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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Walmart Warns It Will Raise Prices Due to Trump Tariffs; Trump Visits UAE After Stops in Saudi Arabia, Qatar; New Book Reveals How Biden's Inner Circle Kept Cabinet from Him in Final Two Years of Presidency. Jury Views Explicit And Graphic Texts Between Combs & Ventura; FAA: Denver Air Traffic Control Went Dark For 90 Seconds. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired May 15, 2025 - 18:00   ET

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

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper.

This hour, they're known for their low prices, they're known for their affordable products, but now Walmart, the world's largest retailer, says that they're going to have to raise prices on some items, and they are blaming Trump's trade war.

[18:00:06]

So, which items, how soon will other major retailers follow suit.

Plus, from a global company to our small business series, why a South Carolina jewelry company says even though they manufacture all of their products in the United States, they too might have to raise prices for customers. Why?

Also, President Trump's glitzy Gulf tour comes to an end. But is he going to make a detour? On the way home, what he said today about his possible stop before he returns to the White House.

And what one of former President Joe Biden's closest advisers said today after we revealed some damning details this week about Biden's mental and physical decline in the final years of his presidency.

Our Lead Tonight, a warning from Walmart, attention Walmart shoppers, high tariffs will mean higher prices. Expect some sticker shock at the world's largest retailer known for their deals.

CNNs Vanessa Yurkevich is joining me now with more details of which goods specifically could be impacted here. Vanessa?

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Jake. Walmart, the biggest retailer in the entire world, says they're going to start raising prices at the end of this month. Even with that reduction in tariffs on Chinese imports -- excuse me, exports from 145 percent to 30 percent, it is simply too much for the company to absorb. Take a listen to the CEO of Walmart, Doug McMillon, who spoke on the earnings call earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DOUG MCMILLON, CEO, WALMART: We're positioned to manage the cost pressure from tariffs as well or better than anyone. But even at the reduced levels, the higher tariffs will result in higher prices.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YURKEVICH: And some of the items that are going to be hit with higher prices coming soon are electronics. A ton come in from Asia into the United States. Toys, about 80 percent of the toys that are sold here in the United States, come from China. And also you have Walmart saying that food prices are going to be impacted, things like avocados, coffee, bananas, roses. These are actually items Jake that don't come from China. They come from Central and Latin America. Those countries are facing a 10 percent universal tariff. But still, Walmart says that they're going to have to raise prices on those key grocery items, and the grocery category is huge for Walmart.

It's a big sales driver, and also millions of Americans rely on Walmart for those lower prices on grocery items, but Walmart saying higher prices coming soon, Jake.

TAPPER: So, Vanessa, we heard from McDonald's a week or two ago saying that they were anticipating fewer lower income individuals using McDonald's because of all the instability in the economy. Has Walmart seen any specific shift in their sales numbers over the past few months since the tariffs were introduced on liberation day?

YURKEVICH: Sales have been strong at Walmart. We just heard in their earnings call, sales up 4 percent in the first quarter, profits up 3 percent. This is a company that is well positioned to absorb a financial hit. However, the company's still saying that these tariffs are too much to absorb. Walmart sells about two thirds of its items that they sell made in the United States, so a smaller portion coming from abroad and from China.

But the company detailing that they simply have not been able to shift their supply chains enough away from China and other foreign countries, they've been trying to do that. But it's not like this can happen overnight, Jake. This is really an alarm bell going off in the retail community. Because when you have a major retailer like Walmart saying that they're going to have to raise prices because of tariffs, you can expect that other major retailers will do the same.

And imagine, Jake, for a small business who does not have the weight of Walmart behind them, it's going to be really tricky as these tariffs continue to ingrain into the economy and into prices. Jake?

TAPPER: All right. Vanessa Yurkevich, thanks so much.

Joining me now to discuss, Congressman Dusty Johnson, Congressman, always great to have you here.

So, Walmart, the world's largest retailer, says they're going to have to raise some prices because of the trade, war Trump's tariffs. There are 15 Walmarts across your state. What would you say to constituents who say, I need to go to Walmart to have those low prices in order to survive?

REP. DUSTY JOHNSON (R-SD): Well, first off, I'd want to put this in context. On the earnings call, Walmart highlighted some of the price increases. Bananas are going from $0.50 cents a pound to $0.54 cents a pound.

