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Trump's Reciprocal Tariffs Take Effect; CNN Speaks To South Korea's Acting President On Tariff Issues; Blue Origin To Launch An All-Women Crew Space Mission. Aired 3-3:45a ET

Aired April 09, 2025 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL 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.

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DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: They're giving us everything. They don't want tariffs on themselves.

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CHURCH: Donald Trump gloats about world leaders eager to make a deal as sweeping tariffs take effect in dozens of countries.

A Gaza wasteland. CNN speaks to an Israeli soldier who details how the IDF destroyed Palestinian property to create the Gaza buffer zone.

And Blue Origin is set to launch a star-studded all-female crew.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from Atlanta, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: Good to have you with us.

Donald Trump has just unleashed the next stage of his global trade war. Three hours ago, dozens of countries and the European Union were slapped with new tariffs ranging from 11 to 50 percent. That's on top of the sweeping 10 percent tariffs implemented Saturday.

The new tariffs hit some of America's closest trading partners, which the White House has called the worst offenders. And Trump has saved his strongest ire for China, levying a staggering 104 percent in new tariffs across all Chinese imports.

According to the U.S. Commerce Secretary, about 70 countries have contacted the White House asking for trade talks. Here's how Donald Trump described those conversations.

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TRUMP: I'm telling you, these countries are calling us up, kissing my ass. They are. They are dying to make a deal.

Please make a deal. I'll do anything. I'll do anything, sir.

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CHURCH: European markets are opening this hour. Melissa Bell is following the reaction to Trump's aggressive tariffs from Paris.

But first to Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong with the latest response from Beijing. Good to see you, Kristie. So, Kristie, what's been the reaction there to President Trump's 104 percent tariffs on Chinese imports?

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, there has been across the board here in Asia. When you talk to small business owners or you talk to investors, retail investors or officials, deep sense of concern and uncertainty as the U.S. President Donald Trump forges ahead with these reciprocal tariffs on dozens of countries around the world, as well as that astonishing total tax rate or tariff rate of at least 104 percent on China that, of course, as a result of Beijing refusing to honor Trump's deadline, refusing to remove its own retaliatory tariffs.

You've been monitoring reaction on the Asian markets this day. Let's bring up the dynamic market action for you.

It is not the carnage that we saw on Monday, but you're seeing a lot of red on your screen, with the exception being Shanghai. I'll explain that in just a moment.

But losses in Japan, in Hong Kong, South Korea and Australia, Shanghai gaining about nine-tenths of one percent on the back of comments from the Chinese premier, saying that Beijing does have the tools to, quote, "fully offset the shock of Trump's tariffs" and state firms have pledged to buy Chinese stocks in an effort to stabilize the markets there.

Let's also bring up U.S. futures so you can have a look to see what could happen when Wall Street opens in a couple hours from now. And it looks a little bit stronger now. Green arrows there.

So perhaps a little bit more confidence going in as people take in this latest information. But there has been blowback, not just from the markets here in Asia, but also from billionaires and business leaders to Trump as he unleashes his latest wave of tariffs. U.S. officials say they are going to talk.

They're ready to talk. And, in fact, some 70 countries, they say, have approached them. Talks are planned with South Korea and Japan. Donald Trump said that he had a, quote, "good call" with the South Korean acting President on Tuesday.

But this is what he had to say about China. Let's bring up what he said on Truth Social in regards to China. The U.S. president saying "China also wants to make a deal badly, but they don't know how to get it started. We are waiting for their call. It will happen."

But Chinese officials, they aren't taking it. Watch this.

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LIN JIAN, CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESPERSON (through translator): I believe the actions of the U.S. do not reflect a genuine willingness for serious dialogue. If the U.S. disregards the interest of both countries and the international community and insists on waging a tariff war or trade war, China will fight to the end.

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[03:05:01]

LU STOUT: And we keep hearing that line from Chinese officials in regards to Trump's trade war. China will fight it until the end. Back to you, Rosemary.

CHURCH: All right. Our thanks to Kristie Lu Stout there.

Let's go now to Melissa Bell live in Paris. So, Melissa, what's been the response to these tariffs in France and, of course, across Europe?

MELISSA BELL, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, first of all, markets, again, opening in the red. But Europeans intending not to take this lying down, they're meeting later on in Brussels to discuss what kind of response they're going to announce in answer to this 20 percent that's now being applied across the board to European goods, looking at options like a 25 percent tariff across the board on American imports, the European Union.

But remember, Europe is a consumer market, the biggest single market in the world of 450 million people. The E.U. officials say that is their biggest strength.

