally in Michigan marking the event. While the
president may be celebrating, many of his campaign promises remain unfilled. The Russia-Ukraine War did not end, certainly not in 24 hours.
The economy is suffering.
Just today, President Trump signed an executive order and proclamation easing auto tariffs, just the latest dramatic policy reversal. However,
when he was asked earlier what his major achievement has been so far, Trump said this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: The economy would be certainly right up there, and I think it's doing great. We were losing billions and billions
of dollars a day with trade. And now, I have that down to a very low level. And soon, we're going to be making a lot of money.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: Well, the voters apparently don't buy it. When he took office, President Trump had the highest approval rating of his career. Now, it is
cratered all the way down to 41 percent. That is the lowest of any president at this point of his presidency going back at least to the
Eisenhower administration. And stay tuned. We will come back as soon as President Trump begins speaking.
Joining me now to lay out what's at stake Jackie Kucinich, Washington Bureau Chief for the Boston Globe. So, clearly, there are promises he has
not fulfilled and surely has not fulfilled yet. He says the economy is booming. What's the truth?
JACKIE KUCINICH, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST AND WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, THE BOSTON GLOBE: When you look at -- I mean, don't ask us, right? Look at this
-- the whole plethora of polls that have come out within the last couple days, almost to a poll there, people do not think the economy is doing
better.
In fact, there's a lot of concern out there about the economy, particularly when you look at tariffs and the cost of living, which arguably is one of
the reasons, one of the biggest reasons that Trump won in the first place. And it -- when you look at even -- OK. Let's look away from the polls.
Let's talk about small businesses.
Small businesses don't know how to make projections for their next month. Large businesses, Home Depot don't know how to make projections for the
next couple months and years. So, just the uncertainty that is just lingering over the economy day to day, I mean, this auto tariff news
rolling back some of those, that's another thing. I mean, sure. I'm sure some of those industries are glad. However, again, it's more uncertainty,
what's going to happen tomorrow or next week?
SCIUTTO: Yes. We do see the president there speaking. Let's listen in.
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: And a lot of auto jobs coming, watch what's happening. The companies are coming in by the tens. You got to see what's
happening. They all want to come back to Michigan and build cars again. You know why? Because of our tax and tariff policy. They're coming from all
over the world. They're coming up and they're opening up plants, and they're talking to us all day and all night. They want to get here and
they're coming in at levels you've never seen before. And I want to thank the auto workers for your support. That was great.
But I'm thrilled to be back in this beautiful state with thousands of proud hardworking American patriots. And we're here tonight in the heartland of
our nation to celebrate the most successful first 100 days of any administration in the history of our country. And that's according to many,
many people.
This is the best they say 100-day start of any president in history and everyone is saying it. We just -- we've just gotten started. You haven't
even seen anything yet. It's all just kicking in.
[18:05:00]
And week by week we're ending illegal immigration. We're taking back our jobs and protecting our great American auto workers and all of our workers,
frankly, we're protecting all of our workers. We're restoring the rule of law, which was --
SCIUTTO: We're just going to briefly fact check as we go there. Just a note, as he speaks in Michigan, that in fact, Michigan's unemployment rate
has risen for three straight months, including jumping 1.3 percent from March to reach 5.5 percent, that's according to the state's own data. That
is among the highest now in the nation, far exceeding the national average of 4.2 percent. That of course, key because one of the industries most
concerned about the tariff wars is the auto industry.
And University of Michigan economists expect the auto and parts manufacturing industries there to lose about 9,000 jobs over the next two
years. Let's go back to listen to the president.
TRUMP: We're ending the inflation nightmare, the worst that we've had probably in the history of our country getting woke, lunacy, and
transgender insanity the hell out of our government.
We're stopping the indoctrination of our children, slashing billions and billions of dollars of waste, fraud, and abuse. And above all, we're saving
the American dream. We're making America great again, and it's happening fast too.
What the world has witnessed in the past 14 weeks is a revolution of common sense. That's all it is, really. We're conservative. You're conservative,
you're liberal, whatever the hell. You know what it's all about, it's about common sense when you think about it. We're for common sense. We like
strong borders. We like good education. We like low interest rates. We like being able to buy a beautiful car. And now, deduct the interest on the
loan. That's never happened before.
We want a strong military. We want low taxes. You know, the Democrats they campaigned on, we will raise your taxes. It's the first time. You know, I
haven't been doing this that long, actually, compared to a lot of people, they've been doing it for a long time. They say, you became president. I
can't get out of Congress, or some of them can't even get into Congress.