Now, I don't want to poo-poo that. that's real money to real people. I'm not a fan of high tariffs, Jake, as a part of the permanent economic environment. I do think most South Dakotans understand Trump is trying to use these higher tariffs as a tool, as leverage to get better trade deals. If he can get that done, things will be much better off.

TAPPER: JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon told Bloomberg today that a recession is not off the table in his view. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMIE DIMON, CEO, JPMORGAN CHASE: All these things are probably inflationary a little bit more and slowing down the economy. If there's a recession, I don't know how big it'll be or how long it'll last.

[18:05:02]

Hopefully, we'll avoid it, but I wouldn't take it off the table.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: If we do see a recession, and, obviously, I know you hope we don't, me too, but if we have one, do you still have faith that the administration has a long-term plan here worth a short-term recession because it will put America in a better financial place long-term?

D. JOHNSON: I think you're right to focus on the long term. I mean, higher tariff just for higher tariffs would absolutely be a problem. That would be inflationary. We've got some of these countries that don't treat us well. Canada is tough on American dairy. Mexico is tough on American corn. If we can get those deals relatively quickly, Jake, I don't think we're going to be forced into this false dichotomy of short-term pain or long-term growth. I think we're going to be able to stick the landing and get some pretty good deals in place.

TAPPER: House Republicans are still trying to finalize what President Trump calls the big, beautiful bill. A big sticking point right now in negotiations just within the Republican caucus has to do with the SALT cap. That's the state -- I'm not explaining this for you, sir. For folks at home, the state and local tax deduction cap, it's a way for people in high tax states, New York, et cetera, to get a deduction in their federal taxes. Listen to what your speaker told reporters earlier today about this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): Everyone has known that the SALT issue is one of the big ones that we have to resolve. It's one of the key pieces of this equation to sort of meet the equilibrium point that everybody can be satisfied with. Not everybody's going to be delighted with every provision in a bill is large, but everyone can be satisfied, and we're very, very close to that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: How close is very, very close and what do you think is ultimately going to come from an agreement?

D. JOHNSON: First off, I would tell you I don't think we should be subsidizing high tax states. SALT is just a giveaway to the high tax environment of New York, and to a lesser extent, California. So, if it was up to me, Jake, we would lower that $10,000 deduction, not increase it. But I figured out a long time ago that Washington, D.C., does not deliver Dusty Johnson every single thing he wants. Politics is the art of the possible. I think we're probably going to see a SALT cap quite a little bit higher than $10,000, maybe $30,000 or $40,000.

I think that's doable. I think the speaker is right. That's the equilibrium point. If the New York guys think that by playing a hardball, they can hold out and hold out and hold out and get a better deal at some point, that is just not going to work.

TAPPER: Republicans' margin in the Senate is very small. There are a few Republican senators already expressing doubts about this big, beautiful bill, Senator Josh Hawley on our air yesterday, Senator Rand Paul told Manu Raju today, Senator Ron Johnson to Politico. Do you have any worries that this bill could die in the Senate due to lack of unanimous Republican support?

D. JOHNSON: I feel like I've seen this movie a few times. You know, people told us we wouldn't have the votes to pass the House Republican rules package, and then we did, we couldn't get Mike Johnson elected and then we did, we couldn't pass the Trump spending package and then we did. Here's why I think we generally end up having success, even when it looks a little bleak at this stage in the process.

Right now, people, including the senators, are comparing our work product with perfect. And they find it wanting, and I agree. By the way, I don't think we cut enough in this package. But as we get closer and closer to the midnight hour, people realize that they cannot compare it to perfect. They have to compare it to the alternative, which is failure, which is 80 percent of American families feeling a tax increase. We're going to get this done.

TAPPER: Congressman Dusty Johnson from the great State of South Dakota, thanks so much for your time, sir. I appreciate it.

D. JOHNSON: Thank you.

TAPPER: My panel's here to unpack all of this. T.W. Arrighi, Karen Finney, welcome to both of you. We found out today that spending at retail stores dropped in April. Ernst and Young economists say simply the pre tariff shopping spree is over. Americans clearly feeling uncertain about this. KAREN FINNEY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, absolutely. And, look, I think the Walmart news, you know, if we put that in context with the conversation you were just having about this big, beautiful bill, think about what that means for low income Americans. If you are in a community where you have to shop at Walmart and those costs are going up, and let's say your SNAP benefits are being cut, and let's say your healthcare benefits are going to get cut, we're talking about Medicaid for, you know, children, low income people, that's a big deal. And I think that's where, in terms of this bill, the pressure is going to be on politically for Republicans in blue states to explain to their constituents why it is they're gouging them, they're taking literally food and healthcare away from children and giving that money to tax cuts to higher income Americans.

