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One World with Zain Asher
President Gears Up For Most Aggressive Tariff Move Yet; Expanded Tariffs On Canada, Mexico Go Into Effect This Week; Florida Voters To Fill Two Vacant Congressional Seats. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired April 01, 2025 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ZAIN ASHER, HOST, "ONE WORLD": Uncertainty and concern, the world has been embracing for President Trump to unveil a raft of new tariffs in less than
24 hours from now.
BIANNA GOLODRYGA, HOST, "ONE WORLD": One World starts right now. We'll look at what the administration is saying and how the markets are reacting.
ASHER: Plus, deported and detained by mistake, a legal resident is locked up in El Salvador in a prison there by the Trump administration.
GOLODRYGA: And the frantic search for survivors after Myanmar's earthquake continues. We'll speak with the UNICEF representative about the relief
effort.
All right. Hello, everyone. Live from New York, I'm Bianna Golodryga.
ASHER: I'm Zain Asher. You are watching One World.
It could be a case of 11th-hour indecision in Washington right now.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah. The White House is ground zero in an escalating trade war that threatens to further fracture America's alliances and upend the global
economic order. In less than 24 hours from now, we're expecting President Trump to spell out his most aggressive tariffs yet.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: On Wednesday, it will be Liberation Day in America, as President Trump has so proudly dubbed it. The
President will be announcing a tariff plan that will roll back the unfair trade practices that have been ripping off our country for decades. He is
doing this in the best interest of the American worker.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: The details of that plan remain unclear, and we still don't know if the levies will involve America's largest trading partners, the entire
world, or something in between. One senior advisor says the President himself may actually not have even decided yet, and could make up his mind
just hours before the announcement itself. What is clear is the deepening sense of betrayal felt among America's allies.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah. The head of the European Commission is warning the White House that the EU has a strong plan to retaliate and will use it if needed.
And here is a look at what the markets are doing ahead of the big announcement, the Dow down by just 53 points, less than a percentage point
there, the NASDAQ and S&P slightly up. But, of course, this coming after a dizzying sell-off over the last six weeks. The stock market, the S&P 500
having really their worst quarter in a number of years now.
ASHER: Yeah. The market is clearly in a wait-and-see mode before the announcements this week.
Let's bring in CNN's Matt Egan. He is bringing us live now from New York. But first, I want to go to Kevin Liptak, joining us from Washington. So,
Kevin, as I was just mentioning that there, there is still so much uncertainty in terms of what we know. We don't necessarily know how many
countries are going to be affected. We don't know which countries are necessarily going to be affected, and even though the tariff rate that
these countries are going to have to deal with. Just walk us through what we actually do know for sure at this point in time. We're hearing that the
President himself might not even have made up his mind.
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yeah. But, the only thing we know for sure is where this announcement is happening, which is in the Rose
Garden. And actually, we just got a little advisory. It's going to happen at 04:00 p.m. But, beyond that, the specifics and the contours of what the
President is actually intending to announce in the Rose Garden remain entirely unclear. We heard him last night in the Oval Office say that he
had, in fact, settled on a plan, but that was a surprise to a lot of his own advisors. This plan has not been circulated widely inside the building.
What we do know is that a number of the President's economic advisors have been coming up with their own proposals and plans for the President to look
at, whether it's Peter Navarro, the hawkish trade advisor, whether it's Kevin Hassett, who is the Chief Economist and is seen as something of a
more skeptic when it comes to tariffs. They have all sort of combined to come up with their own ideas that the President is assessing. We know that
one of the options that has been drafted is this universal tariff, perhaps as high as 20 percent on all American trading partners. That would be on
the most extreme end of what the President could do.
And I think the issue that some of his team have with this plan is it doesn't necessarily leave a lot of space for negotiation with these other
countries. You can't negotiate with the entire world, and that's why some of the other plans that have been raised are these more dollar-for-dollar
tariffs, essentially a true reciprocal tariff, if a country has a duty on an American product that the President Trump would apply a similar duty to
those countries that are importing their items into the United States. And so, it doesn't remain exactly clear. What also isn't clear is whether the
President will be dealing with trading blocs as a whole, like the European Union, or whether he'll target individual countries within those blocs.
[11:05:00]
So, just a whole lot of uncertainty a day before the President plans to come out and make this plan. I think one of the items that is on the
President's list to decide, and will depend on what he ends up deciding to do, is how much revenue he can expect to bring in as part of these tariffs,
because we talk about these tariffs as a negotiating tool, as a way to realign global trade, but they're also sort of essential to the President's
entire agenda, if he hopes to offset the cost of the tax cuts that he hopes to sign later this year.