In the meantime, for European industries, of course, this is a huge shock. Consider, for instance, the Ferrari made in Italy. It's already raised its prices by 10 percent across most of their models in response to what they expect will be this huge hit.

They're going to take as a result of the exports of their cars to the United States.

But that's not all. Europe is famous, of course, for its luxury market. Let me give you a few examples. It isn't simply the luxury brands, things like Chanel handbags, everything you might find at Hermes.

Champagne, you can make American sparkling wine. Champagne can only come from the Champagne region. America is one of its biggest consumers.

So Americans are going to be paying a lot more for their French Champagne.

Same with Camembert. They have their own cheeses. This can only be made here. So for American consumers, the hit is going to be either in paying

more for the stuff they like and that they're used to being able to consume or simply not being able to afford it at all.

Another example, European beer already hit by steel, by aluminum tariffs. Rather, it's going to become a lot more expensive to drink European beer now in the United States.

I think one of the most interesting examples, Rosemary, is French wine, European wine, Italian, Spanish as well. The European wine market exports to the United States are huge, 2.5 billion euros last year.

Now, of course, you can choose to buy American wine, but that depends on French oak, which also is being hit by the tariffs. The big losers in this, whatever else happens, American consumers, even as Europe tries to figure out how to punish American companies with its own retaliatory tariffs. Rosemary.

CHURCH: All right. Our thanks to Melissa Bell joining us live there with that report from Paris. I appreciate it.

Israeli soldiers are revealing the systematic destruction of Palestinian property to create a buffer zone in Gaza. We'll have more on how that buffer area was created.

Plus, officials from the U.S. and Iran are set to meet and discuss Tehran's nuclear program. I'll speak with an expert about what we can expect from the discussions. Back in just a moment.

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CHURCH: Israel's military has transformed territory in Gaza within about half a mile of the Israeli border into a no man's land. Now, IDF soldiers who were deployed to the enclave are revealing how the military carried out the destruction of civilian infrastructure to create the buffer zone.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond has this report.

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JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Inside Gaza, swaths of land closest to the Israeli border have been turned into a wasteland. Nearly every building within about a half a mile of the border fence has been destroyed.

We filmed this footage a year ago while demolitions were still ongoing.

Over time, the Israeli military has raised about 22 square miles of Palestinian land, creating a buffer zone on about 16 percent of Gaza's territory. It is a no-go zone for Palestinians, some of whom have been killed after setting foot inside the unmarked perimeter.

Now, for the first time, an Israeli soldier sat down with us to describe how the military systematically destroyed civilian infrastructure to create this buffer zone.

SOLDIER A, ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES: Some of them, the buildings were destroyed completely, and some were still standing. And our job was to make more of the first kind.

DIAMOND: But the fact that there were still buildings standing meant that the mission wasn't done.

SOLDIER A: Yes, and we destroyed them one by one in a very methodical fashion, area by area.

DIAMOND (voice-over): A sergeant first class in the 5th Infantry Brigade, he was called up to reserve duty on October 7th and was later deployed here, in the industrial zone of Gaza City's Shuja'iyya neighborhood, protecting combat engineers as they bulldozed buildings and rigged others to explode.

We've blurred his face and changed his voice because he risks reprisals for speaking out about a policy the Israeli military has never officially acknowledged.

DIAMOND: Was it clear to you that this was not the actions of one commander or one unit?

SOLDIER A: Oh, definitely. I know other units were doing the same up north and then down south. I know it came from up high.

DIAMOND: What did they tell you about the mission to raise these buildings and establish this security zone?

SOLDIER A: One was that as a lesson from October 7th, we're going to have a larger buffer zone, larger than before. And the other was that on October 7th, this industrial zone was used as a launching ground.

DIAMOND (voice-over): Over the course of the war, this one-time economic hub was flattened. This video, which CNN geo-located, shows the destruction of Gaza's only Coca-Cola factory. But it's not just factories.

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In the town of Khuza'a, hundreds of homes were leveled, with a clear zone of destruction spanning about one kilometer from the border. Residential buildings, greenhouses, sheds, factories, you name it, it needs to be flat. That's the order, a sergeant major who served in Khuza'a said.

Except for the UNRWA school and that small water facility, the directive was nothing left.

He is one of a dozen Israeli soldiers who describe the demolitions and enforcement of the buffer zone to Breaking the Silence, an Israeli watchdog group that verifies and publishes soldiers' testimonials.

Some also described how the buffer zone has been turned into a kill zone for Palestinians. A sergeant first class in the armored corps described the rules of engagement.

