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Jet Crash Fallout; Judge Blocks Trump Action on Harvard; New Trump Tariff Threats. Aired 1-1:30p ET
Aired May 23, 2025 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Trade war reignited, President Trump issuing some new tariff threats, 50 percent for products from Europe, 25 percent hitting just one company, Apple, if it refuses to make iPhones in the U.S.
OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN HOST: And we have new details about that deadly plane crash in San Diego, including how the plane was flying 700 feet too low at its last recorded point. And it was a disaster that threw a quiet neighborhood into chaos in seconds. We're going to speak with the family forced to flee after the plane hit their property.
And safety is very much on the minds of travelers at Newark's airport, millions of people flying over the holiday weekend. It could provide a stress test for the nation's air traffic control system.
We're following all these major developing stories and many more coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.
KEILAR: Happening now, stocks taking a tumble on not one, but two huge tariff threats from President Trump.
Let's start now with the European Union. The president now says that he wants a huge 50 percent tariff on all imports to start here in just days. Trump declared this earlier today, that trade talks with Europe are -- quote -- "going nowhere."
And then, of course, there's Apple, the president telling CEO Tim Cook to start building iPhones in America or face a 25 percent tariff. Analysts say, if Trump gets his way, it would actually triple the cost of an iPhone.
Let's go to the White House and CNN chief national affairs correspondent Jeff Zeleny.
Jeff, trade tensions today are back in a big way, and this is going to impact consumers.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Brianna, they definitely are.
You can see the reaction in the markets. These -- this trade roller coaster, which really has been a central theme of this administration, has calmed down in recent weeks, but it is back up today, with the president surprising even some of his advisers, I'm told, by suddenly announcing or at least threatening these new tariffs for the E.U. at 50 percent.
Now, we have heard so many of these threats before. Some of them come to pass. Some do not. Some are delayed. Some are not. But it certainly is sending one more sense of a wave of uncertainty to the markets, and they are responding in kind.
But the Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, explained the president's actions earlier today, saying it was designed to be a threat, at that.
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SCOTT BESSENT, TREASURY SECRETARY: I would hope that this would light a fire under the E.U., because, Bill, I have said before, E.U. has a collective action problem here. It's 27 countries, but they're being represented by this one group in Brussels.
So some of the feedback that I have been getting is that the underlying countries don't even know what the E.U. is negotiating on their behalf.
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ZELENY: So, Bessent pretty bluntly saying it was designed to light a fire under the E.U.
Well, gone are the days when there was a suggestion there would be 90 days -- or 90 deals done in 90 days, back when the president first put a pause on all of these tariffs. The reality is, it has been very difficult to negotiate all of these trade deals with the various countries here, so clearly some frustration the side of the White House, the president threatening to erase those tariffs.
But on the Apple tariffs specifically, it's been a growing sense of frustration. The president was sort of lashing out at Tim Cook, the head of Apple, directly. He visited the White House this week for a private meeting. We still not -- don't know the outcome of that.
But, clearly, by the president threatening new tariffs on Apple, it must not have gone very well -- Brianna.
KEILAR: Yes. Is an iPhone worth over $3,000? We will see what people think about that.
Jeff Zeleny, thank you.
Let's bring in Matt Egan now.
Matt, markets may be answering that question. They're not happy with Trump's new tariff threats. What kind of impact would these tariffs have?
MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Yes, Brianna, look, this would be a major U.S. -- this would be a major escalation, and it is not sitting well with investors.
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The moment this threat came out on TRUTH Social, we saw stock futures go down, and markets are still solidly in the red here, an almost 1 percent drop for the Nasdaq. There is a sense on Wall Street of, here we go again.
Remember, the reason why markets had this historic rebound last month is because they were hoping for de-escalation. This would be a step in the opposite direction. And, look, this is a list of America's biggest trading partners, imports plus exports. And far and away, look at this, the European Union is number one, with almost a trillion dollars of imports and exports last year alone with the United States.