A tariff, a 20 percent tariff on all countries importing items into the United States would raise an enormous amount of revenue, potentially as
much as $6 trillion over the course of the decade, which is a figure that Peter Navarro raised over the weekend. If he puts into place individual
rates on countries with the hopes that that could be negotiated down, that's a far less fixed point of revenue for the President to rely upon for
the rest of his agenda. So, that's all something that the President will have to consider as he nears this final decision, sometime before 04:00
p.m. tomorrow.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, and that $6 trillion figure, you're right to point out, would only be accurate if those tariffs stay in place, which would have, no
doubt, a crippling effect on the economy, and not to mention the retaliatory tariffs that would likely come in response. I just couldn't
imagine that being in place for such a long period of time without them being renegotiated.
Kevin Liptak, thank you so much.
Matt Egan, we do want to go back to you. As we noted, the S&P 500 experiencing its one -- worst one-month loss since 2022. The markets taking
a bit of a breather now, perhaps not knowing, like all of us, just what to expect tomorrow and whether or not there is a glimmer of hope that the
President could walk back some of these tariffs. But, talk to us about the uncertainty that Wall Street is now being -- has been experiencing for the
past two months, since this administration first set out these tariffs.
MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Yeah. Bianna, I can't recall a time where there was this much anxiety about a policy announcement coming out of the White
House, and yet, 24 hours or so beforehand, there is this little clarity about what that policy announcement is going to look like, and it can be a
little confusing to our viewers, because there is so many different tariff proposals that are out there that have been floated, so many different
things that the President has already done.
But, what's really important to stress is that President Trump is using tariffs much more aggressively than he did during his first term, right? In
his first four years in the White House, he put tariffs on almost $400 billion of U.S. imports, and we're only about two months into Trump 2.0 and
he has already doubled that, right? About a trillion dollars of U.S. imports face tariffs. Now, if the more extreme of those proposals that
Kevin was discussing, these universal tariffs went into place, then we're talking about tariffs on three plus trillion dollars of U.S. imports. And
I just talked to Moody's economist Mark Zandi, and he told me, look, that is the worst-case scenario. He said, if that happened, he said we would get
a serious recession, and it's a wipeout for the economy. Moody's did a simulation and said, OK, well, what if there is this 20 percent universal
tariff and other countries fully retaliate? Well, they find that the U.S. economy would lose 5.5 million jobs. The unemployment rate would spike to
seven percent. GDP would fall, and really the whole world economy would stumble into a downturn. So, hopefully that is not what happens, of course.
And Zandi pointed out that the results would be so extreme for the economy that that's why he doesn't think it will happen, and that Trump does have
this history of making these threats and then walking back.
But, you can see, Goldman Sachs has already moved to slash its economic outlook. Right? They've downgraded the U.S. GDP forecast. They're warning
of higher inflation, higher unemployment, and they now see a 35 percent chance of a recession, all because the President has used tariffs much more
aggressively, not only then during the first term, but much more aggressively, frankly, than a lot of investors, CEOs and economists had
anticipated, and this is just causing so many question marks and uncertainties for business leaders. The Dallas Fed interviewed
manufacturing executives, and one of them said that this is just truly ridiculous when it comes to all of this tariff uncertainty. This executive
said, I've been in business for 50 years as of next year, and never have I seen such uncertainty in the market.
So, Zain and Bianna, look, everyone is just hoping that we get more clarity by tomorrow afternoon about exactly where tariffs are going, on which
countries, and for how long they're going to stay in place.
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GOLODRYGA: So much uncertainty, and we should note, self-inflicted. I mean --
ASHER: Totally.
GOLODRYGA: -- all of this is self-inflicted.
Kevin Liptak, Matt Egan, thank you so much.
EGAN: Thanks.
GOLODRYGA: And as we just mentioned, a new U.S. tariff on all imported vehicles and auto parts is set to go into effect this week.
ASHER: Yeah. And Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum is expected to offer what she is calling a comprehensive response to those levies on Thursday.
She has received a lot of praise so far in terms of how she has handled the U.S. President. Her government, meantime, has been keeping an open channel
of dialog with the White House negotiators. Mexico, very, very busy here. The Economy Secretary traveled to Washington again to meet with U.S.
officials regarding the tariffs.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah. Ildefonso Guajardo Villarreal is Mexico's former Secretary of the Economy, and he joins us now live in Mexico City. Thank you so much
for joining the show. We know that Mexico sends 80 percent of its exports to the United States. So, at a worst-case scenario, economists say if these
tariffs, the ones that are being threatened, go into full effect against Mexico, Mexico could find itself in a depression. Just talk about the
concern that you have over your country and the impact of these tariffs. We should note that GDP growth is a little over one percent for last year for
Mexico. So, no doubt that this could cause a lot of damage.
