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Trump's New Auto Tariffs Expected To Hike Prices On Millions Of Cars; Rubio Meets With NATO Members After U.S. Slaps Them With Tariffs; Soon: Federal Judge Holds Hearing On Detained Tufts University Student. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired April 03, 2025 - 13:30   ET

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

[13:30:00]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: -- David Kelleher.

David, thanks so much for being with us.

Give us a sense of how these tariffs have been affecting you and are going to affect you there in car sales.

DAVID KELLEHER, OWNER, DAVID DODGE, CHRYSLER, JEEP AND RAM: Well, no effect at this point, Brianna. We still have a 90-day supply of cars out there that are on tariff.

But certainly, there's a lot of fear. There's a lot of confusion. There's a lot of, angst amongst myself and all my dealers. And I had to calm my employees down today at a company lunch and just let them know that we'll make it through no matter what.

But you understand, when we sell less cars -- and if the prices go up, we're going to sell less cars. And then you, you know, a dealer, any business owner has to make hard decisions.

And hard decisions are difficult when -- when you're talking about laying people off, trying -- you know, we have to be profitable. I have to protect the other employees. So, you know, it's a very difficult time.

KEILAR: So talk about the hard decisions. Do you lay people off or do you pass the cost on to consumers? Do you do both? What are the different levers you can pull?

KELLEHER: Well, the cost is going to get passed to the consumer. There's no doubt about that. There's nothing we can do about that. We can't -- I can't eat the cost.

But I'm going to do less volume of cars because, if the prices go up, people will -- will -- will lengthen their time between buying cars or they'll just choose not to.

And the -- the other thing is -- is a disproportionality to it, where I could have a car that's heavily tariffed and my neighbor, Chevy or Ford, has a car that -- that particular car was not heavily tariff for them. But then then I'll have one that's not heavily tariffed, and they have

one that's heavily tariffed. So there's a disproportionality to where, no matter what, all of us are going to sell less cars.

And then we have to make the hard decisions. So that's laying people off. That's cutting vendors out. You know, that's reducing our inventories and not ordering as many cars. All these things, to me, are negative impacts to the economy.

KEILAR: So I know you agree with the end goal here, which is to bring manufacturing back to the U.S., increase American manufacturing. But what do you think about how it's being done?

KELLEHER: Yes, well, that's the thing. I think what they're trying to do is commendable. It's admirable. But at the end of the day, there's going to be a lot of pain here.

And my -- my question in my head right now as an American citizen, as American businessman, as an American car dealer is, how much pain will be associated with the ultimate gain?

So, you know, six years from now, a new plant opens up in Kokomo, Indiana, that's terrific. That's really great for our economy. But how many jobs were lost getting to that place? Because you can't build a plant in two weeks.

So even a retrofit plant -- and there's a lot of talk about the capacity being available -- even a retrofit plan takes 18 to 24 months at rocket speed to get up and running. So we're two years out from -- from even getting those jobs back to America again.

But in the meantime, you see, early onset, there's been jobs lost already, layoffs already. And there's going to be more.

KEILAR: David Kelleher, great to get your perspective. And we'll continue to get it as we see how long this continues. Thank you so much.

KELLEHER: Thank you. Brianna.

[13:33:56]

KEILAR: Still ahead, Secretary of State Marco Rubio faces some difficult -- difficult discussions, I should say, as he meets with NATO allies, every single one of which was slapped with new tariffs. We'll have more on those awkward talks next on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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[13:38:36]

KEILAR: Awkward timing. Just hours after President Trump announced sweeping tariffs on European allies, Secretary of State Marco Rubio is in Brussels to meet with NATO leaders. And despite the president's past criticisms, Rubio had this message for the alliance.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCO RUBIO, SECRETARY OF STATE: As we speak right now, the United States is as active in NATO as it has ever been. And some of this hysteria and hyperbole that I see in the global media and some domestic media in the United States about NATO is unwarranted.

The United States -- President Trump has made clear he supports NATO, we're going to remain in NATO, he's made clear.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: CNN's Alex Marquardt joins us now live from Brussels.

Alex, President Trump has openly questioned whether the U.S. and some allies in NATO would come to each other's defense under article five, which is the linchpin of the entire alliance.

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right. In fact, we've heard President Trump muse in the past that he would allow Russia to do whatever the hell they wanted if NATO allies didn't pay their fair share.