TAPPER: T.W., on this news about Walmart, and then we'll get to what you just said on this news about Walmart raising prices, Trump lashed out at Jeff Bezos when there was news that Amazon was considering publicizing whatever price increases was due to the Trump tariffs with a little earmark there about indicating this is from that.

[18:10:02]

More recently, we saw Trump float a 100 percent tariff idea against the toy company Mattel when the CEO said that they couldn't manufacture those toys affordably in the United States. What kind of reaction is this news from Walmart do you think likely stirring inside the Trump administration?

T.W. ARRIGHI, VICE PRESIDENT, PUSH DIGITAL GROUP: Just another iteration of this ongoing negotiation that Donald Trump's having with the world. You know, the problem with chasing prices for any one item or the stock market, where it is, is that it changes and then you get caught with your pants down, just like we saw with people freaking out about the stock market plummeting, and now it's had a nice rebound. I hope no one panic-sold. But the fact of the matter is this is a global restructuring of trade.

And you talked about, say, toys and electronics with China. This isn't just about opening new markets globally for American producers. This isn't just about lower rates for American consumers. This is about pulling people away from relying on China for important industries, like electronics, like medicine, so forth.

TAPPER: Chips, yes, exactly.

ARRIGHI: Chips, it goes on and on.

So, look, these trade deals are being worked out every day. They'll be more rolled out. We obviously have seen fluctuations with what's going on with China, down from 145 down now to 30, maybe bounce back up. It'll bounce back up and down. The question really remains is how much will the price increases be and how long will it be sticking.

TAPPER: And Trump really -- I mean, he's talking about these trade deals and we've seen the kind of like the outline of a deal with the U.K. We're still waiting to hear more information, but Trump very specific today in Qatar talking about Apple making products in India. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I had a little problem with Tim Cook yesterday. I said to him, Tim, you my friend, I treated you very good. You're coming here with $500 billion, but now I hear you're building all over India. I don't want you building in India. You can build in India if you want to take care of India, because India's the highest -- one of the highest tariff nations in the world. It's very hard to sell into India.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: So, probably, well -- go ahead.

FINNEY: So, no. So, the position of the Republican Party now is that government should dictate to corporations how to run their businesses? I mean, Apple is also a -- I'm not defending them, but they are a global company. India, Asia. I mean, that's part of their -- one of their biggest markets. But more importantly, I think part of what this underscores is how this conversation is a little bit disingenuous.

Let's pretend there's a world where Apple could say, okay, we're going to make all the components for the iPhone here in the United States. We know it would take years to build those factories, to build, to make sure we had the talent and the people to do those jobs, to find those materials, to find those resources. So, it's not just a matter of don't make it in India, make it here, don't do it there, make it here in America, because we would have, we still have to build that capacity.

TAPPER: Yes.

FINNEY: And, again, he's telling people, but there's going to be a little bit of pain.

TAPPER: So, we every day interview a small business owner to find out how they're dealing with the tariffs. Some people like them, some people don't. One thing we hear from a lot of people is, I support the president's goal here but this can't happen overnight. Like we only -- there was some guy that did motorcycles and race cars, and the lithium batteries he buys from China, like they can only -- he can only get them there. They don't exist here except big automakers who make them for only their products and don't sell them.

ARRIGHI: Right.

TAPPER: What do you make of that argument, that like, great goal or, you know, a laudable goal, but this can't be done in three months?

ARRIGHI: Yes. I think I understand he's trying a whole new way of going about this, by putting these huge tariffs worldwide, massive tariffs at a level we've never seen before on China. He's dropping the hammer. We haven't seen anyone be this aggressive. It remains to be seen if it bears fruit. But the fact of the matter is China producing our electronics is a net negative for our country. Tim Cook moving manufacturing out of China is actually not an awful thing. President Xi can only stay in power if his people are employed. There's a reason he was visiting with Latin American leaders and Caribbean leaders this week because he's freaking out about the pressure the United States is putting on the western world on their economy.

TAPPER: T.W., Karen, always great to have you guys here. Thanks so much.

President Trump is on the final stop of his Mideast tour, or is he? We'll have a live report from the region in moments.