ILDEFONSO GUAJARDO VILLARREAL, FORMER MEXICAN SECRETARY OF THE ECONOMY: I mean, definitely you are right. Mexico's main manufacturing sector is in
the automobile industry, and definitely what we have built in the last three decades is a very strong North American car industry, and this will
change the way in which our trade agreement has been designed for the last 30 years. At some point, economists refer to free trade agreements as a
game that is not a zero-sum game that the three countries gain a lot in terms of complementary economies, but compete vis-a-vis the rest of the
world.
So, this change in policy will definitely have a tremendous effect in the Mexican manufacturing industry. And already, the damage has been done by
the uncertainty Mr. Trump has introduced in the North American economy, not just vis-a-vis Mexico, well, to the U.S. and Canada.
ASHER: What do you make of Claudia Sheinbaum's strategy so far in terms of how she has is handled the American President. She has received so much
praise, and her popularity in Mexico has been through the roof because her strategy in terms of leaving the door open, being open to negotiation, not
really announcing retribution and retaliation right away, has not just amounted to praise from Trump himself, but also really at home. A lot of
Mexicans have really looked up to her because she has saved the economy so far from very steep tariffs. Her approach was very different from Canadian
Prime Minister -- former Canadian Prime Minister, now Justin Trudeau. What do you make of her strategy, and do you think that this strategy going
forward is going to be effective?
VILLARREAL: Well, let me say that during the first Trump administration, I was a Mexican lead negotiator, and definitely I agree that you cannot
really respond to Mr. Trump every time that he is making an X comment or in his social media. You should not engage in everyday responses. The
President has been smart in basically trying to build in a solid definition as soon as we get to tomorrow. We already have tariffs imposed on Mexico on
the steel and aluminum. We have tariffs imposed on Mexico on the goods that are not under the free trade agreement. But definitely tomorrow will be the
debate for Mexico. We cannot accept any violations of the agreement that is in place, and we should be able to respond if the U.S. administration is
imposing any type of tariffs on Mexican goods or change the basics of the agreement.
Remember, Mr. Trump negotiating USMCA, he was the President, and he signed that agreement. So, it is very difficult to understand that now, being the
-- he praises himself as a great negotiator, now he believes that that agreement was not very well negotiated on behalf of the U.S. I believe that
it was a very good agreement, and we should comply by the agreement on the Mexican side as well, because Mexico has also violated the agreement in
different areas like energy, and it will be in our best interest to maintain these instruments for future growth.
GOLODRYGA: No doubt President Sheinbaum has received a lot of praise for how she has finessed the relationship with Donald Trump thus far. He has
called her a wonderful woman.
[11:15:00]
She agreed to send 10,000 troops, more additional troops to guard the U.S.- Mexico border. And unlike her Canadian counterpart, she did not unveil new tariffs. Instead, she said that she would undo that on tomorrow, April --
or Wednesday, April 3rd, when we do see what the President of the United States has in plan and in store. But, according to economists, they say so
far both countries, economically and in terms of tariffs, have been treated the same, Canada and Mexico. So, how do you expect her to respond with
retaliatory tariffs tomorrow?
VILLARREAL: Definitely, I believe that the Mexican government has to respond with tariffs specifically on the commodities and goods that are
exported to the U.S. -- from the U.S. to Mexico. There are a lot of articles in the U.S. media on how already the Corn Belt states have been
already have trouble with this tariff war, and there is going to be a lot of retaliation, vis-a-vis, voters that have supported Mr. Trump election.
And definitely the Mexican government tomorrow doesn't have any room not to react to what will be coming as an announcement.
The Secretary of the Economy of Mexico made a comment in one of the early press conferences by Ms. Sheinbaum, and he mentioned that we may be treated
better than the rest of the world. Well, I believe that will not be enough. Any violation of the agreement has to be responded with a specific
retaliation from Mexico.
GOLODRYGA: All right. We will pay close attention to all of this. Ildefonso Guajardo Villarreal, thank you so much for the time.
VILLARREAL: Thank you for the interview.
ASHER: For the first time since Donald Trump took office, voters are getting to weigh in on the direction of the country at the ballot box.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah. Closely watched elections are happening today in Wisconsin and in Florida. The results could tell us how voters feel about Trump's
agenda. Now, the most contentious election is for a seat on Wisconsin State Supreme Court. The race there will determine if the court keeps its liberal
majority.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Yeah. There is a big race, and I hope you get out and vote for the Republican. The woman is a
radical left lunatic, and let's see who wins, but the woman will be very bad. And Wisconsin is a big state politically, and the Supreme Court has a
lot to do with elections in Wisconsin.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: All right. Here is why the state matters. State Supreme Courts are a crucial stop on the path to the Supreme Court. Challenges to abortion
rights, redistricting, voting rights and issues that affect everyday Americans frequently start in state courts.