But, you know, I haven't been doing it that long, but all my life I've been watching and I've never heard people campaigning that they're going to
raise taxes. It's always been, we will reduce your taxes. Democrat, Republican. Now, they go, we're going to raise your taxes. If our bill
doesn't pass, the Republicans, we have 100 percent just about Republican support. But would be nice if we had just a couple of Democrats just to
make sure because, you know, every once in a while, you have a grandstander Republican. We have some grandstands.
But every once in a while, -- not many, not many. But remember who those grandstanders were and vote them the hell out of office. OK. Will you do
that? Vote them out of office. You know, they do it morally -- they're morally bound.
You know what the answer is? If you don't get it, you're going to have the highest tax increase in history instead of the greatest tax cut in history.
If the Democrats prevail on this bill, you get a 58 percent tax increase. Would you like that? These are the Democrats.
But I've never seen all the years they campaign, we will raise your taxes. I say, what a -- this place has gone -- this country's gone crazy. And
today, they did it again. Some guy that I'd never heard of, John James, is he a congressman, this guy? He said, ladies and gentlemen, I am going to
start the impeachment of Donald Trump. What the hell did I do? Here we go again. They want to impeach me. This lunatic.
This lunatic, he was up -- actually, I had the television weighed down and I said to our great first lady, listen, did I just hear I was being
impeached again? We are getting good at this though. No, they've gone totally crazy. These people -- and you know what, they've totally lost
their confidence too.
They can't even tell a lunatic like this dumb guy that said it. And then you have the other one that's always with the cane, he's always impeaching
and he raises his cane. He always impeaches, but they have no control over those people. They have no control. And the reason is they've lost their
confidence. They have no confidence anymore as a party. They have no candidates.
And you know when they say that Bernie's probably the best they have. By the way, he's about seven years older than me or more, eight years older.
One thing I got to give him credit, he's a lunatic, but he's still pretty sharp and he's going around with AOC plus three.
[18:10:00]
You know, the plus three. Follow them. They hang on for little bits. They hang on for nuggets and they get crowds, they say, oh, the crowd was -- our
crowds are so much bigger than their crowds. Their crowds are small. If I ever had a crowd like their biggest crowd, they'd say it's over for Trump.
He's lost the magic. But this is great and all the people outside, we love you. We put screens up.
We're taking back our country from a sick political class that got rich selling America out and bleeding America dry. We don't let that happen
anymore, and we had four great years. We had the greatest economy in the history of our country. The stock market won up 88 percent. We did great.
And we're going to do better now, because now we're really, we learned a little bit after years of leaders who sent your money to defend the borders
of distant foreign nations, that's what we did. We'd fight for other nations, but not for ourself.
You finally have a president who is defending our borders and our nation. After decades of politicians who destroyed Detroit to build up Beijing, you
finally have a champion for workers in the White House. And instead of putting China first, I'm putting Michigan first and I'm putting America
first.
After a lifetime of unelected bureaucrats, stealing your paychecks, attacking your values, and trampling your freedoms, we are stopping their
gravy train, ending their power trip, and telling thousands of corrupt, incompetent, and unnecessary deep stake bureaucrats, you are fired. Get the
hell out of here. You're fired. Get out of here.
In 100 days, we have delivered the most profound change in Washington in nearly 100 years. I read an editorial today that this is the most
consequential presidency in history. How about that? And it wasn't even by a group that would normally be supporting us, it was a group of people that
I think they tend to be on the liberal side, but they said it's the most important election, the November 5th, it changed it all. You have to see
when you hear some of these numbers. But that is the most consequential election that we've ever had in our country. And what a nice thing. I'm
going to start again subscribing to that particular paper. Even if I don't read it much, I'm going to subscribe. But it was a very nice compliment,
especially from them. They know who I'm talking about.
We're ushering out the long reign of special interest in the radical left lunatics and we're ushering in the Golden Age of America. That's what we
have.
Front Row Joe. Look at you. Front Row Joes. I miss you guys. I missed the campaign. You haven't changed. You've lost a couple of pounds. Oh, he is
probably -- he's probably getting to one of those jabbers. You've lost a couple of pounds, you look good. And I have Mr. Wall here. This guy -- how
many rallies have you gone to? Like hundreds. And we love them here. The Wall. I going to -- one day I'm going to get that suit and I'm going to
wear it on stage. We appreciate it, fellows. Great. Thank you.
You know, we have a group of ladies -- I don't know if they're here, but we have a group of women from North Carolina, a large group, like 50 of the
most beautiful women. They've been to 129 rallies. They're happily married, I think, too. They just keep going to rallies all the time. But they're
great. North Carolina where we won by big numbers.