Plus, a retired four star general offers a blueprint on living with purpose. He boils it down to one word. I will tell you what that word is if you stick around.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:15:00]

TAPPER: In our Word Lead, President Trump is wrapping up his Middle East trip, making his third and final, as far as we know, stop in the United Arab Emirates today, despite the president suggesting he might make a pit stop on the way back to the U.S. for ceasefire attacks from Russia and Ukraine in Turkey. As of now, it appears that will not happen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: So, we'll be leaving tomorrow, as you know, almost destination unknown because we're getting calls, could you be here, could you be there, but probably going back to Washington, D.C., tomorrow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: CNN's Jeff Zeleny is traveling with the president in Abu Dhabi. And, Jeff, the trip might not happen to Turkey, but President Trump still made a few big headlines today.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: He did. And the president saying Destination unknown, Jake, could be a bit of a metaphor for where the administration goes from here in terms of following up on all of the promises, all of the deals, all of the transactions that have happened over the last several days in this whirlwind Middle East trip for him.

But he did talk about Iran specifically. He said repeatedly that the U.S. is close to or sort of close to reaching a deal with Iran. That is very much unclear in terms of limiting their nuclear program. Yes, there are discussions and hawks underway, but the administration is offering very few details on that. The Iranian president earlier today pushed back a bit. And so the U.S. president was naive to think he can come into the region here and make these demands.

The president said that it's a simple conversation. [18:20:01]

He said, I don't need a 30-page pamphlet or discussion on limiting the nuclear program, but, of course, it's very complicated. But we see the pictures there earlier, Jake, visiting a mosque. This was an extraordinary moment here in Abu Dhabi earlier today, President Trump for the first time visiting a mosque. This is quite a turnaround from eight years ago. Of course, he famously assigned his Muslim ban while he was first coming into office, of course, that was rejected by the courts, but he walked into the mosque here, I'd say the very grand mosque, and he called it a beautiful place. And he praised the leaders there.

So, quite a bookend, if you will, for how his foreign policy and his worldview in some respects has changed all along this trip. We're seeing much more of a globalist to Donald Trump than the isolationist Donald Trump that he campaigned on. But, again, more transactions going on here in deals and all of it will require significant follow up to see what actually comes to pass. Jake?

TAPPER: Okay. Jeff Zeleny in Abu Dhabi, UAE, thanks so much.

Let's bring in retired Four Star General Stanley McChrystal, who's out with a brand new book, On Character, Choices That Define a Life.

General, I'll get to the book in one second, but I have to ask you a question because I don't get to talk to you that often. Before you resigned in 2010, your military career revolved around that general region of the world, particularly Afghanistan. We witnessed this historic moment where President Trump shook hands with the new president of Syria, Ahmed al-Sharaa, and promised to waive U.S. sanctions against Syria. It wasn't so long ago that the U.S. had labeled that very man an Al-Qaeda terrorist. What do you think of that moment?

GEN. STANLEY MCCHRYSTAL (RET.), U.S. ARMY: I actually think it's good. I spent five years, just short of five years in Iraq, largely fighting against Al-Qaeda in Iraq and then later ISIS. But the reality is wars have to end and you have to make peace with the people who you were fighting with.

So, this may not work out, but I think it's the right thing to do. As I point out to people, Menachem Begin was a terrorist, Nelson Mandela was labeled a terrorist. There are other people who we label in the moment, but I think we've got to be broad enough to say, let's move forward and see what we can do.

TAPPER: Yes. I'm sure you would agree that Mandela and Begin were fighting for things that were a little bit more defensible than Al- Qaeda but I take your point.

MCCHRYSTAL: Yes.

TAPPER: Let's talk about your book, On Character. This comes after 15 years after President Obama accepted your resignation after that Rolling Stone article, which, by the way, I kind of thought -- I was a White House reporter at the time. Nobody cared what my opinion was. I was just reporting the news, but I kind of thought it was a bum deal. You're not actually quoted saying anything negative in the piece. Some aides to you are. But in any case, you talk about that moment leading to an identity crisis in your book, but you say you came out stronger, which I don't doubt. Many of our viewers will probably find that in that journey inspirational because I'm sure it was very difficult. And, again, if you think you got a bum deal, I agree. But tell us about your journey.

MCCHRYSTAL: Yes, when it happened regardless of the reason I accepted responsibility for it, because that's what I think you should do.

TAPPER: That's what generals do.

MCCHRYSTAL: Yes.

TAPPER: Politicians tend not to, but, yes.

