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China Retaliates with Reciprocal Tariff on All U.S. Goods; Trump Speaks with Foreign Leaders amid Tariff Turmoil; Dow Plunges 2,200 Points as Tariff Tumult Rocks Markets; Russian Strike on Zelenskyy's Home Town Kills 16; U.S. to Russia, Time Is Running Out for Peace Talks; Aggressive Immigration Push Stokes Fear; JPMorgan Upgrades Global Recession Risk to 60 Percent; Trump Delays TikTok Ban after Tariffs Kill Possible Deal; Heavy Rain Floods Northern Peru Again; Sports Highlights. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired April 05, 2025 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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BRIAN ABEL, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hello and welcome to all of our viewers watching from around the world. I'm Brian Abel in Atlanta.
Ahead on CNN NEWSROOM, U.S. markets battered for a second straight day as tariff anxiety roils Wall Street.
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MARCO RUBIO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: The Russians know our position in terms of wanting to end the war and we will know from their answers very soon whether they are serious about proceeding with real peace or whether this is a delay tactic.
ABEL (voice-over): A strong message for Moscow as Russian strikes kill more than a dozen in Ukraine.
Plus, president Trump postpones the sale of TikTok. How tariffs derailed the plan.
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ABEL: It's just past 3 am on the U.S. East Coast, as president Donald Trump's new tariffs are underway. There's now a 10 percent tax on all goods imported into the United States, set to be followed next week by far larger levies on dozens of other countries.
But already, Mr. Trump's decision is upending nearly a century of U.S. trade policy, sending the global economy into turmoil.
China has retaliated against the new tariffs, announcing on Friday its own countertariffs of 34 percent on all U.S. goods, starting April 10th. That's the day after new U.S. tariffs specific to China raised the effective tax rate for Chinese goods to more than 50 percent. Global stock markets dropped sharply again as investors digested
president Trump's new tariffs and the knockon effects. The S&P 500 lost more than 45 trillion in market value over the past two days. The three major U.S. averages were battered by a steep selloff on Friday.
The president on Friday also took the unusual step of trying to pressure the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates. The Fed's chairman warned that inflation is likely to increase.
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JEROME POWELL, FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN: While uncertainty remains elevated. It is now becoming clear that tariff increases will be significantly larger than expected and the same is likely to be true of the economic effects, which will include higher inflation and slower growth. The size and duration of these effects remains uncertain.
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ABEL: Meanwhile, the president spent his Friday at his golf club in Florida, where the White House says he was taking calls from foreign leaders. U.S. secretary of state Marco Rubio acknowledged the brutal two days on Wall Street but claimed markets will adjust.
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MARCO RUBIO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: I don't think it's fair to say economies are crashing. Markets are crashing because markets are based on the stock value of companies who today are embedded in modes of production that are bad for the United States.
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ABEL: CNN's Jeff Zeleny is in West Palm Beach, Florida, with more on the political negotiations happening behind the scenes.
But first, Richard Quest has the latest on the financial fallout.
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RICHARD QUEST, CNN HOST: Another day and another serious market fall, the second in a row. The Dow was off more than 2,200 points. It's now down 12 percent plus since its recent high. That officially makes it into a correction.
The same for the S&P 500, which is down 15 percent or so. But it's the Nasdaq that's really being clobbered. The Nasdaq is now down more than 22 percent since its recent high. And that makes it officially a bear market.
These numbers and reactions all make perfect common sense when you look at the size and scale of what the U.S. has just launched on the rest of the world; the reworking, if you will, of global trade.
True, there may be some countries like Cambodia and Vietnam that manage to do bilateral negotiations that get their tariff down. But the big players -- China, for instance, with its reciprocal tariff of 34 percent; the E.U. deciding what it's going to do -- all of these major trading partners, that's where the improvement has to be.
And so far, there's no indication that they are buckling. And even if they did, even if there was some sort of rapprochement, the truth is the trust has gone. The United States has now beaten up on allies and foes alike. It's made its intentions clear and the market has given its reaction -- Richard Quest, CNN, New York.
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JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: This is the first of a two-step process that has rattled global markets.
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It's unlike anything we have ever seen since the pandemic. Certainly. He has. Upended the global economy. The trading. Policy, in a way we have not seen since before the Second World War.
But the question now going into the weekend, will the president be open to some negotiations?