Nowhere has this transformation been more dramatic than our southern border. You have seen a change on your southern border that Sleepy Joe said
couldn't happen. Sleepy Joe, the worst president in history said it couldn't happen. The last administration engineered a massive border
invasion, allowing gangs, cartels, and terrorists to infiltrate our communities and rape and murder our citizens. And that is being nice about
it. That's actually being nice about it. They are the worst.
But standing before you today, I can proudly report that this heinous betrayal is over and that we have achieved the most secure border in
American history by far. In American history,
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For two months in a row, we have now set all-time records, and this is by the media, the fake news media, which most of it is fake. We've set all-
time records for the lowest number of illegal border crossings ever recorded. Think of that, ever recorded. The number of illegal border
crossers released into the United States is down. Listen to this, please, 99.999 percent.
Think of that, 99.999. Three people got in, three, and I got angry as hell at Tom Homan. How did you allow three Tom? I called up Kristi. Kristi Noem
is doing a great job. Tom Homan. I said, how do you allow three people. No, they allowed a few in for medical reasons. They -- honestly, they had a
couple of the -- were very sick. The ones that got in were really very sick and we had to take care of them. But it was a few people. But three people
got in versus hundreds of thousands in the last administration, hundreds of thousands a month were pouring in. Biden had no control. Thank goodness he
appointed a great border czar, right. Kamala. Kamala. Kamala, she was a great candidate. She was fantastic.
Joe Biden was down 35 points. The debate was not a good one for him. He said, you know, if I didn't debate, I could have gone all the way. He was
down 35 points and they decided to replace him. That never -- nothing ever happens. Like what happens to me, it never happens to anybody else. I had
to beat two candidates. So, he's down.
This is like, you're in a fight, Dana White, the UFC, you're in a fight and you're just beating the guy so badly and they say, oh, let's put in another
fighter. That's what happened. And I knew nothing about her. She was vice president, but nobody knew a damn thing about her. She had nothing to do
with the border, even though she was appointed border czar.
The great people, all of the great people, Paul and all of the border patrol people, they never spoke to her. They never heard about her. For
four years, she never called. But there's never been such a difference in anything as the difference between the border today and the border, what it
was just six months ago. So, I want to say congratulations, America. It's about time.
If we had not won the 2024 election, oh, does that sound good, right? We won the '24, all that. The radical left Democrats would right now be
importing the next 10 million invaders and giving amnesty to 30 or 40 million illegals. Many of them criminals, many of them, frankly, murderers
and people of crime at the absolute highest level. Real, real bad people.
It would only be a matter of years or months until America itself became a failed third world nation. We were -- that was happening to us. We were
going to be a third world nation. I'll tell you what, if these guys won, if this group of radical lunatics -- and by the way, you know, Biden, we find
out that whoever operated the Autopen was the real president, and Biden knew nothing about it.
You know, he had a group of radical left guys who were very smart and a woman, a particular woman. Very, very smart people. These are not stupid
people. These are sick people, but they're not stupid people, and they were very smart. What they're best at is cheating at election. They cheat on
elections. That's their single greatest trait. They cheat like hell. And let me tell you, they tried to cheat on this election, but we made it too
big to rig, remember, too big to rig. They tried.
SCIUTTO: President Trump made a false claim there, at least one unfounded by any available evidence. He has often said that the 2020 election was
stolen. There's no evidence of that. In fact, one rejected and debunked by members of his own administration in 2020. He has not nor have state
officials presented evidence of cheating in the 2024 election either. Important fact check as we go along, because many of these claims are
familiar ones but not always supported by the facts. Let's listen in again on the president.
TRUMP: -- Elon looking at us. He goes, no, you are going to win. They just don't know it yet. And about 15 minutes later, we won. You know, sort of
crazy. I'll never -- you're going to win. They just don't know it yet. But you know what? We made it too big to rig. It was too big.
[18:20:00]
Starting on day one, I deployed the U.S. military to defend our country from the invasion of our border, I shut down all migrant flights. Do you
remember when we're talking about people coming in? They're trying to deny it. OK. So, people are flowing. And they said, no, I don't see any people.
It's like, what's wrong?
But then we saw airplanes going overhead. We said, what the hell are those airplanes doing? Big Boeing 757s were traveling right overhead, loaded up
with people. I say, where the hell are those planes going? They were loaded up with migrants coming in illegally flying in by plane, paid for by the
U.S. government.
I'll tell you, they are sick. They -- remember that day. That was the day we found out that not only do we have to defend it here, we have to defend
it, not only in the water, but we have to defend it in the air. The planes were going over. I said, what the hell is that? I banned all welfare to
illegals, and I signed an order that will lend automatic citizenship for the children of illegal aliens, no citizenship.