MCCHRYSTAL: I came out of the White House where President Obama had been very gracious in a difficult moment, and I wasn't in command again, I wasn't a general, I wasn't even a soldier. And I go back across the city to where my wife had been living in quarters and we'd been married 33 years and I'd flown all night from Afghanistan, and I walk in the first floor and I look at her and I said, Annie, it's over, the president accepted my resignation. And she looked at me and she goes, good.

We've always been happy, and we'll always be happy. And it was just a shocking moment, but it was so positive because, as I joke with people, Annie lives her life like she drives with no use for the rear view mirror.

And what it did, though, is it made me realize we had to move forward. Now, I'm not going to tell you it was easy because I felt --

TAPPER: It was awful.

MCCHRYSTAL: -- disoriented, shocked, embarrassed, every word you can do. You know, frankly, I considered suicide. But once you realize that there's going to be a tomorrow and you can't control things in the past, but you can control things in the future. What I tried to do was conduct my life after that so that everyone who had believed in me before that incident, that story would be reinforced that they had believed in the right person.

And people who'd never met me wouldn't suddenly say, well, this is the person from the Rolling Stone article, therefore, this is the way is. I tried to get them to see me and then go, wow, that doesn't seem to match what I read about in the article. And it got easier day after day, month after month, year after year. I'll be honest it still hurts at times, but you realize that there's so much ahead of you that we have control over each of us individually.

[18:25:08]

TAPPER: So, you bring up suicidal ideation, and I'm so glad that you didn't, and I'm sure you family is so glad and your three granddaughters that live next to you that you see. And what kept you from doing that?

MCCHRYSTAL: I think it was probably Annie. I did have some -- I think I had pretty core beliefs in what was important in life and what wasn't important, but I was just so humiliated in the moment. And I thought that every time I walked through an airport, people who saw me and I'd see them sort of point at me and talk, and I assume they were saying something negative, I think a lot of that was in my mind probably. Because people when they talked to me didn't say that but the reality is, it was.

So, it was only when I realized there were so many more important things and actually not living would be the coward's way out.

TAPPER: The book is On Character, Choices That Define a Life. Retired Four Star General Stanley McChrystal is here. Thank you so much for being here. Please come here more often. We love having you and you're such a great expert. And what you just shared with everybody was remarkable, and I'm really kind of taken aback and moved by it. Thank you so much, general.

MCCHRYSTAL: You're kind, Jake. Thanks.

TAPPER: I appreciate it.

The new reaction today from one of President Biden's top advisers to the damning details released in excerpts from my upcoming book with Axios' Alex Thompson.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:30:00]

TAPPER: In our Politics Lead, you're going to find this hard to believe, but what I'm about to show you that was posted on Twitter or X was only posted one year ago today. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: Donald Trump lost two debates to me in 2020, and since then he hadn't shown up for debate. Now, he's acting like he wants to debate me again. Well, make my day, pal. I'll even do it twice. So, let's pick the dates, Donald. I hear you're free on Wednesdays.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: So, file that under when trash talk goes horribly wrong because just over a month later, June 27th, 2024, Biden's debate imploded his candidacy, and now we're learning how bad things were actually behind the scenes. As my new book with Alex Thompson, reveals, it's called Original Sin, reveals some members of Biden's cabinet did not believe he could be relied upon to perform at 2:00 A.M. during an emergency by that final year of his presidency.

Today, Biden National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said he was shocked by Biden's debate performance, but he defended Biden's decision-making abilities as president.

We'll have much more on the book next week when it drops. But CNN Medical Analyst Dr. Jonathan Reiner joins me now. And, Dr. Reiner, spoiler alert for people who buy the book, you are in the book at the end. We talked to you candidly. And it's stunning to think that people in Biden's inner circle knowing about the moments he was having behind the scenes where he seemed disoriented or he couldn't follow his own train of thought, or he couldn't come up with names of top advisers would allow him to step forward and challenge Trump to a debate, much less run for reelection.

We talked to three cabinet secretaries. The second one told us that they didn't think Biden has dementia, but they said, quote, that the president, President Biden, can give you four to six good hours a day. When he got tired, sloppy isn't the right word, but his guard was down.

Now, they are saying, the Biden people say like, we still haven't seen one example of one bad decision he made because of this, et cetera, et cetera. But what do you think of this four to six good hours a day?

