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Donald Trump Remains Defiant After Volatile Day For U.S. Stocks; New U.S. Threat Could Bring Tariffs On China To 104 Percent; Donald Trump Promises No Pause In Tariffs As Markets Plunge. Video Contradicts Israel Military's Claims About Deadly Incident; SCOTUS Pauses Deadline to Return Man Mistakenly Deported; Large Fire Engulfs Recycling Center Near Paris; Britain's King Charles and Queen Camilla to Spend 20th Wedding Anniversary in Italy; China to Increase Funding for Emerging Tech Innovation; Madonna and Elton John End Decades-long Public Feud. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired April 08, 2025 - 02:00   ET

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


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[02:00:28]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world and everyone streaming us on CNN Max. I'm Rosemary Church.

Just ahead, standing firm on tariffs. Donald Trump says he's not considering a pause on tariffs, despite volatile financial markets and billionaires losing confidence in his plan.

A man mistakenly deported to El Salvador won't be back in the U.S. today, after the Supreme Court pauses a deadline for his return.

And swapping screen time for real time, the details and a growing movement to reconnect people by disconnecting them from their devices.

ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta. This is CNN NEWSROOM with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: Good to have you with us. Well, the Trump administration says it's moving full steam ahead with tariffs, ruling out any pause in the punishing policies that have spiraled into a global trade war. That's despite loud warnings about a looming recession from world leaders, business leaders and billionaires, and despite another day of battered stocks and worldwide sell offs.

Here's a look at the U.S. Futures after a mixed day on Wall Street, you can see all in positive territory, regaining more than one percent in some instances there.

And the U.S. Treasury Secretary says the Trump administration needs to do a better job of explaining why they believe all this market turmoil will pay off down the road. Here's how President Trump put it on Monday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's the only chance our country will have to reset the table, because no other president would be willing to do what I'm doing or to even go through it.

Now, I don't mind going through it because I see a beautiful picture at the end, but we are making tremendous progress with a lot of countries, and the countries that really took advantage of us are now saying, please negotiate. You know why? Because they're getting beaten badly because of what's happening.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: A closer look now at the markets on Monday that saw Wall Street dip into bear territory.

CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VANESSA YURKEVICH , CNN CORRESPONDENT: A volatile day on Wall Street with wild swings as the president's trade war rages on. Moments before the closing bell, President Trump doubled down on his trade war in the Oval Office, ruling out a pause, the Dow ended the day down 300 points. The S&P down a quarter point after entering bare territory and the NASDAQ ended up a 10th of a percent.

Markets surged around 10:00 a.m. after a rumor started flying around social media that the Trump administration may pause tariffs, perhaps for several months. That rumor turned out not to be true, but the Dow had soared a thousand points on that debunked report.

The White House quickly brought investors back down to reality, calling the rumor, "Fake news," as markets fell again.

Now, President Trump also doubled down on another 50 percent tariff on China if they did not remove their retaliatory tariff of 34 percent which was in response to the U.S.'s escalation, bringing tariffs on China now to over 100 percent.

But there was enough motion to encourage investors with shoots of green on Monday, even though no one is revealing how those negotiations are going, back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Well, now for a look at the Asia markets, and you can see they're all in positive territory. Japan's Nikkei up nearly six percent there, 5.65 percent.

Well, this comes after the Chinese Commerce Ministry says it firmly opposes those new tariffs threatened by President Trump, which could take effect mid-week.

CNN's Kristie Lu Stout has our report from Hong Kong.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: China is calling Trump's 50 percent tariffs are, "A mistake on top of a mistake," and is vowing to fight until the very end.

Now, on Monday, the global trade war escalated when U.S. President Donald Trump lashed out at China for striking back, threatening to add new 50 percent tariffs on China if Beijing doesn't remove its retaliatory 34 percent tariffs.

If Trump's latest threat goes into effect, Chinese goods in the U.S. would be subject to tariffs of 104 percent but China is holding firm.

This morning, China's Ministry of Commerce issued a defying statement saying this, "The U.S. threat to escalate tariffs on China is a mistake on top of a mistake which once again exposes the blackmailing nature of the U.S. China will never accept it. If the U.S. insists on its own way, China will fight to the end."