GOLODRYGA: There are also special elections today in two Florida congressional districts. Both seats were occupied by Republicans who
stepped aside to take roles in Donald Trump's administration, and both have been safe Republican seats. All the same, Republicans are worried about
Democrats possibly pulling off an upset.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RANDY FINE, U.S. HOUSE REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE FOR FLORIDA: Democrats are angry because every time Donald Trump wins, they lose. They want open
borders. They don't want to stop the waste, fraud, and abuse. And so, they voted, and a majority of Republicans haven't, and we need them to go and
vote.
JOSH WEIL, U.S. HOUSE DEMOCRAT CANDIDATE FOR FLORIDA: And the person running on the Republican side has shown no interest in attempting to reach
out, communicate with the district, talk to people, or say that he'll serve them. He is adamant over and over again that he is going to serve only one
person if he is elected, and that person doesn't live in District Six.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: Our Steve Contorno is outside a polling station in Ormond Beach in Florida. So, just in terms of explaining to our audience why these special
elections in Florida are so important, I mean, it's really important for the Republicans, because it's a chance for them to really build on that
fragile majority that they have. But, for Democrats, it's an early voter litmus test on President Donald Trump's second term. Just walk us through
it.
STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: Yeah. That's exactly right. And let me start off by saying, this is a problem that Republicans created, specifically
Donald Trump created when he chose to pull two House Republicans from this -- from Florida to fill his administration, and one of those was National
Security Advisor Mike Waltz, who represented the district I'm in right now, Florida's District Six, creating this vacancy, and Republicans thought they
had this race in the bag. This is a seat that Donald Trump won by 30 points last year. So, they weren't really sweating this.
However, it is a much closer race than anyone anticipated, and that's partly because the Democrat in this race, Josh Weil, posted a $10 million
fund raising figure last month, outraising the Republican in the race 10-1. That set off alarm bells among the GOP and through the White House, who
actually sent some advisors to contact Randy Fine and say, hey, what the heck is going on here?
[11:20:00]
You need to make a real push and get out there and start campaigning, and he certainly has done that more lately.
But, for Republicans, though, as you said, this is an opportunity to add reinforcements to that slim House majority that they have, that Speaker
Mike Johnson has been operating under. Democrats, meanwhile, obviously, they would like to win, but they are also hoping to send a message to the
country Republicans. We've talked to voters coming in and out of here. They've been mostly Republicans. Here is one woman that we spoke to about
what she is hoping - the message she is hoping to send with her vote for the Republican Randy Fine.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LOCAL VOTER, VOTED FOR RANDY FINE: I just recognize how value it is to be able to vote. And so, I live right down the road, and I have no excuse,
just like everyone around here, to come out and vote. I voted for Randy Fine. And this nice lady was just asking me why I voted for her, and I was
saying, number one, he is endorsed by Trump, and I tend to lean on his values, not that I agree with everything that Trump does, but just my core
values as a Christian.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CONTORNO: Now, we did talk to a Democrat leaving the polling place, saying why she voted for Josh Weil, and she said she wants Republicans in
Washington to wake up that there are a lot of people in -- outside of Washington who are not happy with what is happening so far, and they are
hopeful that an upset here, or at least a narrowing of the margin, will be a signal to the Republicans in Washington.
GOLODRYGA: And from Florida, let's go to Wisconsin, in what has turned into the most expensive judicial race in U.S. history. Some $90 million has
already been invested in the Supreme Court seat states -- Supreme Court seat there in a race that really will determine the political balance of
the state going forward. You have Elon Musk, who yesterday was on the campaign trail there over the weekend, as well saying that it's Western
values that are at stake, really raising the stakes there. Just talk to us about the significance of this race and the litmus test perhaps it is on
Elon Musk in particular and his role in this government.
CONTORNO: Yeah. I just got back from Green Bay, Wisconsin, which is really in one of the most purple parts of the state, and it's almost like the
advertisements never ended from the last election. There has been so much money spent on the airwaves there. And even though this is a race for the
future of a state Supreme Court case -- or Supreme Court seat, it has really turned into a referendum of sorts on President Donald Trump's agenda
so far, and Elon Musk's role in this new administration. He has been at the center of the Democratic candidate's ads that have been coming out all over
the airwaves. He himself has made multiple appearances, and in the state, he has been giving out a million dollars in giveaways, trying to get
Republicans to vote, which has caused quite a bit of legal panic in the state.