DR. JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: You know, I think it's more than, you know, reasonable that the president was able, you know, to function within the parameters that his team set for him, no early meetings, no late meetings, really structuring his day. But the bigger question for me as we got closer to the election, which I didn't think was remotely debatable, was it reasonable to expect that President Biden would be an effective president at age 86?

TAPPER: Yes.

REINER: And, I mean, when in last fall, he was 82, and he would be 86 when he left office, and that seemed very unreasonable, almost impossible.

So, the question is, why would his team insist on putting forth a man who would not be able to finish this term?

TAPPER: So -- and we will get into more of that next week when the full book is out and you haven't read it, even though you're in it. But you did see, I'm sure, this excerpt the New Yorker published, I believe, on Tuesday backstage at the fundraiser in June 2024, where President Biden approaches and does not recognize, according to people there, George Clooney, who he'd known for more than 15 years, who was the co-host of this record-breaking fundraiser, $30 million, and also is one of the most recognizable people in the entire world. And if you look at the picture there, that's from that night. I mean, that looks like George Clooney. It's not really -- he's tanned, he is, you know, handsome, et cetera. What is happening there cognitively when you don't recognize somebody that you've known for 15 years?

REINER: Look, I think, well, it's -- we're yet to learn whether there really was any detectable cognitive change in the last, you know, year or so of the president's term. But as people get older and the president is now -- former president is now 82 years old, their memory changes. And even if they don't have frank dementia, people start to forget things and things are less obvious. It becomes less obvious to them. It becomes more apparent to other people when these things start to stack together.

You know, everyone is entitled to sort of, you know, occasionally forget where you put your car keys, but when that becomes a daily occurrence or you don't recognize people that you've worked with for a long time, or you've known for a long time, or you forget how to get to work, these things are obviously are different.

[18:35:10]

So, it seems like towards the end of his term there was starting to be more and more sort of concerns, which then exploded during that debate.

TAPPER: And lastly, and quickly, if you can, sir, when did you first -- do you remember the moment when you first thought something is going on here, because I know it was before the debate?

REINER: Well, the first thing that I think was apparent to really any physician is that the president's motor functions, the way he walks, the way he moves, even the way he talks, even the appearance of his face started to change and he moved in a very sort of stiff fashion with that shuffling gait, which really is not necessarily just an artifact of a bad back. And it has sort of Parkinsonian features, whether or not he has true Parkinson's disease is yet to be determined, and we were told that he doesn't. But he moved in a sort of a degenerative, neurologic way. And then the stark, you know, debate performance sort of, then sort of completed the picture.

TAPPER: Dr. Jonathan Reiner, thanks so much. The book comes out Tuesday. And after you've read it, we'll have you back to talk about it more.

Our small business series takes us to South Carolina next where a CEO says, even though her company manufactures all of its products in the United States, she may soon have to raise prices on customers.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:40:00]

TAPPER: We are back with small business leaders, our series where we talk to entrepreneurs from coast to coast about the impact Trump's tariffs are having on their businesses and their customers. Some are quite happy with Trump -- with what Trump's doing. Some are not.

My next guest, today's guest, today's business leader is Natalie Holst. She's the founder and designer behind HOLST and LEE, that's a jewelry store in the beautiful city of Charleston, South Carolina. Natalie, thanks for joining us. So, you make the jewelry here in the U.S. but you get the materials to make the jewelry from all over the world. What has been the impact of the Trump tariffs on your business?

NATALIE HOLST, OWNER, HOLST + LEE: Thank you so much for having me. Yes, so we manufacture our jewelry here at our studio in Charleston, South Carolina, and we have a store in Charlotte, North Carolina. But when we can buy American materials we buy American, but we have to source certain things from overseas. So, despite manufacturing in the states, we do procure a lot of things from Guangzhou, China, Mexico and a couple in India. So, it's had an impact because we've had to pay up to 145 percent more for raw materials.

So, the immediate impact of the tariffs for this year is that we had to stockpile during January and February, which are traditionally really slow months for retail. So, we had to stockpile all of our inventory for making the jewelry during months that are typically slower. Luckily for our business, we've been busy, which is great during the months of March and April, so we were able to front that. But sustainability on that, the cost that we set for our products are set way before and they go to market and we have a huge wholesale business, so we're in over 250 stores across the country and globally. So, we set a wholesale price and that's set. So when our raw materials go up 145 percent, it obviously has an impact on what we're making and our margins.

TAPPER: So, what President Trump says he is trying to do is, in addition to make things more fair in terms of tariffs around the world, he says that he's trying to bring manufacturing back to the United States. Are these raw materials that you're getting from China, India, and Mexico only obtainable from those countries?