He signaled that he might be with Vietnam, for example. He had conversations with the leaders of Vietnam, talking about the reciprocal tariffs that he has threatened to impose on them. Of course, that is a very big trading partner.
But China striking back extraordinarily hard with a 34 percent reciprocal tariff to essentially match the one that the president said he would impose on them. Again, that deadline is next Wednesday.
What will change the president's mind?
A variety of people we talk to around him say he is being defiant on this strategy to go ahead with this tariff plan that he has long believed. He believes that American manufacturing should be more robust, more jobs should be conducted here in the United States. He calls it a golden age.
The question, is this era of protectionism something that is realistic in today's economy?
So there is no doubt this self-inflicted wound on the financial markets has really caused so much consternation heading into the weekend.
What will the president do as he talks to more business leaders and more countries?
Again, that next deadline on Wednesday; we'll see what the markets look like by then -- Jeff Zeleny, CNN, West Palm Beach, Florida.
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ABEL: British prime minister Keir Starmer is planning to call world leaders over the weekend to discuss his approach to president Trump's tariffs. Downing Street says he already spoke with the Australian and Italian prime ministers, adding they all agreed that an all-out trade war would be extremely damaging.
Meanwhile, a top European trade official says he had a frank two-hour exchange with U.S. commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick about the sweeping tariffs. He says he told Lutnick they are damaging and unjustified.
Here in the U.S., Republican senator Ted Cruz, a vocal Trump supporter, is questioning the administration's approach. He says the Trump tariffs could be so bad for the American economy that Democrats could take control of the House and Senate in 2026.
Cruz spoke on his podcast Friday, saying he wants to see the tariffs succeed but wants them to result in lower tariffs overall. But he says he thinks there are some in the White House who want the tariffs to be permanent. Cruz says that would be very bad for the economy.
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SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): And it's terrible for America. It will hurt jobs and hurt America. And there is a very real risk of that if we go into a recession.
Particularly a bad recession. 2026, in all likelihood politically would be a bloodbath. You would face a Democrat House and you might even face a Democrat Senate.
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ABEL: I want to bring in now the senior lecturer in economics at Loughborough University, Dr. Huw Edwards.
Doctor, thank you so much for being with us. Now I've heard economists refer to this moment as one of those "remember" moments. We'll remember our lives before and after liberation day.
Just what is the enormity of these last few days?
The impact around the globe.
DR. HUW EDWARDS, SENIOR LECTURER IN ECONOMICS, LOUGHBOROUGH UNIVERSITY: Enormous everywhere, really. I mean, this is this is America doing its own version of Brexit.
And remember our Nigel Farage standing up and saying, this is our liberation day. It didn't work out terribly well for us. And this, really, you look at the world markets. People are not expecting good results really any almost anywhere as a result of this.
ABEL: Doctor, we are seeing --
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EDWARDS: It is -- yes.
It is almost a changing global trade regime. Do go ahead.
ABEL: Now we are seeing some countries like Canada and China retaliate, while others, Cambodia, for example, seem to be attempting to capitulate to president Trump. Help us make sense of the varied responses so far.
Is there a rhyme or reason behind it?
Winners and losers?
And what in your eyes is the end game?
Here?
EDWARDS: Well, I mean, if you look at Donald Trump's tariffs, I mean, you know, he rather disingenuously tried to tell people that, you know, he was picking on countries with unfair trade practices against America. That really doesn't seem to be the case.
I mean, what you look at is he's actually picked upon the countries who have trade surpluses with America and those are the ones he's hitting. And the ones like Cambodia are the ones that don't import enough from America, really, to hit back.
Longer term, he does have worries. You know, which is a production may move from these to other countries and that possibly these countries may fall more into the Chinese sphere of influence. So I'm not sure even that these countries not responding is going to make much sense.
And I think Donald Trump has possibly thought, you know, that there is a large negotiation element and there always is when it comes to tariffs.
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In other words, you can get capitulations, you can get concessions. But when he breaks the regime like this, others will respond. And those who are strong enough, such as the E.U., will definitely respond. Britain, by the way, is holding fire at the moment.
ABEL: And Doctor, let's talk about what's been lost so far in a two- day period. The Dow plunging roughly 10 percent. And just for scale, that market plunge was greater than the GDP of France and the U.K. combined. Just wiped out in 48 hours.
So is there a future where any of that ever gets recovered?
EDWARDS: Well, it partly depends upon whether, you know, as I say, there is some sort of stepping back by Trump and by other governments. But what he has done is, effectively, he's triggered a tit-for-tat trade war.
