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Trump to Announce Sweeping New Tariffs; China Vows "Counterattack" to U.S. Tariff "Blackmail"; Israel Announces Expansion of Military Operation in Gaza; Senators Question Boeing's CEO; Rising Misogyny and Toxic Masculinity; Remembering Diane Dexter. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired April 02, 2025 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Welcome to our second hour of CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Christina Macfarlane in
London.
President Trump calls it liberation day. In a few hours from now, he's due to unveil sweeping new tariffs at the White House. We'll hear what people
are saying about the trade war, from leaders in Europe and Beijing to auto dealers in the U.S.
Israel says it's stepping up military operations in Gaza and aims to seize large areas of Palestinian land, ordering residents to get out.
And you are seeing live pictures from Capitol Hill right now, where Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg will testify before a Senate committee on years of safety
lapses and lax oversight at the company.
Relatives of people who died in crashes involving Boeing 737 MAX jets are expected at the hearing.
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MACFARLANE: But now all eyes are looking toward the White House. Today, the U.S. president is expected to lay out a raft of new tariffs in an
address from the Rose Garden in a few hours from now.
His advisers were still presenting him with options as late as Tuesday afternoon. Among the plans under consideration were tailoring different
tariff rates to each individual country, making certain countries exempt from tariffs or, at the other extreme, applying one across-the-board rate,
possibly as much as 20 percent on all imports.
Well, whatever he announces, the White House says it will go into effect immediately. CNN business correspondent Anna Stewart is in London now. Marc
Stewart is standing by with more on the reaction from China.
But Anna, let's just go to you first.
As global and perhaps European markets also braced for liberation day, where are we seeing movement, as investors try to predict what's coming in
the hours ahead?
ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, investors are certainly bracing for a massive fallout. But, of course, there's a lot of uncertainty baked into
the announcement as well.
If we look at U.S. markets, you can see they opened lower following really the lead from Europe as well. We're seeing stock markets really across the
board trading in the red today.
A bright spot for gold, unsurprisingly; a flight to safety really. We're seeing gold hovering very near new record highs. We might see that touch
later today, depending on what's announced. And that's the big question, of course, is what is going to be announced.
Will it be a universal tariff?
Will it be a very complex reciprocal tariff system, where any tariff imposed on U.S. goods is reciprocated?
But this would be very complex to implement.
Or will it be sector wide?
Will it be targeting, you know, we already had autos. But a different sector like that.
And will some countries get any carveouts?
The big question for investors won't just be what is announced but how permanent these announcements are and whether this is, you know, room for
negotiation.
Is this the opening salvo for some countries?
There might be a flurry of negotiations and trade deals following this announcement today -- Chrissy.
MACFARLANE: Yes, there's going to be a lot of eyes, I think, on the White House tomorrow to see who comes in and out the door.
Marc Stewart, to you; a lot of countries in Asia obviously stand to be impacted. China have been somewhat diplomatic in their responses to the
U.S. in recent weeks.
But is that dialogue now changing?
MARC STEWART, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And we are seeing a shift, Christina. In fact, it will be 4:00 in the morning local time here in
Beijing when this White House announcement is expected to be made. And already ahead of it, we are seeing a big shift in the way Beijing views
things.
I mean, just a few weeks ago, we heard a lot of diplomatic language talking about win-win relationships and mutual cooperation, mutual benefits from a
strong trading relationship with the United States.
But now the language that we're hearing from hearing from Beijing has become much more sharp, much more pointed. Let me share with you what we
heard just in the last 24 hours from the Chinese foreign minister, Wang Yi.
He was talking to the media in Russia. He said America First should not be American bullying and it should not build its own interests on the basis of
damaging the legitimate rights and interests of other countries.
It's a much stronger tone than we've heard in the past as far as how Beijing could react. And we want to stress "could," because it's still
quite ambiguous what will happen. Certainly we could see additional tariffs on things that would impact American consumers.
[10:05:02]
Tariffs that could impact the price of electronics, clothing, furniture, toys, even Christmas decorations. Beijing, as the world's second largest
economy, has a very big toolbox.
It also could take aim at the global supply chain, creating this game of hard to get, meaning it would be tougher for American companies and
industries to take advantage or to get a hold of things like minerals, vital minerals, as well as perhaps even pharmaceuticals.
So Beijing's got a very large list of options. It also could make things just even more difficult for American companies that are already doing
business here.
And despite all the tension that we are seeing, it is a benefit for China to have American investment. And American companies certainly want to take
advantage of the population here, more than 1 billion people. There's a lot of money-making opportunity.
