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Commerce Secretary: Trump Economy Has Officially Arrived; Celeb Legal Sagas Could Signal End of #MeToo Era. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired July 31, 2025 - 06:00   ET

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

M.J. LEE, CNN ANCHOR: -- in Chicago's Grant Park. The mega-festival usually attracts around 200,000 attendees. Luke Combs, Korn, and Rufus Du Sol are set to appear, along with Sabrina Carpenter.

If you can't make it to Chicago this weekend, you can watch a live stream on Hulu.

And thousands of people turned out on the Virginia coast Wednesday to witness a unique century-old tradition: the annual Chincoteague Pony Swim.

More than 100 ponies swam the small channel from their home in a national wildlife refuge to Chincoteague, all under the watchful eyes of volunteers who care for them year-round.

Some of the ponies will be auctioned. The rest will swim back on Friday.

Thank you so much for joining us here on EARLY START. I'm M.J. L ee in Washington, D.C., and CNN THIS MORNING starts right now.

The Trump economy has arrived. But as we look under the hood, is it firing on all cylinders? CNN THIS MORNING starts right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOWARD LUTNICK, COMMERCE SECRETARY: The E.U. pays. Japan pays. Korea pays.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Deal or no deal? Time is ticking on President Trump's tariff deadline. Can he squeeze a few more agreements in before the clock strikes midnight?

And significant turbulence. More than two dozen people hospitalized after a Delta flight hits rough air.

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MARK CARNEY, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: Canada intends to recognize the state of Palestine.

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CORNISH: Pressure mounting for Israel as another ally plans to recognize the state of Palestine.

And is it a Republican rift? Why President Trump is turning on Josh Hawley, calling him a second-tier senator.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Perhaps one of the largest heists of this kind.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: A Heat heist. NBA insiders say millions of dollars' worth of Miami Heat memorabilia has been stolen.

It is 6 a.m. here on the East Coast. Here's a live look at the White House.

Good morning, everybody. It's Thursday, July 31. I want to thank you for waking up with me. I'm Audie Cornish, and this is CNN THIS MORNING.

And here's where we're going to start. Donald Trump's economy. Basically, we're all just living in it. And despite the fact that there's been so much chaos, the president may be winning his global trade war.

"The New York Times" says the muted market reaction to 15 percent tariffs on Japan and the European Union suggests that the panic many expected from Trump's earlier, more extreme levies may not materialize.

Other major global economies, like South Korea and the U.K., they've made trade agreements. And then there are countries like India, where they only have a day or so to strike a deal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LUTNICK: I get all these phone calls from my Wall Street buddies, and they were going crazy. They were like, you don't know what you're doing. You're going to destroy the market.

And let me tell you who the experts are. Donald Trump and his trade team have proven. The E.U. pays. Japan pays. Korea pays. Vietnam pays. The Philippines pay.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Despite the administration's optimism, there's still a notable standoff between President Trump and the Fed, which held interest rates steady on Wednesday, despite pressure from the White House to slash them.

The U.S. economy did expand Sharply in the second quarter. Consumer spending has slowed to pandemic levels. We're going to get a better sense of the impact of the trade war in about 24 hours, because that's when the Labor Department releases its critical July jobs report.

But according to the administration, the Trump economy has officially arrived.

Joining me now in the group chat to kick off -- to kick this off, Betsy Klein, CNN senior White House reporter; Jasmine Wright, White House correspondent at "NOTUS"; and Michael Warren, senior editor at "The Dispatch." Welcome to the group chat. Glad you guys are here.

Since I've got some White House people here. Was I looking at like, euphoria or just ecstasy or victory?

JASMINE WRIGHT, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, "NOTUS": Euphoria, victory.

A little surprise, maybe that they pulled it off in this way by August 1st. Happiness to kind of dunk on the experts. Something that we've seen the White House do repeatedly over the last few days.

I mean, look at it. This is a victory lap for the White House. They are reveling in it. They're passing around articles with folks who wouldn't necessarily be complimenting them on the economy, doing just that.

We're going to hear from Karoline Leavitt today at the press -- the press briefing, and I'm sure that she is going to continue to tout how experts were wrong and how Donald Trump was right, because they feel very, very vindicated.

[06:05:01]

CORNISH: Let me jump in on that.

WRIGHT: Yes.

CORNISH: U.S. trade representative Jamieson Greer was talking about the trade war last night on FOX and responding to the Fed chair's comments that like, look, maybe we still need to keep an eye on things. This is going into my decision. But here's how Jameison responded.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMIESON GREER, U.S. TRADE REPRESENTATIVE: we have had substantial tariffs in place since early February on some of our largest trading partners.