And, you know, the American -- America has done extremely well, which people tend to forget. I mean, you know, Americans say how in some ways how strong their economy is. It's done extremely well from 80 years of building up international trust.
The person just before was talking about Apple with supply chains around the world. America may not be directly producing the manufacturers but they're making lots of profits on the trading. And they're designing goods.
And the -- this is huge revenue for the States. Now you know, it may well be that Trump will find that this is more painful than he can bear. But at the moment, he seems to be fairly fixed on it. And the way he's done this, he's thinking that this will be borne by foreigners. Well, it won't. When retaliation happens, it'll be borne by. Everybody.
ABEL: And if he does find it's too much to bear, is there really any off ramp at this point to lower that possibility of a global recession?
And what advice for people that are impacted?
Can they avoid tariffs?
EDWARDS: Well, I mean, obviously they can try buying American goods there. There may be some attempts at recycling the tariff revenue. I mean, you know, at the moment, one dreads that he may be wanting to give his revenue to billionaires.
Well, he may actually recycle some of this to other people's tax cuts as well. So there may, there may be that.
The other thing is that he will, you know, it is possible that the Fed will cut interest rates. The trouble is these tariffs are inflationary. And if they cut interest rates in an inflationary situation, it will probably produce stagflation rather than anything else. So it's not very optimistic.
ABEL: All right. Dr. Huw Edwards, Doctor, thank you.
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ABEL: The impact of president Trump's tariffs is being felt all over the globe. Lesotho, a small country surrounded by South Africa, was hit with the highest tariff rate, despite being one of the poorest countries in the world. CNN's Larry Madowo reports.
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LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sewing machines whirl in a garment factory in Lesotho. But that's not the biggest buzz in this textile shop, which makes apparel for many popular clothing brands. Workers say they are worried for their jobs after the U.S. imposed a
50 percent reciprocal trade tariff on the tiny African nation, which could upend Lesotho's economy.
TEBOHO KOBELI, QUANTUM APPAREL: The direct impact is reduction of employment immediately, reduction of employment, which we are trying by all means to avoid.
MADOWO (voice-over): Lesotho is one of the poorest countries in the world and exports nearly half of its products to the U.S., which are mostly diamonds and textiles.
So to be hit with the White House's highest tariff rate is a crippling blow, especially for factories that supply U.S. brands, like this LEVINSON: 's factory, which makes hundreds of thousands of jeans a month.
TSEPANG MAKAKOLE, ECONOMIC FREEDOM TRADE UNION: Investors now.
They might look at it other way if the government do not take an immediate action. Maybe to kneel before the American government.
MADOWO (voice-over): Lesotho says it's planning to send a delegation to the U.S. for crisis talks, something one economist says could help to avoid financial disaster in the country.
THABO QESI, ECONOMIST: If the closure of the factories were to happen.
And the industry.
Is going.
To die and there will be. Multiplier effects, you know those sectors will be adversely affected. Those are the implications. So Lesotho will be dead.
You know. So to say.
MADOWO (voice-over): Last month, Trump mocked Lesotho.
TRUMP: The African nation of Lesotho, which nobody has ever heard of.
MADOWO (voice-over): Now it's on top of his tariff list, a standing Lesotho is both struggling to understand and afford -- Larry Madowo. CNN.
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ABEL: Just ahead, the Ukrainian president's hometown is one of the latest cities to fall under Russian fire. We'll bring you the latest on the war in Ukraine next.
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Plus, the U.S. government admits it sent this man to a Salvadoran prison by mistake but says it can't bring him back. Those stories and more after the break.
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ABEL: In Ukraine, at least 16 people have been killed, six of them children, in a Russian missile strike on the Ukrainian president's hometown. Friday's strike also reportedly injured more than 50 people when it hit near a playground in a residential area. A local woman explains what she saw.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Yes. There were dead children laying there, crying parents. It was horrible. There was a crater where it hit and smoke was coming out of it.
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ABEL: Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has offered his condolences and is now calling for more pressure on Russia.
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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): All Russian promises end with missiles, drones, bombs or artillery. Diplomacy is a hollow word for them.
That's why pressure is needed, a sufficient pressure on Russia so they feel the consequences of every lie, every strike. Every day they take human lives and prolong the war.
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ABEL: Washington is now warning Moscow that time is running out over Ukraine peace talks. Ukraine was a main topic of discussion at a meeting of NATO foreign ministers on Friday. But as CNN's Alex Marquardt reports, another issue loomed over their talks.