So Christina, Beijing is certainly in a wait-and-see approach. We haven't heard any formal announcements just yet. But it's making it very clear
that, if America, the United States fights back, adds additional tariffs, it's not going to sit back and be idle. It will respond.
MACFARLANE: Anna, lastly to you, we are seeing losses deepen once again for the Dow and other major U.S. stocks today. We know, of course, that
U.S. market, the U.S. stock market, is experiencing its worst quarter in about three years.
I mean this -- it might be too soon to tell.
But do you think that investors are beginning to reevaluate where they put their money and whether the E.U. might be being viewed as a bit more of a
safe haven at this point?
Are we there yet?
Or is it too early to say that there's going to be a marked shift?
A. STEWART: We are seeing a big reevaluation from investors, both because of tariffs but also perhaps something maybe of a correction when it comes
to a sector like tech in the U.S. We're seeing a huge pullback. So we have been seeing the worst performance for U.S. markets in some time.
The big question, of course, is how long-term will this be?
I think we are seeing a flight to safety. Of course, we're seeing investors pouring money into asset classes like gold. Crypto is another interesting
asset class to watch actually. But right now we are seeing a big pullback.
It'll be very interesting to see what happens for, as you say, a bloc like the E.U., how impacted will they be.
And, of course, Chrissy, how will countries respond?
Will we see retaliation from the E.U., from Canada, from Mexico?
Because that will also feed into where investors are going to look next, because they need the big picture of how all of this is going to shake up
global markets.
MACFARLANE: All right. Anna Stewart, Marc Stewart, both, thank you so much for joining us.
And, of course, there's a lot more to dig into here. We are joined by two more guests. Miriam Sapiro was the acting trade representative under the
Obama administration. She joins us live from North Carolina.
And CNN's senior political reporter Stephen Collinson, the hardest working man right now at CNN, is back with us once again.
Miriam, let's start with you. You have made no secret that you think these tariffs are a terrible idea. Tell us all the ways in which this is going to
hit the economy hard in the U.S.
MIRIAM SAPIRO, ACTING TRADE REPRESENTATIVE, OBAMA ADMINISTRATION: Well, I think what's really important is we step back and we try to think about
what is the problem here that we're trying to fix and are tariffs the best way to do that?
So, for example, if you're concerned about the trade deficit, incumbents (ph) feel pretty confident that putting on huge tariffs on most or all of
our trading partners is not going to resolve that issue. In fact, it might even increase the deficit, because, for example, it will make imports into
the United States more expensive.
And that will make it harder for U.S. manufacturers to then export without raising costs, which, of course, will cut demand for U.S. exports.
So if that's the problem to fix, it's not clear it's going to help. And as you mentioned, Christina, other countries are already preparing their
retaliation packages. So they're going to hit U.S. exports hard as well.
And if you're trying to fix U.S. manufacturing, well, I mean, that would be great if we could find ways to boost it. But again, it's not clear tariffs
will do that.
One of my former colleagues from USTR did a study to see how much it would cost to make an ordinary toaster in the United States, which you can buy
now at Costco for $20, $30, $40. And he found it would cost about $300.
So I think it's hard to explain to American families why they should buy a toaster that's made in America and would cost $300.
So we have to be really careful about using tariffs. They are very important when they're used strategically and they're used for specific
purposes to address unfair competition. But I would be cautious about very broad-based tariffs that don't necessarily solve problems.
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MACFARLANE: Yes.
Stephen, I just want to, if we can, give Donald Trump the benefit of the doubt just for a moment, to try and argue that what Trump is trying to do
here is the right thing, perhaps, for the blue collar Rust Belt worker, because he's trying to nurture industries, such as steelmaking, through the
use of tariffs.
Would you agree with that?
STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, there are ways that you can nurture steelmaking with tariffs that could make sense. The
smart application of tariffs to preserve an industry like steelmaking, which could be very important in a time of war, for example, for America's
national security.
So that's one issue on which you may be willing to take an economic hit just for a broader purpose.
And I think it's true that Trump's political rise was powered very much so by the hollowing-out, that globalization effected on many of these Rust
Belt swing state areas in the Midwest and in other places.
And these are places, if you go there and you talk to voters, they are angry that the promises they were given, that free trade would make
everybody richer, doesn't seem to have applied for them.
Notwithstanding the fact that many of those places have big Walmarts, where you can get a lot cheaper goods than you would have been able to, say, 20
or 30 years ago.
The problem, I think, is just this broad-based application of tariffs, which appear to be motivated by a Trump hunch, his long-held belief that
tariffs are this mystical tool that can do all sorts of things.
And even if that were true, the idea that manufacturing next week is going to come back to some of these areas in massive volumes doesn't seem very
likely, because that's a decision that companies take over years and decades.