That is more than China and Japan combined. As far as imports go, last year, the U.S. imported just over $600 billion of goods from the E.U., everything from pharmaceuticals and cars and car parts to aircraft and industrial machinery, wine and other alcoholic beverages as well.
And I talked to Mary Lovely. She is a trading expert over at the Peterson Institute. And she said she thinks that this tactic from the president is going to backfire. She said the E.U. considers itself a major global body. It does not deserve to be treated like a small plumbing contractor.
And, look, we don't know exactly how the E.U. would respond here, but we do know they have already set in motion potential retaliatory tariffs on more than $100 billion of goods if these trade talks go south. And, Brianna, it is those retaliatory tariffs that could threaten U.S. jobs.
KEILAR: Yes, certainly.
And what about Apple, Matt?
EGAN: Yes, well, look, the president also announcing plans to put at least a 25 percent tariff on Apple unless they move production to the United States. You see Apple shares down by almost 3 percent on this threat.
Now, the problem for Apple, of course, is they have already set in motion plans to move some production from China to India. This may throw a wrench in that plan. But here's the issue. It would cost a lot of money and take a considerable amount of time to move production to the United States. The cost of labor here is just so much higher.
Wedbush Securities estimates that, if the Apple iPhone was made in the United States -- and that's a big if -- but if it was, the price would triple to $3,500 per phone. Dan Ives, A veteran tech analyst at Wedbush, says that: "We believe the concept of Apple producing iPhones in the U.S. is a fairy tale that is not feasible." And, Brianna, just one last point here. If it were somehow economical, it is far from clear that Apple would be able to find enough workers who have the skills and, frankly, the desire to make iPhones here in the United States -- back to you.
KEILAR: Yes, that is wild.
Matt Egan, thank you so much.
And after giving Apple a tariff exemption last month, last week, President Trump said he -- quote -- "had a little problem" with Tim Cook, Apple CEO, over the company's plan to build iPhones at new plants in India.
JIMENEZ: Yes, if you remember, manufacturing jobs, specifically Apple manufacturing jobs, were something Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick actually had previously claimed would come to the U.S., although he admitted they would be automated. Take a listen.
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HOWARD LUTNICK, U.S. COMMERCE SECRETARY: The army of millions and millions of human beings screwing in little, little screws to make iPhones, that kind of thing is going to come to America. It's going to be automated. And great Americans, the tradecraft of America is going to fix them, is going to work on them.
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JIMENEZ: All right, a lot to talk about here.
I want to bring in CNN business editor at large Richard Quest, who is with us now.
So, Richard, let's just start with the president's demands here for Apple to build, its iPhones, here in the United States. How realistic is that?
RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS EDITOR AT LARGE: Not at all. And the president knows it.
This is just one of the reasons that he puts forward to -- a reason why he wants to put tariffs of 25 percent. There is no way that Apple could put in place the necessary factories, infrastructure, distribution channels to manufacture phones in the United States in anything like a reasonable timescale.
So you have got to ask, why is the president doing it? Who knows? It's just one of the many reasons that he's coming up with. So, for instance, in the case of Apple, it's a case of reshoring. He wants to get the jobs back into the United States.
But then you have got him just using tariffs as a blatant negotiating tool, when it's like with Canada or when it seems like it's useful to have a bit of leverage, a revenue driver. We have had that for a tool. Now, remember, the administration said they would bring in $600 billion in revenue from tariffs, which you and I pay for, of course. The highest number we have seen so far on a monthly basis is $16.9 billion. So, that's clearly a nonstarter.
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And then, finally, Canada and Mexico, reduce the levels of fentanyl. Well, that was blown out the water when it became clear that Canada really wasn't the problem when it comes to fentanyl.
Just look at that list, reshoring, negotiating revenues, reduce levels. On any given day, it could be any given reason. None of them really make sense on any particular case.
KEILAR: Yes, that's a very good point there.