For years, Joe Biden and the media told us that stopping the flood of illegal immigration was absolutely impossible. He said it was impossible.
He didn't know what the hell anybody was talking about. He said it was impossible that the president had no power to stop what was --
SCIUTTO: We've been listening to President Trump there at a rally in Michigan celebrating 100 days in office. As often happens with this
president, many of his claims are not supported by available evidence. He is correct that illegal border crossings have dropped enormously. That is
correct. He repeated false claims about stolen elections, rigged elections. And also, repeated language, which has come quite common for him to
describe members of the past administration as, quote, "radical lunatics, sick people" who he said cheated at elections.
Again, as we've noted just a few moments ago, there's no evidence of that. His own -- in fact, his own Justice Department is not, as we are aware,
investigating any such claims.
Jackie Kucinich, the Washington -- of the Boston Globe is with me now. Listen, it's 100 days into this administration. On immigration, for sure,
he accomplished what he was promised to do when he was running, and what many voters said they wanted to change was the numbers coming through that
southern border.
KUCINICH: And yet, when you look at the new polling, he still is not -- that still isn't something that voters are happy with. It's slightly
negative, but it's negative. And --
SCIUTTO: What do you perceive that for? Because voters did, it seemed, elective in part because of that issue. Is it the overstepping on some of
the due process issues?
KUCINICH: When you look at some of the other numbers, talking about, you know, is it a -- should he -- I don't have the actual verbiage in front of
me. But, you know, should he defy the Supreme Court, that sort of thing overwhelmingly voters are against. That -- and that's something that we've
seen them push the envelope on probably further than any other administration that I can remember in this term even with the Supreme
Court.
So, there is room for overreach here, even on these issues that tend to be good ones politically for the president.
SCIUTTO: It does seem that -- and this is something that Trump has proven himself willing and able to do, which is to pivot or turn when things don't
go the right way. I mean, the classic example was pulling back from the most severe tariffs when his own treasury secretary told him that the bond
markets were about to collapse.
And today's move on auto tariffs, and this is notable because, of course, he's in Michigan, have heavy auto industry state. The auto CEOs came to him
and said, if we're getting -- if we're paying tariffs like this, this is going to hurt our bottom line and we're going to have to pass on cost to
consumers. And the president drew some of those back. So, he is showing willingness, is he not, to pull back on some of these, or at least not
eliminate them, right, but lower them.
KUCINICH: I want to zoom out even further. Because in today's Boston Globe, our reporters, Jim Puzzanghera and Sam Brodey have a great piece about how
many things in this term have actually gone backwards from the first term or things that they've undone from the first term. Things like operation
warp speed, which he -- which involved him getting the COVID vaccine to everyone as soon as possible. And yet, that's something -- he doesn't even
talk about anymore because, politically, among his people, it is not a popular issue anymore.
SCIUTTO: And he took the vaccine himself. We should note.
KUCINICH: Well, exactly. And there's a whole litany of things that, you know, he's -- USMCA, the trade -- or excuse me, the trade, I almost said
organization --
SCIUTTO: Trade agreements with Canada and Mexico.
KUCINICH: Thank you. Clearly was the word I was looking for, Jim.
SCIUTTO: Yes.
KUCINICH: The trade agreement with Canada and Mexico. This was something that was hard fought, negotiated, bipartisan. Everyone was very happy about
this when it finally was enacted. And yet, because of these tariffs, it's completely may not wiped it away, but it certainly feels moot right now.
[18:25:00]
SCIUTTO: Well, a question going forward is, has the -- first of all, he's not pulling back from tariffs in general. He has trimmed them as opposed to
eliminated them. And you're seeing countries, I mean, Canada is one of them, who's saying, our relationship with the U.S., as we knew it, is over.
And they're going to be making changes going forward.
The question will be, does the economic pain come and does it come soon? Because you do have the investment banks now raising their estimates,
assessments of a recession.
KUCINICH: That's been one of the most interesting things about this administration is that they've actually admitted, they've said openly, yes,
there's going to be some pain. But pain -- after the pain, there'll be prosperity. That remains to be seen because there aren't a lot of
economists that are saying, oh, actually we just got to get over this hump and it's going to be fine.
As you said the -- you know, people who know this stuff much better than I do are saying that this is not a recipe for success and that, in fact, this
is going to actually hurt the economy in the long run.
SCIUTTO: And the test will be in the markets, in the numbers and inflation figures, the economic growth figures as well, which we're going to get,
we're going to get a lot of data in the coming weeks and months. Jackie Kucinich, Washington Bureau Chief for the Boston Globe, appreciate having
you.
