Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Markets Open Amid New Tariffs; JoJo Burgess is Interviewed about Tariffs; Simu Liu is Interviewed about his Happy Place. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired June 04, 2025 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00]

MARC CAPUTO, SENIOR POLITICS REPORTER, "AXIOS": Sort of four inflection points that have troubled Musk over the months that this bill has been debated and also that he has been in the administration.

One, electric vehicle tax credits and favorable treatment for them. Obviously, he owns Tesla. Two, FAA contract for the air traffic control system in the nation for Starlink. Three, the special government employee status of his, which has expired, we're told by those who had spoken to him, that Musk wanted to continue in sort of a special government advisory role. And then the last one, and the most recent one, was Trump's decision on Saturday night to cancel the nomination for NASA administrator of a friend of Musk's named Jared Isaacman.

And after that story came out, there was a lot of chatter in and around the White House that some White House officials had actually canceled it as an f you, I'm quoting someone, to Elon Musk. Now, those people have denied it. But nevertheless, that's all been floating around.

And what happened after that cancellation of the NASA administrator was Musk's statements about the bill became much more harsh. And suddenly he had this Paul on the road to Damascus moment, where the scales fell from his eyes and he said he could no longer be quiet. But from what we understand behind the scenes, he was rather vocal, but he just wasn't getting what he wanted.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, how -- I mean how far do you think he's willing to take this fight? There's nothing subtle about what he said overnight. Disgusting abomination is about an 11 on a scale of one to 10.

CAPUTO: Who knows? And to your point, in this introduction, Trump's silence is notable. It's sort of deafening. Generally, Donald Trump is not known as an impulse control guy. From what I understand, when he was informed of this and shown the post on X from Elon Musk, the president didn't quite roll his eyes, but that was sort of the sense, like, oh, you know, he's upset. And so be it.

So, so far, so far. And this could change. But Trump is handling this in a very delicate way. Whether Trump escalates that and what or whether -- or I should say whether Musk escalates that, or Trump eventually decides to break his silence and what he says, we're going to see. But I can't imagine that Trump is going to go too long without being in front of the cameras. And once he's in front of the cameras, he's going to say something.

BERMAN: Yes, you know, one of the things that Trump -- that Musk, Elon Musk said, in addition to discussing abomination, was a very explicit threat to target members of Congress who -- who vote for this. I mean that's serious business if he's willing to put money behind that. Is that something -- how nervous do you think the White House would be about that?

CAPUTO: Overall, Donald Trump is not that worried about the elections because he no longer has to be on a ballot. Now, don't get me wrong, he wants to maintain and win the House and the Senate. And this is certainly a complicating factor for him. It is notable, however, that just a few weeks ago -- or a few days ago, I guess I've lost track of time in this Trump world, Elon Musk was saying, I'm done with politics. I'm not going to put any more money in it. And now all of a sudden he's saying, oh, you know, anyone who votes against it, we're going to kind of -- or votes for this bill, we're going to vote them out of office. So, Musk's statements here haven't been that consistent, but we'll see what we see as this shakes out.

Again, the -- the real one to watch here I think is not as much Trump as Musk. And to see what he continues to do. If he continues to press on this. I just don't know.

BERMAN: Yes. Last I checked, it's been five hours or so since his last post. So, maybe he's sleeping a few hours. But in this world, Marc, time is a flat circle.

Marc Caputo, thank you very much for all of this.

Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Ahead for us, U.S. companies are scrambling to move their supply chains out of highly trafficked countries like China and Mexico. Why some are finding the fix in one particular Caribbean nation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:38:20]

BOLDUAN: Breaking moments ago, the opening bell ringing on Wall Street as President Trump doubled overnight the tariffs on steel and aluminum imports coming into the United States. Let us see how this continues throughout the day.

As of this morning, facing a tariff rate of 50 percent, steel and aluminum. And also out today, new private sector jobs data showing hiring among American businesses is losing momentum.

CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich joins us now with much more.

First, the market reaction. VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, it

looks pretty good.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

YURKEVICH: I mean, markets mostly flat, up slightly. It's sort of like what steel tariffs? What ADP report?