Secretary Rubio came here, guys, with a very specific agenda items in mind. He wanted to reassure NATO allies about the U.S. presence in NATO. He wanted to talk about Ukraine and the security assistance that could be offered to Ukraine.

He wanted to talk about raising defense spending among NATO allies. That's been a big thing for President Trump. But this two-day meeting of foreign ministers here at NATO has been largely overshadowed by the tariffs news that that came out just yesterday.

[13:40:08]

I'm told that it is being talked about inside meetings. It's being talked about in the hallways. There are conversations that are going on about it. It's not in the formal sessions because there aren't formal meetings about trade and the economy.

But this is something that is slightly distracting. One Western official told me that it makes it hard to do normal business.

Guys, I spoke with the Finnish foreign minister a couple hours ago who said that, of course, it's not good news, but they're trying to have constructive conversations about how to move forward with these tariffs.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELINA VALTONEN, FINNISH FOREIGN MINISTER: Tariffs aren't the best news, but I hope that this is an opening to a fruitful negotiation, especially between friends and allies where -- whereby we -- we could reach a situation in which we effectively let go of the existing trade barriers between us.

Because that's what we need. We need a reinforcement. Also in economic terms of -- of the alliance for the free world. And, yes, we have been talking about that a little bit also today, but the mood has been very, very constructive. And I think also very positive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUARDT: So Rubio's counterparts don't appear to be taking it out on him. All of the public interactions have been very friendly. It's clear that the NATO foreign ministers really want to focus on NATO issues.

But there was one more possible awkward moment for Rubio. He sat down with the Danish foreign minister. And, of course, now the Trump administration is talking about annexing Greenland, which is Danish territory.

That meeting appeared to go fine. The State Department says that they actually didn't talk about Greenland in the meeting. But there have been quite a few issues that Rubio has really had to juggle on this trip so far -- Boris, Brianna?

KEILAR: Oh, to be a fly on the wall there.

Alex Marquardt, thank you so much.

With us now, CNN's senior military analyst, retired Admiral James Stavridis. He is a former NATO supreme allied commander and a partner at the Carlyle Group, which is a global investment firm.

Sir, Norway's foreign minister said these tariffs could violate Article Two in the NATO treaty that orders the alliances members to promote economic stability and collaboration. Do you think it's a violation of the treaty?

ADM. JAMES STAVRIDIS, (RET), CNN SENIOR MILITARY ANALYST: I think that's a bit of a stretch, but it shows you these conversations are not going swimmingly.

And, you know, let's face it, the conference that you're talking about, these are diplomats. They're going to be, generally speaking, polite and respectful. That's a good thing.

And I also take to heart Secretary Rubio's comments that the United States stands behind the alliance.

But here's what I worry about, Brianna, from a national security perspective. Number one, we're injecting a lot of tension into this alliance right at a critical moment with our shared desire to help Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression.

And by the way, kind of inexplicably, to me, Russia is not getting any tariffs, whereas every one of our allies are getting tariffs.

The second thing I worry about is over on the Asia side of things, where we see the trade ministers of Japan, South Korea and, wait for it, China. The three of them, standing together a couple of days ago talking about how they would coordinate efforts together against these tariffs.

And then third, and finally, I look at defense as a business. It's a huge business, defense spending. It's $3 trillion, roughly, United States, about a $900 billion of that.

All of this tariff talk is going to impact that ability to share effective defense across the NATO alliance and across our bilateral alliances in Asia.

KEILAR: You mentioned Russia's exemption. And, you know, the White House questioned about that -- I know. I see you shaking your head. It's perplexing to you.

When you hear the White House say they're facing such severe sanctions already, what do you make of the explanations that you hear coming from the White House?

STAVRIDIS: They don't make sense because, for example, Iran is getting sanctioned and Iran is under -- excuse me, getting tariffed and Iran is under even more significant sanctions. So the explanation really doesn't hold water and the optics of it are terrible.

And by the way, it's not just Russia. It's Russia's evil little twin, Belarus. So those two didn't get any tariffs, whereas every one of our allies, partners, friends around the world all got big tariffs. It doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

[13:45:00]

KEILAR: Marco Rubio reiterating 5 percent, the 5 percent NATO spending goal. He says we want NATO to be stronger. You know, he's also trying to, I guess, be kind with that. He's saying this is a collection, not just to partners and allies, but of advanced economies of rich countries who have the capability to do more.

How does that play with allies just a day after these gigantic tariffs we're announced?

