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Americans Feelings Toward Tariffs; Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) is Interviewed about the Tariffs; Trump Weighing Buyers for TikTok; Case of Detained Tufts Student. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired April 03, 2025 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: I want to play for you what the senator has said and also what a local farmer in North Carolina is saying.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. THOM TILLIS (R-NC): Anyone who says there may be a little bit of pain before we get things right, need to talk about farmers who are one crop away from bankruptcy. They don't have time.

WENDY BRUGH, OWNER, DRY RIDGE FARM IN NORTH CAROLINA: In Western North Carolina alone, Helene caused over $2.5 billion of crop losses. These tariffs are pouring salts in a wound that is just now beginning to heal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: To that farmer, the President says, what?

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The President is standing up for American farmers. In fact, he was joined here at the White House yesterday by many of them. We have seen China, the Chinese Communist Party buying up, gobbling up American farmland. The president is doing what's right for these farmers into our fellow Americans. We encourage them to buy American and you look at the effectiveness of the tariffs by the investments that have poured into our country thus far. Even before the president made this announcement yesterday, he has secured trillions of dollars in investments right here in the United States of America, and he has the backs of our farmers, our workers and our invest in companies as well who are choosing to invest in the United States.

BOLDUAN: Well, I mean that that woman is a farmer and that woman says that this feels like salt in a wound that is only beginning to heal. She does that -- she does not seem to want these tariffs at all. I mean, the President has acknowledged that Americans could feel some pain with these tariffs with this announcement. How much pain is the President comfortable with Americans feeling even on a temporary basis?

LEAVITT: Well, again to that wonderful American farmer, the President has your back and he wants to protect you and your family-owned farm. That is the point of these tariffs. As far as --

BOLDUAN: Are you going to do anything to ease the pain?

LEAVITT: Well, absolutely. We're working on that every single day. The American people and the naysayers need to look at the whole of government economic approach that this administration is taking. The President has already launched a massive deregulatory agenda, which we know has saved the American taxpayer millions of dollars. He is also unleashing the might of our American energy industry, which we know is the greatest driver of inflation. It's one of the many reasons we had an inflation crisis in the previous administration.

The President is unleashing American energy to bring down the cost of living in this country. We also know again in the president's first term, while he effectively implemented tariffs, wages went up. The median wage in America went up by $6500.

And so it is the goal of this president to have higher wages, less inflation and tax cuts. That's the second step of the Trump economic agenda. More money back into the pockets of hardworking American. No taxes on tips, overtime or Social Security. We're counting on Congress to get it done. And that's the next step of the Trump economic boom.

BOLDUAN: On taxes, JP Morgan just came out with an analysis in response to this tariff announcement, saying that these tariffs will be the largest tax hike on Americans since 1968. A tax hike by $660 billion a year. What is JP Morgan missing? What are world markets getting wrong? What -- what are -- when you see stock futures down, what is everyone missing, including that local farmer in North Carolina?

LEAVITT: Well, they're missing the massive revenue that these tariffs are going to bring into the United States. Trillions and trillions of dollars in investment, which leads to more jobs in American communities, higher wages --

BOLDUAN: But on immediate, Karoline, I'm sorry to interrupt, but on the immediate. I mean, in the most immediate, I mean, these farmers, as Thom Tillis says, farmers are one crop away from bankruptcy. That farmer doesn't have time to wait for tariffs to work their way into the system, the benefit of it to work its way into the system at all.

This is going to mean higher prices for Americans in the most immediate. That's why I asked the question. How much pain on a temporary basis is OK? What's the standard that the President is looking at in terms of how much pain Americans can feel on a temporary basis that he's OK with?

LEAVITT: Again, the President is focused every single day on lowering the cost of living in this country while simultaneously implementing these very effective tariffs. Massive deregulation, energy boom and tax cuts are the economic formula that will mean more prosperity and the lower cost of living. And it's a proven formula.

Look at President Trump's first term and the results. When he left office, inflation was 1.4%. He implemented many tariffs in his first term that did bring in billions of dollars in revenue.

In fact, the previous administration knew they were so effective. That's why they left them in place. So, again, the president is delivering on his promise to implement reciprocal tariffs while his administration is working hard every day to cut regulation, to reduce fraud, waste and abuse in our federal government as well.

[08:35:10]

And tax cuts are the next step of this economic agenda, which will lead to more investment, more money in our economy, more economic growth.

BOLDUAN: One quick question, because I've heard it suggested, is there any chance that the President will pull back on implementing these tariffs before they are -- they go into effect this weekend?

