Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Detroit-Area Mayor: Auto Tariffs to Have "Devastating Effect" on Jobs; Election to Decide Balance of Wisconsin Supreme Court; Trump Admin. Mistakenly Deports Maryland Man to Salvadoran Mega Prison. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired April 01, 2025 - 13:00   ET

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

u (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:01:12]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Ever the showman, President Trump knows how to build suspense ahead of his major tariff announcement. While details are scant, anxiety is rampant. The White House just addressed all of this. We're following the latest.

Meantime, voters are headed to the polls in some high-stakes special elections today, as two key states put the Trump agenda to its first electoral test.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: And armed intruders break into the home of Richard Sherman with his family inside. We'll show you the video the retired NFL star shared in hopes of catching the suspects. We're following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to CNN News Central.

SANCHEZ: It is tariff day eve, and the White House just moments ago says that President Trump is, quote, perfecting his plans with top advisers. That message coming after sources told CNN earlier today that some Trump advisers were still in the dark over what the President might do tomorrow on tariffs. We also just learned the tariffs will take effect immediately after that 4:00 p.m. event in the Rose Garden, and Europe is ready to respond.

KEILAR: A top E.U. official saying, quote, we do not necessarily want to retaliate, but if it is necessary, we have a strong plan and we will use it, end quote. Also sounding off more Senate Republicans, as concern is building over painful price hikes the tariffs could bring. There are so many people who are bracing for the real-life impacts of these tariffs, especially communities home to major U.S. auto plants like Sterling Heights, Michigan.

With us now is the mayor of Sterling Heights, Michael Taylor. Mayor, thanks so much for being with us. If you could just give us a sense, if these auto tariffs the -- of the President's go into effect on Thursday like the White -- White House says they will, what would that mean for your city?

MAYOR MICHAEL TAYLOR, STERLING HEIGHTS, MICHIGAN: Well, thank you for having me, Brianna. I'm happy to be here. It would be devastating. You know, we -- we still don't know exactly what's going to happen, even as you just said, some of his advisors don't know what's going to happen. We're bracing for the worst, hoping that there's some change in his plan.

But if these tariffs go into effect and if they stay in effect for any period beyond a couple of weeks, it's going to have a devastating impact on the local economy in Sterling Heights, where we have four large automotive manufacturing plants and dozens, if not hundreds of auto suppliers. About a quarter or I'm sorry, about 40 percent of our jobs are directly related to the auto industry in Sterling Heights.

And we're bracing for layoffs of 10 or 15 percent, potentially cost increases. This is going to be a devastating thing for Sterling Heights, Macomb County and the state of Michigan.

KEILAR: So we should say the UAW is in favor of tariffs. James Benson, who is a auto plant worker at the Stellantis plant in Sterling Heights, told "The Washington Post" back in February, quote, do I think tariffs are an end all for everything? No, but I do think they're an excellent bargaining chip, especially after watching the aftermath of NAFTA gutting us like a fish. I've seen us lose so many jobs. If you're asking me if I'm willing to have a little short term pain, well, we've already had long term pain. Nothing has been benefiting us.

So you hear that from some auto workers, right? They're saying I'm willing to endure a little more short term pain if this is going to shake out for me in the long run. What do you say to them?

TAYLOR: Well, I -- I understand their -- their position, I really do, and the UAW for years has been trying to bring more manufacturing jobs back to Michigan in the United States, and that's an admirable position, and -- and I certainly understand why they feel that way, but at the risk of the competitiveness of our automotive industry on a national scale and the short term effects it's going to have in terms of layoffs, but at the risk of the competitiveness of our automotive industry on a national scale and the short term effects it's going to have in terms of layoffs to UAW employees and the increased costs in these automobiles, we know that we -- we want manufacturing in the United States, but if -- if all of those manufacturing jobs for the big three automotive companies in Michigan and Detroit are -- are brought back to the United States, that's going to take years and years and billions of dollars of investment.