BOLDUAN: That's what it's felt like all morning leading up, right?

YURKEVICH: That's -- that is what we have seen pretty much all morning. Really two reasons, right? President Trump announced that he was going to escalate these steel tariffs on Friday. So, Wall Street has had time to digest that. You saw auto stocks fall. You saw steel stocks rise earlier in the week.

And now investors are thinking, OK, this is going to be around now for the entirety of his term. We should just expect this. This is not a bargaining tool. But what they are worried about is what it means for inflation, obviously, and what it means for interest rates.

On the ADP report we saw it come in much lower than expected, 37,000 jobs added in the month of March. Much lower. Haven't seen that level since March 2023. Investors don't love this report. It can be a precursor to what we might see on Friday from the government's jobs report. But oftentimes this is just looking at the private sector. It doesn't capture the entirety of what's going on in the labor market. So, you also see investors kind of looking at this, taking a pass and moving on. And that is ultimately why you see markets not really doing much this morning.

[09:40:02]

Probably mostly hanging on what's going to happen on Friday in that big jobs report that we'll be looking at.

BOLDUAN: For sure.

You also have some great new reporting about how some American companies, what they're doing to try to essentially salvage their supply chains as this trade war continues. What have you found?

YURKEVICH: I mean how many times have we heard from companies saying, we have got to get our supply chains out of China because of those high tariff rates?

BOLDUAN: Yes.

YURKEVICH: Most companies have been looking to other southeast Asian companies -- countries. However, a lot of companies are now looking to the small island of the Dominican Republic. Look at the companies that are either there now manufacturing or going to be there very soon. You have Hanes, Eaton, you have Timberland, Cardinal Health, World Emblem, the largest maker of patches for clothing is opening their new facility next year, breaking ground this year. And really, this is an island that is known for its beaches and tourism, but it has a huge manufacturing sector. In 2024 alone, the main investment, foreign investment into the country, grew by 7.1 percent. Forty-one percent of all foreign investment in Central America was in the Dominican Republic, and 20 percent of that investment was in the manufacturing sector, just behind tourism.

Now, why are companies moving there? Well, there's something called free zones. Essentially, these are kind of tax havens. There's tons of tax exemptions, mainly on income tax, local taxes, export taxes. That can save companies millions of dollars.

Also, proximity to the U.S. It takes just a few days to get products on these cargo vessels to the United States --

BOLDUAN: Yes.

YURKEVICH: Instead of from Asia, it's weeks and wages. According to one company, wages are about 30 percent lower than what it would cost even in Mexico to manufacture goods.

But what are some of the hurdles?

BOLDUAN: Yes.

YURKEVICH: Well, it's a small island. There's not a ton of space to do this manufacturing.

BOLDUAN: Exactly.

YURKEVICH: And when you have a smaller island, you have fewer people to do the job. And they have to train all of these individuals to be skilled technicians. And also, people just don't know about it. One of the companies I spoke to, World Emblem, who is opening their manufacturing site next year, I said, how'd you -- how'd you hear about the Dominican Republic? He said, ChatGPT.

BOLDUAN: What?

YURKEVICH: So, it wasn't even on his radar. He just asked ChatGPT and it came up with the Dominican Republic as a great place to move his manufacturing. He's moving his manufacturing from China and from Mexico, about 30 to 35 percent of it, and he's investing millions of dollars in the country. So, clearly, ChatGPT had a little tip for him that ended up working out quite well.

BOLDUAN: I was going to say, who said AI is going to ruin it all for us? It's made him -- it's going to make him millions.

YURKEVICH: It is. It is.

BOLDUAN: Thanks so much. Great reporting.

YURKEVICH: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, joining me now is Mayor JoJo Burgess of Washington, Pennsylvania. He is also a member of the United Steelworkers Union.

Thank you so much for being here, Mayor.

What do these 50 percent tariffs now in effect on steel and aluminum mean to you and your community going forward, you think?

