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Judge Drops Corruption Case Against Mayor Eric Adams (D-New York City, NY); Soon, Trump Announces Sweeping New Tariffs; Survivors Still Being Found Days After Myanmar Earthquake. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired April 02, 2025 - 14:30   ET

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

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[14:30:00]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: In defiance of the DOJ, the judge overseeing New York City Mayor Eric Adams' federal corruption case just dismissed all charges against him permanently.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, the judge says that the charges, which include bribery, wire, fraud, and conspiracy, cannot be brought again. Adams, of course, pleaded not guilty. Here's the mayor earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR ERIC ADAMS (D-NEW YORK CITY, NY): I also want to apologize to New Yorkers for having to go through this with me, a baseless case that should have never been brought in the first place, the lies spread through false leaks and splashed across sensational headlines and all of the distractions. But what I want you to know that I never stop working for you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: CNN's Kara Scannell is here with more. Kara, the judge's ruling doesn't actually clear Adams of wrongdoing.

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, Boris, it doesn't. I mean, in fact, the judge says that he is not weighing in on the strength of the case or whether it should actually go to trial. But what he was weighing in on was the Department of Justice request to throw out the case without prejudice, meaning they could bring it back in the future.

Now, the judge said he wasn't going to do that because he wasn't going to allow it to hang over Adams, particularly as he is mayor of New York City. He also rejected the Justice Department's rationale for why the case should be dismissed, which was that the New York prosecutors were politically motivated in bringing it.

The judge said there was no evidence, and also the Department of Justice said that the case should be dismissed because it's interfering with Adam's ability to carry out Trump's enforcement of immigration and his immigration agenda. The judge, Ho, writing everything here, smacks of a bargain, dismissal of the indictment in exchange for immigration policy concessions.

Now, the judge said that his role is very limited. He can't force the Department of Justice to prosecute any defendant, but he said his role was one of transparency, and that was allowing the public to fully understand what DOJs motivations here were. And this was a strongly worded 78-page opinion, Department of Justice in response just said that this case was a waste of time.

Now, as you'll notice when Adams addressed the media there, he didn't mention Donald Trump at all, but he did hold up a copy of Kash Patel, the current FBI director's book about government gangsters, and Adam said that he looks to that every day for an answer as to why this case was brought. Boris, Brianna?

SANCHEZ: Wow. Kara Scannell, thanks so much for the update there.

So, we're just about two hours from President Trump announcing sweeping new tariffs that'll go into effect immediately. Trump is calling today, liberation day. One lawmaker in Canada, though, which is already subject to multiple new U.S. levies since Trump took office, has a different description.

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DOUG FORD, ONTARIO PREMIER: President Trump calls it liberation day. I call it termination day because a lot of people are going to be terminated from their jobs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Joining us to discuss is a member of the Canadian Parliament, Taylor Bachrach.

[14:35:02]

He represents a district in British Columbia that borders Southeast Alaska. Sir, thanks so much for being with us.

You've called President Trump's approach to tariff negotiations irrational and unpredictable, and along with other members of the Canadian government have vowed retaliation. Talk to us about how you are preparing on the eve of this announcement.

TAYLOR BACHRACH, CANADIAN PARLIAMENT MEMBER: Well, there's a real sense of disbelief here in Canada. You know, the United States has been such a stable and trusted friend and ally for so many years and to have the new president turn on us out of nowhere, it's really left, you know, a sense of apprehension and deep concern about our future as neighbors.

And so, you know, as a country, we have to do everything that we can to protect our economy and to protect workers, families here in Canada that are looking at the threat of potential job loss in the face of these tariffs. I'm here in a little rural community called Fort St. James on the shore of Stewart Lake. It's a community that's heavily dependent on the softwood lumber industry. And a lot of our softwood lumber goes to the United States. Just a couple hundred kilometers away from here in Kitimat is an aluminum smelter that makes aluminum and exports a lot of that to the U.S. as well. So, people who are involved in these trade-exposed industries are all very concerned about what today's announcement is going to mean.

SANCHEZ: What exactly would retaliation from Canada on the United States look like? Do you have an idea of what specific sectors you might target?