And so, really, what we are seeing in Wisconsin is an early test of not only Republican enthusiasm for what Donald Trump is doing and where
independents might -- what independents might think about his early administration. It's also a test of Elon Musk's political operation, which
was so instrumental for Donald Trump in the 2024 election, and this is the first opportunity they are seeing how they can sway voters without Donald
Trump on the ballot.
GOLODRYGA: Steve Contorno for us. Thank you so much.
And up next for us, rehearsing for an attack on Taiwan, an alarming display of military power by China. We'll look at what it means for the region and
beyond.
ASHER: Plus, deported by mistake, as the Trump administration pushes to remove migrants ever faster from the U.S. It admits at least one man was
taken away unfairly.
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[11:25:00]
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GOLODRYGA: One of the major criticisms of Donald Trump's stepped up drive to deport migrants is that due process is being ignored and that mistakes
could be made.
ASHER: And now, the Trump administration has admitted that a Salvadorian national who is living in Maryland was actually mistakenly deported and
sent to a mega-prison in El Salvador. The man had been granted protective status in 2019 and was actually living in the U.S. legally.
GOLODRYGA: The Trump administration had claimed that he was a member of the MS-13 gang, something that the man's attorney denied. ICE now says that the
deportation happened due to an administrative error, but adds that it has no power to bring the man back because he is in Salvadoran custody. Popular
podcaster and Trump supporter, Joe Rogan, weighed in on cases like this one.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE ROGAN, PODCASTER: You got to get scared that people who are not criminals are getting, like, lassoed up and deported and sent to like El
Salvador prisons. This is kind of crazy that that could be possible. That's horrific, and that's -- again, that's bad for the cause, like the cause is,
let's get the gang members out. Everybody agrees.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: CNN's Priscilla Alvarez is covering the story for us and has the latest for you from Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Trump administration officials have expressed confidence in the way in which they identified and sent migrants
to El Salvador and more specifically, to the notorious mega-prison in El Salvador. But, in one case, a senior ICE official saying in a court
declaration on Monday evening that a man, a Salvadoran man, was sent there because of, quote, "an administrative error". Now, his name is Kilmar
Abrego Garcia. He is a Salvador national who crossed into the U.S. around 2011. It appears that his first brush with law enforcement was in 2019 at a
Maryland Home Depot when police detained him in a group of other men.
Now, the local police say that he was tied to the gang MS-13, and they used, for example, where they based it on his attire and a confidential
informant. This, according to court documents. Now, his attorney says that efforts to get more information from the police during his immigration
proceedings about those alleged ties were not fruitful, and has said that he has no ties to MS-13. Now, an immigration judge in 2019 ultimately said
that he would be granted withholding from removal. That means that he can't be sent back to El Salvador for fear of persecution, though he is still
deemed removable, just not to that country.
Now, this court declaration provides a bit of a glimpse as to what exactly unfolded here in his case. For example, there had been a list, a manifest
of who was supposed to be on these flights. Some people were removed, according to the document, because of various reasons, but his name moved
up on the list, making him eligible to be on this flight. Now, in the declaration, the senior rights official says, quote, "through
administrative error, Abrego Garcia was removed from the United States to El Salvador. This was an oversight, and the removal was carried out in good
faith based on the existence of a final order of removal, and Abrego Garcia's purported membership in MS-13."
Now, the administration also says that because he is in El Salvador, therefore, in Salvadoran custody, they cannot retrieve him.
[11:30:00]
So, while they have admitted an administrative error here, they say that they cannot bring him back to the United States. Of course, this is an
ongoing legal proceeding. So, we'll see what the judge says in this case. Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: Priscilla Alvarez reporting there.
GOLODRYGA: Taiwan is condemning new military drills by China, which are being conducted around the island. Beijing launched joint exercises
involving its army, navy, air force and rocket force, saying that it would, quote, "close in on Taiwan in response to separatist forces there."
ASHER: The drills come just days after the first official visit to Asia by the U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who promised to counter what he
called China's aggression.
Ivan Watson has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is the first time this year that the Chinese military has conducted these types of maneuvers
around the self-governing island of Taiwan. The announcement came from China's Eastern Theater Command, saying that this was a serious warning and
powerful containment of what it claims is Taiwan independence separatist forces that all four branches of the Chinese military are involved in these
maneuvers. Now, Beijing, of course, views Taiwan as effectively a renegade province, and is very angry about any moves towards autonomy coming from
Taiwan.