[02:05:14]

And the ministry also called for all tariff plans to be dropped, as well as dialog. Now earlier, a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in the U.S. responded to the threat saying this, "We have stressed more than once that pressuring or threatening China is not a right way to engage with us. China will firmly safeguard its legitimate rights and interests."

As China pushes back, other Asian nations are pursuing trade talks with the U.S., with Japan getting priority. That's according to the U.S. Treasury Secretary. Trump says Japan is sending a team to negotiate on trade after he spoke with the Japanese Prime Minister on Monday.

Kristie Lu Stout, CNN, Hong Kong.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Canada's Prime Minister says the U.S. is driving itself into a recession with its global trade war, the Trump administration has already slapped 25 percent tariffs on some Canadian goods, including steel and aluminum.

And on top of that, the U.S. is planning to raise duties on Canadian soft wood from more than 14 percent to nearly 35 percent. Canadian leaders warn that will send U.S. home prices skyrocketing.

Prime Minister Mark Carney is trying to reassure Canadians that despite all the U.S. imposed chaos, Canada can look after itself.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK CARNEY, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: The situation at the heart of this is uncertainty about U.S. policy, or to make it worse, is greater certainty that U.S. policy will be self-harming to the American economy, and therefore the global economy, if the U.S. doesn't walk back from this tariff policy.

We can't control the United States. We can't control President Trump's decision. We can speak and we do and influence, inform. We can control what we do here in this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Mexico's president says Donald Trump's tariffs are not in her country's best interest. Claudia Sheinbaum hopes there's still a chance to convince the U.S. president to drop them, but she says she won't rule out reciprocal tariffs if they protect the Mexican people.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLAUDIA SHEINBAUM, PRESIDENT OF MEXICO (through translator): As much as possible, we would like to avoid imposing reciprocal tariffs. I'll tell you why. Cars have their own characteristic, but particularly on steel and aluminum, the increase of 25 percent which we won't rule out, but we prefer continuing with talks before any other measure, it would represent increases in the Mexico price. So, of course, we want to protect Mexican industry, Mexican companies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Justin Wolfers is a Professor of Public Policy and Economics at the University of Michigan. Good to have you with us.

JUSTIN WOLFERS, PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS AND PUBLIC POLICY, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN: A pleasure, Rosemary.

CHURCH: So, President Trump remains defiant despite another volatile trading day, the third day of losses since Trump announced his global tariffs. And throughout Monday, we were getting mixed messages from Trump and his administration on tariff negotiations with some countries. Could this present an off ramp for the president if it happens at all?

WOLFERS: Oh, look, it's the oldest play in the Trump book, which is you act tough, and then all of a sudden it looks hard. So, you find a way out. And you find a way out where you declare victory, even if you win nothing at all. We're already seeing signs of that.

Vietnam looks like they're suggested that they're willing to go to zero tariffs in order to end this trade war. That sounds like a wonderful victory, but the funny thing is, Vietnam's tariffs right now are already 1.1 percent, that's the whole asymmetry this trade war we're putting in -- we're putting up with the potential for enormous costs, and the best we'll do is get a country that's basically already got free trade with the United States formally moving that last few inches.

CHURCH: And China's Commerce Ministry says it firmly opposes the additional 50 percent tariffs that Trump is now threatening to impose on China at midday today, if Beijing refuses to remove its retaliatory tariffs on the U.S. and China insists it will fight to the end. Has Trump painted himself into a corner with this when it comes to China? WOLFERS: Yes. Look, if there's one government in the world I wouldn't want to take on in terms of their ability to continue to govern without having to worry about what they do to public opinion, it's China, and Trump doesn't respect many constraints. But I tell you what, there's a lot of cranky American people right now, and it's a much bigger constraint on the American government than it is on the Chinese.

CHURCH: Yes. I mean, the warning bells being sounded all around President Trump, aren't they? JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon says economic warfare has caused military warfare in the past. The BlackRock CEO Larry Fink says the U.S. may already be in a recession, and now, of course, billionaire Elon Musk is slamming Trump's top trade advisor Peter Navarro, questioning his economic credentials. Could all these voices and more resonate with Trump eventually do you think?

