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Countries Brace for New Trump Tariffs, Vow Retaliation; Liberal Judge Wins Wisconsin Supreme Court Race, Despite Musk's Millions; GOP Holds Florida Seats; Trump Administration to Replace Some Fired Inspectors General. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired April 02, 2025 - 07:30   ET

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

[07:30:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: So, as investors, businesses and consumers wait for actual detail on exactly what new tariffs are coming today, countries around the world are already promising to hit back. We have a whole wrap for you. CNN's Melissa Bell is in Paris, Valeria Leon is in Mexico City, Marc Stewart is in Beijing for us.

Melissa, let me start with you. You are in Paris. How is Europe promising they will respond?

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: With unity and determination, but in the sense of not wanting any escalation either. We've been hearing from the European Commission President very firmly on this matter. What we know behind the scenes is that Europeans have been preparing all the various scenarios as they await to hear more on exactly what's going to be hitting them.

And of course, this is tremendously complex because you're talking about a European Union of many different countries with many different business interests. Some countries where pharmaceuticals, for instance, are more important than others. So it's going to be a very tough negotiation behind the scenes here in Europe.

We know that the European Union is never so united as when it faces a common enemy or a threat. And that is the sense of what we've been hearing from European officials, Kate. What we know is going to happen in terms of the sequence of events is there will be an immediate statement once they have heard what Washington is planning to do.

Then European ambassadors will meet tomorrow to spend the day working out how exactly their reaction is going to come. And then the question of when European counter tariffs will come in and exactly what they will look like. We expect that to happen possibly by the 12th of April, which is, of course, the day that comes into effect, the steel and aluminum tariffs that Europeans are now imposing in response to the American ones.

And it could be that the 12th of April then represents the sort of European liberation day of its own -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Yes, only certainty is that something will be coming is likely from Europe. That's for sure, Melissa.

Valeria, now to Mexico. Mexico has already faced a whole slew of the tariffs that President Trump has put in place. What are you hearing there now?

VALERIA LEON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So Mexico's government is avoiding confrontation with the Trump administration. Playing the long game is the same strategy President Sheinbaum has used since the beginning of the new American administration, one that has so far saved Mexico from steep tariffs.

But tomorrow she's going to present what she called a comprehensive plan that will include a response to all the tariffs, from those on metals already in place to those on vehicles coming into effect today.

Sheinbaum is a strong advocate of the integration of the North American economy. She said she doesn't believe in an eye for an eye because that always leads to a bad situation. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLAUDIA SHEINBAUM, MEXICAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We do not believe in an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, because that always leads to a bad situation. Of course, measures are taken because measures are taken on the other side. But the dialogue must continue.

It's not about tit for tat, but about what is best for Mexico and how to face the situation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEON: And Mexican authorities are currently lobbying for special treatment from the U.S. when it comes to tariffs on products made in Mexico, by using the argument that Mexico exports more than three million vehicles annually to the U.S. -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Valeria, thank you.

Marc, China has been one of the main targets and focuses of this entire tariff plan as it has rolled out. Is China trying and taking the same tack as Mexico, trying to avoid confrontation?

MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Not necessarily, Kate. In fact, nothing has even happened yet. Yet China is making it very clear it's not going to put up with any of this.

We are seeing a noticeable shift in Beijing's approach from calling for diplomacy, calling for mutual respect and cooperation, to now using some very sharp and pointed language. And that became very clear over the last 24 hours or so when the Chinese foreign minister did an interview with Russian media. Let me read to you what Wang Yi had to say.

He pointed out that America first should not be American bullying and should not build its own interests on the basis of damaging the legitimate rights and interests of other countries. This is a big change from what we've seen in the past. As far as what

China could do next, it certainly could throw back more tariffs because that would impact American consumers on things like electronics, like clothing, like furniture.

[07:35:00]

But China, as the world's second largest economy, has a lot of force and influence on the global supply chain. It could play this game of making it hard to get things, not only simple things like toys or Christmas decorations, which are such a popular Chinese product, but it could also impact substantial things like critical minerals, which are used in electronics, even pharmaceuticals.