LEAVITT: The President made it clear yesterday this is not a negotiation. This is a national emergency. He's always willing to pick up the phone to answer calls. But he laid out the case yesterday for why we're doing it. This and these countries around the world have had 70 years to do the right thing by the American people, and they have chosen not to. They have ripped off American workers. They have taken our jobs overseas. The President is putting an end to that yesterday.

BOLDUAN: Karoline Leavitt, White House Press Secretary. Thank you for your time this morning.

John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Great discussion there. So, Karoline Leavitt, the press secretary, called this the golden age that President Trump is ushering in here.

Do voters feel that gold? With us now, CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten.

Harry, the press secretary criticized the people she calls the naysayers when it comes to these tariffs. Who are the naysayers?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: The naysayers are the majority of the American public. It's the American people who are the naysayers.

Oppose new tariffs on other countries. All goods. Look at this, 56 percent of Americans oppose new tariffs on all goods.

How about cars in particular? Fifty-six percent of Americans oppose new tariffs on imported cars and car parts.

Look, the bottom line is, the American people oppose, oppose, oppose. No, no, no, they do not want new tariffs. I looked at a ton of polling. You - it's really hard to find any in which you find folks supporting new tariffs, maybe against China, but against all other countries, especially our allies, no, no, no, oppose, oppose, oppose.

BERMAN: So, Karoline Leavitt, again, told Kate in that discussion that the president is - is laser focused on reducing prices. What do voters say that they believe the tariffs will do to prices?

ENTEN: What do voters believe the tariffs will do to prices, at least in the short term? Tariffs will raise prices. Again, what do we get here? Seventy-two percent of Americans overall say that the prices will go up in the short term.

How about among Republicans, the Republican base? This was a shocker to me. Sixty-four percent of Republicans believe that tariffs will, in fact, cause prices to go up in the near term. And get this, just 5 percent, 5 percent of Americans overall believe that tariffs, at least in the short term, will bring down prices. You don't have to be a mathematical genius to know, Mr. Berman, that 72 beats five.

BERMAN: So, this is a huge move. And it's a huge restructuring of the global economic order. Whether you like it or not. Do Americans feel like there should be or where does this reordering of the global economic order rank for them?

ENTEN: Yes. Look at this, should be a high priority for Trump. Number one, the economy at 82. Number two, inflation, 80. Look at this, tariffs, eight out of eight on the list in terms of things that should be a high priority for Donald Trump at just 30 percent. Fifty points less than inflation. Americans want, simply put, nothing to do with it, yet Trump decides to keep pushing forward.

BERMAN: Yes. Right or wrong, I think it is safe to say this is a huge political risk he is taking.

ENTEN: A hundred percent. This could be a risk that ends up ending his presidency in my mind.

BERMAN: All right, Harry Enten, thank you very much.

Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, that Tufts University student detained by ICE agents, that case going to court. Her lawyers, though, are accusing the government of trying to keep her away from them.

Plus, an ancient discovery. How a curious child stumbled upon a 3,800- year-old artifact. We will discuss, ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:43:15]

SIDNER: All right, this morning, Americans are waking up to an historic global trade war. Trump's 25 percent tariff on imported cars is now in effect. Those tariffs are expected to raise prices of millions of cars by thousands of dollars, even some made here in the United States, never mind the across the board tax on 185 of the countries that trade with the United States.

Joining me now is Democratic Congressman Jared Moskowitz of Florida.

Go Gators! What is the Democratic message to Americans today as Trump slaps tariffs across the board on all of our trading partners, from tiny islands in Antarctica, to our allies in Europe, to our adversaries in China?

REP. JARED MOSKOWITZ (D-FL): No, good morning. Thanks for having me.

I don't - look, I don't know that we should say there's a Democratic message. There is an American message. You're seeing Democrats and Republicans coming out against this. Some of the most conservative Republicans. You're seeing former Vice President Mike Pence coming out and telling the American people that this is a tax. This is going to increase the cost of goods.

You saw Rand Paul from Kentucky coming out and saying, this is a tax. It's going to increase the costs of -- of - of - for the American people. And so, Democrats and Republicans are saying this is going to be the largest tax increase on the American people since 1968. I don't remember, for all the, you know, speeches President Trump made, for all the big rallies that he had where he talked about, you know, having dinner with Hannibal Lecter, I don't remember him telling the American people, I'm going to institute the largest tax increase since 1968.