So in theory, it's a good idea and perhaps more should be done for these areas. But it's not clear that massive across-the-board tariffs will
actually help these people. And they may actually hurt them by putting prices up across the board.
MACFARLANE: Yes.
Miriam, I want to talk about the impact on taxes because, on Sunday, the White House aide, Peter Navarro, said he expects Trump's tariffs to bring
in $6 trillion in revenue in the next decade. Now that would amount to triple the tax put in place to pay for the cost of fighting World War II,
as we were mentioning it just then.
And yet Navarro is insisting that this is not a tax increase but a tax cut.
What is the reality?
SAPIRO: Well, we really have to separate myths from facts here. So for example, as Stephen said, it's a myth that foreigners pay tariffs. American
consumers and American companies pay tariffs because they're imposed on the U.S. importer.
So that functions as a tax in the sense that, when you go to the grocery store to buy everyday products, like bananas or coffee, or you go to fill
up your car with gas, you're going to be paying higher prices because of those tariffs.
So the question that you posed is really interesting, because it's another myth that we really need to sort out. You can't use tariffs as both
leverage and as a revenue tool because you either use it as leverage and try to get a country to do something, in which case, if it does that, you
have to then pull back the tariff.
Or you use it as a revenue tool, in which case you can't pull back the tariff because you need the revenue, because you've cut taxes somewhere. So
it's a bit inconsistent to think of it as both leverage and as a revenue tool.
And in addition, Christina, it's -- if it does become a tax, it's a regressive tax. It hurts lower income and middle income people much more
than wealthy people because, again, when you go to the grocery store, the prices will be higher.
And it will have a bigger impact on a working family's paycheck than it will on a wealthy person, who may not even notice the increases if they
even go to the grocery store.
MACFARLANE: It's a good point. It can't be used as leverage and a revenue tool.
However, Stephen, we can't ignore the fact that Trump's strategy has resulted in some real world wins. For instance, the war on fentanyl is now
being taken seriously.
And, in some senses, it is protecting domestic industries from unfair competition, is it not?
COLLINSON: I think -- perhaps I think it's -- I think a lot of the information needs to be collected on this before we work it out. For
example, on the issue of fentanyl, fentanyl has been one of the key drivers of Trump's tariffs on Canada.
But there's almost minuscule amounts of fentanyl that come across the border from the northern border into the United States, compared to those
that come across from Mexico.
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So the problem here is it's hard to see what exactly the end game is. Trump could today decide that he wants to blow up the whole international trading
system with massive tariffs.
He could do something less, which is still confusing to many investors and companies who need to plan ahead. It's not clear what exactly he's trying
to do.
Is he trying to protect industry?
Is he using tariffs as some foreign policy tool?
Or does he just like using tariffs?
And I think the big question we'll have to ask at the end of this event today is, is there any clarity, not just on what he's going to do but why
he's going to do it?
And then how do we measure if that is actually helping the United States and the people here?
MACFARLANE: A lot to mull over in the next 24 hours as we wait and see. But for now, we'll have to leave it there. Miriam Sapiro, Stephen
Collinson, thank you both for your time.
Now president Trump's already announced 25 percent tariffs on imported cars and they're set to take effect Thursday. Tariffs on imported car parts will
hit no later than May 3rd.
So what does that mean for auto prices and your car repair bill?
Details now from CNN's Danny Freeman in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania.
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DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Listen, here in the States right now, both auto dealerships and consumers are bracing for impact as these auto
tariffs are expected to go into place overnight into Thursday morning.
Listen, we're in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania. That's in Delaware County. It's a suburb of Philadelphia. And right now we're at a dealership. It's called
David Auto, that predominantly sells American made cars. You got Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep Ram, all sold here.
But the owner of this dealership still emphasizes that the impacts of these tariffs will be felt. And there are for three specific reasons.
First is because there are cars on this lot that are imported. There are cars here from Canada, from Mexico. Even a car we saw earlier that was
imported from Italy.
So certainly, at least for those cars, those prices will pretty much immediately go up.
The second concern, though, is that there are a lot of parts in the American made cars that are still imported. And while many of those tariffs
won't go into effect until early May, again, the concern is that prices for these cars may go up and also repair bills in case you have to get your car
fixed.
And some of those parts, have some of those parts replaced, that those prices will go up as well.
But the other thing that the owner of this dealership told me is that he's concerned that just the word "tariffs" surrounding automobiles across the
country will put a chilling effect into the air for consumers who otherwise would be thinking about buying.
