Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Federal Court Blocks Most Of President's Global Tariffs; U.S. Will Aggressively Revoke Visas For Chinese Students; Freed Captives And Families Plead For Hostages' Return; Sergey Lavrov Says Next Round of Peace Talks on Monday in Istanbul; Ukraine's Zelenskyy Agrees to $5.7 Billion Arms Deal With Germany; Germany Agrees to Joint Production of Long-Range Missiles Inside Ukraine; Kremlin Says Ukraine Deal Entirely Irresponsible of Germany; Glacier Collapse Leaves Swiss Village Buried by Mud and Rock; China's Tianwen-2 Mission to Explore Asteroid and Comet. Aired 2-2:45a ET

Aired May 29, 2025 - 02:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:00:32]

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to all of our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Polo Sandoval in New York where it is 2:00 a.m.

And straight ahead, a setback for the Trump administration. A federal court rules that Donald Trump does not have the authority to impose sweeping global tariffs.

Study abroad plans in limbo. Washington now says it will aggressively revoke the visas of Chinese students.

Plus:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RIYAD MANSOUR, PALESTINIAN AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS: It's unbearable. How could anyone?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: This Palestinian ambassador delivers an emotional message to the world.

And we begin with most of Donald Trump's global tariffs now effectively blocked thanks to a ruling from a little known federal court here in New York. The U.S. Court of International Trade ruled that the president does not have the authority to declare a national emergency to impose tariffs.

The order now blocks his 30 percent tariffs on China, 25 percent tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada, and the 10 percent universal tariffs, but the 25 percent tariffs on cars, car parts, steel, aluminum, that's going to stay in effect.

The Trump administration quickly appealing and the White House saying in a statement it is not for unelected judges to decide how to properly address a national emergency.

CNN's Chief Legal Affairs Correspondent Paula Reid has more on the court's decision handed down on Wednesday.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: This is one of the first times we have seen a court blocking his ability to impose these global tariffs. Now, this particular lawsuit, this was brought by a legal advocacy group that represents small businesses and claimed that they had been severely harmed by these tariffs.

And here, this is a very low profile court, as you noted at the U.S. Court of International Trade, they ruled in favor of a permanent injunction. So this is a perme -- it's temporary, but it lasts until this case moves on injunction.

So, this effectively grounds Trump's tariffs to a halt. So, this is incredibly significant, because we know that he uses these tariffs as a key part of his international trade so called deals and policies.

So, to have this court block this with a preliminary injunction, this is surprising, and as you noted, this is going to have an impact not only on his policies, but on global markets.

Now, we have also seen the administration rail against the fact that any courts can block policies put forth by the administration.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Our thanks to Paula Reid, reporting out of Washington, D.C. For more on the global impact, let's now go to Beijing where my colleague Marc Stewart standing by with more. Marc, let's talk a little bit more about what led not only to this injunction, but also what the attorneys for the plaintiffs are saying this morning.

MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right, Polo and what's so interesting is that ever since these tariffs were implemented, we heard both private as well as public comments from Wall Street, from CEOs, from big companies, expressing concern.

What's interesting is that this lawsuit was prompted by small businesses, including a wine company where you heard from Paula, all expressed concern that this was hurting their business, and this was perhaps presidential overreach.

Let's listen to one of the attorneys behind this case. He gives us some context to all of this. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEFFREY SCHWAB, LEAD COUNSEL FOR PLAINTIFFS IN VOS SELECTIONS, INC. V TRUMP: The Constitution gives the power to tariff to Congress, not to the president, so that means there's got to be some limit when Congress delegates that authority to the president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEWART: So, if that is the case, will the president then, if this injunction, if it's -- if it's upheld, will the president then appeal to Congress? There are so many unknowns. This case is being appealed by the White House, Polo, but the future, unfortunately, is very murky at this point as to -- as to what kind of long term impact this is going to have on businesses, both big and small.

SANDOVAL: And in a rare moment of sort of global litigation here, how is the rest of the world reacting, especially where you are in China?