But, typically in the past, when it has carried out these types of naval and aerial maneuvers around Taiwan, it has been pegged to some type of
event, such as the inauguration last year of the Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te. This time, there doesn't seem to be an obvious trigger, but some
of the videos that were put out by the Chinese military took direct aim at the Taiwanese President. This one accusing him, depicting him of being a
cartoon parasite, and accusing him of consorting with foreign powers.
Of course, the Taiwanese government has condemned this. A statement coming out from the head of the National Security Council in Taiwan called this
reckless and irresponsible, saying it came without justification and that it violates international law. The Taiwanese defense minister has indicated
that it appears there is a Chinese aircraft carrier group operating off the southeast coast of Taiwan right now.
And we've heard from a senior security official in the Taiwanese government suggesting some possible reasons why the officials there think this has
been the time for these joint Chinese military maneuvers around the island, and one argument has been that it follows a recent visit by the U.S.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to Asia, where he visited the Philippines and Japan, two close allies, and he talked about what he claimed was
Communist China's threat to the region and the need to build up deterrence among U.S. allies here in the region.
Ivan Watson, CNN, Hong Kong.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: All right. The search for survivors of last week's earthquake intensifies in Myanmar and Thailand. We're going to speak to a UNICEF
emergency official about what is happening on the ground, just ahead.
GOLODRYGA: Plus, 16 hours and counting, a Democrat is commanding the Senate floor in a marathon speech. We'll tell you what Cory Booker is protesting
about, just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:35:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: All right. Welcome back to One World. I'm Zain Asher.
GOLODRYGA: And I'm Bianna Golodryga. Here some of the international headlines we are watching today.
ASHER: As we've been reporting, we are just one day away from what analysts expect to be Donald Trump's most aggressive tariff move yet. We understand
that many of the President's advisors are actually still in the dark themselves about what exactly he is going to announce. The President is set
to reveal all in a speech from the Rose Garden on Wednesday, which, by the way, he is calling Liberation Day.
GOLODRYGA: Lebanon's health ministry says at least four people were killed and several injured in an Israeli strike on Beirut. It's the second such
attack in recent days. Lebanese media says two missiles hit a building in Beirut's southern suburbs. Israel says that it targeted and killed a
Hezbollah operative.
ASHER: For the first time this year, Kyiv says there were no long-range drone strikes launched by Russia into Ukraine overnight. Other forms of
military activity did continue, though. Ukraine's Air Force reports that it shot down two missiles in the southern Zaporizhzhia region.
GOLODRYGA: Rescuers in Myanmar and Thailand continue to search for survivors after the 7.7 magnitude earthquake Friday. The combined death
toll now more than 2,700 people. Officials say that number is expected to climb, as hope of finding more people alive under the rubble grow dimmer.
Joining us now is UNICEF's Emergency Advisor for East Asia and the Pacific, Trevor Clark. Trevor, thank you so much for joining us. Thank you for the
work that you're doing. Talk to us about what you have been able to glean from Bangkok and the damage there, and of course, sadly, all eyes are on
Myanmar, where there is still a lot of uncertainty about the extent of the damage.
TREVOR CLARK, REGIONAL EMERGENCY ADVISOR, UNICEF EAST ASIA AND PACIFIC: Yeah. Thanks for that. I mean -- yeah. I mean, I was in Bangkok when the
earthquake hit, and I can just say personally that it was extremely unexpected. In my apartment, our fridge fell over and chandeliers were
shaking. My wife and young daughter had to go down 14 flights of stairs to evacuate our building as well. And so, there was -- it was a very
unexpected and it caused a lot of fear in the country and in the city as well. But, as you said, our focus is on Myanmar, as UNICEF at this point in
time.
ASHER: I'm so sorry that your daughter, I don't know how young she is, but I'm so sorry that she had to experience that. I imagine that would have
been really scary for a child. My question to you is, one of the hardest things to grapple with about what's happening in Myanmar is, yes, of
course, we know the death toll is going to rise dramatically. It is 2,700 people now. We know that that number is going to continue to grow, but I
think what's really difficult to come to terms with is that Myanmar has already suffered so much. It's in the middle of a violent conflict, and
also because of internet censorship, it's really hard to get a truly accurate picture of what is happening on the ground. I mean, obviously,
UNICEF does work with children.
How is it just in terms of gathering real, sort of concrete information about what children in Myanmar are going through as a result of this quake?