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ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: There was no avoiding the subject of tariffs here at NATO, even if it wasn't part of the official conversations, it did loom large. The Canadian foreign minister, for example, telling me that it was difficult to focus on these important NATO issues when there's a trade war going on.
But at the end of these two days of meetings, the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, defended the tariffs from the Trump administration. He pushed back on questions about whether economies around the world are collapsing. He said that, yes, the markets are crashing but that they are reacting to what he called a dramatic change.
He said that there has to be a reset in the global order of trade and that businesses and markets would readjust once they got used to what he called the new rules. There was also a lot of discussion, of course, about Ukraine here at NATO, the future of Ukraine, a lot of praise for the United States, for the efforts that it is undertaking to try to get to a ceasefire and a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.
And Rubio actually revealed that before coming here to Brussels, he had sat down with Kirill Dmitriev in Washington. That's the Kremlin aide, the Putin ally who went to Washington earlier this week. And the message that Rubio said he gave to Dmitriev was that they need to see concrete steps that the U.S. wants to be convinced that Russia does indeed want peace.
Here's a little bit more of what he had to say when I asked him about that meeting.
RUBIO: Well, we're not interested in -- and I'm not accusing them of this. I'm just telling you what we're not interested in is negotiations about negotiations, that we're not going to continue this forever. So none of it was threatening. I think it was more an explanation of this is our timeline.
And at some point, it will be clear whether you want peace or you don't want peace. And that time is coming. It's pretty short.
MARQUARDT: That timeframe is just weeks, Rubio said, not months. And that's the message that he said he wanted Dmitriev to take back to Putin in Moscow.
Meanwhile, NATO allies have been telling Rubio and other U.S. officials that they believe that President Putin is stalling, that he's playing for time and really that the only kind of peace deal that he would go for is one that is on his own terms -- Alex Marquardt, CNN, at NATO headquarters.
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ABEL: And President Zelenskyy says Ukraine will be ready to present a new draft of a minerals deal with the United States next week. He says Ukraine will choose a law firm to represent it in negotiations and that a technical team will be prepared to travel to the U.S. for talks. Zelenskyy says he will not take part in this trip.
A federal judge on Friday ruled that the U.S. must bring back a man mistakenly deported to El Salvador by the end of the day Monday. The Trump administration admitted for the first time it made a deportation mistake with the father of three but says it can't do anything about it.
CNN's Polo Sandoval has more on the fear being spread by the Trump administration's deportation policies.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking foreign language).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translation): Well, then, I'm not going to step out. If I don't step out --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. No.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking foreign language).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. If it's against -- no.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mommy.
POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is Salvadoran Elsie Noemi Berrios (ph) behind the wheel detained by federal agents in Maryland earlier this week. Her daughter shot the video.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Wait. don't grab her like that.
SANDOVAL (voice-over): DHS said in a statement, "This individual has been identified as an associate of the vicious MS-13 gang. Americans can rest assured that she's off our streets and locked up.
Berrios' family was shocked by the allegations, saying their mother has no ties to MS-13 or any gang, adding that she held a valid work authorization while her immigration proceedings were pending. Her daughter saying simply, it's not true.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh my God.
SANDOVAL (voice-over): The images are sending shockwaves to Maryland Salvadoran community, which is still reeling from the deportation of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a husband and father who was sent to a notorious mega prison in El Salvador. The Trump administration admitted it was an administrative error.
The government claims that he was associated with the violent Salvadoran gang Mara Salvatrucha or MS-13. DHS said in a statement, "he should be locked up."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everyone.
ALL: ICE out of Maryland.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When we want it?
ALL: Now.
SANDOVAL (voice-over): Abrego Garcia's wife disputes the administration's claim and read a statement before a judge ordered her husband be returned to the U.S. no later than Monday.
JENNIFER STEFANIA VASQUEZ SURA, WIFE OF KILMAR ARMANDO ABREGO GARCIA: If I had all the money in the world, I'll spend it all just to buy one thing, a phone call to hear Kilmar's voice again.
JORGE BENITEZ PEREZ, COMMUNITY ORGANIZER: My biggest question is why?
Why was he a target?
Were you guys trying to make an example?
Were you targeting the Salvadoran community?
SANDOVAL (voice-over): Local activist Jorge Benitez Perez fears that speaking out comes with a risk.