STEWART: Well, let's first talk about the markets, because as we have seen, they have been very fragile for the last eight weeks. We know the mere mention of a tariff can cause markets to sink. We are seeing this bit of a reversal, and today we're seeing lots of green.

[02:05:04]

The Shanghai Composite here in China is up. We're also seeing gains, the Hang Seng Index, the benchmark for Hong Kong, as well as the Nikkei in Japan, which is interesting, because these auto tariffs still remain in place.

I think the real question is especially from being here in China, is, what will China do next? Because this is all happening as trade talks were taking place between Washington and Beijing, with Washington holding these tariffs almost over overhead as a bargaining chip for Washington, but now these tariffs have been halted.

So, does Washington perhaps have the same strength to the negotiating table as it did with Beijing earlier? There are a whole long list of new questions that are arising.

Polo, we may get some clarity, though in the next hour or so, that's when China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has its daily press briefing. Perhaps we'll get some insight about where these trade discussions are going. Is this something Beijing still going to take seriously, or will it perhaps walk away a bit? We'll hopefully get some indication, at least a temperature, as to where things stand coming up the next hour or so, Polo.

SANDOVAL: For now, absolutely remarkable how a single decision at a court can have those global impacts, as you just demonstrated.

Marc Stewart in Beijing, appreciate your reporting.

Elon Musk's time as a special government employee, it's coming to an end. A White House official says that the Tesla CEO has to begin the off boarding process on Wednesday night. Musk had recently signaled that he would be stepping away from politics to resume his duties at his company, Tesla. He thanked the president in a post on his platform X, adding that the DOGE mission, "Will only strengthen over time." Just days earlier, the billionaire notably expressed a disagreement with the new bill to fund the president's domestic agenda.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELON MUSK, CEO, TESLA MOTORS: I was like disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit, not just decrease it. And it reminds me the work that the DOGE team is doing. I think a bill can be -- can be -- can be big or it can be beautiful. I don't know if it could be both. My personal opinion.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Musk's work in Washington is going to continue despite his exit. House Speaker Mike Johnson says that the House is ready to act on recommended DOGE cuts as soon as the president makes that request to lawmakers in Congress.

And in another blow to international students in higher education across the U.S., the State Department says that it will work with the Department of Homeland Security to stop some Chinese students from attending school in the U.S. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Wednesday that the administration will, "Aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students, including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields."

Now, it's unclear exactly how many are affected, but according to a government report, more than 275,000 students from China studied in the United States in 2023 to 2024 in that academic year.

Meantime, there is a new escalation in President Trump's feud with Harvard. Senior State Department officials telling CNN, the agency is now reviewing all visa holders affiliated with Harvard, not just students. The officials did not say why the review was being conducted though. On Wednesday, Trump suggested that the Ivy League school should have a 15 percent cap on the percentage of foreign students that it accepts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We want to know where those students come. Are they troublemakers? What countries do they come? And we're not going to -- if somebody is coming from a certain country and they're 100 percent fine, which I hope most of them are, but many of them won't be. You're going to see some very radical people. They're taking people from areas of the world that are very radicalized, and we don't want them making trouble in our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: On Thursday, a federal judge in Boston will be hearing arguments on whether Harvard's international students should be indefinitely protected following Trump's attempt to revoke the university's student visa program.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ALFRED WILLIAMSON, HARVARD STUDENT CURRENTLY IN COPENHAGEN: We're being used like porn to the game that we have no control of, and we're being caught in this crossfire between the White House and Harvard, and it feels incredibly dehumanizing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Just heard from one of the many students there, whose features are effectively in limbo. Harvard has refused to give in to Trump's demands to make changes to its admission and curriculum. Administration officials in the Trump administration have repeatedly said that Harvard is being used as an example, and they say other universities may also face similar harsh actions as well.

Niall Hegarty is a Professor of Management at the Tobin College of Business at St. John's University in New York. Professor, it's good to g to have you with us.

NIALL HEGARTY, PROFESSOR, ST. JOHN'S UNIVERSITY: Thank you for having me this evening.