CLARK: Yeah. I'm glad you brought that up. I mean, this devastating earthquake is just the latest emergency that Myanmar has gone through and
the children have had to endure over the last many years, and indeed, it has escalated significantly over the last four, I mean, violent conflict,
as you say
[11:40:00]
Cyclone Mocha is in recent memory as well. And so, this is just another major emergency that children shouldn't have to endure. We've had teams on
the ground from the very start. We -- we're fortunate enough that we have a field office in Mandalay. So, we've had a team on the ground from the very
start. And I can tell you that it is devastating. Public infrastructure is devastated. Water, hospitals, schools, I think, reported 25 hospitals and
60 schools. 1,600 homes have been have been impacted. And so, our immediate focus is to make sure that we can get the supplies and life-saving supplies
to those children as quickly as we can. And as we speak, as of now, we are distributing life-saving supplies.
GOLODRYGA: What are the supplies that you need most, and how difficult is it to get it to the country?
CLARK: So, we've been -- as I mentioned, we're distributing right now emergency health supplies. So, these include emergency health kits, which
can serve -- one kit can serve about 10,000 people for three months. We've already distributed about 1.4 million population worth of kits that will
serve for three months. We've also distributed water chemicals, aqua tabs, water filters, so that we get children access to safe and pure drinking
water. We've also started water trucking as well to many households there as well.
We've also started family tracing and reunification, which is very, very key. There is no greater way to maintain the safety, security and future of
a child, and to make sure that we can reunite them with their family or caregivers. We've also started, very critically, to address the
psychological trauma that children have faced just from this particular earthquake, by educating them in our education programs as well. So, that's
our immediate focus right now, and we've got a lot more coming as well.
ASHER: I'm so glad you brought up reunification, just in terms of families, because of course, that makes sense that one of the hardest aspects of all
of this is that if you have a certain person in a family who is buried under the rubble, then they might not have access to their children. They
might be separated from their children for a long time, and of course, that is extremely scary for a family to endure, for young children to endure.
So, thank you for the work that you are doing on the ground. And as we were just talking about, delivery of aid is really difficult in Myanmar because
of the military junta and because of the conflict that's happening on the ground.
Trevor Clark, thank you so much. We appreciate it.
GOLODRYGA: Thank you, Trevor.
And for information about how you can help Myanmar earthquake victims, go to cnn.com/impact.
And we'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:45:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: All right. Just into CNN, the U.S. government is going to be seeking the death penalty against Luigi Mangione. He is the man accused of
murdering the UnitedHealthcare CEO on the streets of New York back in December. The decision to seek the death penalty comes from U.S. Attorney
General Pam Bondi. Mangione has pleaded not guilty to state charges, and he is also facing federal charges as well.
GOLODRYGA: Well, let's look at live pictures of Democratic Senator Cory Booker giving a marathon speech on the Senate floor.
ASHER: He has been speaking for about 16 hours total now, ever since last night, railing against the Trump administration and its cuts to the federal
government. It comes at a time when Democrats are really under fire in some quarters for not taking a tougher stance against the President. Worth
noting, he has to stand and speak, or he has had to, rather, stand and speak for 16 hours. His colleagues are giving him a break by asking very,
very, very long questions so that he doesn't have to talk so much. But again, clocking in at 16 hours, and he is still going.
GOLODRYGA: Look, he is still a young man, and hopefully some of his football experience from college is giving him additional stamina.
Joining us from Capitol Hill is CNN's Manu Raju. And Manu, this comes as we're hearing consistently from Republicans -- from Democrats, excuse me,
about wanting to put more pressure on their elected officials to stand up to some of these policies that they disagree with from the Trump
administration. I'm wondering if these types of tactics are what they had in mind.
MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. Look, this is kind of -- the kind of thing that Democratic voters have been calling for in
terms of fighting Trump harder. Even though the Democrats are in the minority in the United States Senate, they're in the minority the United
States House, they are obviously out of the White House, they don't have much leverage to push back against Donald Trump, but some of the voters
want them to show more spine, as they say. That's one thing they heard consistently. They met with voters over a recent congressional recess.
And this vote -- this speech, which is now about 16 hours, as you noted, this is the sixth longest speech in the moment -- at the moment in the
history of the United States Senate, and he can continue this speech for as long as he is able to hold the floor. He is not allowed to sit down. He is
not allowed to leave the floor. He is not even allowed to leave the floor to use the restroom, but he is there speaking, as colleagues are asking him
some questions along the way. This is a taste of the messages that he has delivered through the course of this speech over the last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CORY BOOKER (D-NJ): I rise with the intention of getting into some good trouble. I rise with the intention of disrupting the normal business
of the United States Senate for as long as I am physically able. Institutions which are special in America, which are precious, which are
unique in our country, are being recklessly and I would say even unconstitutionally affected, attacked, and even shattered.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: Now, if Booker speaks past 07:19 p.m. Eastern Time tonight, then it will be the longest speech in the history of the United States Senate. The
longest one right now is from 1957. That was Strom Thurmond, the former South Carolina Senator who -- the late South Carolina Senator who at the
time delivered a filibuster to try to block the Civil Rights Act from going into law. So, Booker, if he goes that far, that would be obviously historic
moment.