PEREZ: Even doing this interview, I thought about it before I came here because I am someone that is not a full citizen.
[03:25:00]
I am someone on a, you know, permanent status but what is permanent now?
SANDOVAL (voice-over): Beyond his personal concerns, Benitez is deeply worried that members of the Salvadoran community will be mislabeled as gang members detained or even deported by mistake again.
PEREZ: Now things can just turn like that, where a narrative of gang members, Mara Salvatrucha is being sent and I'm doing this because I want people to know that's not the reality. That's not who we are and that's definitely not who my people are.
SANDOVAL (voice-over): Like Benitez, elementary school teacher Yakie Palma has noticed heightened fears in the eyes of her students.
YAKIE PALMA, ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHER: Children are scared as well and it's really impacting their performance in school.
SANDOVAL (voice-over): As a first generation Salvadoran American, Palma says she's formed bonds with migrant parents of her students, many from El Salvador. She recalls a recent conversation with a seven- year-old student.
PALMA: She told me that she was very terrified that she would get deported. Her parents have told me that she is a U.S. citizen. She was born here but still it's that widespread fear that if you're Hispanic or if you're Salvadoran, you're going to get deported, right?
Because of that racial profiling happening and that affiliation with MS-13.
PEREZ: All throughout like --
SANDOVAL (voice-over): Back in his old neighborhood, Benitez remains hopeful but also fiercely protective of his community.
PEREZ: This is not the first time our communities have been under attack. We survived four years in the past and we can do it again.
SANDOVAL (voice-over): Polo Sandoval, CNN, Prince George's County, Maryland. (END VIDEOTAPE)
ABEL: Still to come, U.S. tariffs target the world's largest coffee suppliers, which are already dealing with near-record prices.
And millions of American TikTok users can rest easy for now. The ban has been delayed. Ahead, we'll tell you how much more time is on the clock for TikTok.
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ABEL: China is criticizing the U.S. after new tariffs from the Trump administration on nearly all of America's global trading partners triggered two days of steep losses on stock markets around the world.
The Chinese foreign ministry pointed to the sharp financial declines and says, quote, "The market has spoken."
The three major U.S. indices all fell by more than 5.5 percent on Friday. Beijing retaliated for the tariffs by imposing its own countertariffs of 34 percent on all U.S. goods starting next Thursday.
Meanwhile, Canada's foreign minister says Ottawa's relationship with the U.S. will never be the same again because of Mr. Trump's sweeping new tariffs.
JPMorgan now believes a global recession is more likely than not, upgrading the chances of a recession this year from 40 percent to 60 percent. The managing director and head of economic research at JPMorgan spoke to Jake Tapper and explained what's behind the new assessment.
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BRUCE KASMAN, MANAGING DIRECTOR & HEAD OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH, J.P. MORGAN: I think there are three things here. Let me say first off that I think the economy is actually doing reasonably well as we move through the first quarter, I think something you see in today's employment report.
However, first and foremost, what we saw with Liberation Day was an extremely large tariff increase. And we should understand that a tariff increase is a tax on U.S. households and businesses. That roughly 22 percent cumulative tariff increase we see would be the largest U.S. tax hike we've had since 1968.
It's a big hit to the economy in a direct sense. The second thing is the design of the tariff was not meant to tactically go against unfair practices abroad. It was basically putting tariffs on countries based on their bilateral deficit with the U.S. And in doing so, what you're doing is effectively creating a situation
where you're targeting those things that Americans buy, regardless of the cause of that. You're creating an opportunity for large disruptions and I think significant retaliation as well.
And perhaps as important as anything, we think what's going on here, not just with trade policy but with other policies as well, is we're seeing an administration that is shifting the sentiment of the business sector away from its view.
Which I think was in place at the beginning of the year, that this administration cared about near term growth, cared about the business sector. And that momentum shift in terms of sentiment is what's reflected in the markets this week.
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ABEL: Americans may soon be paying even more for a cup of coffee. President Trump's tariffs are hitting the world's largest coffee producers. That includes Colombia, which shipped at least $1.4 billion worth of coffee to the U.S. last year, according to the Census Bureau. CNN's Stefano Pozzebon reports from Bogota.
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STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Colombian coffee farmers are concerned after the White House imposed a 10 percent tariff on Colombian imports. Most of that include coffee.
Now here I am at the warehouse where the Colombian Coffee Federation stores its beans before they are ready to be exported to the United States. About 40 percent of these sacks that are just behind my back are destined for the United States.