[02:10:00]

SANDOVAL: I want to cover as much as we can here and start off with your thoughts on the Trump administration making yet another move on Wednesday night that could possibly further deter international students from looking to the U.S. to study and work.

This time, obviously, according to the Secretary of State, revoking visas of Chinese students and doing so aggressively, as the secretary put it. What do you make of this latest move from the White House?

HEGARTY: Well, I think this is a temporary move. I think revoking these visas is not in the best interest of not only China, but also the United States. That the Chinese -- the richest of the Chinese send their students overseas to be educated, and United States has always welcomed them, and I just don't see long term how that's beneficial to either country.

SANDOVAL: And earlier this week, I did have a chance to interview an international student at Harvard, and he told me that the long term consequences of sending a message and discouraging students with that message from coming to the U.S. to study and maybe even integrate their talents in the U.S. workforce, that those consequences could be far reaching, especially industries like tech, science, A.I., engineering, etcetera.

In your view, Professor, where else could these potentially disillusioned students turn to, if not the U.S. and how much of a loss would it be for this country?

HEGARTY: Well, it would, first of all, it would be a great loss for this country, because they've always added value to the country in terms of their presence in our universities, but also economically. If you look at states such as California, $3 billion influx of money into California, New York alone is a $2 billion financial path for our country.

So, it's not good to not have these countries, or have these students in our country.

In terms of where else they could go for many years now, countries such as Australia and European countries have been vying for these students to go to their countries instead of United States.

But remember, these students have always wanted to rub shoulders with the best and brightest in their fields, and right now, that still remains in the United States of America, so I still see them wanting to come here, and it's just a case of compliance, going through more paperwork together. But I do not see this as a major deterrent in students coming to the U.S.

SANDOVAL: Yes, many of these amazing, talented young men and women have already proven their abilities, so this would certainly be just one more barrier for them, and no doubt that they could overcome that.

Have you heard, Professor, of any universities already adjusting their admission strategies?

HEGARTY: I think it's too soon to adjust admission strategies, because all this is just happening now. Larger universities will use their international campuses that they have to onboard students before they bring them into the United States, other universities will probably have students take courses online while this passes over, and then they will move to United States. I don't see the flow of students slowing down.

SANDOVAL: And I was going to ask Professor, if I may ask, a re you a former international student yourself?

HEGARTY: Indeed, I was a former international student. I came from Ireland. I considered a number of universities in the United States. I came to New York. Actually came here to New York, to St. John's University in New York, had a wonderful experience, embarked upon a career in industry here. Ultimately ended up them getting married, having a child, and contributing to society here.

So, these international students do to contribute to society here. But moreover, when they go back to their home countries, to serve as wonderful ambassadors for the United States when they go home.

SANDOVAL: Because of your personal experience, what you say certainly carries a lot of weight.

So, finally, perhaps a message that you would have to a young student in Asia, Europe, Latin America, anywhere in the world, who has their sights set on studying in the U.S., but may feel discouraged given what we're experiencing right now in the U.S., given that political climate, what would you tell them?

HEGARTY: I would say there's always been red tape. There's always been paperwork. Do not be deterred. This too shall pass. It's just a matter of compliance and just an extra layer of compliance the students have to get through.

Once this vetting process is complete, I think students will have no problem coming in here to the United States.

SANDOVAL: Professor Hegarty, thank you so much for your insight and certainly your encouraging words. Clearly a success story. Professor, we appreciate you.

HEGARTY: Thank you very much indeed.

SANDOVAL: Certainly a message of optimism from the professor. Still ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM, hungry crowds stormed a food warehouse in Gaza, with more deadly results. We'll also have the emotional response from the U.N. ambassador to the Palestinian territories. You're watching CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:19:38]

SANDOVAL: To the Middle East now, where desperation was on display for a second straight day in Gaza, as crowds of hungry people broke into a U.N. food warehouse.

The World Food Programme says at least two people were killed and several others were injured. Video from the scene showing people inside the warehouse grabbing whatever they could find. Hundreds more were seen running outside as gunfire echoed in the background.