China has a very big toolbox. It could also make life very difficult for American companies that are already doing business here. More than a billion people, I should say, live here in China. This is a lucrative market for America, and China can make things a lot tougher.

Typically, if America throws tariffs at China, the response is very quick, sometimes within 24 hours. Kate, the next briefing from the Chinese government will be at 3 p.m. local time. That's at 3 a.m. where you are in New York. We'll certainly keep watch.

BOLDUAN: Yep, and we will bring the updates when we get them. Marc, Valeria, Melissa, thank you all so very much. This is very important -- what global reaction is going to be -- Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Thank you, Kate.

A message for Musk. The MAGA backlash arrives. Democrats show a pulse. A few of the headlines this morning after Democrats pulled off a crucial victory in Wisconsin last night.

Democratic-backed candidate Susan Crawford won Wisconsin's Supreme Court race. She defeated Brad Schimel, who was endorsed by President Trump and armed with millions of dollars from Elon Musk.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUSAN CRAWFORD, WISCONSIN SUPREME COURT JUSTICE-ELECT: As a little girl growing up in Chippewa Falls, I never could have imagined that I'd be taking on the richest man in the world --

(CHEERING)

CRAWFORD: -- for justice in Wisconsin. And we won!

(CHEERING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: See the crowd very happy there. It was the most expensive judicial race in American history. CNN's Arlette Saenz is live in Madison, Wisconsin for us. There is this really being seen as a message not just about the candidates, but about the Trump presidency so far and how people feel about it.

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Sara. Wisconsin voters really sent their first electoral pushback on President Trump and his top political ally, Elon Musk. Susan Crawford at her campaign victory party last night said that voters showed that courts cannot be for sale.

It all comes as Crawford and Democrats had really put Elon Musk at the center of their strategy after he injected himself into this race. The tech billionaire and groups aligned with him spent more than $20 million here in the state. That contributed to making this the most expensive judicial contest in U.S. history with spending north of $90 million.

Now last night, while Crawford was here in Madison, the conservative candidate Brad Schimel hosted his own party over in Waukesha, where he conceded the race. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRAD SCHIMEL, WI SUPREME COURT JUSTICE CANDIDATE: We did it. You did all the work. You put all your heart into it. And I can't thank you enough for everything you did to try to make this a success, but just didn't work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: Now, Democrats are riding high in this moment. Last night, I spoke with the Wisconsin Democratic Party chair, Ben Wikler, who told me that this election shows that Democrats can get up off the mat, fight back and win elections. So there will be a lot of talk about what this will mean for Democrats going forward.

But also for President Trump and Elon Musk, especially for his political operation, which has poured millions into the state and had been eyeing potential involvement in the 2026 midterm elections and others as well.

SIDNER: There were some other measures, of course, not just the judicial race. You had some ballot measures that involved requiring photo ID to vote. What happened there?

SAENZ: Yes, well, Wisconsin voters voted to enshrine voter ID in their state constitution. Voters here in Wisconsin have been required to present photo ID when voting since back in 2011. So this doesn't change the calculus all that much, but it does ensure that it would make it harder for Democrats to potentially claw back that measure down the road.

Now, this is one area where both President Trump and Elon Musk are celebrating. They have both posted to social media since last night saying that this was the most important part of this Wisconsin race. So far, we really haven't heard them weigh in on the loss by the conservative candidate just yet.

SIDNER: All right. Arlette Saenz, thank you so much. I hope you have gotten a chance to have a little bit of Wisconsin cheese and bring some back for us. Thank you very much.

SAENZ: Every day.

SIDNER: Oh, every day. I love it -- John.

[07:40:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. With us now, Alyssa Farrah Griffin, CNN political commentator and former Trump White House communications director. Alyssa, with the Democratic back candidate winning in Wisconsin, with Republican margins shrinking in Florida. This is what Axios writes this morning.

There's no positive spin on this for the GOP. It's an early verdict on President Trump and Elon Musk. And that's before this afternoon's imposition on tariffs that economists fear will cut growth.

We'll get to tariffs in just a second. But first, on the political lessons learned here, if Democrats are smart, what will they take from this going forward?

ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Listen, I don't want to overstate this victory for Democrats yesterday. Listen, Wisconsin was a success. They've got a great party chair there. They organized and listen, Wisconsinites did not want to see the wealthiest man in the world come in, pretend to know about the state, tell them what to do.

But Florida, I mean, this -- the polling that showed these races being closer than it was, I was always skeptical of. These are deep ruby red districts.

But the momentum is on the side of Democrats right now. Republicans are kind of sitting happy. They've got the House, the Senate, the White House. They're generally happy with Trump right now. So I think this is more evidence that Democrats were looking for where to park their money. So they put a lot of money into this Florida 6 race. Obviously, this Wisconsin judge race became the most expensive judicial race in history.

But what the lesson is, is if you're at the NRCC today, breathe a sigh of relief, but realize you've got much, much tighter seats that are up in the midterms that you can -- you should expect those margins are going to be shrinking.

And today you mentioned tariffs. That's pretty much the worst news that you could be announcing today. The number one thing Donald Trump needs to get his arms around is the cost of living. And that's where his numbers keep sinking.

BERMAN: Let me show some polling on tariffs because it really is unpopular. They are with the American people. Marquette University, Marquette Law School just put out new polls this morning.

58 percent of voters say that tariffs will hurt the economy. Just 28 percent say it'll help. 58 percent of voters say it will increase inflation. Just 30 percent say it will decrease.

Whatever economists say about being good or bad policy, it's just unpopular, Alyssa.

GRIFFIN: Yes, and Fox News had a poll that said 69 percent of voters think tariffs are going to increase prices. So, you know, Donald Trump's favorite news network, their viewers agree.

Listen, when I worked for Trump, he believes in tariffs. It's one of the core policy issues he truly thinks work. He believes in onshoring more American jobs. He thinks Americans are taken advantage of.

But in the first term, there were people around him like Steve Mnuchin, Robert Lighthizer, Mike Pence, who would say, OK, use them in a targeted way as sort of leverage to get better deals for Americans, but do not do sweeping across-the-board tariffs. Those costs are hands down passed down to the consumers. And I'm just not convinced that those kind of advisors are there in this term.

And I should wish you a happy Liberation Day today. I think that you're going to wake up tomorrow and the markets are going to be in the tank because of what he's announcing later today. And I'm just curious how long the message is going to be there is going to be some pain for voters.

Voters voted for Donald Trump because they were tired of the economic pain of the last four years. That does not, to me, sound like a winning or compelling message from this White House.

BERMAN: And one thing is clear. They're scared of the markets. They moved the announcement. You know, Alayna Treene was reporting before it was supposed to be 3 p.m. Now it's 4 p.m. So the markets are closed at the time. They don't want the split screen like you're seeing right now. All the futures going downside by side with the president making the announcement on tariffs.

The president's attacking some Republicans who've been squeamish on tariffs, including Mitch McConnell, Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins. He says to the people of the great states of Kentucky, Alaska and Maine, please contact these senators and get them to finally adhere to Republican values and ideals. They've been extremely difficult to deal with and unbelievably disloyal. And he goes on.

Tom Tillis has also spoken out against tariffs as well. Rand Paul has spoken out against tariffs as well.

I do wonder, though, given how unpopular tariffs are, if you might see this be a space where some more Republicans start to speak out a little.

GRIFFIN: I think especially, wait to hear from the Senate Republicans, these tariffs will almost disproportionately hurt Republican states, agriculture states, a lot of the automotive producing states. By the way, like Michigan, where Donald Trump won, and that's a big part of his legacy.

I think that senators are going to feel a lot more ability to kind of push back. And they have seen that Donald Trump has we've seen the sort of putting tariffs on, pulling them back since he's been in office.

And I think folks are hoping that while he may announce these sweeping tariffs, if the markets are bad enough, which he loves to look to them as an indicator, they may be able to convince him to provide some relief if things are looking really bad two, three, four weeks down the road.

BERMAN: And there is some evidence that Donald Trump is easily spooked when it comes to the reaction to tariffs. It's happened repeatedly over this term and some last term as well. Alyssa Farrah Griffin, great to see you this morning. Thanks so much -- Kate.