SIDNER: The White House and Trump trying to say, oh, this is going to give you a little bit of pain.

[08:45:02]

But in the end, all will be well, and we'll be the richest nation - well, richer than we already are. Everyone will enjoy the fruits of this labor. And your response to that is?

MOSKOWITZ: Are you not enjoying the golden age? I mean, unfortunately, we live in such a time now that politics has become such a team sport. I just can only imagine if Joe Biden had tanked the stock market by 4,000 points, or had instituted some policy that we then woke up the next day where the Dow was going to fall 1,200 points on opening. I mean, there wouldn't be enough TV time or podcast time or radio time in the day for Republicans to flood the airwaves talking about how Joe Biden is putting us into a recession.

And so, look, Republicans got to wake up because, you know, the Trump administration talks about a realigning of American trade. He's about to realign Congress as well the way this is headed. The American people are waking up to what's happening. The polling is clear. The president is underwater on the economy. He's underwater on these tariffs. And we're going to see pain at home. Not a little bit of pain. We're going to see pain at home. Not just in 401(k)s and pensions and the stock market. People are going to see the cost of goods go up exponentially.

Now, let me say this. I'm not opposed to bringing manufacturing back to America. We need to do that. I - I support onshoring of jobs here. I support fixing the supply chain. Something the first Trump administration did not do during Covid when we - when we pumped all that money into the economy. I'm a former emergency management director. I had to buy stuff from all over the country. So, I do want to bring, you know, medicine back out of China to America.

But these tariffs, the way we're going about it where we just tariff the entire world at once is not - not the way to do that.

SIDNER: You said that Rpublicans need to wake up on this. Is there an argument that Democrats need to wake up and have a strong message? Because the polling for Democrats is abysmal as well for the job that Democrats are doing.

MOSKOWITZ: Yes, look, Democrats are using all of the tools we have. You just saw Cory Booker use a tool in the Senate. But we don't have the votes to stop certain things, OK. And so, what we have is we have messaging, talking to the American people. That's what we have, OK. We're in the minority in the House. And based on the rules that have been adopted over the last ten years and the rules that are going on now, you're seeing Mike Johnson taking even more rules away from the minority party by maybe getting rid of the petition. And so, they're - all we can do is talk to the American people and talk about how we have to win the House. We have to make Hakeem Jeffries the speaker. We have to put brakes on the administration in 2026.

And so, look, I get why Democrats are upset with what's happening. But you saw the energy in Wisconsin. You saw the energy in Florida in those two races. Democrats overperformed in all three of those places. And so, we got to gear up for 2026.

But yes, in the meantime, there is going to be, not a little bit of pain, but a lot of pain for the American people brought on by President Trump. You know, this is a guy who's lived and died by the stock market. This is a president who - and a Republican Party who criticized Joe Biden about the economy. Yet in 90 days he's made the economy worse than we had under Joe Biden. And the Republicans are going to pay the price for that unless they start speaking up against these policies that Trump is putting forward.

SIDNER: Certainly used to talk about the stock market all the time when things were good. Haven't heard a peep from - about the stock market from him so far.

Congressman Jared Moskowitz, thank you so much. And I will end again with another, go Gators. Appreciate you.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Relentless.

Time is almost up for TikTok again. This morning, President Trump is reportedly weighing options for a potential deal as this Saturday deadline looms for the popular social media app. Interested buyers range from PE, private equity firms, to tech companies, even including Amazon, who made a last-minute bid to save the state of TikTok in America.

CNN business writer and host of "The Terms of Service" podcast, Clare Duffy, joining us now.

What - walk us through the potential buyers, the potential deals that the president is apparently considering.

CLARE DUFFY, CNN BUSINESS WRITER: Yes, what we understand is that there was sort of a flurry of activity yesterday as buyers wanted to make sure they were on the list of options that President Trump's advisers were considering before they presented the final option to Trump for his approval. Amazon submitted a last-minute bid, although we're told that wasn't taken very seriously because of the last-minute nature of it, and because Trump's advisers are sort of closing in on a more complex deal that would involve a number of buyers, investors coming into the picture here.

[08:50:02]

BOLDUAN: That sounds simple.

DUFFY: Including Oracle, which, of course, already manages TikTok servers. You've got private equity firm Blackstone and potentially VC firm Andreessen Horowitz and private equity firm Silver Lake, with ByteDance still retaining a stake in TikTok at the end.

What we don't know is whether they have the blessing of the Chinese government for this kind of deal, which, of course, is going to be essential here.