Take a listen to how the owner of this dealership really broke down how prices could be impacted as early as tomorrow.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVE KELLEHER, PRESIDENT, DAVE AUTO GROUP: A car could go from $30,000, ostensibly to $37,500. And it's that quick. And that kind of change in a
price moves that payment $175 a month. And our customers, they're middle class people. They just can't afford that kind of bump.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FREEMAN: Now interestingly enough, Ford reported that it actually had a spike in sales over the course of the month of March. They didn't
specifically mention tariffs but it was notable because this was, of course, coming up to this date that everyone had circled on their calendar,
April, early April, when these auto tariffs would go into effect.
Well, Dave, here at this dealership, he said that he experienced something very similar over the past weekend. Folks were coming in and he was selling
more cars than he would in a normal weekend. He said he couldn't say for sure that it was because of tariffs.
But he said customers are certainly asking about them -- Danny Freeman, CNN, Glen Mills, Pennsylvania.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLANE: All right, still to come, hostage families say they are horrified after Israel announces a major expansion of its military
operation in Gaza. What we know so far next.
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MACFARLANE: In Gaza, the World Food Programme sending an urgent warning, saying it only has enough food to keep feeding people for two more weeks.
Local authorities say all of Gaza's bakeries have closed because Israel's near month-long blockade of humanitarian aid has left them without fuel and
flour. Here's what one man told CNN.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): There is no drinking water. The desalination stations are shut down due to lack of gas and fuel, caused by
the closure of the crossings. We are drinking salty water that has worms in it.
Worms, people; who would allow their children to drink such water in any country of the world?
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MACFARLANE: Well, in early March, the Israeli government shut down the supply of food and other humanitarian aid into Gaza in a bid to pressure
Hamas into releasing more hostages, seizing large areas of land and large- scale evacuations.
Well, those are now part of Israel's plans for Gaza. Israeli defense minister announced a major expansion of its military operation there
Wednesday, which would see the seizure of large areas of land to be, quote, "incorporated into Israel's security zones."
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum says they were horrified to wake up to news of the plan, which Israel says could also include the, quote,
"large-scale evacuation of Gaza's population from combat zones."
Let's stay on this with Tamir Hayman. He's the former IDF intelligence chief and now head of Israel's Institute for National Security Studies.
Thank you so much for your time.
Firstly, can you tell us strategically what the Israeli army are doing here and if this is a move toward the long term occupation of Gaza?
TAMIR HAYMAN, FORMER IDF INTEL CHIEF: Start with your second question, no. It is not the stage of a full reoccupation of Gaza. That may come in the
future but right now we are focusing on a gradually extended operation in order to push Hamas back to the negotiation table.
And to extend what we -- extend what we are calling stage one of the hostage release deal. And what is being done right now on the Territories,
on three different places on the Gaza Strip, there is a slight expansion of the footprint of Israel maneuvering.
Mainly focusing on Rafah, the southern town of Gaza Strip. But it still is not the full scale operation on retaking all of Gaza.
MACFARLANE: So it is not what the Israeli military signaled they would do a month ago, as you understand it.
HAYMAN: That still is planned, that is still waiting. Israel's right now prioritizing the objectives of releasing the hostages. And if you are
extending your maneuver and your operational pressure behind, beyond a very tiny, little threshold, you are throwing the Hamas into complete refusal of
renegotiating.
It's a slightly, very accurate procedure you must handle very, very, very accurately. And this is what's happening right now.
If that fails, well, we are approaching a second phase and new different, total different operation, which will be very different than what we are
seeing right now.
MACFARLANE: Is it is it your belief that this operation that is happening now is going to result in what Benjamin Netanyahu has promised, which is
lasting security for Israel and the recovery of hostages of 24 hostages still alive?
Because the hostage families are of the opinion that that is not the case.
HAYMAN: I totally understand the threat, the fear, operational pressure in, if you harness it into the negotiation as a negotiation chip that can
be exchanged, that makes sense.
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But operational pressure do put the hostages living in Gaza into harm's way. It's a very, very delicate thing to balance.
But the alternative, in my opinion, is not really makes any logic. If you are not pressuring Hamas at all, what the incentives of them to return back
to the negotiating table, to accept what we call the Witkoff plan, the Witkoff plan was introduced to them and they totally rejected them.
So there are only two lines of effort you may take, doing nothing and keep on trying to convince them or expanding the operational pressure in order
to force them back to the negotiating table.
So I totally believe, totally accept the threat. And my worries is I share the worry of the hostages' families but there's no alternative right now.
MACFARLANE: I hear what you're saying but there was a negotiation. There was a plan put forward last week, tabled by the Egyptian government that
Hamas agreed to, that Israel did not. So the negotiations were ongoing and Israel retreated from that in favor of the action we've seen today.
