Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Trump Tariffs Kick in at Highest Rates Since Great Depression; Top Kremlin Aide: Trump & Putin to Meet "In the Coming Days"; Some Trump Admin Initiatives Leading to Family Separations; Federal Judge Temporarily Halts New Construction at Florida Everglades ICE Detention Facility. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired August 07, 2025 - 15:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:01:37]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Paying up, American companies bracing as President Trump's new tariffs kick in today, driving up the cost of imports, which could also drive up the cost of the things that Americans are buying every day.

And solving the mystery of Alzheimer's. Doctors think they may have found a key to that dilemma, one that could help them improve brain health as people get older.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: And buckle up, turbulence is happening more often and getting worse. We'll explain why and what routes are the bumpiest on the planet.

We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

Reality setting in after President Trump's tariffs kick in. Products from dozens of nations are now facing the highest tariff rates in nearly 100 years. The President, just before midnight, posting, quote, "Billions of dollars in tariffs are now flowing into the U.S." But with costs expected to jump on so many popular items that we all buy, economists are warning Americans will eventually pay the price. Let's go now to CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich on this.

Vanessa, how quickly could we see those prices go up?

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS & POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Brianna, it could be just weeks until we start to see those price hikes. Right now, we are dealing with historic, historic tariff levels not seen in nearly a century. Tariffs not seen since the 1930s. We're talking about a minimum tariff rate at 10 - of 10 percent on some countries and then escalating all the way to 50 percent.

This is really Trump's big bet. He wants to be able to shrink trade deficits and to move manufacturing back to the United States. Let's look at some of the top countries that are impacted by the highest tariff rates. Look at Brazil sitting at the highest level of 50 percent, Syria, Laos, Myanmar, all above 40 percent. And then you have about five - excuse me, four countries that are over 40 percent, Switzerland, Iraq, Serbia, South Africa, and the list goes on.

So, what's going to get more expensive for everyday Americans? Well, the question is whether or not importers and retailers who pay the tariff decide to pass it on to us. Well, you could see computers, electronic prices rise. You could see clothing prices rise because you're talking about a 30 percent tariff on clothing coming over from China. Watches now on the list because a lot of Americans like their Swiss watches. Switzerland facing that tariff of 39 percent. You have shoes and toys also coming in from countries like China, don't forget, still at that 30 percent tariff rate. And then alcohol, wines and spirits coming in from the European Union countries like Italy and Spain, they are facing a 15 percent tariff and we're already hearing from companies and we have been since - about April - about what they're experiencing.

Just today, we heard from e.l.f. Cosmetics saying that they saw a 30 percent drop in profits because of tariffs. A lot of their products comes out from China. Also, Toyota reporting a - impact of about $10 billion - $10 billion because of tariffs. Wal-Mart, also P&G, which makes Charmin products like that.

[15:05:04]

They are saying that they are going to have to raise prices because of tariffs. What does that mean for you at home?

Well, by one estimate just out this month, you could be paying about $2,400 more this year per family because of these higher tariffs. Brianna.

KEILAR: Yes. You know what most people don't have? Twenty-four hundred dollars. Vanessa Yurkevich, thank you for taking us through that. Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Brianna. Tomorrow, Russia faces new U.S. sanctions if it does not reach a peace agreement with Ukraine. At this point, that deal seems like a long shot. But a potential high stakes meeting between Presidents Trump and Putin may be closer to fruition. The Kremlin says a meeting next week has essentially been agreed to, despite U.S. officials suggesting nothing has been finalized.

Today, Putin said the United Arab Emirates would be a perfect location for a potential summit. With us now. Kevin Tibbles. He is the host of the Atlantic Council's documentary "Putin's endgame: The stakes beyond Ukraine."

I mean, Kevin, this is - great to see you. You and I both used to be correspondents same time at NBC News. And now here we are talking about something else, so welcome.