"Adult male, kill, shoot to kill. For women and children, shoot to drive away. People were incriminated for having bags in their hands," a warrant officer in the IDF said.

"Guy showed up with a bag, incriminated terrorists. I believe they came to pick hubeiza, an edible plant. But the army says no, they're hiding. Boom."

JANINA DILL, CO-DIRECTOR, OXFORD INSTITUTE FOR ETHICS, LAW, AND ARMED CONFLICT: A kill zone is in essence the announcement of a party to the war that they won't take feasible precautions, that they won't verify the status of an individual before attacking them. And that definitely violates international law.

DIAMOND: Is this kind of widespread destruction of civilian property to create a buffer zone legal under international law?

DILL: It needs to be a legitimate military objective, an operational objective. And the only way to achieve it would be to destroy the civilian property. At that scale, that's simply not quite plausible. If there's no military necessities, then that fulfills the criteria for a war crime.

DIAMOND (voice-over): The Israeli military did not respond to CNN's request for comment.

More than 6200 Palestinian buildings have been damaged or destroyed within one kilometer of the Gaza border, according to satellite analysis, including here in al-Bureij, where homes and acres of farmland were destroyed.

For 40 years, Abdul Aziz al-Nabahin grew olives, oranges and guavas on that land. But that has all been ripped away from him.

When they announced the 40-day truce, we went back. We found the house destroyed. The trees were bulldozed.

But he has lost so much more. Abdulaziz says his son Mahmoud went to collect firewood near their home when he was shelled by an Israeli tank and killed.

The Israeli military did not respond to CNN's request for comment.

They knew they were only collecting wood, not resisting or fighting, just a cart with wood clearly visible. Still, they were targeted. The Israelis did this intentionally.

Even now, he says, they will kill anyone who goes there.

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Jerusalem.

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CHURCH: U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff will be at a U.S.-Iran meeting in Oman on Saturday.

Witkoff will lead what the U.S. State Department insists is only a meeting and not a negotiation. On Monday, President Donald Trump said that direct talks are underway between the two countries on Tehran's nuclear program.

But Iranian officials say the discussion will be indirect and mediated by Oman. Whatever the case may be, the White House press secretary had this to say.

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KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: When it comes to Iran, the president has reimposed crippling sanctions on the Iranian regime and he's made it very clear to Iran they have a choice to make. You can strike a deal with the president. You can negotiate or there will be hell to pay.

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CHURCH: Joining us now is Trita Parsi, executive vice president at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft and the author of "Losing an Enemy: Obama, Iran and the Triumph of Diplomacy." I appreciate you joining us.

TRITA PARSI, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, QUINCY INSTITUTE FOR RESPONSIBLE STATECRAFT: Thank you for having me.

CHURCH: Donald Trump's sweeping global tariffs have, of course, sucked most of the oxygen out of the room. But Trump's announcement Monday, the direct nuclear talks are underway between the U.S. and Iran and a, quote, "very big meeting" will take place on Saturday, certainly took most people by surprise.

Iran says these are not direct talks. But regardless of that, how significant is this and what could potentially come out of these discussions, do you think?

PARSI: I mean, this is unbelievably surprising in many different ways, given where things have been between the United States and Iran. It's a major development, particularly if these talks on Saturday in Oman end up being direct, meaning that the Iranians agreed to speak directly to the U.S. The Biden administration preferred direct negotiations, but never managed to get this point in four years.

[03:19:50]

And the reason why direct negotiations would be quite significant is because the Iranians are treating that as a concession, as a carrot in which they would only agree to it if they believe that the parameters for the negotiations are such that the U.S. is serious, that this can lead to a deal and that it is not just a pretext to go through some diplomatic moves and motions in order to get to a military confrontation down the road.

CHURCH: The U.S. and Iran held direct talks back in 2015 when they signed a landmark nuclear deal under the Obama administration. Trump scrapped that three years later and is pledging to deliver a much stronger nuclear deal than Obama did. He wants the complete dismantling of Iran's nuclear program, but Tehran has dismissed this outright as a nonstarter.

So is there a compromise position here or is it all or nothing?

PARSI: Well, Trump himself has not said that he wants to dismantle it. His national security advisor has said it. Maybe Netanyahu has said it, but we've not heard Trump himself say it.

I suspect that Trump's position actually isn't that. He's going to seek a tough deal. He's going to try to see if he can make a better deal than what Obama did.

But if he actually wants a deal, he cannot adopt the maximalist position, nor can the Iranians. The only way this could work is if there is a compromise between the two sides. And that means that both sides have to be reasonable in their positions.