[02:20:01]

Palestinian health officials say one person was shot and killed in a separate incident at a food distribution site on Tuesday. The U.N. says humanitarian needs have spiraled out of control after an 80 day blockade of all food aid into Gaza.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MANSOUR: Dozen of children are dying of starvation, the images of mothers embracing their motionless bodies, caressing their hair, talking to them, apologizing to them.

It's unbearable. How could anyone? (INAUDIBLE)

Excuse me, Mr. President, I have grandchildren. I know what they mean to their families and to see the situation of the Palestinians without us having hearts to do something is beyond the ability of any normal human being to tolerate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Meanwhile, Israel says that it believes terrorists are still holding 58 captives in Gaza, including 20 who are still alive. Their families and other hostages freed over the past 19 months are pleading with the government to bring them home. CNN's Jeremy Diamond reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Lishay Miran has been fighting this fight for 600 days. 600 days since Hamas militants broke into her house and shattered her world, 600 days since they took this father from his home.

LISHAY MIRAN-LAVI, WIFE OF HOSTAGE OMRI MIRAN: At the moment that the terrorists get inside our home, Roni was sleeping here. I was here with Alma and Omri stand here next to the door with two knives in his hand.

Now, visits to the home they once shared are interrupted by the sounds of war.

Joltingly shy to her husband's dangerous reality.

DIAMOND: What goes through your mind when you hear that?

MIRAN-LAVI: I think about them. I think about Omri. What's going on over there when they hear this? Yes. No, I am very scared. I'm really scared and I thought all the time, what they think right now.

DIAMOND (voice over): Keith Siegel knows exactly what the hostages are going through.

KEITH SIEGEL, RELEASED HAMAS HOSTAGE: It haunts me daily.

DIAMOND (voice over): He survived 484 days in Hamas captivity, enduring abuse.

SIEGEL: I was beaten by terrorists. I experienced physical abuse, psychological and emotional abuse.

DIAMOND (voice over): And Israeli bombing.

SIEGEL: I spent most of my time in captivity above ground and I can tell you that it's scary. I can remember that I was sitting on a chair next to a window in an apartment on the fifth floor, a house right next to the apartment that we were staying in was bombed. I was blown off the chair onto the floor. The windows obviously were all shattered, broken.

DIAMOND (on camera): And so as these bombardments are now intensifying, as the Israeli military is threatening to further expand this military offensive, what's going through your mind?

SIEGEL: I worry. I worry about the dangers that the hostages are in. Again, they're in a life-threatening situation.

DIAMOND: It seems like what you're saying is that expanding military operations in Gaza increases the threat to the hostages' lives.

SIEGEL: Yes, I believe so.

DIAMOND (voice over): Omri Miran is among the hostages he is worried about. They spent nearly six months together in captivity, bonding over music and family.

SIEGEL: We talked a lot about Lishay and his daughters, Roni and Alma, who were now aged four and two. It was very difficult for me to think about his daughters growing up without their dad.

DIAMOND (voice over): After Siegel broke down while filming a hostage video, it was Omri who comforted him.

SIEGEL: He helped me very much. He really calmed me down and he said --

DIAMOND (voice over): Siegel also spent 67 days with Matan Angrest, a now 22-year-old Israeli soldier.

DIAMOND: It sounds like you carry Omri and Matan with you every day.

SIEGEL: Absolutely, yes, absolutely. I think about them every day. Many times a day, and I worry about them and I miss them.

[02:25:14]

DIAMOND (voice over): Omri cried out to Siegel and his family last month in this hostage video. His wife saw a different man.

MIRAN-LAVI: His eyes was really like it is -- it is not him.

DIAMOND (voice over): But she is convinced their daughters will get their father back.

DIAMOND: When they ask you - -

MIRAN-LAVI: Yes.

DIAMOND: Will he come home? Do you tell them that he will?

MIRAN-LAVI: Yes, all the time. You know, I don't know if it is going to be tomorrow, and I don't know if it is going to be in one year from now, but I know in my heart, I know that he is going to come back.