[13:05:31]

Meanwhile, the auto industry will become less and less competitive globally, and I don't think it's going to be a good thing for the auto companies long term. So I -- I will disagree with the UAW members that see this as a good thing. I don't see it that way. The companies have invested billions of dollars in their supply chains to make automobiles as -- as efficiently and as cost effectively as possible. And this is just going to be a huge disruption to that. So I respectfully disagree. And I don't see this being a good thing at any time in the near future.

KEILAR: Is there a plan in place to help folks who you're hearing concerns from get through this -- this rough time?

TAYLOR: Well, yes, I mean, the city of Sterling Heights, we -- we have been partnering with other mayors and other cities throughout southeast Michigan and across the border in Ontario. We -- we're working to try to develop messaging to -- to get the message to our -- our federal legislators that we need relief from this.

I know the President has already announced that there might be some announcement about helping farmers in rural areas of the country who will be impacted by tariffs. My hope is that the -- the administration, if they do roll these out, there'll be some sort of program for -- for people in places like Michigan that are going to be hit the hardest by these tariffs. But I don't expect it.

So I think cities are pretty much on their own. And we're -- we're working together with other mayors to try to figure out what we can do. But we have very limited options. There's not much we can do if we face mass layoffs.

KEILAR: The -- the President has said that under these tariffs, he's expecting auto companies to relocate to the U.S. and build new sites or expand exist -- existing ones. That's what you're talking about when you're saying it's going to take so many years. You know, ultimately, as that is the goal, what do you say to him?

TAYLOR: Well, look, as I said, I think it's an admiral goal to try to bring jobs to the United States and -- and, you know, improve manufacturing. We've been, as mayors, we've been talking about, you know, improving manufacturing capacity in our cities for decades. So that in and of itself, I don't think is a bad thing.

But it doesn't seem that there's any real economic plan here. It doesn't seem like this is well thought out. The tariffs are just brought across the board, not very surgical, not calculated to lead to economic recovery for cities like Sterling Heights and -- and the state of Michigan.

So I would say if we had a -- if we had a company that came to Sterling Heights and wanted to open up a new auto manufacturing facility, that would just take years to get up to speed. We've had it done in Sterling Heights. And these -- these -- the construction, the planning, it takes two, three, four, up to five years or more to see those plants come online.

And in the meantime, we're going to be suffering. So I'm hopeful that in the future we can see a benefit from this, but I don't think it's going to happen.

KEILAR: Mayor Michael Taylor of Sterling Heights, thank you for being with us. You're very much ground zero for this. And we're obviously so happy to hear your perspective on this. Thanks.

TAYLOR: Thank you so much.

SANCHEZ: So the White House just held a press briefing, asked specifically about the oncoming tariffs tomorrow. CNN's Jeff Zeleny was there asking questions of Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. Jeff, it sounds like the White House here was responding to reporting that some of Trump's top economic advisors weren't really aware of what he plans to announce tomorrow.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Boris, it certainly was interesting. And the White House Press Secretary was also asking about consumer confidence. And the mayor right there is speaking from Macomb County, Michigan, a county that I have visited often. And Donald Trump won by some 14 points. That's exactly who she is talking to.

She is asking Trump voters and others to have some patience with this strategy. But it's an open question if that patience will exist, given what the financial markets have done, given what people's retirement plans have done. But even so, the press secretary said that the tariffs are expected to take effect immediately.

That would be tomorrow. That was also a bit of a surprise. Now, this is going to be held in the Rose Garden after the markets close tomorrow. But again, Karoline Leavitt said the President is perfecting this plan right now with advisors.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The President will be addressing the decades of unfair trade practices that have ripped our country off and American workers off. It has hollowed out our middle class. It has destroyed our heartland. And the President is focused on reshifting our global economy to ensure that America is once again the manufacturing superpower of the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[13:10:17]

ZELENY: So this is perhaps the biggest example of the American first agenda that the President campaigned on and has talked about extensively since coming into office. But it's the biggest gamble also, because bringing back America into products and manufacturing would take a considerable amount of time. And what happens to prices in the meantime? What happens to inflation in the meantime? The White House said all these concerns are legitimate concerns.

