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Donald Trump's Tariff Announcement Remains Largely A Mystery; Donald Trump And Elon Musk Focus On Wisconsin Supreme Court Race; China Launches Military Exercise Around Taiwan; Frantic Recuse Efforts In Myanmar Following Quake; Le Pen Slams Public Office Ban as Political Decision; Ukraine Says Russia Has Committed More Than 183,000 War Crimes; Trump Wants Putin to Make a Deal to End the War; Israel's Latest Strike Tests the Fragile Ceasefire With Hezbollah; Study Links Lack of Deep Sleep With Alzheimer's; Williams and Wilmore Both Willing to Fly Boeing Starliner After Rocky Test Flight. Aired 2- 3a ET

Aired April 01, 2025 - 02:00   ET

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

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[02:00:27]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world, and to everyone streaming us on CNN Max, I'm Rosemary Church.

Just ahead, Donald Trump is set to announce sweeping new tariffs. He says they'll be amazing, but global markets suggest otherwise.

Holding out hope for any signs of life, many residents in Myanmar say they've been left to fend for themselves after a devastating earthquake.

And two NASA astronauts speak out for the first time since their weeklong trip to space turned into a nearly yearlong voyage.

ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta. This is CNN NEWSROOM with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: Good to have you with us. We are less than 24 hours away from the day Donald Trump has been talking about for weeks, a complete rewiring of the global economy with dollar for dollar reciprocal tariffs on countries around the globe. He calls it Liberation Day.

The plan seems to change every day, but we now know the president is planning a splashy announcement in the White House Rose Garden Wednesday. Cabinet members in tow. Advisers say they have presented a variety of options, and it's up to the president to decide, exemptions or no exemptions, delays or negotiations.

One economist told CNN, we'll get an announcement, but we still won't have clarity. Here's the president's take.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's going to be something that's going to bring a lot of wealth back to our country, tremendous wealth back to our country, actually, and other countries are understanding it, because they've been ripping us for 50 years longer, but they've been ripping us off for years right from the beginning.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: The uncertainty has Goldman Sachs predicting a 35 percent chance of a recession in the next 12 months, up from 20 percent.

And the U.S. stock market just ended its worst quarter since September of 2022, a quick look at the U.S. Futures, you see all in negative territory there.

Well, leaders in Europe and Asia are planning to respond to any tariffs and bracing for the impacts. More now from CNN Senior Political Politics Reporter Stephen Collinson.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: He's got the whole world hanging on his every word, and that's just how he likes it. Donald Trump said in an extraordinary White House, Oval Office news conference, the Liberation Day is beckoning the United States on April the 2nd. That's the date when he plans to unveil his promise tariffs on U.S. trade partners and foes, which promise potentially to rock the global economy.

But we don't know exactly what the president will say. He says that that will all be unveiled on Wednesday in the Rose Garden of the White House, in an event that will be looked at around the world. Will the president, for example, impose those across the board tariffs, dollar for dollar against countries that put similar duties on U.S. imports? Will he go country by country try to ring out deals with various U.S. trading partners and other trading blocs? We just don't know.

But the risks are huge. Many economists fear that tariffs will push up prices for American consumers who are still feeling the effects of that inflation that came into force during the pandemic years and that has not really dissipated for many Americans who are very frustrated about the price of groceries, of rent and of mortgages.

And the problem there is that if those -- if that hurts consumer confidence, that could put the U.S. economy into a cycle of recession.

But tariffs are a weapon that Donald Trump has believed in for decades, ever since he was a businessman in New York in the 1980s when he was warning of the competitiveness of the Japanese economy and said that that could hurt the American economy.

Now, the trade foes are China and the European Union, but Trump's belief is still the same. Now, as the president, who has few checks on his power, now he can put all of those years of economic orthodoxy into practice. (END VIDEOTAPE)

[02:05:04]

CHURCH: In the coming hours, an early referendum on President Trump's second term is set to play out in several high stakes elections.

In Wisconsin, mega donors including Elon Musk, George Soros and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker are fueling what is now the most expensive judicial race in American history, voters there are set to choose a new state Supreme Court judge. The winner could tip the court's ideological balance, where liberals currently control a slim four to three majority.