[02:10:19]

WOLFERS: Look, this seems to be the ongoing inner battle. There's a deep mistake in Trump's understanding of trade policy, where he thinks it's like a profit and loss statement, and if you buy more stuff from someone than they buy from you, they're ripping you off.

The absurdity of this is, of course, I buy more stuff from my local supermarket than it buys from me, but there's no sense in which it's ripping me off. It's a -- it's a fundamental econ 101 mistake. I've met undergraduates who've made this mistake. The problem is that Trump has stuck with this mistake now for well over 70 years, and surrounded himself with advisors by literally looking in the phone book to find the one or two people on Earth who are capable of making the same mistake.

So, it's going to have to be the outside voices that move in, because the inside voices, logic, reason and a global financial collapse so far haven't been enough.

CHURCH: Yes. And of course, the wealthy are hurting, but more so Main Street and retirement savings are getting wiped out. Americans are anxious and terrified as they watch markets plummet, taking their life savings with it.

What will Trump's legacy be if he sticks with these tariffs and plunges the country and indeed the world into recession?

WOLFERS: It will be a very sad and sorry legacy, it will be of someone who didn't understand economics, who wouldn't listen, who was driven by pride over analysis, who, by most accounts, looked set to have inherited a very strong economy in a very calm world and have turned it upside down and within a matter of literally months to put us on the cusp of a recession and possibly a global recession. It's a -- it's a terrible record.

CHURCH: Justin Wolfers, appreciate you joining us. Thank you.

WOLFERS: A pleasure.

CHURCH: The Israeli prime minister was at the White House for talks with Donald Trump on Monday. What they discussed when we come back.

Plus, new developments on the killing of 15 emergency workers in Gaza last month. What the Israeli military is saying after their initial investigation, that's next.

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CHURCH: Israel's prime minister met with the U.S. president on Monday, and said, they discussed Donald Trump's "bold vision" of Gaza's future. President Trump reiterated his desire for U.S. control of Gaza, calling it an incredible piece of important real estate. And once again, suggested the displacement of the enclave's population.

Netanyahu, committed to enabling the Palestinians to, quote, freely make a choice to go wherever they want, but didn't specify if that choice included remaining in Gaza. And he said he is working with the U.S. on another hostage deal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER, ISRAEL (through translator): The hostages are in agony. We want to get them all out. Steve Witkoff, President Trump's very able representative, helped us get a deal that got 25 out. We're working now on another deal that we hope will succeed, and we are committed to getting all the hostages out, but also eliminating the evil tyranny of Hamas in Gaza, and enabling the people of Gaza to freely make a choice to go wherever they want.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Meanwhile, the Israeli military says that an initial investigation into the killing of more than a dozen aid workers in Gaza last month, shows it occurred due to a sense of, perceived threat.

But a video of the incident casts doubt on those claims. CNN's Jeremy Diamond has the details. A warning, though, some of this video you're about to see is disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Emergency lights flashing in the pre-dawn sky, a convoy of ambulances and a fire truck pull up to the scene of an Israeli attack.

Palestinian paramedics and civil defense responders get out of their vehicles, when suddenly, amid a hail of gunfire, emergency responders drop to the ground, and the paramedic, who is filming begins to pray.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)

DIAMOND: It is the single deadliest attack on emergency responders in Gaza during the war, killing 15. The Israeli military says it is reexamining the incident after this video debunked their claim that the ambulances were advancing suspiciously and without emergency lights.

Now, new testimony from a survivor further undermining the Israeli military's narrative.

Paramedic Munther Abed, says Israeli troops didn't just open fire on one ambulance convoy. About an hour earlier his ambulance was also attacked.

They opened fire directly on us in the vehicle, Munther says. I survived by lying down in the back of the vehicle. If I had stood up, I would have been killed.

He listened as two of his colleagues, Mustafa Khafaja and Ezzedine Shaath, drew their last breaths. Israeli troops then detained Munther.

[02:20:02]

The Israeli military has described that first attack as targeting a Hamas vehicle, killing two Hamas members and detaining a third. An Israeli military official said they were not uniformed paramedics.