But, again, the press secretary and other advisors we speak to here say that people should take heart and remember what happened in the first Trump administration in terms of the economy. Of course, it started out well. It did not end so well with the pandemic. So, so much is riding on this announcement to tomorrow and what specifically these tariffs will be, if they'll be across the board blanket tariffs or sort of more individualized ones.

But there will not be any exemptions, we're told, per sector. But, again, they'll be taking effect immediately tomorrow. That means consumers, of course, could feel this shortly. Boris and Brianna?

SANCHEZ: Jeff Zeleny, live for us at the White House, thank you so much. So today, President Trump's agenda is on the ballot, albeit indirectly.

Polls are open for Election Day in two states with big implications for the President and his party. In Wisconsin, the state Supreme Court race between the liberal candidate Susan Crawford and Brad Schimel, the conservative favored by Donald Trump and Elon Musk, will determine the ideological balance of the court in a battleground state.

While in Florida, Democrats are trying to make inroads inside two deep red districts. The first, a seat vacated by Matt Gaetz, and the second, a seat left open by the current national security advisor, Mike Waltz. Trump won both of those districts by more than 30 points in November. But these races are much closer than expected, putting Republicans on edge as they try to preserve their already razor-thin majority in the House of Representatives.

Let's discuss with Larry Sabato. He's the director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, also the editor of "A Return to Normalcy? The 2020 election that almost broke America." Larry, thanks so much for joining us.

First to Wisconsin, Supreme Court judges don't run as Democrats or Republicans. I wonder if you've seen a race previously quite as partisan as this one.

LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR POLITICS AT UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: Unfortunately, I've seen lots of them, which is the real problem with judicial elections. We really ought to have an appointment system, commission system or something, the way it's done at the federal level and in most states. They've got the system they've got. It's very populist.

People find out which one's a Democrat, which one's a Republican, or which one is liberal, and which one is conservative because there's so much coverage and now so much money spent in many of these races, especially in competitive states like Wisconsin, which is, you know, always a very thin margin for the victor.

SANCHEZ: Yes. More than $90 million spent on this race. You've watched so many different races over the years. I wonder how often does spending help sway a race like this one?

SABATO: Well, spending matters a lot more in special elections because the turnouts are much lower. Many people just don't participate. They hadn't planned on it or they haven't heard about it or whatever the case may be. So the turnouts go way down. Now, that helps the party, usually the party out of power who may be upset, angry. I think that does fit the Democrats right now, but it doesn't have to end up that way.

The other advantage that Democrats have in these specials, particularly the one in Wisconsin, is that in a special election, disproportionately, people with a high educational level will turn up to vote. Well, that used to be a heavily Republican sector of the electorate. Now, because of Trump, really, this change has happened since 2016 and beyond, those with higher educational levels are much more inclined to be Democratic. So that's another advantage that Democrats have. The summary, Boris, is we overanalyze these things and they are not indicative or predictive of the future. They measure what's happening at that moment in one particular piece of territory.

And the next serious election that matters for the country is November of 2026, the midterm elections, and that's 19 months away. A thousand things will happen.

SANCHEZ: Yes, still quite a ways away. I wonder what you're looking for in the sunshine state of Florida and the races to replace Mike Waltz and Matt Gaetz.

SABATO: The only thing that really matters is if Democrats manage to win that sixth district seat where Trump won by 30 points and where the Republican candidate didn't raise all that much money and didn't seem to campaign all that hard. And the Democrat did. But it's just hard to imagine 30 points being made up, even by money and extra stumping by one of the candidates. But, you know, maybe we'll have a tremendous upset.

[13:15:24]

And if the Democrat wins, we'll hear about this one forever. I don't want to bring up a historical example, but here I am doing it with Gerald Ford's seat. When he became vice president and then president, he had come from the House of Representatives. His seat was up in a special election in Grand Rapids, Michigan. And incredibly, that heavily Republican area elected a Democrat. And we talked about it forever. And I think this would be similar if it happens. I think it's unlikely to happen, but don't close the door on it either.