HAYMAN: Well, you must -- there are two routes. One is the Egyptian proposal and the other is the extension, of extending the phase one of the
hostage deal. Israel government decided to not negotiate over the Egyptian proposal.
Why?
Because the Egyptian proposal is that there will be a thin layer of technocratic government that will rule Gaza. But beneath that technical
layer that controlled Gaza, beneath it, Hamas will continue to exist as a political party. But a low probability that they will take -- give their
weapons away.
So in Israel, government, that led to their structure is resembling Hezbollah model in Lebanon prior to the war, which you have a puppet
government. But the main force behind it is Hamas.
And because we do not accept Israeli government, do not accept any existent Hamas, they have rejected it.
Now I give my opinion. I think that's a good position to start negotiation. It's -- that Egyptian plan is full of holes but it's a starting point of
negotiation, where the end state, Hamas, may receive some form of existence. Israel will achieve the objectives of the war, of removing it,
of controlling Gaza. And we'll get all the hostages.
So I pity that we didn't pick that route. But we have already stuck right now in the alternative one.
MACFARLANE: Well, this is an alternative route. It is not necessarily returning to the negotiation table, to make your point.
I have to ask you, there is a deep concern that the continuation of this war is bound up in the political survival of Benjamin Netanyahu. We only
need look at the events of this week, the attempted removal of the chief of Shin Bet; his two aides being arrested over links to Qatar.
Do you believe that is what is happening at this time, that it is linked to the political leader of Israel?
HAYMAN: Although I have my doubts, I can't really believe that that's the main reason. There are soldiers that are on harm's way. There is much at
stake, all of Israel national security. So I think that the national security interests are prioritized.
But if they are merged with the political interests, that's not really a problem. What Netanyahu does constantly is joining two interests into one
line, the political aspiration and the operational interests or the strategic interests.
And if they are aligned together, anyone has the right to interpret it in their own way. What's happening right now is a complete conversion. There
is much sense in returning back to operation and increasing the operational pressure. And they do, helps the political survival in this current
constellation of this coalition.
MACFARLANE: OK. I mean, I think, if the politics and the strategy are linked, then that is tied up with the leader of Israel, with the prime
minister.
I want to ask you, because your own think tank recently published a survey, saying only 23 percent of the public indicate a high level of trust in the
government, which is exceptionally low.
[10:30:00]
What effect is that going to have on the deepening crisis within Israel's reserve forces and the general public's will to want to continue with this
war?
HAYMAN: Regarding the reserves, that is not really the main element. But it is a supportive data on future strategic decision. Let's take, for
example, the operation. If we go to a second phase of operation of reoccupying Gaza, that means that we will need hundreds of thousands of
reservists to reenlist and be deployed.
There are the -- after a week and a -- 1.5 years of intense fighting, they are tired. That's the main issue that troubles the government in Israel.
The fatigue, the fact that they are exhausted and they are -- not all of sections in Israeli society are sharing the burden.
The political element in terms of the reservist is minor. It is crucial that element in what's happening in the internal arena inside Israel, on
the streets of Israel, regarding, for example, the judicial, legislation that is returning back to our lives or the future sacking.
Firing of the head of the Shin Bet or the attorney generals, there are -- all of those aspects are backing the protests, who are demonstrating
against the government and creating internal momentum that is gaining momentum as we speak.
MACFARLANE: OK. I'm afraid we will have to leave it there but we appreciate your thoughts and your analysis on this. And we will look to see
where this operation that has been underway today goes. But for now, appreciate you joining us. Thank you.
HAYMAN: Thank you.
MACFARLANE: And while we try to gather information on what Israel is doing on the ground in Gaza, they are stating their plans for the West Bank loud
and clear. Defense minister Israel Katz and finance minister Bezalel Smotrich did a joint tour of the West Bank on Tuesday, making clear their
support for Israeli settlements there.
They also talked about what they call illegal Arab construction and said, in part, "just as we are crushing Palestinian terrorism in the terror
camps, we will prevent any attempt by the Palestinian Authority to take control of areas in Judea and Samaria and harm Jewish settlements."
And we will be right back after this quick.
Break.
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MACFARLANE (voice-over): Welcome back to CONNECT THE WORLD with me, Christina Macfarlane. Here are your headlines.
U.S. President Donald Trump is set to unveil a new round of tariffs today. Details remain unknown. The White House says the tariffs will address
decades of unfair trading practices. Economists warn they could raise prices around the globe and tip the U.S. economy into a recession.
Israel's defense minister has announced a major expansion of the military's operation in Gaza. He said the IDF will seize large areas of land that
would be, quote, "incorporated into Israel's security zones."