KUCINICH: Thank you.
SCIUTTO: And we will have more news right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCIUTTO: Welcome back. A new warning from the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, says that Russia is potentially planning, quote,
"something in Belarus" for this summer, and he says it could be setting its sights on NATO allies.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: And look at Belarus, Russia is preparing something there this summer, using military drills as cover. And
that's usually how they start in new attack. But where will it go? I don't know. Ukraine, Lithuania, Poland. God bless no. But we all need to be
ready. All our institutions are open for cooperation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[18:30:00]
SCIUTTO: This after Russia and Belarus announced joint military exercises for September. White House Special Envoy Keith Kellogg is publicly
rejecting Russian President Vladimir Putin's three-day ceasefire proposal next week, saying he wants a longer ceasefire.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEITH KELLOGG, U.S. SPECIAL ENVOY FOR UKRAINE AND RUSSIA: A three-day ceasefire is absurd. What the president wants is a permanent, comprehensive
ceasefire, sea, air, land, infrastructure for a minimum of 30 days, and then we can extend that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: Joining me now is former NATO Deputy Secretary General Rose Gottemoeller. Thanks so much for taking the time.
ROSE GOTTEMOELLER, FORMER NATO DEPUTY SECRETARY GENERAL: Certainly.
SCIUTTO: First, I want to begin with the warning that Volodymyr Zelenskyy, he said, fear that Russia is preparing something. We should note, remind
viewers perhaps that during its full-scale invasion in 2022, Russia had masked forces in Belarus and they came down across that northern border
into Ukraine from Belarus.
Do you see Russia planning something and could that be an attack on NATO allies? Is that a reasonable fear?
GOTTEMOELLER: Well, they are certainly planning something that they always do. Each year they have a big exercise and it's facing in different
directions. This year it happens to be the so-called Zapad exercise. So, it's facing in the western direction. It's facing NATO allies. But this is
a big annual exercise that they do. Sometimes it's in the far east, sometimes it's in the south-central area, and sometimes it's in the west.
So, this year happens to be the year to see it in the west. Zelenskyy is quite right. That means they will be massing troops, they will be
conducting activities to prepare for those big exercises coming up at the end of the summer.
And so, I do think it's important to be very mindful and ready and take any warnings that we see coming our way seriously.
SCIUTTO: I want to put up a map here of something that has drawn attention, and that is the narrow land bridge between Belarus and Kaliningrad, known
as the Suwalki Gap. Kaliningrad, a piece, of course, of Russia that is separated from the main landmass. Is that a target that is raising concern
that Russia might try to join up Kaliningrad with Belarus and that, of course, would impact -- you see Poland right there and Lithuania, these are
two NATO allies.
GOTTEMOELLER: Right. And this is the area that is seen most vulnerable by our NATO allies in the neighborhood, Poland, Lithuania, bordering on it
directly, and then also the rest of the Balts, the Estonians, and the Latvians. So, they are always very alert to activities that the Russians
undertake in that area.
And the Russians, interestingly, have been now broadcasting a kind of threat scenario where NATO would be trying to seize Kaliningrad. So, again,
I think President Zelenskyy is right to be pointing to all these signs that Russia is perhaps stirring up trouble in this vulnerable area, vulnerable
for NATO, and that NATO needs to be very alert to what's going on.
But I do want to emphasize again that there is a routine nature to this kind of exercise activity in particular this year with the exercise facing
the West.
SCIUTTO: Understood, yes. You don't want to overestimate the threat from exercises such as these ones. Secretary Rubio communicated today that the
U.S. is once again ready to walk away as mediator in Ukraine, Russia peace talks if there's no progress. I wonder, is that just talk in your view, or
do you see President Trump possibly saying, if there's no progress, wash my hands of it?
GOTTEMOELLER: I've really welcomed the way that President Trump in the last week has tightened the screws on Putin. He said publicly, well, Putin may
just be tapping me along. Well, the president's quite right. The Russians are very good negotiators. And when you make preemptive concessions to
them, they tap you along. So, that's exactly what's been happening.
But I welcome the fact that Trump has tightened his remarks about Putin and has begun to threaten big sanctions -- bigger sanctions than have been
applied so far. I think this is the time to bring sticks to bear on President Putin and on the Kremlin. Because otherwise, Putin's not budging
off of his very, very, I would say, extremist views in terms of all of that territory of the four provinces of Ukraine in the eastern part of the
country must be handed over to Russia, even though the Russian troops have not taken over those territories. So, he's sticking to his extremist view
of all or nothing, and I think that this is the time for Trump to push back hard.