SANCHEZ: I, for one, Larry Sabato, I'm a huge fan of when you bring up historical references. I appreciate it. Thanks so much for joining us.

SABATO: Thank you, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Of course.

And of course, be sure to follow CNN for complete coverage of election night. It begins tonight at 6:00 p.m. Eastern, tune in.

Still to come, deported by accident. How the Trump administration says it mistakenly sent a Maryland father to a mega prison in El Salvador and why officials now argue they can't bring him back.

Also ahead, mass layoffs underway today at federal health agencies. We're going to tell you where and what the impact could be.

KEILAR: Plus, breaking news out of the Justice Department. Attorney General Pam Bondi says prosecutors will seek the death penalty for Luigi Mangione, the man accused of killing the UnitedHealthcare CEO. You're watching CNN News Central. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:21:12]

KEILAR: The Trump administration is now admitting to mistakenly deporting a Maryland father to a notorious super prison in El Salvador during those recent deportation flights. A, quote, administrative error is how federal lawyers explain it in a court filing.

SANCHEZ: Despite the error and despite officials knowing that Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia had U.S. protected status, federal lawyers argue that he cannot be brought back to the United States.

CNN's Priscilla Alvarez joins us now with the details. Also with us, CNN legal analyst Elliott Williams, who among other things served as assistant director for legislative affairs at ICE. Priscilla, first to you, what are you learning about this case?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, this is a filing that we received late yesterday and in it a senior immigration and customs enforcement official saying that there was an administrative error in the sending of a Salvadoran national to El Salvador's notorious mega prison last month.

Now what we know about this national, I've been reading through the filings over the course of the day, is that he crossed into the U.S. around 2011. He seemed to have a brush with law enforcement in 2019. This is important because this was a time when local police approached him in a group of men who were loitering outside of a Maryland Home Depot and that was when the police said that he had ties to MS-13.

They used, for example, his attire and also said a confidential informant had told them as much. This was the subject of 2019 immigration proceedings that he was a part of. Ultimately, however, they were not able to, and they being the local police department, not provide more information nor ICE justifying that he was part of this gang and his attorneys claimed that he was not part of it at all.

A judge granted what is called withholding from removal. That means that he's still removable but he cannot be sent to El Salvador for fear of persecution. That was the status that he was under since that ruling in 2019. Now, he was arrested last month and it is detailed in the court documents that he was detained by ICE, that he had his last phone call on March 15th with his wife. That's the morning of the flights.

And then his wife, like many of the other stories that we have been hearing and reporting on, could not find him in the ICE detention system, only learning through handout video that he was at the notorious mega prison. Now, we -- the way that this unfolded was that on that morning, that flight manifest had come through.

They had pulled different names for various reasons, according to the declaration, and his name kept moving up further on the list until ultimately his name was on the flight manifest and he was then sent to El Salvador. Now, in the filing, the senior ICE official saying that, quote, through administrative error, Abrego Garcia was removed from the United States to El Salvador, going on to say that this was, quote, an oversight and the removal was carried out in good faith based on the existence of a final order of removal and Abrego Garcia's purported membership in MS-13. That part is key.

The administration is very much standing firm on the fact that they say that he has ties to MS-13, including the White House press secretary only moments ago. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEAVITT: It was an administrative error. The administration maintains the position that this individual who was deported to El Salvador and will not be returning to our country was a member of the brutal and vicious MS-13 gang. That is fact number one. Fact number two, we also have credible intelligence proving that this individual was involved in human trafficking.

And fact number three, this individual was a member, actually a leader, of the brutal MS-13 gang which this President has designated as a foreign terrorist organization. Fact number four is that foreign terrorists do not have legal protections in the United States of America anymore.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALVAREZ: Now, the court documents do not show that there was a conviction of him being part of MS-13. I have also followed up with the Department of Homeland Security about that human trafficking claim because that too was not part of any court documents that I have seen as part of this case. But even so, and Elliot can speak more to this, if you have withdraw or if you -- if you are in the status that he was under to terminate it, there would have been an immigration process that he would have had to go through, that the Department of Homeland Security would have to go through. That appears to have not even happened here.