[10:35:00]
He also said it would mean the large-scale evacuation of Gaza's population from combat zones.
European Union defense ministers are meeting in Warsaw, Poland, on Wednesday. The group will discuss plans to boost defense spending and
support Ukraine.
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MACFARLANE: And some breaking news out of the U.S. The judge overseeing the corruption case against New York City mayor Eric Adams has dismissed
the charges in his case.
And in a split with the Trump Justice Department, the judge ordered the charges cannot be brought again. Kara Scannell is in New York with more on
the judge's decision -- Kara.
KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Good morning.
So this decision coming down this morning here, saying that the case, the corruption case against New York City mayor Eric Adams, is being dismissed
and cannot be brought again. That is not what the Justice Department wanted.
They wanted the case dismissed without prejudice, meaning that it -- charges could be revived in the future. Now the judge in this decision says
his hands are essentially tied. He has very little authority to force prosecutors to continue with the prosecution.
But in a 78-page opinion, he writes scathingly about the Department of Justice's rationale for dismissing this case, because the Department of
Justice itself did not say it was about the strength of the evidence.
But they said that they believe the prosecutors in New York who brought the case were politically motivated and that the charges themselves were
interfering with the mayor's ability to carry out Trump's immigration agenda.
And the judge writing in this opinion that there is no evidence, zero, that there were any improper motives. He says everything here smacks of a
bargain dismissal of the indictment in exchange for immigration policy suggestions.
He says the suggestion is fundamentally incompatible with the basic promise of equal justice under the law. Ultimately, the judge saying, though, he
can't force the prosecution to continue. So he was dismissing the case with prejudice, meaning it cannot be brought again in the future.
Eric Adams, his lawyers have responded, saying that the case never should have been brought and that this decision is justice for the mayor. Of
course, he is facing a reelection campaign and the deadline, key deadline is that for tomorrow.
So the timing of this coming, we will ultimately see how that influences the mayor's decision in running for reelection and ultimately, the outcome
of that election.
MACFARLANE: Yes, Kara Scannell there with the latest. Thank you.
And when we come back, a new Netflix show sparking a debate about toxic masculinity, loneliness and online threats. We hear from two experts on how
to tackle issues affecting so many young people.
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MACFARLANE: This hour, the CEO of Boeing is facing tough questions from senators about recent safety issues. Kelly Ortberg testified that the plane
maker's missteps are unacceptable. It started in late 2018, with that Lion Air crash in Indonesia, which led to inspections of Boeing 737 MAX 8 jets.
Then in 2019, an Ethiopian Airlines crash, the second deadly disaster involving a Boeing 737 MAX 8 in months.
[10:40:03]
And early last year, a door plug blew off a 737 MAX jet operated by Alaska Airlines. Whistleblowers came forward, alleging that questionable parts
were used in the assembly line. Let's bring in CNN aviation correspondent Pete Muntean for more on this.
So Pete, what is the goal of this testimony underway?
PETE MUNTEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is pretty significant. The first time Kelly Ortberg is appearing publicly on Capitol Hill since
becoming Boeing's CEO about eight months ago. Also his first time testifying in the wake of that dramatic door plug blowout we just saw on a
nearly new Boeing 737 MAX 9.
Remember that incident exposed major quality control issues at Boeing's plant in Renton, Washington, because that plane left the factory without
the four critical bolts that held the door plug in place.
Ortberg just said this to the Senate commerce committee.
"Boeing," he says, "has made serious missteps in recent years," and he called that "unacceptable."
In response, Ortberg says, "We have made sweeping changes to the people, processes and overall structure of our company."
We will see if that testimony is enough for senators, who have been especially rough on the top exporter in the U.S. The top Democrat on this
committee is from Washington state, where Boeing is among the state's largest employers.
It also remains to be seen if Boeing's message is really resonating with the Trump administration. And just last month, Transportation Secretary
Sean Duffy visited Boeing 737 plants outside Seattle. And after he tweeted that Boeing must regain the trust of American people.
Want you to listen now to what Duffy said after that visit during an interview on FOX News.
We apparently don't have that sound bite.
But Duffy is appearing today in a separate hearing on Capitol Hill. The last time Boeing's CEO appeared before the Senate was last June.
It was then CEO Dave Calhoun, who was outgoing at the time, apologized to the families of the 737 MAX disasters who were in the audience; 346 people
were killed in those two crashes abroad. And I'm told that victims' families are again in the audience today to hear what the new CEO has to
say.
Really could be a lot of fireworks here on Capitol Hill as this all plays out once again with Boeing, just with a new CEO this time.
MACFARLANE: Yes. We know you will be keeping a close eye on it, Pete. For now, thank you.