CHURCH: And President Trump made his surprise announcement about these talks while speaking to reporters alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office Monday. Why do you think he chose that moment to go public with this?

PARSI: It's very interesting because it appears that behind the scenes, the Iranians and the U.S. side reached an agreement about the Saturday date only two days or so before Netanyahu was essentially called in to leave Hungary and come to the United States. He got a phone call by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

He did not know what was on the agenda. He thought that he was being called in to discuss tariffs. It's only once he arrived in the U.S. that he was briefed and the U.S. side made clear to him that they are going to have talks with Iranians on Saturday.

And I think to a large extent, Trump did this because he knows that Netanyahu is a very likely spoiler of these talks. He's opposed diplomacy with Iran for quite some time, and he's been pushing the U.S. for more than 20 years to go to war with Iran.

So I think this was very much something that Trump did in order to essentially signal to Netanyahu, Trump wants this deal, he's going to go forward with it, and he doesn't want to see any sabotage by Netanyahu or by Israel.

CHURCH: Interesting. And you have said that Tehran appears to believe that Trump really wants a deal and is willing to offer serious sanction relief to get it. What makes you say that? What's different this time around, do you think?

PARSI: The JCPOA only lifted secondary sanctions. Those are sanctions that are imposed on other countries for doing business with Iran. Primary sanctions, the ones that the U.S. imposes on its own companies, were never touched.

And as a result, other countries could go into the Iranian market, but not American companies. And Trump complained about that over and over again, saying that that was unfair. Trump is in favor of doing something that advances the U.S. economy and U.S. businesses.

So the idea of offering sanctions relief to the Iranians that is primary sanctions is actually something that probably is attractive to Trump, whereas most of the presidents have felt that that is a major concession, that would be very politically costly. It would create all kinds of different challenges in Washington.

Trump is more or less immune to those type of pressures and as a result, has the ability and the inclination to put that on the table. And if he does, then he can ask for much more, much stronger concessions from Iran than what the JCPOA delivered, because it was essentially less on the table.

And if you offer less, you will get less. If Trump is willing to offer more, he can also get more.

CHURCH: Trita Parsi, I appreciate your analysis and perspective. Thanks for joining us.

PARSI: Thank you so much for having me.

CHURCH: Still to come, an exclusive interview with the acting president of U.S. ally South Korea, how he is trying to mitigate the steep new tariffs from the Trump administration.

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[03:25:00]

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CHURCH: Welcome back to "CNN Newsroom." I'm Rosemary Church. Want to check today's top stories for you.

Donald Trump is now leveling new tariffs of up to 50 percent on dozens of countries. China has been hit the hardest with a 104 percent tariff on all its exports. Beijing is promising to retaliate with higher levies on U.S. products.

Canada is responding to Donald Trump's tariffs and is now imposing new counter tariffs on some U.S. vehicles. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney says the U.S. is driving itself into a recession. The countermeasure applies a 25 percent tariff to vehicles not covered by the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Free Trade Agreement.

[03:30:09]

The European Union says it's ready to negotiate with the U.S. over buying more of its liquefied natural gas. This comes after President Trump said the E.U. must buy about $350 billion worth of American natural gas to compensate for the deficit in trade that the U.S. has with the E.U.

So let's look at how the latest and largest escalation of President Donald Trump's global trade war is affecting the markets. This is how stocks are faring across Asia-Pacific markets right now. A bit of a mixed bag there, but you can see Japan's Nikkei down nearly 4 percent.

Meanwhile, markets in Europe opened just a short time ago all in negative territory there with losses of more than 2 percent so far. We'll keep an eye on how that goes.

So South Korea has announced more than a billion dollars in emergency support measures for its auto industry as it seeks to mitigate the blow from new U.S. tariffs. Seoul cited concerns over quote "serious threats" that the new duties pose.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump says the U.S. and South Korea have the confines of a deal after speaking with South Korea's acting president. CNN's Mike Valerio has an exclusive interview with South Korea's leader who believes he can get Mr. Trump to do something no other leader has been able to do so far, drop the tariffs.

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MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So instead of retaliation, South Korea says it is all about negotiation coming to the table to try to work out a deal with the United States. That is one of the headlines with CNN's exclusive interview with the leader of South Korea, acting president, Han Duck-soo.

Now, he finds himself in an interesting position. He is acting president because just a few days ago, South Korea removed its now ex- president after an impeachment trial after he declared martial law back in December.

So he finds himself in an interesting negotiating position as interim leader, we asked him about that. As well as if there could, from his point of view, be perhaps any kind of cooperation to fight back against these tariffs with South Korea, China, and Japan. Here's what he told us.