This as Republicans are battling to keep a pair of congressional seats in Florida. Ordinarily, the deep red districts vote conservative, but this year's races are closer than expected. The competitive turn is giving Democrats a glimmer of hope that the outcome will show dissatisfaction with the Trump agenda, even though their party's candidates are not expected to win.

Larry Sabato is the director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics. He is also a professor and author. Great to have you with us.

LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR OF THE CENTER FOR POLITICS, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: Thank you, Rosemary.

CHURCH: So, Larry, we will be watching three crucial votes today that could prove to be big tests for Donald Trump's new presidency. Let's start with Wisconsin's Supreme Court race, where billionaire Elon Musk has tipped in more than $20 million of his own money, including direct $1 million checks being given to voters. Many critics accusing Musk of buying votes, what will be the likely outcome of this critical election with such record spending?

SABATO: Yes, the total now has exceeded 80 million easily, it may exceed 90 million by the time we towed it all up. And I suspect Musk has already given more. He's at 22 million, and probably the final tally will have him higher. That is extraordinary for a single Supreme Court seat in any state, though, Wisconsin is a very important swing state, and this is the critical vote on the Supreme Court that will determine whether it has a conservative majority or liberal majority.

So, Musk is a double edged sword. He's spending so much money that he's stirring up the Republican base, and they had not been terribly excited about this race, so I think he's helped Republicans there.

The overall problem for him, though, is that he's very unpopular in Wisconsin as he is in most other places. He has stirred the ire of the Democrats and many Independents who feel he's buying elections on behalf of Trump.

CHURCH: And also Tuesday, two special elections in deep red Florida House seats that have national implications with the GOP is very thin majority in the House. How do you expect these two elections to play out today?

SABATO: One of them is certain to go Republican, because Trump carried it by 37 percentage points just last November. Maybe it's closer than that, but you know, one vote or a million, you're still a member of the House of Representatives, and that's what the Republicans want and need.

The other seat is competitive, though I simply can't imagine a Democrat winning, because Trump carried that district by 30 percentage points, not quite as high as the other one, but it's awfully tough to make up 30 percentage points.

The Republican didn't raise enough money, wasn't a particularly aggressive campaigner, but all things considered, when you have territory that red, it's going to vote Republican. In all probability, if Democrats win this, you'll be hearing about it from now until 2026 or 2028 because it really will be extraordinary.

CHURCH: Yes, no doubt. And Larry, one of the big issues that's tanking Trump's approval ratings right now is his on again, off again tariffs, and on Wednesday, his new reciprocal tariffs will target all countries, according to him, in what he's calling Liberation Day, Wall Street is taking a hit, and Main Street is feeling the pain. What could these massive tariffs mean for today's three crucial elections, but also in two and four years, as you mentioned, when Trump's economic policies are put to the ultimate test, aren't they?

SABATO: Yes, absolutely. Look, tariffs are unpopular, as proposed by Trump for a couple of reasons. First of all, almost all mainstream economist, including many Republicans say this will increase prices that will be passed along to consumers. And why was Donald Trump elected? To lower prices, which he said would happen on his first day in office.

And second, the way Trump has presented these tariffs, they have been on again, off again. They've managed to irritate our closest allies, and generally speaking, Americans know Canadians tend to be reserved and rather friendly, and they're not used to having the Star Spangled Banner booed at hockey games, and in other situations.

[02:10:08]

They know this has caused great upset around the world. Is it worth it? And if it raises prices for Americans, it's certainly not worth it.

CHURCH: And Larry, President Trump is also tripling down on his threat to run for a third term. He says he's not joking, and there's a way to do it according to him, despite the 22nd Amendment of the U.S. Constitution saying it's not possible, Trump said it again Monday and repeated his claim that people are asking him to run again. So, is this real or is this a distraction?

SABATO: I think it's both, and here's why. He's using it as one of those shiny objects to change the subject from Signal gate and maybe from the election results later today. At the same time, I think he really is serious about it. He remembers

how unhappy he was and how unpleasant it was to leave office in 2021, he'd like to avoid doing that again, if at all possible.