HOLST: Currently, yes. So, when I started the company, it was 13 years ago, I was in New York City and I was working closely with factories in Rhode Island, which used to be the jewelry capital of the world. But over time, manufacturing moved out in the 80s to China, and it took about, you know, 20, 30 years for this manufacturing to move out of the states. So, even the sampling that we were doing in Rhode Island, when we would go to do bulk production, they would tell me, you're going to have to take this overseas because, A, they didn't have the labor or the time to make the bulk, and they

also, you know -- yes, they didn't have the labor and it was five times as expensive.

TAPPER: Yes. So, you're from Charleston, South Carolina. So, Congresswoman Nancy Mace is probably your member of Congress. So, you have a lot of Republicans who represent you in the House, in the Senate. Not just -- I mean, not just a lot of Republicans, a lot of Republicans who are very close to the Trump administration. Have you been able to talk to any of them or anyone from government about the difficulties these tariffs are posing for your business? And if not what would your message to them be?

HOLST: You know, honestly, I've just been focused on trying to get our supply chain straight and get our customers happy and try to not raise prices on our customers. Because actually when we started the company, the prices of our goods were much higher than they are now. So, I worked really hard to get the price down for my customer to be able to afford it and reach a wider audience.

So, if I had to talk to my representatives, I would just say, you know, there's 23 million small businesses in the United States. We are 55 percent of the jobs in America, and that's a huge part of the workforce. So, chopping our supply chain and making it 145 percent more, I know it's come down to 30, which is great news, but there's also this factor of it being really uncertain. So, the uncertainty plays into --- you know, as a business owner, you always have uncertainty, but these are things we didn't plan for.

So, we're coming off of a pandemic where that was complete uncertainty and supply chains were interrupted and now we're hit with this. So, it's kind of, you know, the nature of having a business but this was unexpected and I'd like to tell them that small business is the backbone of America. So, we are supplying half the jobs in the country, so help us, you know?

TAPPER: Yes. I hope that Senators Tim Scott and Lindsey Graham and Congresswoman Nancy Mace hear what you have to say.

[18:45:01]

Thanks for talking to us today. The store is Holst and -- you go ahead. What do you want to say?

HOLST: Yes, I was just going to say like, the best way to help out your small businesses is to buy -- shop small, shop local, check out holstandlee.com.

TAPPER: And that's what I was just about to do. I was about to do your ad for you. The store is Holst + Lee. Holst, H-O-L-S-T, and Lee, L-E-E. It's in downtown Charleston, South Carolina. And our guest is Natalie Holst.

Thank you so much, Natalie. Good to see you.

The prosecution's key witness -- the prosecution's key witness against Sean "Diddy" Combs was cross-examined today. What she revealed on the stand, that's next.

(CROSSTALK)

TAPPER: Our law and justice lead, in the last hour, court ended for the day after the prosecution's key witness against Sean "Diddy" Combs faced an intense cross-examination from Combs's lawyers. Combs is on trial for charges including sex trafficking and racketeering and racketeering conspiracy. He has pleaded not guilty.

CNN's Kara Scannell has been inside the courthouse following the trial.

Kara, what happened in court today?

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Cassie Ventura was on the stand. It was the first full day of cross-examination by Sean Combs's attorneys, and they spent the day going through text message after text message, asking her questions about it, relating to things such as their freak offs in the beginning of their relationship.

So, the jury saw a number of text messages that were very affectionate and loving, dating back to the beginning.

[18:50:02]

And also text messages about freak offs, including some where Ventura herself brought up the freak offs first before Combs, and also ones where she was saying that I'm always ready to freak off. And another one, even as late as 2017, where she said, I love our freak offs when we both want it.

And in that one, the lawyer had asked her what she meant there, and she testified today that those were just words at that point, because on her direct testimony, she said that she was forced into doing these freak offs she didn't want to do them. She said that repeatedly. And today she said those were just words.

Combs attorney says those were words that you said to Mr. Combs, really trying to underscore, because the big issue here on this charge is coercion as part of the sex trafficking case. So, his lawyers focusing on this, that Ventura was into these freak offs at times that she had even suggested them at times.

Another big topic that was covered in court today was drug use. Ventura said that both she and Combs were addicted to opioids at different points. They were on drugs a lot. She said that they called each other, get high partners, and what the Combs attorneys were able to get out through Ventura, that it was when Combs was on drugs that he was often physically abusive toward her and assaulted her.