And what about this threat that Trump is making to slap the E.U. with a 50 percent tariff because he says trade negotiations are going nowhere? What would the impact be on that?
QUEST: Ah, now, here's a tricky one. Trade negotiations are going nowhere, by the president's definition. But we're not just talking about what they want. We always knew.
It's somewhat frustrating because we always knew that you couldn't do these trade deals, because you're not just about getting a headline number down, 30 percent to 20 percent, 15 percent to 8 percent. You're talking about getting rid of non-tariff barriers, things like ownership rules, distribution rules, all the sort of nitty-gritty things that make it really difficult, that often have to be passed by parliaments.
Governments don't like. They take years to negotiate them. The E.U. won't be rushed. And I think, listening to Matt Egan a second or two ago, I think the U.S. is in for a shock here. The E.U. is the largest single market in the world. Ursula von der Leyen is not going to give ground on this. She has 27 governments behind her, all of whom -- I don't agree with Scott Bessent.
The 27 governments do know what they're doing in Brussels. The ambassadors are being kept informed, I'm fully told. And so, all in all, I think the E.U. is going to wait, pause, think, here we go again, but they're not going to budge.
KEILAR: Yes, maybe he's trying to drive a wedge between some, since there are 27 of them.
QUEST: Oh, well, yes, absolutely. Hungary. Hungary is the one you drive the wedge between.
KEILAR: That's right.
QUEST: Absolutely. Good luck there.
(LAUGHTER) KEILAR: Yes, that does seem like maybe that might not work.
Richard Quest, thank you so much. Really appreciate it.
We do have some breaking news now. A federal judge has temporarily paused the Trump administration's ban on Harvard University's ability to enroll international students.
JIMENEZ: And this ruling comes just hours after Harvard sued the administration, arguing that the Department of Homeland Security's move was -- quote -- "clear retaliation for Harvard exercising its First Amendment rights to reject the government's demands to control Harvard's governance, curriculum and the ideology of its faculty and students."
We want to bring in CNN's Shimon Prokupecz, who joins us from Harvard's campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
So, Shimon, can you just bring us up to speed on what we have seen so far? And what are you hearing there on campus?
SHIMON PROKUPECZ, SENIOR CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, well, it's moving quickly now through the courts, as we expected once the administration went ahead and did this, and then Harvard quickly asking for a judge to step in.
And essentially, for now, whatever the administration wants to do, whatever they're thinking in terms of foreign students at Harvard University, that for now has been stopped. And so certainly there is a sigh of relief here from students on the campus and from the educators here, the faculty, the staff, all very concerned over what they fear is an attack, a continued and sustained attack on foreign students here in the United States.
What the judge essentially said is that Harvard will sustain immediate and irreparable injury before there is an opportunity to hear from all parties. And Harvard has been arguing is that the administration has just been acting in a retaliatory fashion, in that they have not complied with any of the information that the administration has asked of Harvard.
And Harvard is saying, that's just not true. We have been providing information to the administration. And while the administration is not happy and claiming that we didn't provide all the information they wanted, Harvard is arguing, we have provided information.
The other thing that they are arguing here is that the way in which the administration went about and trying to essentially cancel this program that allows foreign students to come to this country and to attend Harvard University was unfair, that there was no due process, that they have -- Harvard has not been able to argue their point for why this should not happen.
And there are regulations associated with this program that do not allow the administration to just act out and cancel it. So all of that is going to come before a judge next week, and we will see what happens there.
But keep in mind, Omar and Brianna, there have been judges all across this country that have been listening to immigration cases specifically involving this program. It's a different part of this program.
It's the SEVIS program, where the administration also in a very similar fashion took all the names of foreign students, put them in a criminal database, and then used whatever information they found, any derogatory information against these students, and claimed that they were criminals, and then revoked their status, thereby canceling their ability to attend universities.
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And those cases went before several judges. And what those judges found was that the administration in some cases acted in this -- quote -- "arbitrary and capricious way." And so it raised a lot of questions of what the administration was doing.