Now constitutionally, I disagree with several of the experts who are saying, oh, there's a way around this, and he might be able to do it. The intent of the 22nd Amendment is clear.

What is going to be interesting is whether Trump even bothers to obey the Constitution. You know, he can just wave it off. What's the Supreme Court going to do, assuming they side against him? Are they going to send a few U.S. Marshals over to the White House? No, Trump has the army. Trump has an army of personal supporters coming off January 6th. He can do it. He's done it before.

So, there's a lot to worry about here. People ought to be concerned.

CHURCH: Larry Sabato, always a pleasure to get your analysis. Thank you.

SABATO: Thank you, Rosemary.

CHURCH: China has now launched drills involving its Army, Navy, Air Force and rocket force, with the military saying its forces will, "Close in on Taiwan from multiple directions." The military says it's a stern warning and forceful deterrence against the island. Taiwan's National Security Council chief condemned the drills as reckless and irresponsible.

CNN's Ivan Watson joins me now live from Hong Kong. So, Ivan, what more are you learning about this?

IVAN WATSON, CNN, SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. Well, we don't know the specifics of what kind of assets China has brought to bear in these drills, but as you mentioned, they made this announcement coming as somewhat of a surprise, that all four branches of the Chinese military would be involved in these drills, that Taiwan was the focus, and that in addition to trying to experiment and train with a number of different kind of maneuvers, that this was a stern warning to Taiwan against any form of, as Beijing describes it, separatist independence.

And to add to that, you had the Eastern theater command of the Chinese military, which made the announcement in the first place, putting out a number of propaganda videos, including one that had cartoons ridiculing the president of Taiwan, President Lai Ching-te, describing him, depicting him as a parasite who colludes with foreign powers, and that would ultimately lead to his destruction.

Now one of the questions is, why is this taking place right now? Beijing has been stepping up these types of drills around Taiwan over recent years. This is the first time we've seen that this year, in the past, it's been a response to things like President Lai's inauguration, or after the then Speaker of the U.S. House, Nancy Pelosi, paid a visit to Taipei, which Beijing furiously denounced. The question is, why now? Well, the Taiwanese government, of course, it does not like these

exercises. It says it's closely monitoring what's taking place, calling them reckless. The Chinese -- the Taiwanese defense minister has specified that an aircraft carrier group from China has been operating off of Taiwan's southeastern coast.

And we've got a security official from the Taiwanese government who has spoken to CNN that has argued that this might be connected to the recent visit of the U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to Asia, visits to Japan and to the Philippines, where he talked about the need to secure deterrence with U.S. allies against what he described as Chinese aggression here in the region.

So, there's clearly some signaling going on, and we're just going to have to watch closer to try to decipher what messages exactly Beijing is trying to send. We're also hoping to learn more about what kind of military resources it is bringing to bear in these exercises around Taiwan.

[02:15:00]

CHURCH: All right, our thanks to Ivan Watson joining us live with that report from Hong Kong. Appreciate it.

We are learning new details about some of the victims of Myanmar's earthquake. We'll have a live report on the damage and rescue efforts in just a moment.

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CHURCH: A gas pipeline has burst near the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur, causing a massive fireball that can be seen for miles. Authorities say several homes caught fire. Others had to be evacuated. A number of people are being treated for burns.

The full extent of the damage is still being assessed. The national oil company says the fire erupted just after 8:00 a.m. local time, and that the issue is limited to one pipeline. Authorities say the valve to that pipeline has been shut off, which will eventually put out the fire.

[02:20:18]

Myanmar's military junta says more than 2,000 people have been killed by the powerful earthquake that struck four days ago, and according to state media, more than 160 monks are among the dead. They were apparently taking an exam when the shaking started, then ran to the exit of the building, where they were crushed to death.

Another 85 monks were injured. The crucial 72 hour window for survival has closed, meaning those trapped in wreckage since Friday with no access to water are not likely to survive.