And the lawyer suggested that it was a bad batch of MDMA that preceded that attack that was captured on the hotel surveillance video. Certainly, they're trying to get to this point that he was out of control, including Ventura testifying that Combs often didn't remember the assaults after they occurred because she had previously sent him a photo of her face being bruised, saying, here, now, you'll remember.

So, trying to bring in that there were other factors at play here, talked about infidelity and jealousy. Ventura will be back on the stand tomorrow for more cross-examination -- Jake.

TAPPER: All right. Youve been watching Sean Combs in court these last several days. Tell us about his demeanor as his attorneys cross- examined his former girlfriend.

SCANNELL: Yeah, we saw a change in demeanor the past couple days when Ventura was on the stand, questioned by prosecutors. He was sitting back listening today as his lawyer was going through these personal text messages between Combs and Ventura. He was actively writing notes on Post-it notes and handing one after another to his lawyer. And then when there were breaks in the testimony, he would huddle with his attorneys. He was really leaning forward, looking at some of the messages on the screen at the time.

So, clearly, trying to direct them and provide them with information about what was behind some of these text messages -- Jake.

TAPPER: All right. Kara Scannell, outside the courthouse in New York. Thanks so much.

And this note, if you or anyone you know is dealing with relationship abuse, there are resources for help, including the National Domestic Violence hotline. You can call at 1800-799-SAFE or text the word "Start" to 88788.

After weeks of chaos at Newark International Airport, today, we're learning about another major issue at an air traffic control center that covers parts of nine different states. The details, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:57:09]

TAPPER: In our national lead, another 90-second loss of communications between air traffic control and the aircraft they're trying to guide. This one affected the Denver Air Route Traffic Control Center which covers airspace in multiple states.

CNN aviation correspondent Pete Muntean is on the case.

Pete, what happened here?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT : Jake, this is currently under FAA investigation, but it shows that Newark is not alone with these air traffic control problems. Remember, the Government Accountability Office has said repeatedly that aging FAA infrastructure needs urgent action, nationwide. We know from the FAA that this new outage happened Monday afternoon at a facility known as Denver center. That's a radar facility responsible for traffic at higher altitudes and cruise flight, controllers there responsible for about 285,000 square miles of airspace over nine different states.

The FAA says two radio transmitters that cover an undisclosed section of airspace went down for about 90 seconds. Remember, these transmitters are critical for controllers who communicate with pilots via voice. The FAA says aircraft remain safely separated and there were no impacts to operations because controllers used a backup radio frequency. Some of the details here sound a lot like the four outages at Newark approach control, and in those cases, controllers lost both radio comms and radar contact for about 90 seconds.

And air traffic controller in the Newark facility told me that that situation is about the worst thing that can happen to you as a controller. I want you to listen now to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who was on Capitol Hill Thursday and insisted to members of a Senate committee that flying right now is safe. SEAN DUFFY, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: The system we currently use --

it's -- it truly is 25, 35, 40 years old in some places. We should have paid way more attention to it as a country. Weve let it age, and now we're seeing the cracks of that age play out in real time for us.

I believe the system is safe. There are multiple redundancies throughout the system that keep people safe. Even the frustrations in Newark when we've slowed traffic down, the key is not efficiency. The key is safety. And so. when we slow traffic, it's about keeping people safe. When they take off, we want them to land at their destination.

MUNTEAN: The big difference in this new Denver case is that it does not sound like controllers lost radar contact with planes. The Trump administration is trying to tackle these infrastructure issues by standing up a brand-new air traffic control system in two to three years. On Newark, the Department of Transportation called a meeting with airlines on the last piece of the puzzle involving chronic delays. They're getting flight schedules to a level that's reasonable. That meeting with airlines started Wednesday and continued into Thursday -- Jake.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TAPPER: All right. Pete Muntean, thanks. I have two books coming out next Tuesday, May 20th, "Original Sin". President Biden's decision to run for reelection, the cover up of his decline. That's just Tuesday. It comes out. I wrote it with Alex Thompson.

In October, a different book, "Race Against Terror", about the hunt to prosecute an al Qaeda terrorist who killed Americans and was out to kill more. You can check them both out, preorder them, jaketapper.com.

If you ever miss an episode of THE LEAD, you can listen to the show whence you get your podcast.

"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts right now. Take it away, Erin.