So, the President says very soon he'll be meeting with Putin after what he calls a productive meeting involving Special Envoy Witkoff in Moscow. How will Trump and Putin's meeting be potentially different from perhaps their 2018 meeting in Finland, where there was no official readout? Kevin Tibbles: Well, first of all, thank you very much for having me,

Fredricka. And it has been a long time since we've spoken. I covered that meeting in Helsinki between Putin and Trump back then. And back then it was considered a high-stakes meeting as well, except back then it was prior to Vladimir Putin's decision to invade Ukraine.

So, what has taken place in the three and a half or odd years or longer than that? It is a time where Ukraine continues to attempt to resist. The Russians continue to throw young men and women into the fray and rack up unbelievable counts of injured and dead. And we don't see any progress.

The President says that he is going to try to get a ceasefire. He almost guaranteed that we were going to have a ceasefire shortly after the inauguration. And here we are, several months later, still waiting for someone to make a red line. I mean, we always talk about these red lines that are drawn. And yet each and every time Vladimir Putin seems to escape it.

I would like to say, however, that a photo op, just a simple photo op between Vladimir Putin and President Trump would probably do a great service to Vladimir Putin. And that is something that concerns not only myself, but the people in Ukraine, because we've already seen that Vladimir Putin can't really be trusted with these goals.

WHITFIELD: Right, because for Russia, that really would elevate his status, wouldn't it? Or his perceived status on the world stage would be a great disadvantage for Ukraine because, right, Putin does not want to recognize it as a legitimate country, and it might potentially not be part of the conversations, a bilateral conversation between the U.S. and Russia.

TIBBLES: Well, the whole thing with Putin is, is that he does not want Ukraine to become a member of NATO. He doesn't want Ukraine to take any steps to further westernize itself. He either wants a puppet in charge of Ukraine, or he wants Ukraine to be a part of the greater Russia. Who knows? Perhaps he even wants to reconstitute the old imperial Russia. And that, of course, has all of Russia's neighbors, who aren't Ukraine, very concerned at this point in time, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, the Finns and the Swedes join NATO as a result of what Vladimir Putin is doing.

So, the NATO countries in the region are arming themselves, rearming themselves. They are standing together. The real question mark here, and it has been the question mark all along, is what is the United States doing? We've already seen the Vice President berate the Europeans. We've seen the President accuse the Europeans and the Canadians and others of being cheapskates, and they have to start to pay the NATO tab. All of these countries are sort of starting to pull up their socks.

So, what's the President going to do next? Is he going to go to see Vladimir Putin, or are they going to meet in some third country somewhere? Because, of course, Putin is wanted internationally for war crimes. Is the President of the United States going to sit down with an accused war criminal to talk what? [15:10:04]

A ceasefire in a country that Putin has clearly said he is not going to stop attacking. Perhaps the one thing that President Trump could consider would be arming the Ukrainians to the extent where they could defend themselves, and perhaps that's one way of pushing Vladimir Putin back.

WHITFIELD: Kevin Tibbles, we'll leave it there for now. Great to see you. Thank you so much.

TIBBLES: Thank you, Fred. Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Brianna.

KEILAR: Sources are telling CNN the FBI is firing two senior officials, but it might not even stop there. Other agents may be at risk if they're perceived to be opposed to President Trump. Fired are Brian Driscoll, who served as acting FBI director in the weeks before now Director Kash Patel was confirmed, and also acting director in charge of the Washington field office Steve Jensen. CNN Crime and Justice Correspondent Katelyn Polantz is here with us now to talk about this. Tell us what you're learning about this.

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Well, Brianna, we are hearing about both case agents and senior leaders who are being told their last day is going to be tomorrow. It's only a handful right now, but those two top people are quite notable here. Brian Driscoll, who was the acting director of the entire bureau before political appointee Kash Patel was confirmed.

This is someone who for many weeks had been at odds with the Trump administration, but protecting people in the bureau. He had refused initially to give names of the thousands of agents that worked on January six cases to leadership in the Department of Justice. He won a lot of accolades and confidence from members of the bureau, people who were agents in the rank and file when that happened. And then just recently we learned through some sources that he wouldn't discipline an FBI pilot who was flying a plane for director Kash Patel because that agent had been previously working on one of the Trump cases and been involved in one of the subpoenas there.