And, of course, an import tariff of 10 percent can create havoc for the many people that depend on coffee here in Colombia. There are about 500,000 small coffee farmers that are part of the Colombian Coffee Federation. About 3 million people depend on coffee.
So an increase of prices because of these tariffs could spell really bad for their bottom line. And that's why many here in Colombia are sharing these concerns.
Now one thing to notice is that the United States cannot just replace imports of coffee. It's not like America can start growing coffee in Arizona or California.
They will still have to purchase coffee from the traditional exporting countries, such as Colombia, which got a 10 percent tariff; such as Brazil, which got a 10 percent tariff; or Vietnam, who got a 46 percent tariff.
Who will pay that extra bill, however, remains to be seen. And that's why there is so much concern here in the global south that those tariffs might impact the bottom line -- just down here for CNN, this is Stefano Pozzebon, Bogota. (END VIDEOTAPE)
ABEL: TikTok is getting more time. President Trump is pushing back today's deadline for TikTok to find a new owner. This comes after Mr. Trump's tariffs on China killed a potential deal to sell the app to American investors. CNN's Clare Duffy explains what might be next for TikTok.
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CLARE DUFFY, CNN BUSINESS WRITER: Yes, this will at least be good news for TikTok's 170 million American users. They will be glad to hear that Trump has granted another 75-day extension in the enforcement of this ban because, he says, more time is needed to make a deal to sell TikTok off from its China-based parent company.
[03:35:04]
But that's interesting, right?
Because both president Trump and vice president Vance had said in the leadup to the Saturday deadline that they did expect there would be a deal before the deadline. Trump now saying that more time is needed to make a deal.
And what CNN is hearing from a source familiar with the deal is that there was actually a deal in place this week.
That U.S. investors, ByteDance, and Trump administration staff had all agreed on this deal that would have handed off majority control of TikTok's U.S. assets to American ownership, leaving ByteDance with just a 20 percent stake in the company.
But that deal went off the rails when Trump announced his 34 percent tariff on China this week. And ByteDance representatives came to the White House and said China is not going to approve of this deal while these tariffs are in place.
Now what's interesting is that ByteDance is publicly acknowledging that it is engaged with the White House in these talks. A spokesperson saying that an agreement has not been executed because there are still key matters to resolve. So I think that is the big question now, is can Trump get this deal back on track?
Can he convince China to agree to a sale of TikTok?
While this trade war is escalating?
My other big question is when we might start hearing from the folks in Congress who passed this law on a bipartisan basis on national security concerns. Those national security concerns were upheld by the Supreme Court unanimously earlier this year.
What did they think about the fact that this ban is now being delayed a second time? I think those are the big questions about TikTok's future. But for now, good news for American TikTok users -- Clare Duffy, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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ABEL: All right, let's dissect this a little more with Elaine Burke, a tech journalist and the host of the "For Tech's Sake" podcast. She's joining us now from Dublin, Ireland.
Hello to you. Good to be with you, Elaine. So I want to ask you this first, the proverbial can is kicked down the road again.
What does this moment mean for the 170 million Americans on the platform?
Should they be holding their breath for the next 75 days?
ELAINE BURKE, PODCAST HOST: Yes, because it seems like it was very late stage developments for this first 75-day ban. So it doesn't infuse confidence that things will be worked out in time for the next ban.
But it does seem that those conversations are active. They are taking place but have been complicated by the imposition of tariffs in the same week that this deadline was met.
ABEL: Well, as you alluded to, it appears that TikTok is now wrapped up in the tariff trade war with China. The reported deal president Trump reached with ByteDance, that was seemingly hours away from being announced, torpedoed by Trump himself when he announced the new tariffs. Now we see China laying down retaliatory tariffs.
What does that signal to you?
What do you see any future deal looking like?
BURKE: It does seem to be that the tariff situation has exacerbated the factor in this deal that requires the Chinese government to sign off on it. And that's based on a number of different things.
They have restrictions on the export of technologies from China and they also have a stake, a 1 percent stake, in ByteDance. So any deal that is to happen in terms of a U.S. sale of TikTok's operations, it has to be signed off by the Chinese government.
So if other actions are going to conflate that issue and make relations difficult with China, it is obviously going to hold that card where it can just say, we're not going to sign off on this deal. And it doesn't seem that China has any kind of position here, that it needs to give way.