SCIUTTO: Do you believe that Trump will not just talk tough against Russia, but apply new tough measures?
[18:35:00]
GOTTEMOELLER: This might be the opportunity that Rubio is now forming by saying that Trump may just walk away from the table. It would give Trump
the opportunity to walk away from the table and to work with those on Capitol Hill, Senator Lindsey Graham and others who are putting together
legislation, as I said, to lay on some really tough sanctions against Russia, tightening down on their effort for (INAUDIBLE), export their gas
and oil via illegal shipping.
So, I do think that there are opportunities out there, and this may be the moment for Trump to turn his back, for a while anyway, to get Putin to come
back to the table and deal in a fairway in the negotiations.
SCIUTTO: Of course, the question then will be how -- if Putin responds. Rose Gottemoeller, always appreciate having your insight.
GOTTEMOELLER: My pleasure.
SCIUTTO: Coming up, how South Korea's largest airline plans to fly through choppy tariff headwinds. Korean Air's next flight path, after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCIUTTO: Welcome back to "The Brief." I'm Jim Sciutto. And here are more international headlines we're watching today.
President Trump speaking right now to rally in Michigan, marking his 100th day in office. He's been speaking about his efforts to slash the federal
government, his cracked down on immigration, also repeating some other debunked claims. Earlier today, he signed an executive order easing some
auto tariffs.
A massive search for a gunman is underway in Sweden. This, after at least three people were killed in a shooting in Uppsala. This is about 70
kilometers, 50 miles or so north of Stockholm. The move -- motive of the shooting is not yet clear. This comes as the country experiences a wave of
gang violence.
An investigation into a power outage that plunged Spain and Portugal into darkness on Monday is now underway. Power has mostly returned. Spain's
prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, says the cause still not clear. The blackout did prove deadly. Police say three elderly people died from suspected
carbon monoxide poisoning after using electric generators.
Running very much against the policies of U.S. President Donald Trump, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has claimed a victory in national
elections. But almost a day after his celebration dance there, it is now projected by the CBC that Carney's Liberal Party will be just short of an
outright majority in the Canadian Parliament by four votes or so.
[18:40:00]
It's not exactly the mandate Liberals wanted. Still a major reversal for the Liberals and Conservatives had led by a wide margin just a couple of
months ago. Goldy Hyder is the president and CEO of the Business Council of Canada, and he joins us now from Toronto. Good to have you on.
GOLDY HYDER, PRESIDENT AND CEO, BUSINESS COUNCIL OF CANADA: Thanks for having me, Jim.
SCIUTTO: The new prime minister has said repeatedly that the old relationship, both in trading terms and national security terms with the
U.S. and more broadly a U.S.-led free trade system is over. That that's in the past now. What does the new relationship look like between the U.S. and
Canada going forward in trade terms?
HYDER: Well, I think it wouldn't be the first time in campaigns. People say a lot of things and perhaps in more dramatic fashion than need be. It's
hard to believe that our countries that have shared geography together, that have shared relationships together, that have had trading
relationships together are simply suspect to a matter of, you know, less than 100 days today, 100 days.
We're much stronger than that. I think what you're going to see as we go forward is a reset after this election. I know the president and the prime
minister had a call today, great opportunity to talk about how do we move forward. And we in the business community here in Canada and United States
and Mexico, continue to believe that the best way to do that is to review and extend the president's own trade agreement, the USMCA.
SCIUTTO: Now, I understand that that would be your hope and I imagine that would be the preference of, not just Canada, but a lot of countries. The
trouble is, President Trump has made this a defining battle for the U.S. that he says that his ambition is to return jobs from countries like Canada
that were shared in effect, as you say, make different parts of a car on different sides of the border, bring it all back to the U.S., which, of
course, would impact Canada quite directly.
So, I wonder how -- are you truly confident that he will back off that ambition and just sort of get back to a USMCA type deal?
HYDER: Well, I can certainly understand why people would ask the question that you've just done, but the signs that we look for are not just about
the noise and the rhetoric, but also what's actually going on in terms of on the ground in terms of the process.
What we have seen in our interactions with the administration in Washington, and there last week again, back next week, is that, you know,
they did not impose anything on April 2nd on Canada and Mexico. In fact, they excluded all customer compliance or what we call CUSMA, you call the
USMCA compliance, which suggests that there's an integrity to the deal that they do understand and that they do believe in.
There's announced just recently no stacking on the auto tariffs because there's a recognition of what you just said, that integrated nature of our
supply chains. The USMCA's forerunners, we forget, is originally it was the auto pack, then it was a free trade agreement, then it was the North
American Free Trade Agreement, and then it became the USMCA.