But Munther says they were driving a well-lit ambulance and we're wearing their uniforms.

As Israeli troops questioned Munther, other medics were dispatched to look for him. The Palestine Red Crescent Society says this is Munther's ambulance, lights extinguished after coming under fire. No comment from the Israeli military.

Munther saw the convoy arrive.

I was lying face down and a soldier had an M-16 rifle pressed against my back with my face turned toward the street. In the street, there were civil defense vehicles, fire trucks, and ambulances parked nearby. They opened fire directly on them.

The Israeli military buried the bodies in this shallow grave. They say it was to prevent the bodies from being scavenged. The U.N. only reached the site a week later.

Paramedic Hasan Hosni nearly ended up in that grave, but he called in sick that day, and his son Mohammed took his place. He soon called him one last time.

Help me, dad. Help me. I asked him what was wrong and he said we were targeted by the Israelis and they are now shooting at us directly. Then the call disconnected.

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: President Donald Trump, said Monday that direct talks are underway between the U.S. and Iran over Tehran's nuclear program. During his meeting with the Israeli prime minister, Mr. Trump, expressed optimism that the high-level talks, which are due to take place in Oman on Saturday, would be successful in convincing Iran to abandon its nuclear program, or else face a stark alternative.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We have a very big meeting, and we'll see what can happen. And I think everybody agrees that doing a deal would be preferable to doing the obvious. And the obvious is not something that I want to be involved with, or frankly, that Israel wants to be involved with if they can avoid it. So, we're going to see if we can avoid it, but it's getting to be very dangerous territory, and hopefully, those talks will be successful. And I think it would be in Iran's best interest if they are.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: The U.S. Agency for International Development has canceled all its remaining humanitarian aid contracts for Afghanistan. A USAID official told CNN, the notice of termination was among dozens sent this weekend as the Trump administration moves to abolish the agency by July.

It will end millions of dollars in funding that supported life-saving work in the country now under Taliban rule and suffering from decades of war and instability.

According to the United Nations, about half the population of Afghanistan depends on humanitarian assistance.

The Trump administration is in the early stages of planning a military parade to take place in Washington. Two defense officials told CNN, it is expected to be held on June 14th to commemorate the Army's 250th anniversary.

That date is also President Trump's 79th birthday. Defense officials say preliminary plans call for the parade to stretch from the Pentagon in Arlington to the White House. Here is more from Washington's mayor, on the event.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MURIEL BOWSER, MAYOR OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: I understand that I think it was Homeland Security. Maybe the White House reached out to our special events task force, which is what most people wanting to do a parade do in the district. So, I would say it's at its early stages. Yes, they have reached out. I don't know if it's being characterized as a military parade.

Yes, military tanks on a -- on our streets would not be good. If military tanks were used, they should be accompanied with many millions of dollars to repair the roads.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Still to come, forced to stay in an El Salvador prison for now, after being mistakenly deported from the U.S. What one man's family and attorney is saying about the new Supreme Court decision.

Plus, Britain's King Charles and Queen Camilla are set to mark a momentous milestone in their relationship.

[02:24:36]

How they will be spending their 20th wedding anniversary?

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CHURCH: A Maryland man mistakenly deported to El Salvador is still there at this hour after the U.S. Supreme Court paused a court order mandating his return by the end of Monday. CNN's Priscilla Alvarez has more on what happens to him while he waits for the U.S. courts to sort out the matter.

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: The Supreme Court on Monday, temporarily paused a court-imposed deadline to return Kilmar Albrego Garcia, a Maryland man who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador last month.

Now, that from the Supreme Court came in after a dizzying 72 hours where a federal judge directed the government to return Albrego Garcia by 11:59 p.m. on Monday.

[02:30:06]

This, of course, after the Trump administration in court filings said that they had mistakenly sent him to El Salvador, a country where he was not supposed to be deported because of fear of persecution because of "administrative error." Now, the Trump administration appealed that ruling leading to more filings, the administration saying, for example, that it did not have control of Abrego Garcia any longer because he was in Salvadoran custody and also arguing that district courts shouldn't be able to seize control over foreign relations.