BACHRACH: Well, in the first administration under Trump placed tariffs on aluminum, Canada retaliated with very targeted retaliatory tariffs on certain sectors, targeting certain electoral districts in the United States and on certain products. And the idea was to put pressure on the president's allies and districts where we could have the most impact without impacting Canadian workers and Canadian families and Canadian jobs.

I expect the Canadian government's approach on this is going to be along the same lines. I think that's the right approach to take. And at the same time, we're having an important conversation about how we work within Canada to strengthen our domestic economy and ensure that we're as resilient as possible in the face of what your president is doing.

SANCHEZ: Ontario Premier Doug Ford, we just played a clip of him, he, about a month or so ago, tried to play hardball with Trump. He imposed this 25 percent surcharge on electricity to three U.S. states. Trump then ratcheted up by threatening a 50 percent tariff on Canadian steel and aluminum. Ford ultimately backed off. Do you think we're going to see a similar result on broader tariffs?

BACHRACH: Well, we're going to have to see. Like the goal here is to ensure that we're having an impact with retaliatory tariffs while minimizing the impact on our own economy and on Canadian workers and Canadian jobs. That's a -- you know, where the U.S. is a much bigger economy and we've benefited from so many years as friends and allies and trading partners.

This is a very difficult situation and it's forcing Canadians to have some important conversations about where we go from here with our relationship with the United States. That means buying Canadian, it means building Canadian manufacturing, using Canadian resources for Canadian industry. These are -- that process is going to take some time.

In the short-term, we're going to take every measure that we can to protect Canadian jobs, families who are feeling anxious right now in the face of what the American president is proposing and about to come out with. They need to know that Canada is united right now. I think every lawmaker needs to be solely focused on supporting Canadian families and Canadian workers. This is a really critical moment and we're going to stand together.

You know, Canadians are known as being polite people, considerate people, but when our back's against the wall, you would be amazed at the amount of resolve that we have. SANCHEZ: M.P. Taylor Bachrach, we have to leave the conversation there. I appreciate your time, sir.

BACHRACH: Thanks very much.

SANCHEZ: Of course. Next, there's renewed hope in Myanmar after a survivor is somehow pulled from the rubble alive five days after a massive earthquake. What are the chances we might see more scenes like this? We're going to talk to a rescuer who's faced similar situations.

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[14:40:00]

KEILAR: There's some new video of the earthquake out of Myanmar and the fallout there. And look at this. It's showing the moment that rescuers saved a man today. They pulled him from the rubble of a collapsed hotel five days after that 7.7 struck the country.

SANCHEZ: Keep this in mind. That's a hundred hours buried alive. And this is not the only survivor that essentially performed a miracle by walking out of the rubble, yesterday, a 63-year-old woman who was found alive in the rubble of another building in Myanmar's capital.

Joining us now is Disaster and EMS Physician Dr. Ben Abo, he's the medical director for Florida Task Force One Urban Search and Rescue, and he has experience responding to disasters like this, including to the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. Sir, thanks so much for being with us.

More than 2,700 people had been confirmed dead in last week's monster quake. Does it surprise you that survivors like this, after a hundred hours, are still being found alive?

[14:45:00]

DR. BEN ABO, DISASTER AND EMS PHYSICIAN: No, it doesn't surprise me. This is absolutely catastrophic and there's a lot of variables that go into play. But there are some things at play that do give them hope, honestly.

KEILAR: Yes, it's unbelievable. And this also helps those who are trying to rescue people, keep going and looking. Tell us though, I mean, when someone comes out of the rubble like this, they're facing health challenges. What happens in the immediate moments after they're pulled from the rubble?

ABO: Well, really, it all depends on exactly kind of what's going on, you know, what's going to really play a lot into their survivability, how well, and if at all, is what injuries they incur. At the time, what co-morbidities or medical problems they already have, of course, you know, if they've been medicine dependent, like insulin dependent diabetes or something like that, so, you know, just those basic things. And then it comes down to what kind of air, if at all, they have available and then water followed after that.

So, depending on how long it's been and what's going on, they will get access to these patients. They will assess them and start treating them the best that they can. And then once they have access and they've extricated them, gotten them out of the rubble, you know, then it's immediate reassessments, usually rehydration and kind of getting a basis of where are they at right now and then what needs to be done to carry out the most successful resuscitation is needed.