And it's in conversation about selling off this technology for a U.S. base at ByteDance, still to hold just less than 20 percent stake in it. And so they have come to the table to have that discussion. But they still seem to hold the cards when it comes to the final say.
And if relations are going to be soured by tariffs and this trade war that seems to be taking place, then I don't see why they would turn around and say, OK, let's go ahead.
ABEL: And does any of this get at the core of the reason for the sell or ban principle in the first place, American national security?
It seems like that's been kind of lost in any of these negotiations and deals.
BURKE: Absolutely. I think something very curious that has come out of this talk of a potential deal that's on the table.
Is that it doesn't seem to address what were the core concerns of this perceived threat to national security that this app presented for its influence on U.S. users and its potential perceived potential for data to be shared with the Chinese government, data from U.S. users.
There was a plan in place called Project Texas, with Oracle, one of the companies that is apparently leading one of the top bids. That's on the table here.
[03:40:00]
And that was about securing the national the data of U.S. users and is a similar project live or being built out here from Ireland called Project Clover to secure the data of E.U. citizens. And the structures of those deals were very similar.
The one in the E.U. is continuing to go ahead. They've actually just recently announced a new Norwegian data center going live as part of that plan.
But Project Texas never really took shape. And it seems, from reports that are coming out now from various sources that are speaking to the press on this, the deal that is currently being discussed looks a little bit like Project Texas in terms of the security of U.S. users' data.
But doesn't include certain provisions that were included in Project Texas, such as something that was called like a kill switch for the U.S. operations to be able to cut things off if necessary.
ABEL: Well, let's just say that, because of these tariffs, a deal doesn't get worked out in 75 days, TikTok has well over 1 billion users around the world.
So if it's banned in the U.S. it will still have a pretty huge user base.
How crucial is a deal here for the company?
Or can TikTok survive and maybe even thrive without an American presence? BURKE: Because it is such a globally used app, it does obviously have lots of potential even in the U.S. market. But the U.S. market is a lucrative one. There's 170 million users presumed to be active in the U.S.
And also TikTok's main revenue base would be the kind of social shopping element through TikTok's Shop. And American users have been a great base for that. It's only just recently launched in new territories. It's just gone live here in Ireland.
And so there's new territories where they don't really know what their revenue stream will be like when it comes to TikTok Shop, whereas the U.S. is nearly a proven market for that.
And I do think that, for TikTok itself, it's just -- it would still want the U.S. base because creators from the U.S. are also very popular on the app. It was well noticed here when the app went dark for a number of hours in January, that those people that were very popular on the app and that had really high profile accounts were absent.
And that kind of changed the user response in other territories as well. So I think actually the user base in the U.S. is also very valuable to TikTok.
ABEL: All right, Elaine Burke, appreciate your time and expertise. Elaine, thank you.
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ABEL: Millions of people in parts of the United States have been dealing with deadly storms and dozens of tornadoes. And now, once-in- a-lifetime flooding is in the forecast for this weekend.
Plus, comedian and actor Russell Brand facing multiple sexual assault charges, including rape. Those stories and more when we come back.
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ABEL: About 4 million people are under flash flood warnings from Texas to Kentucky. And more severe thunderstorms and heavy rain could trigger once-in-a-generation flooding into the weekend.
Extreme storms killed at least eight people across Tennessee, Missouri, Indiana and Kentucky this week. Drone video here shows buildings, cars and roads partially submerged by flood waters after rain pounded one town in Kentucky. It prompted president Trump to approve an emergency declaration for the state.
Communities are also grappling with widespread devastation after the severe storm spawned dozens of tornadoes in the central U.S.
Heavy rains in the north in northern Peru have left dozens of homes flooded. A river in Aguas Verdes, near the border with Ecuador, broke its banks Thursday. The fast-flowing waters reportedly caught people off guard in the early hours of the morning.
Members of Peru's army rescued nearly 130 families. One resident said the water came all the way up to his neck. The latest flooding comes just three weeks after a similar round of intense rains.
British actor and comedian Russell Brand has been charged with rape and sexual assault. CNN's Julia Vargas Jones has the details.
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JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN PRODUCER: The Met Police is saying charges against Russell Brand come after a careful review of evidence. It is alleged that one woman was raped in 1999, in Bournemouth, southern England.
One woman indecently assaulted in London's Westminster area in 2001. A third woman orally raped and sexually assaulted in 2004, also in the Westminster area of London, and a fourth woman sexually assaulted between 2004 and 2005, in London's Westminster area.