And then the administration -- once these judges started asking questions and really going after the administration, we saw the administration reverse course on that, saying that they were going to reinstate the students.
And this seems to be going in that same direction. And so, next week, there will be a hearing here in Boston. Both sides will come in. And we will see what the arguments are, but no doubt that the federal judge here in Boston is going to want to know the why and the how and the reasons for which the administration to take such a drastic step in trying to prevent foreign students from attending here at Harvard.
KEILAR: Yes. Well, we will wait and see what they say.
Shimon, thank you so much for being with us on this developing story.
PROKUPECZ: Yes.
KEILAR: And still to come: A fourth person has now been charged with helping escaped inmates in New Orleans -- what they allegedly did to help.
Plus, an eyewitness describes her chilling encounter with the man now suspected of killing two people at a Jewish museum here in D.C.
JIMENEZ: But first: A San Diego neighborhood is plunged into chaos after a business jet slams into homes in a deadly and fiery crash. One of the families whose home was hit joins us right after this.
Stay with CNN NEWS CENTRAL.
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KEILAR: Right now, the NTSB is working to recover what is left of a plane that crashed into a San Diego neighborhood early on Thursday morning, killing at least two people on board. And a fire official says it's unlikely that any of the six people who were on that jet survived.
Officials say the small business jet hit some power lines before it careened into homes in this military housing community around 4:00 a.m. The crash turned the neighborhood into just an apocalyptic scene, bursting into flames, destroying all of the cars parked along the street there. Officials say the destruction stretches for at least a quarter-mile.
And with us now are the owners of one of the homes that was most badly damaged. We have Ben and Srujana McCarty with us.
Thank you to both of you for joining us. We are so grateful that you are OK and able to. How are you hanging in there right now?
SRUJANA MCCARTY, HOME DESTROYED IN SAN DIEGO PLANE CRASH: I mean, I think it's honestly the support of the community, all the well- wishers, and just all the phone calls. Every message has been an extra ounce of courage for us to get through.
KEILAR: And that's so....
BEN MCCARTY, HOME DESTROYED IN SAN DIEGO PLANE CRASH: We have gotten support, I would say, from all around the world, from as far as Singapore.
And the housing community has been amazing too. Liberty Military Housing has stepped up. And they -- within 24 hours, they got us back into a furnished home, and it was nice.
KEILAR: Ben and Srujana, that is amazing to hear, because, obviously, this is traumatic and disrupting to you guys.
And you were asleep, as I imagine all of your neighbors were when this happened. You have two little kids. You have pets. Can you tell me, Ben, about just how you woke up and got your wits about you and started reacting?
B. MCCARTY: My first memory is hearing loud explosions and orange -- there was an orange glow, like, all around. I -- there's a window by our bed. I saw an orange glow there coming -- orange coming into our bedroom, and the heat.
I felt, like, the warmth, the heat coming just from the explosion, the fire. Srujana, my wife, actually, is -- she woke up first, and she was up with the kids. I remember I darted into the living room, and I saw the mayhem and the debris and the fire. I didn't realize there was a vehicle in the living room until after.
But, at that point, it was just, we have to get out of this house. And my wife did an amazing job at leading that and getting the kids. We both grabbed our boys. Our boys thankfully slept through the whole thing. We -- they didn't wake up until we scooped them up, and they were -- we covered, made sure we wrapped them in blankets, so they could avoid any kind of smoke inhalation.
And we went out the back, the back of the house. And the dogs, which normally would be asleep in that living room where that truck is now, they were in their crates that night, and they were in the kitchen, and they were safe.
KEILAR: That is unbelievable.
And so, Srujana, you guys were able to grab them too and get out. How did you get out? Because I understand the exit you normally would take was blocked.
S. MCCARTY: Yes, so the front entrance, we couldn't go through, and then the side gate in our backyard unfortunately also faces the same direction as the incident, so we couldn't go out both ways.