Toxic masculinity has been a growing concern, especially with the rise of figures like Andrew Tate, who have capitalized on men feeling alienated and
lonely. But with shows like Netflix's "Adolescence" shining a light on the issue, more leaders are trying to address the problem.
While many in the tech world have embraced hypermasculinity, enabling dangerous online spaces, others, like Alexis Ohanian, want to change the
culture.
Just a day ago, the tech entrepreneur posted on X, saying, "The world is changing fast and young men are searching for direction. For too long, the
loudest voices have sold them a toxic version of masculinity, one built on empty status, resentment and noise."
"But," he says, "the tide is turning."
Ohanian also wrote that he has started a new initiative called #BusinessDad to combat incel culture by showing nontoxic masculinity.
My colleague, Becky Anderson, spoke to two experts, Ruth Whippman, author of "BoyMom." and Jackson Katz, author of "Every Man," on the growing issue
of boys and men's loneliness and the impact technology is having on their lives.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JACKSON KATZ, AUTHOR: The distinction between in real life and online life has collapsed. And so, for younger people, there's really no distinction.
It's just part of life, if you will. So there's some generational challenges.
(VIDEO CLIP, "ADOLESCENCE")
KATZ: The series "Adolescence" brings this home by showing the parents, who are, you know, great, you know, loving parents. But they're kind of
clueless about the technology and the -- and the life that their son is living and their daughter and other, you know, young people.
But it's also enabled new forms of abuse and new forms of harassment. And I think that's a piece of, when we have to talk about how technology has
affected these issues, it's also created possibilities for new forms of abuse.
There are a lot of young men who are isolated, who are lonely, who are sad, who are in many ways seeking connection, seeking meaning in their lives. We
have to talk about the effects of the Tates and the manosphere and the misogyny online, the effects on women and girls.
But let's be honest, it's also harming our sons and boys and young men who are desperately seeking connection. But what they're getting, when they're
going to try to find connection, is a message that the solution to their problems is doubling down on misogyny, abuse and treating women like dirt.
[10:45:00]
We need more of adult men who are willing to engage with young men about this content and about the void in their lives that have led them down,
unfortunately, many of them, down the wrong path.
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST (voice-over): Ruth Whippman, author of "BoyMom: Reimagining Boyhood in the Age of Impossible Masculinity," has spoken
extensively to those who have sought out these online groups for deeper connections.
To those men and boys, labeled as incels -- short for involuntary celibate -- like Jackson Katz, she says that the loneliness among them is palpable.
RUTH WHIPPMAN, AUTHOR: And the absolute headline was just this like, terrible loneliness. These men were driven. They're these very young men,
often, were driven to these spaces because they didn't feel able to find belonging and connection elsewhere.
And in a really twisted way -- and what was so strange about these spaces is, on the one hand, you're saying, you know, these are these forums where
people are sharing this kind of incel content, which is separate from the Andrew Tates and the misogynistic influences.
But it's these forums, where these guys gather. And, on the one hand, you see this horrifically toxic, you know, misogynistic, racist, sexist,
everything, you name it, like horrible content.
But on the other hand, you see this real kind of like emotional sharing and tenderness and brotherhood, which these guys are sort of talking to each
other in a very emotional way, in a way that they really often feel that they can't do in real life.
I think many men and boys feel that, in real life, they kind of have to perform this kind of masculinity. They can't be vulnerable. And this was
the absolute irony that I think people missed, that, in these incel spaces, you saw these young men sharing their feelings, often very depressed
feelings.
They felt like they, you know, they didn't have support, mental health support, in real life. And they were finding it online. And that's the
piece that I think people are often missing.
ANDERSON (voice-over): The rise in male-focused online spaces has not come in a silo. It's mimicked much of the political environment in the offline
world, a fraught and uncertain world, where divisions have been exacerbated.
ANDERSON: Jackson, you've made a connection between political figures like Donald Trump and the rise of aggressive masculinity and many other people
share your view. Nearly two-thirds of one survey that I saw said that men feel praised and accepted when they act, quote, "manly."
So how much influence do political leaders have in shaping sort of a male understanding of what it means to be a man?
KATZ: I would argue that MAGA is a men's movement and that right-wing populism, both in the United States and in Europe and other parts of the
world, is one of the central constituent parts of that movement.
The animating energies of that movement is a men's movement in reaction to feminism and the LGBTQ movements over the past several decades. So I think
it's inseparable.
Talking about the political manifestations of a certain kind of masculinity and some of the other issues that are playing out in young men's lives and
online lives and such like that, I do think, for example, Donald Trump is an incredibly influential figure.