But that federal judge had reaffirmed her decision over the weekend as well, saying that the deportation of Abrego Garcia was "wholly lawless." Now, the Supreme Court will review over the coming days additional information about this case. But for now, it means that Abrego Garcia will remain in that notorious mega prison in El Salvador where he was deported last month.

Now, in a statement, his lawyer told me the following, "This is just a temporary administrative stay. We have every confidence that the Supreme Court will resolve the matter as quickly as possible. His wife, as well speaking on Friday after the hearing, saying that she would keep up the fight, something that is going to continue into the days ahead instead of being resolved by that original court imposed deadline of 11:59 p.m. Monday.

Priscilla Alvarez, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWSROOM": Now to Paris where a large fire broke out at a recycling center on the outskirts of the city. All personnel working at the plant were evacuated according to local officials. No injuries or casualties have been reported. But the Paris Fire Brigade is still advising the public to steer clear of the surrounding area. Nearby Boulevards encircling the Waste Center will remain closed as firefighters deploy resources to battle the blaze.

Well, for those of us looking to break our addiction to digital devices, The Offline Club has an answer. Inside the growing movement to live life offscreen. Stay with us for that.

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[02:36:50]

CHURCH: Britain's King Charles and Queen Camilla will spend their 20th wedding anniversary in Rome. The royal couple got married on April 9th, 2005, the day after the funeral of Pope John Paul II. The pair landed in Rome on Monday for a four-day state visit to Italy. Their agenda includes an address to the joint houses of Parliament, a first for a British monarch. They will then head to the northern Italian city of Ravenna.

A growing movement is asking people to ditch their phones with the aim of reconnecting them and shedding light on the health benefits of disconnecting from their screens. It's called the Offline Club, where phones are traded for real-life experiences.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN HOUNSELL, LONDON CITY LEADER, THE OFFLINE CLUB: My name's Ben Hounsell and I'm City Leader for The Offline Club London. We're pioneering a movement to help people swap screen time for real time.

It was founded by free Dutch guys in Amsterdam in February 2024. There's just a group of friends trying to get away from their phones, and since then it's really grown into a global movement. So it is just a phone-free event. You turn up, you hand your phone in at the start and for the next two hours, you are offline. We'll have live music, live piano, and then people will pick up those forgotten hobbies -- reading, journaling, writing. It is really mindful.

I'm not anti-tech myself. I think it's just very beneficial to get away from tech for a few hours. So I'm 23-years-old. In my previous start-up, I was spending hours upon hours a day optimizing video for TikTok, making sure it was as addictive as possible. Ironic, right? I think for us as humans, it's about discovering what parts of these phones that we want to use for good and what parts aren't benefiting us.

Our core audience is actually 90 percent female, ages 25 to 50, so it is not actually really Gen Z and Gen Alpha that are coming to these events. I think they're just the most addicted to their phones. We got weaker real-world connections. It's really declining our mental health. My pep talk would just be to come to an offline event, come and chat to me there in person, and I reckon I could convince them to go offline for a bit.

(END VIDEO CLIP) CHURCH: There you go. Give that a try. Well, as runners prepare for a half-marathon in Beijing on Sunday, some humanoid robots are set to compete as well. Both man and machine will race along the same 21- kilometer route. However, to ensure safety, they will remain on separate tracks from one another. And this comes as China announces a new state-backed initiative aimed at expanding high-tech innovation. With the U.S. placing mounting restrictions on Beijing, officials there believe domestic development is crucial to China's future growth.

Well, after a two decades-long public feud, singers Madonna and Elton John say they have made up. Madonna posted this picture on Instagram Monday of the pair hugging. She started the caption by saying we finally buried the hatchet. She said she confronted him backstage at Saturday Night Live.

[02:40:00]

The pair have clashed since 2004 when Elton accused Madonna of lip- synching. He replied to her post, thanking her for forgiving his "big mouth." Madonna says they will work on a song together.

I want to thank you so much for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church. "World Sport" is coming up next. Then I'll be back at the top of the hour with more "CNN newsroom." Do stick around.

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