[13:25:15]

So ultimately, the process here was flouted and he was, by error, sent to this notorious mega prison that it is now in the, the ball, rather, is in El Salvador's court as to what happens to him next.

KEILAR: So they screwed it up.

ELLIOT WILLIAMS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes.

KEILAR: They're not going to fix it.

WILLIAMS: They're not going to fix it.

KEILAR: Even though they could easily fix it.

WILLIAMS: Well, I don't know about easily because you're dealing with the good graces of a foreign leader.

KEILAR: But they -- but they could fix it.

WILLIAMS: Yes.

KEILAR: They -- they -- they are friendly with this foreign leader. So where does that leave things?

WILLIAMS: I think it leaves things with someone removed to El Salvador who will probably, as Karoline Leavitt had said, not be coming back to the United States. The problem here is that it can both be true that someone is unlawfully present in the, or at least initially came to the United States unlawfully, and that perhaps even there's a basis for removing them from the United States, but that the means that the government took to get him out of the United States were improper. And all of these sort of claims being made are just sort of not being backed up and unsupported.

SANCHEZ: So that question of whether they should be afforded, these folks, due process or not, the Vice President J.D. Vance is suggesting that they shouldn't. And I just want to be as precise as possible. In the reporting that I've seen, part of the reason he was accused of being an MS-13 member is because he was wearing a Chicago Bulls jersey and a hat, right?

ALVAREZ: It was his attire, correct.

SANCHEZ: It was his attire. And --

ALVAREZ: And a confidential informant.

SANCHEZ: -- and he was apprehended with two other men at this Home Depot, one of them which said that he had ties to MS-13 back in New York, a place that apparently he'd never been before. Is that enough evidence to not afford someone due process and -- and quote-unquote convict them even though he wasn't convicted?

WILLIAMS: So I don't know the totality of what the government has. Now, it's a lower standard for establishing someone's connection to a criminal organization than it would be to convict him of a crime or of a homicide or something like that. They need to merely have the evidence that says so. And perhaps this is a gang that wears Bulls jerseys or something like that.

Now, that seems silly to us sitting here. But again, we don't know precisely what the government had. But to your point, Boris, this is incredibly thin the record on which they're establishing this person's connection to unlawful activity.

A, and as Priscilla had said a little bit earlier on, there's still a process that needs to have been followed. He would have been entitled to go before an immigration judge and plead the case and say, look, I'm not a member of MS-13. I'm entitled to withholding of removal and can stay in the United States at least for now.

KEILAR: Is the administration, though, OK with sending the message or perhaps this is even sort of a bonus side effect, telling people if you come to the U.S. illegally, it might not just be a factor of you're sent back where you came from. You could end up experiencing something significantly worse?

ALVAREZ: The fear is the point in this case. I've spoken with Homeland Security officials, some of whom tell me part of it is inflicting as much pain as possible so that people want to leave the United States, so that Venezuelans aren't walking in the United States afraid that they may be sent to the most notorious mega prison in the Americas because of what the administration has shown that they are willing to do.

So that fear and uncertainty about what may happen if you are detained by ICE is looming large in these immigrant communities. And it is something that some homeland security officials tell me is the point. Because look, if you want to deport a million people a year, they are still strapped for resources to do that. But what if you get some of those people to leave on their own?

WILLIAMS: That's the big point. It's the campaign promise against the realities of running a government. And it is -- and I know from having worked at ICE for five years, where we were removing 400,000 people a year and literally having to look under couch cushions to find the money and the resources to do so.

Getting to a million removals a year is just something the government is not equipped to do. And you're going to keep finding mistakes like this as they rush to get people out of the country.

KEILAR: Elliott and Priscilla, thank you so much to both of you. Really appreciate it.

Still to come, the U.S. Department of Justice says it will seek the death penalty for the alleged CEO killer Luigi Mangione.

[13:29:12]

Plus the job cuts at federal health agencies happening right now. What we know about these mass layoffs, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)