I'm curious, acting president Han. Do you see a role for any potential cooperation between China, Japan, and South Korea to fight back against these U.S. tariffs?

HAN DUCK-SOO, SOUTH KOREAN PRESIDENT: I don't think the real trade fight among countries. I don't think that kind of, you know, fighting back will improve the situation dramatically.

VALERIO: You do anticipate that this 25 percent tariff level will not stay. That's your anticipation?

HAN: Depending on the negotiations.

VALERIO: That's certainly your hope.

HAN: Yes. VALERIO: Are you optimistic? How do you feel, on a gut level, these negotiations are going to go?

HAN: Well, 57 countries are actually subject to that kind of tariff. So --

VALERIO: 25 percent though, that's pretty steep for friends for generations.

HAN: Well, it's a pity because we are evaluated in that way. But I think that kind of different assessment can always happen in this kind of situations.

VALERIO: For a White House negotiating with an interim leader, there's a chance that they may have an issue with that. What do you say to address that potential concern?

HAN: Our relations between the United States and Korea have been very good. We have a very strong alliance relationship, not only in the military terms, but in the technology area, business areas, and many economic areas. So there are so many things that we should talk together and work together.

VALERIO: So where does that leave things standing right now? Well, South Korea's trade minister is in Washington, D.C., about to get that work started. And for what it's worth, just a few hours after CNN spoke with South Korea's acting president Han Duck-soo, he had his first phone call, his first conversation ever with U.S. President Donald Trump.

President Trump actually posting on Truth Social, it seems to have gone well, writing, quote, "We have the confines and probability of a great deal. Things are looking good."

So again, this will be a key test of this approach, differing from China, differing from Canada, putting the value of the alliance first, saying that friends can disagree and coming to the negotiating table. We will certainly be watching it from this side of the world.

[03:35:09]

Mike Valerio, CNN, Seoul.

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CHURCH: The countdown is on. Just ahead, a look at Blue Origin's star- studded all-female crew that could make history when it launches next week. Back with that in just a moment.

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[03:40:03]

CHURCH: Welcome back.

Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin is set to launch a new mission in just a matter of days that they hope will be one giant leap for womankind. CNN's Isabel Rosales takes a look at the historic mission.

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ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For the first time in more than 60 years, an all-female crew is set to blast off into space. Blue Origin's star-studded NS31 mission is scheduled to launch from West Texas on April 14th on board the New Shepard vehicle. Among the six-person crew are singer Katy Perry, journalist Gayle King, and Lauren Sanchez, pilot and fiance of Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos.

The crew is set to travel just past the Karman Line, the point widely recognized as where outer space begins, and will experience a few minutes of microgravity before descending back to Earth. Crew member and former NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe spoke to CNN about her hope that this landmark voyage will inspire more women to shoot for the stars.

AISHA BOWE, BLUE ORIGIN CREW MEMBER: To see six women who are all incredibly unique, who are very inspiring in their own right, come together and globally on a campaign, I think what you're going to see is not only more women, but more people know that they can too become one of us, and that they also can reach and work in these fields.

ROSALES (voice-over): This will mark the first all-female space mission since Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova's solo mission back in 1963.

But the historic mission has also faced criticism, including from actress Olivia Munn. While co-hosting on NBC's "Today" show with Jenna Bush Hager, Munn questioned the purpose of the mission and its cost.

OLIVIA MUNN, ACTRESS: What are they doing? Like, why? You know what I mean? Like, I'm just saying this. Okay. I know this is probably not the cool thing to say, but like there are so many other things that are so important in the world right now.

Like, they aren't asked. I mean, there's one astronaut.

JENNA BUSH HAGER, HOST, "TODAY WITH JENNA AND FRIENDS": One astronaut.

MUNN: But like, what are you guys going to do up in space? What are you doing up there?

ROSALES (voice-over): One crew member, researcher and civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen, will conduct experiments about women's health during the 11-minute flight. Nguyen will make history becoming the first woman of Vietnamese or Southeast Asian descent in space.

Since their first successful crewed spaceflight in 2021, Blue Origin has had 10 crewed missions, bringing more than 50 people to the edge of space, including Star Trek actor William Shatner, who was brought to tears by the experience.

WILLIAM SHATNER, ACTOR: I hope I never recover from this.

ROSALES (voice-over): Isabel Rosales, CNN, Atlanta. (END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: And thank you so much for your company. I'm Rosemary Church. Have yourselves a wonderful day.

"Marketplace Middle East" is next, then it's "Early Start" with Rahel Solomon in New York.

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