BOLDUAN: It's like burying the lead. Like, this is a critical aspect.

DUFFY: That is the key piece. And the details here are also going to matter for this deal to comply with the law and really to comply with the national security concerns that are at the heart of all of this.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

DUFFY: ByteDance needs to own less than a 20 percent stake in TikTok at the end of all of this, and there needs to be no cooperation with respect to the algorithm or data sharing between the American entity and ByteDance.

BOLDUAN: OK. So, Saturday deadline approaching. What happens if we - Saturday hits and there's still no deal? What are you hearing?

DUFFY: I mean what Trump can do is essentially what he has been doing, which is to say, we're not going to enforce this law while we continue to try to work out a deal. The company still could retain some liability. But what needs to happen for him really to formally extend the deadline here is for a deal to be in progress. And so I think that's probably what is happening behind the scenes, is that Trump's advisers are trying to get a deal in a good enough place that Trump can say, OK, we're extending the deadline to finish up this deal.

BOLDUAN: Super interesting. Let's see what happens.

Clare, thank you so much.

John.

BERMAN: All right, this morning, warnings of a potential once in a generation weather event as tornadoes tear across the country.

And new video of the moment a man was rescued after being trapped under rubble for more than five days following the deadly earthquake that has now killed more than 3,000 people.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:55:58]

SIDNER: Millions are under tornado watches this morning after multiple reports of twisters hitting several states overnight. At least three people have been killed in Tennessee. The storms there, massive. Another in Missouri. And the threat isn't even over yet. The storm system is triggering multiple days of nearly nonstop rain. Forecasters are warning that could cause once in a lifetime flooding in Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee and Mississippi.

A stunning development. Rescuers pulling two men alive from the rubble from last week's earthquake in Myanmar. They had been trapped for five days. Rescuers say one of them, a 40-year-old, is doing OK right now at the hospital. And here is video showing crews transporting a 53- year-old on a stretcher after he was rescued from a collapsed hotel. More than 3,000 people lost their lives in that massive earthquake. And that number is, unfortunately, expected to keep rising.

A curious little girl found a 3,800-year-old artifact when she was on the nature walk with her family in Israel. It's a small amulet, and her parents said they knew it might be something special when they saw the markings. "The Washington Post" reports that the Israeli Antiquities Authority recognized this three-year-old mini archeologist in training with a certificate and will display the stone in a special exhibit.

That is so cool.

John.

BERMAN: If she left it with her parents they'd give it away one day because that's what parents do.

All right, happening today, a federal judge in Boston is set to hear oral arguments in the case of a Tufts University grad student detained by immigration officers last month. Video shows plainclothes officers detaining the Turkish student and hauling her away. Her attorneys say she was targeted because of her advocacy for Palestinian rights. They're now accusing the government of a secretive effort to move her across state lines to prevent her from seeing her legal team.

Let's get to CNN's Gloria Pazmino, who's been following every twist and turn here.

What are you learning now? GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, John, her attorneys filed

documents with the court late last night outlining exactly what you just described, that shortly after she was arrested on that Boston street, put into the back of an SUV and driven away, she was actually taken across three different jurisdictions. First, to New Hampshire, then to Vermont, before eventually ending up in Louisiana. And her lawyers are saying this, by the way, is not an accident. This is on purpose. The government trying to take her away from her home district, where she could have access to legal resources, and keeping her from being able to talk to us.

Now, the judge in this case is going to hear oral arguments this afternoon. The government is asking the judge to transfer the case to Louisiana because that's where she's currently in custody. Her lawyers are asking the judge to bring her back, release her, or at the very least transfer the case to Vermont, where she was last held before being sent to Louisiana.

Now, also very important and interesting in last night's filings was a declaration from Tufts University. Now, that's where she is enrolled as a graduate student. And this is the first time we're seeing a university publicly stand behind one of their students. They told a - in the - in a filing to the court, they say, we have no information to believe that there's any reason for why Miss Ozturk should be arrested or detained. And they said that her arrest has created an incredible climate of fear in the international community there.

The president said, in part, "the University has heard from students, faculty and staff who are foregoing opportunities to speak at international conferences and avoiding or postponing international travel. In the worst cases, many report being fearful of leaving their homes, even to attend and teach classes on campus."

[08:59:53]

John, even that op-ed that she wrote last year, which the administration has cited as part of the reason to detain her, the university president said in his declaration, we actually have no problem with this. She was critical of our response to the Israel- Hamas war.