We ended up having to go through the gate in between both of our neighbors' yards, and went into our neighbors' yards. And we had amazing neighbors run up with stepladders. And they heard me yelling for them, and they were so quick to help all six of us jump over that fence and get across to safety.
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KEILAR: And, Srujana -- Srujana, how long was it before -- I'm assuming you went to the evacuation center, right -- there was an elementary school -- before you were able to kind of settle and take a little stock of what had happened?
What was -- what was that discussion like between you and Ben and your neighbors?
S. MCCARTY: So, for us personally, we didn't have -- we lost both our vehicles. We didn't even have so much as like a bag to put any of this stuff in from the resources.
And Kim (ph) and Sarinda Goode (ph) were there at 4:20 as soon as they got our call, and they lent us their car. So after we went back to her place, settled down a little, Ben and I were able to bring the car back and get stuff from the Red Cross and all the donations, from car seats for our little boys to diapers, and, basically, the very few bare minimum essentials that we were able to get into the car.
KEILAR: And, Ben, are your kids doing OK? I mean, they slept through this, unbelievably, but you rushed out of the house with them. And they're not obviously where they normally are. How are they managing this?
B. MCCARTY: So, last night, we were able to keep them with some friends, so me and Srujana could sit down and focus on, like, what the next steps are.
We had photos. We got photographs of them. They're sleeping well next to each other. They seem peaceful. They haven't mentioned anything about smelling smoke or seeing fire. I mean, I know it's going to be hard bringing them to -- they will come to the displacement home today.
And we will have to -- there's no toys or anything like that. And I think maybe in the later days they're going to start asking for certain things, that my youngest will ask for his purple tablet. And they're going to realize things are a little different than they were 24 to 48 hours ago.
But, as of now, I -- they are not really showing any signs of trauma or any memory of what happened. So we're blessed in that sense, and they slept soundly through the night. So we appreciate that. I mean, that's a blessing.
KEILAR: Yes, it is.
Srujana, you have been through -- I mean, this is just so much. But at the same time, I wonder, as I hear you guys talking about where your dogs were even, and the fact that this hit your living room, and you are all OK, I mean, how are you reflecting on that?
S. MCCARTY: That's -- I think that's the greatest blessings. We can't be thankful for anything most. Everything else in that house is absolutely replaceable.
And we have a community. They have definitely proven themselves of how strong and the love that they're just pouring out to help us rebuild not only the next couple of days, but definitely help us with guidance to help us into the next five, 10 years even of how to recover, process and get back to normal as soon as possible.
So I think that's been what's really, really helping us through here.
KEILAR: And, Ben, what's ahead for you guys? Because I know you're 13 years active Navy. That often entails moving around a lot. What's ahead here in the near term? Are you guys headed to PCS somewhere else soon?
B. MCCARTY: So, we will still be staying in San Diego for a couple more years, until mid-2027. So there's that.
I do believe we will stay in the community. Today is day one. So, when you say what's ahead, I mean, earlier, I was on the phone with the insurance company. And it's one of those -- this isn't something that you see happen every day, obviously. So it's new for a lot of people.
And just piecing it all together and going one day at a time, I think, it's important. It's hard to say what's ahead. I have never experienced anything like this. Just resilience and just trying to stay focused and keep pushing and always remembering that it could have been so much worse.
We're all here. We're all still alive. All our neighbors and our friends are still alive. And it's just a great blessing. So I think keeping that in the forefront and that in our thoughts will definitely make whatever going through a little bit easier. So...
KEILAR: Yes, certainly. You have been through a lot, and yet it really is a blessing and it's amazing to hear you talk about it.
As I see you there, I know you're looking at -- you're looking at aircraft going over. That's the reality, the flight path there of where you are.
Ben and Srujana, thank you so much. Like I said, it's wonderful to speak with you. Thank you so much as well, Ben, for your service and also for that of your family. We really appreciate it.
B. MCCARTY: Thank you. Thank you.
S. MCCARTY: Thank you.
KEILAR: And we will be right back.
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