We're going to have some form of a multi -- of a trilateral trade agreement. We want it to be trilateral because we've invested in these
supply chains. And so, we remain optimistic despite all the rhetoric and the noise that I pointed to that the indication is that we are going to
have to sit down and remind all sides that we have a trade agreement. It is subject to a review and a renewal. And we'd like to see it extended. And
it's the president's own agreement. Not only is it his agreement, it's an agreement we'd like to remind the administration, the other administration
kept. So, it must be working for America. It must be good. We can always make it better.
SCIUTTO: But let me ask you this, and I appreciate your hopeful take on this. If Trump follows through on his more threatening rhetoric, for
instance, of unilaterally redrawing the U.S.-Canadian border, which of course is the longest peaceful border in the world. A lot of trade goes
across it. They're treaty allies. I mean, he's talking about redrawing it so that all the great lakes, we get our water back is the way he describes
it.
I mean, those are moves that are not settled by just adjusting tariff rates or doing minor adjustments to the USMCA. I mean, that speaks to a
fundamental rupture in the relationship. And do you believe the trading relationship could survive an effort like that if you were to follow
through on it?
HYDER: Well, I don't think he would follow through on it. I think the fact that the prime minister has indicated that, I'm not having any
conversations unless the sovereignty of Canada is respected and the prime minister of the country is respected. And that has certainly taken place
ever since our current prime minister, Mark Carney, came into power and has now been renewed in power as of an election last night.
I think it's an opportunity for us to sit down and talk about how it is that, as each other's largest trading partners, how we contribute to, in
particular, America's economic security. While I acknowledge the president says a lot of things, it doesn't necessarily mean that they are factually
based in terms of, A, we don't believe there's a trade deficit. But even if there is, let's sit down and talk about how to narrow that.
[18:45:00]
But what about the economic security of America? The oil and gas? You know, the potash? The uranium? The critical minerals in particular are soft wood.
These are all things that America needs for America's economic security. And I will be fair here to say that America's legitimately calling out
Canada on things like our NATO commitment and how it is that we have not met that target. And we here in the business community have been very
aggressive in ensuring that our last election and our government understand that we should be meeting and exceeding that target, given where we find
ourselves in the world.
So, things happen when you talk to each other, where there's dialogue, and it's why I feel very strongly on behalf of our business communities that
it's best to do this at a table where people can sit down and talk. Because, Jim, as I said, no agreement. It's just simply not an alternative
for our economies.
SCIUTTO: Goldy Hyder, thanks so much for joining.
HYDER: Thanks for having me.
SCIUTTO: Well, South Korea's economy depends heavily on both the U.S. and China. And with trade tension soaring between Washington and Beijing.
Korean Air, the country's largest airline, is working to navigate those new challenges. Mike Valerio sat down with the CEO.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WALTER CHO, CEO AND CHAIRMAN, KOREAN AIR: Well, we're already seeing the downturn in passenger volume between Transpacific and also to Europe.
MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: How big?
CHO: Subtle, maybe 5 percent compared to last year. But you know, it has some significant impact to our business. The Korean economy is getting hit
fairly big due to the tariff and trade wars. Korea economy is in between U.S. and China, and we depend on both economies as well quite a bit. And,
we're already seeing the effects of it.
VALERIO: So, when you're talking about down 5 percent, what does that mean in dollars, in terms of revenue lost?
CHO: Anywhere between $500 million to a billion dollar a year. We are bracing for the impact we're looking at. I don't expect this year to be
great for Korean economy. We are looking at our cost as we speak, but I'm hope -- I'm hoping I'm wrong.
VALERIO: Do you have a strategy to take on tariff turbulence?
CHO: It's kind of tough because we -- about 40 percent of our business, Korean Air business, is on cargo and that will get impacted severely when
the tariff actually hits Korea and also China. But I'm not planning to downsize in our cargo. We're going to refocus our volume to Europe and
other places where demand will still be there. And also, I've been seeing a lot of trade between China and Canada, for example. You know, we could
focus on those markets as well.
VALERIO: What impacts have you seen to your business in China?
CHO: Well, since the tariff policy has changed so many times in the last months, it's been a hectic market. You know, some -- one day everybody was
canceling. Next day everybody's asking for charters to push out the volume. Right now, the cargo is still strong. Because --
VALERIO: To China?
CHO: Yes, from China to U.S. And I'm hoping the two countries meet and make up their mind.
VALERIO: Let's talk about the deal announced in March.
CHO: Yes.
VALERIO: Your largest purchase ever from Boeing and General Electric Aerospace Engines. Do you still see the decision to buy on this scale a way
to increase ties with the United States?