He's the most prominent person in the world and he's -- has a long history of misogynist behavior, not just allegations but actual, you know,
adjudicated.
And so how can we say that doesn't normalize a certain kind of misogyny?
At the very least, what it says is that misogynist behavior in men is not disqualifying for high political office or cultural influence. And so that
has to be part of the conversation.
ANDERSON (voice-over): Politics, technology, nature or nurture, none of these things on their own seems to paint a full picture of the increased
loneliness and disaffection of men, both young and old.
So what else has contributed to this growing issue?
KATZ: One thing that's been missing in the larger political conversation, not just political conversation but the larger conversation about what's
happening in the men -- in men's lives is that there's been a movement -- I've been part of it -- what's called the pro-feminist men's movement.
For the last 50 years, who have been thinking very, you know, I think critically and insightfully about the complexities of men's lives.
Intersectionally, in other words, men of various races and ethnicities and sexualities and class levels and how ideas about manhood have been changing
and sometimes in really positive and progressive ways.
Men are doing things, fathers are doing things, are emotionally involved in the lives of their kids. So there's some positive developments, some
positive movement.
But I do think that there's also the flip side, which is, you have a lot of men who have been decentered by feminist ascendance and by women's
challenges to men, whether it's in the workplace, in the professions, in schools and in popular, you know, conversation and media.
And I think some men have retreated and they've sort of taken on a sort of a cartoonish backlash persona and, like, they've doubled down on
traditional performances of manhood in the face of some of these challenges.
[10:50:04]
And I think that there's a different way to go about it. The key is we need to redefine strength in men, because I think some people will say that men
like me and feminist women are somehow trying to make men soft and weak. I don't think this is about making men soft and weak. I think it's about
expanding the definition of strength.
ANDERSON (voice-over): Finding a solution to the rise of toxic masculinity and the increasing isolation of men has dominated conversations among
teachers, parents, lawmakers and psychologists. As Jackson says, one way is to redefine masculinity. Ruth goes one step further.
WHIPPMAN: I do worry that, the more we talk about masculinity, the more that we're like, you know, positive masculinity, the more we frame it as
just different variants of masculinity, the more we're kind of reinforcing this idea that masculinity itself is the -- is the real deal, is the main
event.
And so I think the more that we, you know -- and the more that we are reinforcing this idea for boys, especially that their worth lies in their
ability to be masculine. So the more we talk about it, the more we say, you know, positive masculinity, you're still saying, well, you have to be
masculine.
And I think that a lot of boys and men's shame comes about, you know, and a lot of their feelings of inadequacy come from feeling not masculine enough.
You know, I think that they feel that they're not living up to standards of masculinity.
(VIDEO CLIP, "ADOLESCENCE")
ANDERSON (voice-over): Netflix's show, "Adolescence," has pushed these growing issues into the spotlight, pushing us all to face the problem.
But does the show give us any answers, any solutions?
(VIDEO CLIP, "ADOLESCENCE")
WHIPPMAN: What's great about the show is that it doesn't really point to any easy answers. It's a very nuanced look at this. And I think that's
actually reflects what's happening in real life. You know, it touches on bullying, it touches on impossible standards of masculinity.
(VIDEO CLIP, "ADOLESCENCE")
WHIPPMAN: It looks at online culture. It looks at incel culture, it looks at misogyny. It looks at, you know, schools failing. It looks at
technology. And I think that is actually does reflect the reality of this. This is a complex problem.
Boys are caught in a complex moment. We're all caught in a complex moment. And rather than villainizing boys in this moment and say, you know, that
they're murderers, they're predators, which I think sometimes that some of the rhetoric can kind of veer in that direction, I think we need to see
these as children that need help.
And this is a child welfare issue that we should be looking at in the round.
(VIDEO CLIP, "ADOLESCENCE")
ANDERSON (voice-over): Becky Anderson, CNN, Abu Dhabi.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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MACFARLANE: Now before we leave you today, some very sad news from us here at CONNECT THE WORLD. Our beloved senior writer and copy editor, Diane
Dexter, died yesterday after a long and courageous battle with cancer.
Through all her health struggles, Diane was a beacon of light and positivity, offering words of encouragement to everyone here, along with a
seemingly endless supply of home-baked cookies and pastries, all with a smile that could light up the Atlanta newsroom even on the toughest days.
[10:55:00]
Diane was a true CNN legend, working at various networks here for decades, always bringing the best each and every day and making sure she got the
story right every single time.
Our thoughts go out to her husband, Jim, who she met at CNN more than 30 years ago, and to her family and her friends, of which there are many. She
will be missed tremendously by all of us.
And that is it for us. Stay with us. "ONE WORLD" is up after this break.
END