STAVRIDIS: Well, it will come across as a very, very inappropriate moment to be pushing that. But having said it, I think it's the right message.

And 5 percent is extremely ambitious just to do the numbers. The U.S. spends about 3.3 percent of our GDP. Europe collectively spends about 2 percent. I think giving them a goal of 5 percent and hoping they land at 3.5 percent, roughly where we are makes a lot of sense.

But choosing this moment perhaps is -- is less than optimal in trying to get that otherwise pretty sensible message across.

KEILAR: Admiral, thank you so much for being with us. Always great to get your perspective.

STAVRIDIS: Thanks, Brianna.

KEILAR: And now to some of the other headlines that we're watching this hour.

Some scary moments when people had to climb out on the wing of their plane to evacuate it. They say there was a burning smell. There was smoke in the cabin of that American Airlines jet.

The airline says the plane had a maintenance issue. This was in Augusta, Georgia, on Tuesday. And the next day, a different plane on that same route had a mechanical issue. But it's unclear what the problem was.

SANCHEZ: Meantime, New York City Mayor Eric Adams says he's ditching the Democratic Party. He's set to run for reelection as an Independent. The move comes fewer than 24 hours after a judge permanently dismissed a corruption case against him.

This now sets up what's likely to be a frenzied race toward the general election in November, with several Democrats seeking the party's nomination, including former Governor Andrew Cuomo, who's leading currently in most polls.

And we've got good news and bad news about egg prices. They are starting to fall, but they're still up nearly 60 percent compared to a year ago. Some stores are still limiting the number you can buy, though the USDA says the supply at grocery stores has improved.

The American Farm Bureau says there's been a sharp drop in bird flu, which has then alleviated the strain on prices.

Some minutes from now, a court hearing for the Tufts University student who was taken off a public street by masked ICE agents. Up next, how her lawyers say the government's gone to great lengths to keep them from meeting with her.

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[13:52:25]

SANCHEZ: Just moments from now, a federal judge is set to hear arguments regarding Tufts University graduate student, Rumeysa Ozturk. She's the Turkish national who was grabbed off a street near Boston last week by immigration officials and carried across multiple state lines.

This video shows the moment that plainclothes officers wearing masks swooped in to arrest her.

KEILAR: Ozturk is now being held in an immigration detention center in Louisiana, and her student visa has been revoked.

CNN's Gloria Pazmino is following this story. Gloria, what can we expect here in court?

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what lawyers say happened after that arrest that we have seen in that video was a hopscotch attempt by the government, which they are describing as "secretive" and "highly unusual" to take her away from her home district.

Now, her lawyers have filed a petition with the court to seek her release. That's what we are going to be hearing about just in a few minutes.

They are also saying that the case should stay in Boston. That's because the government, lawyers for the Trump administration, are petitioning the court to transfer the case to Louisiana where she is currently held.

Now where she is, is very important because, in the declaration that the lawyers made last night, they said that she was moved across multiple state lines.

You see there she was taken first from Boston, later to New Hampshire, then to Vermont, and eventually to Louisiana, where she remains now.

Now the lawyers are saying that's not an accident. They were doing that on purpose to keep her away from her resources and her access to legal counsel.

So today, we expect the judge to hear arguments on both the government's motion to have the case transferred in Louisiana and the defense attorney's motion to have her released.

Now, we should point out that she is not the first international student to be detained in Louisiana. Mahmoud Khalil, who we have been covering and talking about, has also been detained there.

SANCHEZ: And, Gloria, Tufts University is supporting the motion for us to release. It marks the first time that a school has publicly defended one of its students in court. Talk to us about that angle of the story.

PAZMINO: Yes, that's a significant development in the case, Boris, because the universities that we have been watching, they're in a very difficult position here. Some of their students are being taken into detention. The Trump administration is threatening to take their funding.

But Tufts University went out there last night and filed a declaration with the court, telling the court, "We have no reason to believe that there is anything that should have resulted in Miss Ozturk's detention."

[13:55:06]

In fact, they go on to detail the work that she does at the university, the fact that she is a student in good standing.

And this is what the president said:

"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."

So what the president is saying there, not only are we worried about her arrest and we want the court to release her, our international students are now paralyzed as a result of this arrest.

And they are supporting that she is released and be given her rights to due process -- Boris, Brianna?

KEILAR: Gloria Pazmino, thank you for the report.

We are right now keeping a close eye on the markets. You see stocks down there after President Trump issued sweeping new tariffs. How this all impacts you, next on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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