Driscoll sent a note to his colleagues today that we have obtained here. He wrote, "Last night, I was informed that tomorrow will be my last day in the FBI. I understand that you may have a lot of questions regarding why, for which I currently have no answers. No cause has been articulated at this time. I regret nothing. You are my heroes and I remain in your debt."

He says that he doesn't have a reason, but there is a perception that this may be firings because these are people that were at odds with the Trump administration in one way or another, had worked on cases that Donald Trump doesn't like. Morale across the bureau has been decimated with Driscoll being the person pushing back for months and now being let go. We also received a statement from the FBI Agents Association

commenting on these firings. They wrote: "Agents are not given the option to pick and choose their cases, and these Agents carried out their assignments with professionalism and integrity. Most importantly, they followed the law. If these agents are fired without due process, it makes the American people less safe."

The FBI Agents Association also said that they're looking at legal options here. We'll have to see exactly what comes next and the total number of people that are fired here at this time. It's been Driscoll. And we also have seen a letter from Steve Jensen, the - who was in charge of the Washington field office for the FBI and didn't appear at a press conference today that he was supposed to.

KEILAR: A tip off of maybe what was happening here.

Katelyn Polantz, thank you so much.

Still to come, the Trump administration appears to be using a little- known tactic in its immigration crackdown. We'll talk to you about what that is.

Plus, a possible breakthrough in the fight against Alzheimer's. Researchers say they found a key to protecting aging brains and treating the disease.

And then later, flying in the future, not for the queasy, why turbulence is going up. We'll have that and much more coming up on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:18:24]

KEILAR: It was the most controversial immigration practice of President Trump's first term, his family separation policy, removing migrant children from their parents. But now, the administration appears to be going about it a different way. The New York Times reports there are at least nine cases where parents and children were separated as they challenged deportation orders.

CNN has previously reported on initiatives leading to immigrant family separations. Multiple sources telling us the administration is at times taking children into government custody and making it difficult for them to be released. In a statement to The New York Times, DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said, quote, "ICE does not separate families. The parents had the right and the ability to depart the country as a family and willfully choose to not comply."

She also denied that there was a new policy on family separations. We're joined now by Lee Gelernt, Deputy Director of the ACLU's Immigration Rights Project, who has been investigating the legality of these separations.

Lee, thank you so much for being with us. The New York Times report focuses on one family from Russia specifically. Parents Evgenia and their son, Maxim, they say that they were detained after driving to a port of entry on the southern border. DHS documents say the parents refused to get on their commercial deportation flight back to Russia and the parents were then taken back into ICE detention and their eight-year-old son put in foster care.

First, tell us about the separations that you're hearing about and how widespread things like this are.

[15:20:02]

LEE GELERNT, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, ACLU IMMIGRANTS' RIGHTS PROJECT: Yes, so thanks for having me. As you said, the Times noted nine cases. We are investigating it, but our sources say that there could be dozens, maybe more than a hundred right now, children separated based on this tactic. You know, and let me just be clear, we should never be using children as pawns. But beyond that, this - what's really horrendous about this is it's being combined with other Trump administration policies, which the ACLU and our partners are challenging, which don't give people the right to express fear in their home country.

So, this family apparently was going to be in real trouble if they were sent back to Russia, but wasn't given a fear screening. So, it wasn't like this family was saying, I just don't feel like going back. They were in real danger, apparently, if they were sent back. And so, they didn't just give up their child willy-nilly. They said, if we go back, this is going to be - we're going to be separated and this is going to be horrendous.

Finally, apparently, they gave them a screening and they passed, but they still haven't got their child back. And so, the Trump administration's policy of not giving people fear screenings and then saying, we're going to send you back to danger. And if you don't get on that plane, we're going to take your children away, really is horrendous. But just to broaden the context, this is one tactic, but we have a settlement stopping the original family separation policy. The Trump administration is breaching that left and right. The court has already found two breaches. So, we think that there are separations going on all over the country, not just with this one tactic.