[07:45:00]

BOLDUAN: So this morning, Senator Cory Booker is cementing a new place, cementing a new place in history for himself. The New Jersey Democrat broke a nearly 68 year old record set by Senator Strom Thurmond in 1957. Booker speaking on the Senate floor for more than 25 hours.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. CORY BOOKER (D-NJ): My friend, Madam President, I yield the floor.

(CHEERING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: That was the final moment of that marathon. Senator Booker wrapped his speech just after 8 p.m. last night. He began speaking around 7 p.m. Monday. He says that he and his staff prepared for days ahead of time. There are a lot of questions about how you physically can pull it off. He fasted and they prepared more than 1,000 pages of material to keep him speaking.

Why he did it, he says, to speak out against the actions of the Trump administration for one. And Cory Booker also afterwards said that there are a lot of people asking Democrats to do more, take more risks. There's a lot of soul-searching going on within the Democratic Party after their tough election losses. And so he said that's what he's trying to do -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right. Thank you so much, Kate.

All right, ahead. Concerns over the future of government oversight as President Trump taps an ex-congressman who faced potential ethics violations to be the Labor Department's watchdog.

Also, the moment first responders rescued a 63-year-old woman who was trapped under rubble for 91 hours after the earthquake that devastated Myanmar.

[07:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIDNER: This morning there is growing concern over the future of government oversight. As President Trump nominates replacement inspectors general to fill some vacancies following his administration's mass firings of watchdogs from more than a dozen federal agencies. One of those replacement nominees, former New York Republican Congressman Anthony D'Esposito.

He lost his re-election last year amid reports of potential ethics violations, but now he's been chosen to be the inspector general for the Department of Labor.

For more on the IG fallout, I'm joined by Mark Greenblatt. Mark served as the inspector general of the Department of Interior for five and a half years until President Trump fired him back in January. Thank you so much for being here.

So Larry D. Turner, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel, was the former inspector general. He, along with you and about a dozen others, were fired by the Trump administration in late January. Now he's made this pick of Representative D'Esposito. What do you make of his pick? What do you think of this person representing a watchdog group in the government?

MARK GREENBLATT, FORMER INSPECTOR GENERAL FIRED BY PRESIDENT TRUMP: Sara, this is a total mockery of the entire construct of the inspector general community. This is the equivalent of nominating Al Capone to be the commissioner of the IRS. They are -- this nominee, but also the nominee for the inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services, HHS.

Both of these two nominees, which are the only nominees they've had for inspectors general at this point, both of them are not only unqualified, but their actions are also disqualifying. As you mentioned, there's a cloud of ethics around the labor IG nominee, but also around the ethics of the HHS nominee as well. And so you have a situation where these are the fox guarding the henhouse.

SIDNER: Yes, we just should say what it is. D'Esposito had a lot of blowback. He was accused of having an affair and then putting that woman, along with his fiancee's daughter, on the government payroll, which he has denied. But that is sort of the cloud that has been hanging over him.

I'm curious, when you look at this, what you make of why Donald Trump would put these two people, as you mentioned, the HHS nominee, put them in a place of power?

GREENBLATT: Well, the clear implication is that he wants folks who are going to be loyal to him and rubber stamp his programs and basically gloss over any ethics misconduct by his own administration, which is the absolute opposite of what inspectors general are supposed to do. We are supposed to be, you know, providing fair, objective,

independent oversight over political administrations, regardless of party. We are supposed to be there and ride through administrations.

We are not supposed to be loyal to a political ideology or to a political individual or a political administration. We are there as the taxpayers' representatives inside the federal agencies in order to provide fair, objective, independent oversight.

And I would say these two nominees certainly appear like the president is trying to get not fair, objective, independent oversight, but rather, you know, oversight that maybe it's cook in the books. I don't know.

SIDNER: When it comes to this, how is this going to change, inspectors general, when you see who is at the helm, in your mind, and the fact that he let go of so many people that had been there throughout different administrations?