But rescuers are not giving up hope. The Chinese crew seen here pulls somewhere live from the rubble of a collapsed building in Mandalay on Monday. CNN's Mike Valerio is monitoring developments live from Seoul. He joins us now. So, Mike, it is, of course, a race against the clock to find any remaining survivors under the rubble. What is the latest on those rescue and recovery efforts?

MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rosemary, we actually have a new death toll that's coming in within the past couple of minutes from Angie Piranhassamanridi (ph), she covers Asia for us. It's 20 now the death toll in Bangkok. More than half of that death toll, Rosemary, comes from the site of that imploded 33 story skyscraper, the death toll there standing at 13.

And you are so right to point out that we are now past the golden window, that 72 hour period of when it is most likely the best chance of finding people alive who have survived being trapped underneath earthquake debris. So, we're now on day four. It's a 72 hour window.

But despite that, what choice do family members have in Bangkok and throughout Myanmar? So, when we're looking at pictures of the skyscraper's construction site, there are family members who are congregated around there, hoping that there will be a miracle or any sign of their family members.

There are still around 70 people, Rosemary, who the Thai government believe are somewhere under that pile of rubble.

We also have new reporting that came in a couple minutes after we signed off the air with John Vause last hour in terms of the rescue and recovery efforts in Myanmar Mandalay, the epicenter of the magnitude 7.7 quake.

So, according to Myanmar's fire service, they are saying that more than 400 people have been rescued. But as we were combing through what the Fire Service said, encouragingly, they noted that five women were rescued yesterday, and yesterday is that critical three day period of when, you know, you're the best opportunity to find people alive.

So, certainly something to give hope to rescue teams who are continuing to work on those piles and piles of debris, and humanitarian workers who are trying to make their way into very difficult parts of the country, very difficult to reach with the ethnic resistance fighters, pro-democracy fighters that had been clashing with the military government, you know, through the four year civil war.

So, we leave you, Rosemary, with this final piece of reporting. This will be day one for a USAID team to be working on the ground. This is a USAID team that is based in the region, of course, so notable because of all the reporting with huge cuts to USAID, the Trump administration trying to reform and remake the department in its own image, how it sees it should be run.

So, there will be a huge deal of scrutiny as to what exactly this USAID team is able to accomplish. It's arriving, as John Vause pointed out in the last hour, today, the earthquake happened on Friday, and we've seen images of Chinese teams, teams from India, Singapore, there hours later, this American team working day one today on Tuesday, Rosemary.

CHURCH: All right, our thanks to Mike Valeria bringing us that live report from Seoul. Appreciate it. And we'll be right back.

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[02:29:14]

CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. French far right leader Marine Le Pen slammed a court's ruling that bars her from running for office as a, "Political decision." Le Pen was found guilty in an embezzlement trial Monday, she left court before her sentence was handed down, banning her from running for office for five years. That punishment eliminates the current front runner from standing in the 2027 French presidential election.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARINE LE PEN, FRENCH FAR-RIGHT LEADER (through translator): What she's doing here is saying, I am going to make you ineligible straight away, and I'm doing it precisely to stop you from being able to be elected president. If that's not a political decision, I don't know what is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: U.S. President Donald Trump reacted to Le Pen's ban calling it a, "Very big deal."

Ukrainian officials say they have documented more than 183,000 Russian war crimes in the past three years, including abduction, torture, murder and sexual violence. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his wife attended a memorial service in Bucha on Monday. The Kyiv suburb was thrown into the international spotlight early in the war. Ukrainian officials say Russian forces massacred civilians and committed thousands of atrocities in Bucha during their month-long occupation.

Meanwhile, the U.S. president says he wants Russia to make a deal ending the war in Ukraine. Donald Trump is threatening to impose secondary sanctions on Russian oil if Moscow doesn't comply.

Lebanon's Health Ministry says at least three people were killed and several more injured in an Israeli strike on Beirut. Tuesday's early morning strike hit the top three floors of a building with two missiles, according to the country's national news agency. Israel's military claims the strike targeted a Hezbollah militant. It marks the second attack on southern Beirut in recent days, testing the shaky ceasefire between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group.