KEILAR: And in 2023, the Biden administration reached a settlement deal with the ACLU and it stipulated the federal government will not be allowed to separate migrant families at the border. But when we're looking at some of these instances, they're happening in the interior of the country. Is that a loophole? How are you seeing that make a difference here?

GELERNT: Yes, so the family separation policy that you're mentioning originally took place at the border and that's what the settlement focused on. I mean, we're going to investigate how these separations are happening and whether they fall within the settlement. But if it turns out that the Trump administration is doing multiple types of separations outside of the settlement, then it may be we need to bring a second lawsuit if they don't fall within the settlement.

So, more investigations necessary, but even those that clearly fall within the settlement we know are happening. And so, they're sort of fighting on two fronts for us. One is to enforce the settlement at cases that clearly fall within it. And the other now is to investigate these new tactics the Trump administration is trying to use outside the settlement to see whether we need to bring a second lawsuit.

But, you know, as I said to the Times, it's hardly surprising this is happening. The Trump administration has yet to acknowledge that it was their policy to take children away the first time around or the horrendous harm that they've done to these families. And I just want the public to understand that this is not over. Many, many of these children who were separated back in 2017 are still not with their parents yet. I mean, years later, the trauma that they're suffering every day according to medical experts (INAUDIBLE) ...

KEILAR: Yes. No, it certainly is. And this family that spoke to the Times, they've actually now passed their protection screenings as you mentioned. So, they can't be deported to Russia. They can be deported to a third country. So, what does something like that mean to people who are coming to the U.S. seeking asylum? You know, they may have a credible fear. They certainly feel they do. Is it that they fear, perhaps, political persecution or violence related to that? What message does that send to them?

GELERNT: Well, I'm glad you raised that because that's yet another policy of the Trump administration that is looking for any country that will take people no matter how horrendous the conditions are in those countries. So, undoubtedly they're trying to scare people and they're sending people right now to countries where the Trump administration has to know that they're not going to be safe.

So, we are trying to ensure that there's asylum for people so they can't be sent anywhere, not just to their home country. And that lawsuit is ongoing, but all of these policies now are intersecting to produce horrendous results for families.

KEILAR: Lee Gelernt, thank you for being with us. We appreciate it.

GELERNT: Thanks.

KEILAR: Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, in this breaking news, a federal judge is ordering a temporary halt to construction of a controversial immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades. CNN's Priscilla Alvarez is joining us right now. So, it doesn't necessarily mean that the facility cannot be used. It means no added infrastructure?

[15:25:04]

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. It says that they can continue to use this facility, a facility, by the way, that was set up over a matter of weeks in Florida to hold migrants who have been arrested. Now, according to this, they cannot add any new paving or infrastructure for the next 14 days. So, this is a temporary halt to construction. This has been a facility, by the way, that the state of Florida has been continually adding onto. They have said that they want this facility to be able to house thousands of migrants, and they have been trying to build up to that.

So far, they have been holding hundreds, some of whom we have spoke to. This is a facility that has come under intense scrutiny over the conditions. The detainees that we have spoken with have said that there have been issues, for example, with the sewage system, with limited water, among other issues that they have encountered. But this particular lawsuit was specific to the area in which they have built this facility, deep in the Everglades. These were environmental groups that said that it threatened environmentally sensitive wetlands. So that was the genesis of this lawsuit and what has been part of this ongoing case.

So, we'll see what happens next because this is a temporary halt of the facility, but it is a facility that the administration has touted often, and not that long ago, President Trump, with his senior officials, had toured again as part of their aggressive immigration enforcement campaign.

WHITFIELD: Right. So, a temporary halt, not because of the alleged cruelty to some of the detainees, but instead because of the threat to the environment.

Priscilla Alvarez, thank you so much.

All right, straight ahead, scientists believe lithium could be the key to understanding and treating Alzheimer's disease. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)