[07:55:00]

GREENBLATT: Well, Sara, I was the chair of the Council of Inspectors General. There are 73 inspectors general throughout the federal government. I was the chair of the council.

And as part of that, I would welcome foreign delegations into the United States where they would ask us about our accountability mechanisms and how we can share what we do with them so that they can improve their accountability mechanisms. And frankly, I would be embarrassed to tell those folks about these two nominees. And I'm very concerned about the future of fair, objective, independent oversight inside the federal government in light of both the firings of the 17, 18 of us at the very beginning of the administration and these two nominees right now.

This bodes very poorly for the American taxpayer. The American people should be very upset about these nominees. This is not at all what the IG construct is designed to provide.

And so I think this is a very troubling development for the American taxpayer.

SIDNER: Some strong words, sounds like you're saying. It's like the fox guarding the hen house. We will see what happens. Mark Greenblatt, I truly appreciate your time this morning -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Some amazing rescues are still happening in Myanmar after the country was just rocked by that devastating earthquake last Friday. Crews there pulled a 63-year-old woman out of the rubble alive. She had been trapped for 91 hours after the 7.7 magnitude quake. Hours later, a man was also pulled out alive from an air pocket between two sheets of concrete. He'd been trapped for roughly 100 hours. Rescuers say the chances of finding more survivors now really is fading quite fast because those who might -- obviously, the need for and lack of access to water for so many.

So far, authorities say more than 2,700 people have died. But experts do believe it could be weeks before the true death toll is known.

And also breaking overnight, the Chinese military launched a live fire exercises in the East China Sea, ramping up its military drills around Taiwan.

This comes days after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's visit to the region, where he vowed to counter, quote, unquote, China's aggression. China has been ramping up its military drills around Taiwan. Today's exercises came just a day after China launched surprise joint exercises with its army, navy and air force.

And Forbes released its new list of the world's billionaires. According to the list, there are more than 3,000 billionaires, and they include entrepreneurs, investors and entertainers. Elon Musk tops the list with a net worth of $342 billion.

But there are some notable newcomers this year. The boss, Bruce Springsteen, is now worth a reported $1.2 billion. Comedian Jerry Seinfeld, Arnold Schwarzenegger also on the list, each worth $1.1 billion. It is hard to wrap your mind around -- John.

BERMAN: But are they happy? That's the real question.

BOLDUAN: Which really is what it comes down to. And you should ask two morning show anchors who wake up at three o'clock in the morning.

BERMAN: Are they happy?

All right, developing this morning, an urgent weather warning, a tornado outbreak expected today and tonight in the south and Midwest. That's according to the Storm Prediction Center.

Forecasters are also predicting once in a lifetime flooding with an entire season's worth of rain falling in just days.

CNN's Derek Van Dam is in the weather center. It's a pretty serious warning, Derek.

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, John, today is the start of a multi-day, multi-hazard, severe weather and flood threat going forward. And I'm going to highlight all those details now, but we're focusing in on these locations you see from the Ohio River Valley, stretching southwestward towards the Ozarks. This area in particular has the potential for some pretty intense tornadoes today.

And then once again into the day tomorrow, all the dynamics coming together in the atmosphere, surface level winds mixing with a different direction of winds in the upper levels of the atmosphere that creates that spin necessary for these supercells to create a rotating updraft, also known as a tornado. And when that reaches the ground, we have the potential for some pretty intense long track supercells that could produce tornadoes in excess of 111 miles per hour.

The Storm Prediction Center has this hatched area from Little Rock through to Indianapolis with EF2 tornadoes. That's 111 mile per hour winds at a minimum. But highlighting this area in purple, the highest level, that is an area where we could see EF3s, 136 mile per hour winds with some of the supercell tornadic thunderstorms that develop.

A line of storms already moving through. Tornado watch boxes have been hoisted throughout the course of the morning. In fact, there is an ongoing tornado warning just to the north and east of Tulsa with this line racing eastward. This will spark off a multi-day, life- threatening risk of flash flooding, particularly across the Ozarks.

They're calling this a once-in-a-lifetime to once-in-a-generation event. Arkansas, the Little Rock Office.

[08:00:00]