DIAMOND (voice over): Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Nahal Oz, Israel.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: Still on the way, an update on another conflict, Ukraine agrees to a major arms package with Germany, but Volodymyr Zelenskyy,s the Ukrainian president may not have gotten everything he wanted to help his country fight Russia. Details on the deal and the report -- in a report from Berlin on the way.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:31:20]

SANDOVAL: Russia's Foreign Minister says that the next round of peace talks with Ukraine will be on Monday in Istanbul. Talking about Sergey Lavrov, he says a Russian delegation will present a memorandum to Ukraine, which he says will set their position on "overcoming the root causes of the crisis." Ukraine for its part says that it has shared its own position in a document in advance of the meeting and wants Moscow to do the same.

Now, Donald Trump says that he will know in two weeks time whether Vladimir Putin wants to end the war. Reminder, two weeks is a re- occurring timeline for the U.S. president who often gives that response when asked about pending decisions. In a separate vein, Ukraine's president has agreed to a new arms deal with Germany. CNN's Fred Pleitgen is in Berlin with those details.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Germany appears to be drastically stepping up its military aid for Ukraine, announcing a EUR 5 billion aid package that covers not just giving Ukraine weapons and munition, but also combined production of weapons. Now, all this comes as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine was here in Berlin to meet with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

And during that meeting and after that meeting, it was thought that maybe Friedrich Merz would announce that the Germans would give cruise missiles to the Ukrainians. However, that was not the case. Instead, the German Chancellor announced that there would be combined weapons productions by Germany and Ukraine for longer-range weapons. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRIEDRICH MERZ, GERMAN CHANCELLOR (through translator): We are financing a considerable part of the country's Starlink cover and our defense ministers will today sign a memorandum of understanding on the procurement of long-range weapon systems from Ukrainian production, so-called long range fires. There will be no range restrictions. Ukraine will thus be able to defend itself fully, even against military targets outside its own territory.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN: Now, a little bit more nuance about that was given by the German Defense Ministry. They said that the first batch of these weapons would be in Ukrainian hands within the next couple of weeks. Also, that no additional training would be necessary for the Ukrainian forces that are set to use these weapons. And at the same time, the Germans saying that they believe that a significant number of these munitions could be in Ukrainian hands before the end of the year.

So certainly, that could drastically enhance Ukraine's capabilities of attacking targets deep inside Russian territory, which of course, the Russians have said could potentially escalate the war in Ukraine. And the Russians also coming out and heavily criticizing this new measure by the German government, saying that the Germans and the French were, as the Kremlin spokesman said, in a race to escalate the war in Ukraine.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Berlin.

SANDOVAL: And I have more of your headlines right after this break. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:38:57]

SANDOVAL: Well, this morning, one person is missing after a wave of ice, rock and mud buried part of a village in the Swiss Alps. Officials say that it happened after a huge chunk of a nearby glacier actually broke off on Wednesday, sending the debris down the mountain. You see here what the result was, a huge cloud as it crashed into the village, which is home to about 300 people.

Luckily though, most of them were evacuated last week because geologists saw warning signs of a possible avalanche. Officials say some 3 million cubic meters of debris came down with the glacier. Emergency services have closed this main road in the area and warning people to stay away.

And a Chinese space launch could shed light on two very intriguing objects in our solar system. This is the Tianwen-2 mission. It's going to be collecting samples from an asteroid that may possibly have been a chunk that actually chipped off the moon. The space rock has become a quasi satellite orbiting around, or near planet Earth.

[02:40:00]

The mission will return its samples in about two and a half years, so don't wait up. Then, the probe will be spending about seven years traveling to a comet orbiting between Mars and Jupiter. The goal, to study its dusty tails.

And with that, we want to thank you for joining us on "CNN Newsroom." I'm Polo Sandoval. Stay tuned for "World Sport" which is next. Then, I will be back at the top of the hour with more of your headlines here on "CNN Newsroom."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:45:00]

(WORLD SPORT)