JOJO BURGESS, MAYOR OF WASHINGTON, PA AND MEMBER OF UNITED STEELWORKERS UNION: Well, that's to be decided. Let's talk about the tariffs in general. What's been going on this year. What I would call the yo-yo effect of the tariffs have created a lot of instability. If these tariffs work though, as a steel maker working for U.S. Steel and understanding that the last set of tariffs that were put on at 25 percent, we made a lot of money. It's no lie about that. So, the thoughts of making that money is -- is -- is very welcome.

But again, we don't have enough consistency because we might be sitting here next week talking about its back to 25 percent because of there working on a deal. There's been so many deals that have been talked about, but we haven't seen anything happen. We've just seen a yo-yo effect of tariffs being played with.

SIDNER: So, you are more concerned about the up and down and the big uncertainty that keeps cropping up as these deals change with Donald Trump sort of making different deals and changing his mind and then going back to what he originally said. It's similar to the way the market has been reacting.

I do want to talk to you a little bit because you said you did make good money back when the -- the steel and aluminum deal was in effect, the tariffs were in effect before. We -- we looked at what economists had said about that from 2018, saying that steel jobs did increase by about 1,000. But in other sectors that use steel and aluminum, it wiped out 75,000 manufacturing jobs during that 20-month time period when those tariffs were in place.

What do these numbers say to you? Do they concern you?

BURGESS: Well, I -- I can speak directly to those numbers because prior to arriving at U.S. Steel, the tariffs were signed in 2018.

SIDNER: Right.

BURGESS: I worked at a manufacturing company that builds power transformers that go into power plants. And there was chaos with our materials and products because steel tariffs, we -- we get a lot of electric -- electric inducting steel from Canada.

[09:45:02]

So, whenever -- before they relieved Canada and Mexico of the things, there was a lot of uncertainty.

Under industries do get affected. I -- I don't know how that effectuates (ph) to some of them because I'm not directly involved with that. But I do know that it could be a complicated balance. That's why this has to be done correctly to make sure that we're taking care of all manufacturing.

Listen, we're going to make our money, but others are going to lose. And we've got to make sure that we balance that. We don't lose that much.

SIDNER: And the devil is in the details, of course.

Mayor JoJo Burgess, thank you so much for talking us through this. We know that you and your family just lost a very important member of the family, and we want you to know that our thoughts are with you and your family on this day. Appreciate your time.

BURGESS: I do appreciate that. Please keep the Cooper family in prayers of -- we lost -- we lost a very important person who actually helped guide me through life and get me to where I'm at today. And I -- I can't say enough about that, and I appreciate it.

SIDNER: Yes, the first black mayor of Washington, Pennsylvania. I know that means something to you and your community. Appreciate you.

John.

BERMAN: All right, this morning, a biological pathogen bust. Two Chinese researchers charged with bringing a potential agro-terror weapon, a fungus, into the U.S.

And where do superheroes go to blow off steam? A new, exclusive and revealing interview with a hero you might recognize.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:50:59]

BERMAN: The CNN original series "My Happy Place" takes viewers on journeys across the world where six celebrity hosts show us the places where they go to escape and feel most at peace. This week, award winning actor Simu Liu takes viewers to Bangkok in Thailand, a place he'd always dreamed of going and fell in love with and connected with on a deep level once he did get to visit.

Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SIMU LIU, ACTOR: But does it taste good? That's what I want to know.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just have one bite. I think it tastes delicious.

LIU: So, let's -- oh, God.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, here they are. They do it themselves. They don't make you do it.

LIU: Oh, they're jumping -- they're jumping out there.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, yes, they're jumping. They're jumping.

LIU: Whoa. Oh. Oh.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh. OK. So, what you have to do --

LIU: Oh!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right, we have to mix it.

LIU: Oh!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, shit. Oh, I'm sorry. And now --

LIU: We're making them dip.

Oh! Oh my God.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's OK.

LIU: They're jumping.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.

LIU: OK.

And I just eat -- I'm so sorry.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Here we go. And I'll -- I'll eat one.

LIU: Oh, God.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, OK. Sorry.

LIU: I hate how good that tasted.

OK, I'm going to try one more.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, that's good.

LIU: I feel like one just jumped in my eye.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, no, I'm so sorry.