SANCHEZ: I also wonder when you think for authorities if things turn from a rescue operation into a recovery operation, because obviously an enormous amount of resources are being expended in an area that there is tremendous need in.

ABO: Absolutely, that is one of the hardest decisions for rescuers and politicians and leaders to deal with. To give an idea of kind of a comparison, we do have the recent quakes, unfortunately, in Syria and Turkey and all. And one of the issues with there is the temperatures. When you have traumatic injuries, cold temperatures make survivability a lot worse. Luckily, the temperatures are a lot warmer similar to what we had in Haiti for there in Myanmar.

So -- and, you know, in Haiti we were pulling people out 7, 9, 12 days and there was actually a couple reports of a couple other people that had survived for 27 or 28 days because people were able to -- while they were trapped, they were able to get them things like water. So, it really depends and that's a really variable thing that's going to be really tough.

Professionally, medically -- I already said professionally, but -- and really emotionally too, can be really psychologically devastating for the people as well as the rescuers.

KEILAR: So, we should be prepared, you're saying for -- and let's hope for days of these stories, although they'll be fewer and far between of these miracles, right?

ABO: Absolutely. I'm one that tends to stay very cautiously optimistic. I always hope for the best and work towards the best, honestly giving them the best chances of survival. And a lot of times when you have teams like those that are there and then what we do for when we're deployed here around the United States, sometimes it's just bringing hope, as a dear friend of mine kind of explained that's in the services. And we'll just have to say, again, cautiously optimistic.

I would love for, you know, in the next couple of days for there to be pockets of areas where people were found trapped, that had some supplies that can get them through. But we just had to be prepared for the best, the medium and the worst.

KEILAR: Yes, good advice there. Dr. Ben Abo, thank you as always for your perspective. We appreciate it. We're also tracking a potentially devastating weather scenario in the middle of the U.S. Multiple tornadoes have already been reported, and what forecasters are describing is a once in a lifetime event. We'll have that next.

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[14:50:00]

SANCHEZ: This afternoon, we're seeing confirmed tornadoes in Oklahoma and Missouri. This is part of a severe line of storms that forecasters predict could also bring once in a lifetime flooding.

KEILAR: CNN's Derek Van Dam is with us now on this story. This, Derek, we just need to be very clear, is an extraordinarily serious threat.

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, absolutely. We have several hazards that are lining up not only for today, but for the next several days. Let's talk about the most immediate threats, that being the chance of a tornado outbreak later this afternoon and evening. So, what we're working with here are the greatest risk factors. You can see a level five out of five has been issued across portions of Arkansas into western Tennessee, as well as southwest Kentucky. That's really the highlighted most increased risk of severe storms as the ingredients in the atmosphere come together with the spin, allowing for the potential at least of super cells that could drop tornadoes from the sky.

But we don't want to focus on just the greatest risk because, of course, it expands well out from that region, anywhere that is hatched across this area from basically Indianapolis, Columbus, all the way to the south and west of Little Rock.

[14:55:00]

That is where the Storm Prediction Center has highlighted the greatest risk of EF2 tornadoes. That's 111-mile-per-hour winds at a minimum with some of these tornadoes that could form.

So, we have tornado watches that are ongoing, including St. Louis. Timeframe for these thunderstorms this evening, as this line marches east, we're concerned about those discreet supercell storms that form out in advance of this line of storms.

So, to complicate the matters here on top of this tornado threat, we have the potential of extreme flash flooding. So, we're monitoring this area here with the flood watches across portions of Arkansas. This area has a particularly dangerous situation attached to that flood watch because of this multiday, severe, life-threatening flood threat that is ongoing across the region.

The Little Rock, Arkansas National Weather Service, Boris and Brianna, describing this as a once in a live time or once in a generation type flood event, so we need to take this very seriously. If you are caught in perhaps a tornado warning and a flashflood warning simultaneous, that's a real threat here, you need to seek out the driest part of your home in the interior, away from windows if at all possible, some things to consider today as we go forward.

SANCHEZ: Yes. Good advice, a lot to keep an eye on. Derek Van Dam, thanks so much for tracking it for us.

Still to come, top U.S. and Russian officials are set to meet about a possible peace deal in Ukraine just one day after Vladimir Putin issued the largest military draft since the war began.

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