CHO: Yes. But you know, I was always a Boeing fan, so to speak. I always have -- you know, well, there's only two choices. So -- but, you know, I
always trusted Boeing and I would always go to Boeing to -- for my needs.
VALERIO: You are hoping to elevate the customer experience to world class level. What is your vision to elevate the experience from first class to
prestige to people riding an economy?
CHO: Back in the '60s when flying was actually glamorous, I want to bring back that glamor. So, first class, you know, we're introducing new food,
new entertainment system, internet access, Wi-Fi, bringing the joy of flying back to, you know, where it's supposed to be.
VALERIO: And is the goal to get to the level of Qatar or Singapore Airways for the best of the best kind of flight experience?
CHO: Yes. Yes, it is. We are focusing on all traffic between Europe, U.S. coming to Asia, and Koreans going abroad.
VALERIO: And when you're looking, Walter, at this 777 in the background, your merger with Asiana is finished. How do you feel right now? This is a
new chapter for your airline.
[18:50:00]
CHO: I'm very excited, you know. Asiana was always our competitor. We fought vigorously, but we always was fair to each other. Now, we've become
one family and it's a very exciting thing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCIUTTO: Coming up, four teams, one dream. All the highlights from the first match of the Champions League semi-finals right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCIUTTO: A French victory in London. PSG beating Arsenal in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League semi-final. Patrick Snell joins me now with
all the excitement.
PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: Hi there, Jim. Yes. We are getting very excited, down to the nitty-gritty of the Champions League. You know,
neither of those two teams have ever been crowned champions of Europe. So, something they hope has to give for PSG and Arsenal.
But pretty much, it was a really moving tribute, Jim, I will say, to honor the life of Pope Francis, South America's first ever pontiff. He just loved
the beautiful game. From time to time, he even played in goal as a youngster. He was a fan of his beloved San Lorenzo back in his homeland,
Argentina. And last weekend, in fact, San Lorenzo's players wearing an image of Francis right across their jerseys, accompanied by the words,
together for eternity.
Well, the first leg at the Emirate Stadium in North London, this was a tight close forward affair. PSG making a dream start though ahead in the
fourth minute of play when Infor (ph) Ousmane Dembele starts and finishes off a nice move, sweeping the ball in for the early goal. Only goal of the
match, in fact.
PSG could have doubled their lead when they hit the post, but Arsenal thought they'd leveled here early in the second half. But after a lengthy
VAR check, Nika Marina's (ph) header, rules have been just offside. It was very close. It was an open game. Both sides had chances. PSG missing a
couple of really good ones. Later on, that's the sub, Bradley Barcola, putting the ball just wide.
And then moments later, Goncalo Ramos finding himself in space and his effort thumping off the crossbar there. PSG have a slender lead for the
second leg, but Arsenal still very much in this tie.
Now, the winners of the PSG-Arsenal match will meet Barcelona or Inter Milan in the final. Barcelona and Inter will meet at the Olympic Stadium in
Catalonia on Wednesday. This is a rematch of the 2010 semifinal with Inter going on to win the tournament that year.
But (INAUDIBLE) Barcelona will be in high spirits after the 3-2 Copa del Rey win over their old foes no less, Real Madrid, last Saturday. And they
should be too, because they got the likes of Raphinha, Lewandowski, Yamal, all firing on all cylinders, a combined 37 and -- 27 out Bar's 37 goals in
this competition this season. I want to hear now from one teenage star Yamal, who can't wait to get started.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LAMINE YAMAL, BARCELONA FORWARD (through translator): It's very exciting. It's the team's first semi-final for most of us. We are very excited to be
able to go to the final, obviously, to be able to show our fans who we are and how we will give everything.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[18:55:00]
SNELL: I'm trying to pick a winner from that one, Jim. It's just too close to call. I do know it should be a great match of football. Back to you.
SCIUTTO: Yamal is a young talent man. I mean, it's just incredible.
SNELL: Yes, it's still early 17. It's amazing.
SCIUTTO: Patrick Snell, thanks so much. All right. Good Brief now. Authorities had to rescue a man climbing Mount Fuji last week twice. A
Chinese college student successfully reached the summit Tuesday, but had altitude sickness. So, on Saturday, he tried climbing it again to pick up
personal belongings. He'd left behind the first time. He got sick again, had to be rescued again.
We were outside the official climbing season right now, so that means no huts, first aid stations, or bathrooms. Maybe you should have stayed down
at the bottom.
Thanks so much for your company today. I'm Jim Sciutto in Washington. You've been watching "The Brief." Please do stay with CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:00:00]
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