Oh, my God, we lost so many.

LIU: And that is spicy dressing.

Oh, it definitely did get in my eye.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, OK.

LIU: No, it's perfect.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: All right, with this now is Simu Liu. I -- I have to ask though, what just happened there? Talk to us about

Bangkok. But also, you ate this jumping stuff and one attacked you. How did you survive, and what was going on there?

SIMU LIU, ACTOR: You know, all I got to say, man, is, you get an extra little dose of courage when, you know, there's a camera pointed at you. And I really -- I -- I -- I don't know. This -- this -- this stall that we visited was at this -- this night market called the jod (ph) fair, which is kind of like a permanent fixture in Bangkok. And -- and I had no idea that we were going there, but my wonderful guide led me over. And I really got to say, it was -- it was -- it's much tastier than it looks. There's all sorts of, like, spices, a little bit of soy sauce, vinegar, you know, chili peppers rolled in there. It's -- it's really good. You got to give it a chance.

BERMAN: You looked brave. I will say, as someone who does fight super villains occasionally, you look quite brave taking that first bite right there.

What do you remember about your first visit to Thailand, and why do you connect with it so quickly?

LIU: You know, Thailand was -- is one of those places that, you know, I'd never been growing up. But it was kind of my -- my best friend in the world, Peter and I, we've known each other since we were 12, and we would talk about this place like it was this -- this dream vacation that we were going to take one day. And inevitably, you know, you get older. We went to college in different cities, and life just kind of happens. And -- and we sat on this idea for, I want to say like 15 years. And finally, you know, he was about to have his kid and -- and we were like, look, if we're not going to do this now, we're never going to do it. And so we bit the bullet.

The thing that we loved the most about Thailand is that there's something so wonderfully friendly and unpretentious about the culture and its people and even, you know, down to -- down to the food. You know, our -- our favorite thing to do was to hit up a night market or grab food on the side of a street in a random stall and it never ran us more than a few bucks. But that's kind of the spirit.

To me, was the kind of the spirit of the -- of the country was that it was -- it was for everyone. It wasn't -- it, you know, it didn't break anyone's bank. And -- and the people are just some of the friendliest that you've -- that you've ever encountered in the entire world.

BERMAN: Look, obviously fans like me of superhero movies and Shang-Chi know that, you know, you're no stranger to martial arts. And in this episode that we see, you got to do -- and I'm not going to say it right, the Muay Thai training session. What was that like?

LIU: It was really incredible. We -- we ran out about an hour out of Bangkok, kind of in the -- we shot it in -- in June. So, it was, you know, Thailand is already a pretty hot place year round, but June is -- it's especially toasty and -- and humid and, you know, and as you can see, not really a lot of air conditioning going on over there.

[09:55:07]

But it was such a wonderful experience.

Muay Thai is -- is an incredible martial art. It's -- not only is it an incredibly good workout, it's deadly. It's brutal. And, yes, and if you're not careful for -- for you being the person doing it, it's -- it can be quite painful because you're -- you're striking a lot, you're throwing a lot of kicks and elbows and -- and -- and, yes, sometimes that hurts you, too.

BERMAN: Yes. Well, look, you can see your joy and your love for Bangkok and Thailand, you know, just burst through the screen in this episode. Despite what they say in the musical "Chess," one night in Bangkok is not enough.

Simu Liu, we appreciate you being with us. Congratulations on your engagement I should say as well. Thank you so much.

LIU: Oh, man. Thank you so much. Thank you.

BERMAN: All right, be sure to tune in. A new episode of "My Happy Place" airs Sunday at 10:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific on CNN.

SIDNER: OK, so the question is, Muay Thai, which I can't even get my leg up, or --

BOLDUAN: Well, we -- well, obviously we can't compete.

BERMAN: Yes.

SIDNER: Or the jumping shrimp. Which one would you do?

BERMAN: Well --

BOLDUAN: I would rather get kicked in the face than -- than -- than try that.

BERMAN: We'll take that off camera.

Thank you all for joining us. This has been CNN NEWS CENTRAL. "THE SITUATION ROOM" up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)