Right now, this is not actually, technically a filibuster, which is to delay or block legislation or a nomination. He simply is on the floor
delivering this marathon speech. So, we'll see if he decides to take a break, if he needs to refuse the restroom, because if he ultimately does
and yields the floor, then the Republicans' presiding officer essentially move on with Senate business and the speech would end. But, that's up to
Cory Booker. How long he wants to go? Will he set the record? People are watching him very closely this afternoon.
ASHER: I cannot imagine having to stand for that long, I mean, in my lifetime. You talk about Strom Thurmond back in 1957. In my lifetime, it
was Ted Cruz, right, 21 hours back in, I think, 2009 to defund Obamacare. But, 16 hours is pretty good.
GOLODRYGA: I don't know. I don't know. Manu Raju --
RAJU: Yeah.
GOLODRYGA: -- himself, I think, has reported live on air for longer than that. So, I'm not impressed yet. Until you can beat Manu's record, then
you'll have me -- then you'll have my praise.
[11:50:00]
Manu, thank you so much.
RAJU: It's a fair point.
ASHER: Thank you.
RAJU: Thanks, guys.
ASHER: Thank you.
All right. Still ahead, the two astronauts, who planned one week visit to the International Space Station ended up lasting nine months, are now
speaking out about the mission and their return to Earth.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: All right. The latest SpaceX mission is underway after a successful launch late Monday night. The two crew in one of SpaceX's Crew Dragon
capsules will be the first humans to orbit the Earth north and south poles. It's a privately funded mission by a crypto currency billionaire. He is
flying with the three guests, all with links to polar exploration. They'll be conducting experiments to understand more about human health in space
and increasing human capabilities for long duration in space trips.
GOLODRYGA: Speaking of long duration and space trips, a pair of NASA astronauts say they never felt abandoned --
ASHER: That was a good (inaudible), by the way.
GOLODRYGA: Thank you, thank you, 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. Now, their original test flight turned into more than nine months on the International Space
Station. They shared their gratitude for the teams that got them home safely, as well as the opportunity to sleep in their own beds again.
ASHER: It's those small things.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SUNI WILLIAMS, ASTRONAUT: After we got off the plane and saw a lot of our support crew, the people who had really got us back to Earth, it was really
nice to just say hi, but I think the best thing that night was just to lay down in a bed and go to sleep.
BUTCH WILMORE, ASTRONAUT: Sleeping in space is amazing. Just floating. It's restful, but the change to sleeping on Earth was special as well. I think
if I could choose one or the other, maybe sleeping in space would be the preference. It's pretty, pretty great. But, being back, like Suni said,
with our families and meeting and seeing the people face to face, they're really the ones that affected our docking, getting us to space station, and
we had asked for several of them to -- if they could be there, and they were and to hug their necks and thank them face to face was probably the
most special thing, and that's the -- we're social beings created to be together.
And though being together with these guys for nine months was fantastic, being together with a bigger team and interacting with them and hugging
their necks and saying thanks, is really the thing that's made that return the most special, just the thank yous that we've been able to relay.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: Sleeping in space is amazing.
[11:55:00]
I mean, the fact that you can actually utter that sentence in your lifetime, sleeping in space is amazing, isn't that something?
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, much quieter I would imagine sleeping in New York City. I can tell you that. Did you see their attitudes, though?
ASHER: I know.
GOLODRYGA: I mean, coming up, smiles on their face, such positive attitudes. We are so glad they are finally home.
ASHER: And today, finally this hour, today is April Fools' Day, and someone in your family has a birthday.
GOLODRYGA: It's my son Jake's birthday. I'm the mother of a 13-year-old teenager now.
ASHER: Get ready. Get ready. We have some cool perks to tell you about. Dunkin' Donuts will be giving away a million free hot or iced coffees or
cold brews to reward their members today. Customers can enter the code. This is not a joke. Maybe you can take your son there.
GOLODRYGA: Yes, maybe, and get him some Dunkin' donuts for celebrating his birthday. Now, Eight O'clock Coffee is offering a 15 percent discount
online to customers using the code CUPPAFOOLS. And 7-Eleven is unveiling its mystery donut. Customers can get one any time this month, and guess the
flavor, the company won't guarantee that it's good. Unforgettable. There is a winning pitch.
ASHER: And it's even curious.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah. Exactly.
All right. Stay with us. We'll have one -- another hour of One World after the break.
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END