The Met Police also said that the investigation started after a joint investigation, led by three British media outlets -- the "Sunday Times," "The Times" and Channel Four's dispatches.
Brand is being charged with offenses including rape, sexual assault and indecent assault. Now Brand has denied these allegations since they surfaced in 2023 and he doubled down on that denial, posting a video statement on X. Take a listen.
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RUSSELL BRAND, ACTOR AND COMEDIAN: When I was young and single, before I had my wife and family, we were just out of shot over there, my beautiful children, I was a fool, man. I was a fool before I lived in the light of the Lord.
I was a drug addict, a sex addict and an imbecile. But what I never was was a rapist. I've never engaged in non-consensual activity. I pray that you can see that by looking in my eyes.
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JONES: Brand has also thanked the messages of support he says he's received from his followers. His battles with drug and alcohol have been part of a bigger discourse on wellness over the past few years.
He did gain a large following online, discussing it, as well as several conspiracy theories, particularly on his YouTube channel, where he has over 6 million subscribers -- Julia Vargas Jones, CNN, Los Angeles.
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ABEL: An American tourist has been arrested after allegedly attempting to make contact with one of the world's most isolated tribes.
The 24-year old, Mykhailo Viktorovych Polyakov, made the illegal journey to North Sentinel Island. It's around 750 miles off the coast of India. He did so at the end of March.
The island is home to the Sentinelese tribe and visiting the island is illegal under Indian law in order to maintain the tribe's way of life and protect them from modern illnesses. Although Polyakov managed to reach the island, it is not believed he made contact with the tribe.
Still ahead, hockey great Wayne Gretzky had better watch out. A Washington Capitals star is coming for his crown. More on that next.
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ABEL: Get ready to move over, Great One. Washington Capitals star forward Alex Ovechkin now shares Wayne Gretzky's all-time hockey goals record. The Washington captain scored twice last night to equal Gretzky's NHL record of 894 goals, as the Capitals defeated the Chicago Black Hawks, 5-3.
Gretzky's mark, it was once considered unreachable. Play in the game came to a halt as the overjoyed home crowd soaked up the moments. Also applauding, Gretzky himself. He was in the arena to see Ovechkin tie his record. Ovechkin said that made it a special moment for him, along with the new memories for his own family.
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ALEX OVECHKIN, WASHINGTON CAPITALS STAR FORWARD: Special moment.
It's great for hockey. It's great for D.C.
It's great for all our fans.
To do it here in Washington, yes, it was -- it's fun, you know, it's fun. It's always pleasure to be in that category with those names. It's game by game. It's shift by shift. You never know what's going to happen.
How I said, we're just going to continue to enjoy it and continue to do our best because we still have, like, six games left for playoffs.
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And our mind right now get ready for the playoffs. And you know, play the right way in the playoffs.
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WAYNE GRETZKY, HOCKEY HALL OF FAMER: Alex has been so. Great for. City of Washington. He's been so great for the national hockey. League. And he's encouraged so many kids in his home country of Russia to play the sport of hockey.
He's been nothing but a champion. And I'm so proud that we're tied. I can live with that for 24 more hours. I can still say I'm tied for the most.
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ABEL: Yes and that might be just about it, 24 hours. Don't get too comfortable, Wayne. Ove's next chance to break your record is on Sunday, when the Capitals take on the New York Islanders.
Well, four private astronauts splashed down off the California coast Friday after spending around four days in Earth's orbit. The space mission used a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule as -- and was the sixth fully private mission conducted by Elon Musk's company.
The four person crew, led by and paid for by Maltese investor Chun Wang, followed a polar trajectory. No humans have flown before. During the mission, the crew, made up of two men and two women, conducted 22 research experiments focusing on how human bodies change in microgravity.
Pretty impressive.
Well, a big homecoming on Ecuador's Galapagos islands. Dozens of giant tortoises bred and raised in captivity are now back in the wild. The young reptiles spent years in a breeding center, growing strong enough to survive on their own.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): This week, 170 tortoises were returned to their natural habitat to fulfill an extremely important ecological role within the protected areas of Galapagos.
ABEL (voice-over): The tortoises had health checks before their release. Park rangers say that thousands of them have been returned to their natural habitat, thanks to these initiatives.
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ABEL: Well, that wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Brian Abel. CNN NEWSROOM continues next with Kim Brunhuber.