Still to come, two NASA astronauts say they would head back into space in a heartbeat, after problems with their last mission left them in space for months. More on their unexpected trip after a short break. Back in a moment.

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[02:36:05]

CHURCH: Deep sleep is more important than you might think. That is according to a new study that links the lack of deep sleep with Alzheimer's disease. The two deep stages of sleep are known as slow wave and Rapid Eye Movement, or REM, and the study says not getting enough of either appears to shrink parts of the brain, known to be early indicators of Alzheimer's disease. Now, it's because those stages of sleep are when the brain sweeps out toxins, repairing and restoring it for a new day. Experts say adults need seven to eight hours of sleep, and children need even more than that.

Well, a pair of NASA astronauts say they never felt abandoned or stranded during their stay on the International Space Station. Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore spoke Monday for the first time since coming back to Earth. CNN's Ed Lavandera has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That is none other than Suni Williams.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For the first time since Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore returned to Earth with fellow astronaut Nick Hague, the crew faced questions about the saga that engulfed their space mission.

BUTCH WILMORE, ASTRONAUT: We had a plan, right? The plan went way off of what we had planned. We pivoted to all that training we did, that we didn't think we needed to do.

SUNI WILLIAMS, ASTRONAUT: There's a huge group of people who are looking at the whole program and understanding how and what was the best time and way to get us back home. We knew that and we were ready to wait until that decision was made, and that was fine.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Godspeed, Butch and Suni.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Williams and Wilmore launched into space last summer on a test mission of the Boeing Starliner. But the spacecraft suffered helium leaks and thruster outages. NASA determined the Starliner wasn't safe to bring the astronauts home, turning a mission that was supposed to last about 10 days into 286 days in space.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And splash down, Crew 9 back on Earth.

When you re-entered the Earth's atmosphere and came back to gravity, can you talk specifically about any kind of weird either sensations or experiences that you've had dealing with that over the last couple of weeks?

WILMORE: I can tell you that returning from space to or through the atmosphere inside of a 3,000-degree fireball of plasma is weird. And the whole capsule starts shaking and twisting, and then the parachutes open up and then you're like, I've said it many times, there's not a better feeling returning from space that the parachutes open and work.

LAVANDERA: Did you know that you guys had been greeted by dolphins -- (LAUGH)

LAVANDERA: -- when you splashed down?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, dolphin cam back again.

WILMORE: I had requested Dolphins is kind of a joke.

NICK HAGUE, ASTRONAUT: Yeah.

WILMORE: Somehow somebody pulled it off.

(LAUGH)

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Williams and Wilmore spent more than nine months on the International Space Station, which forced them and their families to adjust to a new timeline. They missed the holidays at home, but they marked the occasions with their space family.

WILLIAMS: Merry Christmas.

WILMORE: Merry Christmas.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Suni Williams wearing an eye patch celebrated her birthday during international 'Talk Like A Pirate' day with space- made strawberry cakes. The crew even simulated Olympic-style sporting events inside the International Space Station.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore are working to remove that.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): The astronauts also carried out crucial mission work on the Space Station, including various scientific experiments and mesmerizing space walks.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That RFG is just in front of Suni.

WILLIAMS: When something doesn't go your way, you just have to take the blinders off and look around you, and see what other really great things are waiting for you.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Despite the troubles with the Boeing Starliner, both Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams say they would fly the spacecraft again in a heartbeat, and say they're committed to helping the team of scientists and engineers fix the Starliner.

WILMORE: We're going to look forward and say, what are we going to use our lessons learned from this whole process and make sure that we are successful in the future.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[02:40:00]

LAVANDERA (on camera): Both astronauts say they are re-acclimating to the Earth's gravity very well. They credit the exercise regimen and routines that are in place now in the International Space Station to help them prevent more bone loss and that sort of thing, and that has helped them re-acclimate to the Earth's gravity very well.

They have been here in Houston, going through that re-acclimation process since they landed almost two weeks ago.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

CHURCH: The power of positive thinking there. Thanks so much for your company. I'm Rosemary Church. "World Sport" is up next. Then I'll be back in about 15 minutes with more "CNN Newsroom." Do stick around.

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