And you know, every time I see a commentator or a think tank person or a talking head say, well, it's just not showing up yet. It's not showing up yet. I mean, my question is, you know, if it hasn't shown up by now, is it going to?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: No economists on the panel, but to the -- to the point on dunking --

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

CORNISH: -- it's again saying like, look, the experts keep telling you that there's going to be a problem, and there isn't a problem yet.

KLEIN: It's also not just the experts. It's also the American consumer. Consumer confidence was up two points this past month, really indicating that Americans also are on board with what had been so much instability and uncertainty for the economy.

Now, they are really --

CORNISH: Or at least feeling safe enough to spend.

KLEIN: Exactly.

CORNISH: Yes. Michael, what about you?

MICHAEL WARREN, SENIOR EDITOR, "THE DISPATCH": Look, I mean, he's saying that if it hasn't shown up now, it -- it -- maybe it won't ever show up. I don't know how he could be so confident in that.

I mean, we did hear from a lot of -- of companies and industries. There was a lot of inventory stockpiling in that first quarter of 2025, in anticipation of this.

WRIGHT: Which led to the lower GDP last quarter.

WARREN: Exactly. So -- so I mean, you're squeezing on the balloon at different places here. And hey, things have been really good in the second quarter.

I mean, I was on the phone with a number of small business producers yesterday who were -- who were concerned about the level of tariffs coming from this deal from Europe.

And this is going to have a lot of downstream effects that that inventory, once it's spent down, going into these last two quarters of the year, could have some ripple effects.

So, the -- the White House is sort of having their victory dance, having their "mission accomplished" moment right now. Let's see what they're talking about in six months or a year.

CORNISH: I feel like this is pro punditry that you are cautious.

WARREN: Look, I mean, look, I'm just trying --

CORNISH: Right, like -- because you're right. This tape is going to come back in six to eight months, and everyone's going to say, especially around Christmas time when they're spending or not spending --

WARREN: Right.

CORNISH: -- hey, did this turn out the way you said it would?

WARREN: Will prices go up? All those things? Those are big questions.

WRIGHT: Because fundamentally, 15 percent tariffs. Yes, it's lower than the 43 percent tariffs that he put on some of these countries. But it is still higher than 0 percent tariffs than what Americans were paying just six months ago.

And so those prices are going to factor in. And so, I think yes, it's a kind of wait and see. But right now, the White House is not waiting to celebrate.

CORNISH: Yes. Well, you guys, thank you. Stay with us. We're going to talk about more this hour.

Coming up on CNN THIS MORNING, in a significant move, the Arab League are calling on Hamas to disarm. It's a bid to salvage the two-state solution. But can it actually work?

And also, can confusion. A popular energy drink recalled, because it actually has vodka in it.

And new details of that deadly mid-air collision in D.C. now raising questions about flight paths.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There was only 75 feet of separation at a critical point on that route. Where else in the national airspace does that exist?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:12:49]

CORNISH: It's now 12 minutes past the hour and here is your morning roundup.

Twenty-five people on board a Delta flight had to go to the hospital last night after the plane hit significant turbulence. Now, this flight was en route to Amsterdam from Salt Lake City. It was forced to make an emergency landing in Minneapolis.

And ESPN has cut ties with Shannon Sharpe. Just weeks ago, Sharpe reached a settlement with a woman who accused him of sexual assault and battery.

Sharpe, the face of the popular "First Take" morning show, says he wishes the network would have held off on the announcement.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHANNON SHARPE, FORMER ESPN HOST: They did what they felt they needed to do and I'm -- I'm at peace with that. But I just wish, guys, I just wish this thing could have -- could have waited until Monday, because I hate the fact that I'm overshadowing my brother.

The first two brothers in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and this is -- is what the headline is going to be for the next couple of days. (END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Now, Sharpe hasn't been on ESPN since April, when the lawsuit was filed, and he denies the allegations.

And imagine reaching for your boost of energy in a can. But it turns out to be vodka.

High Noon seltzer company is issuing a recall. The company says some cans labeled Celsius energy -- energy drinks actually had vodka in them.

It's because of a labeling error from the can supplier.

The mistake affected only a small batch of the Celsius Astro Vibe, which is a vibe. And they had a silver lid instead of a black one.

Still ahead on CNN THIS MORNING, President Trump setting his sights on someone in his own party. Why a new Senate bill has the president blasting Josh Hawley as a, quote, "second-tier senator."

And is the #MeToo era officially over? How some very public legal battles have exposed a rift in the once powerful movement.

And good morning to my hometown of Boston. A look there at the Boston Common.

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[06:19:00]

CORNISH: In the case that never ends, actress Blake Lively is expected to be deposed today in her legal battle against Justin Baldoni.

Now, this case started off as a sexual harassment lawsuit from Lively against her director and costar from their time on set in the movie, "It Ends with Us."

But Baldoni countersued, triggering what Lively claims is an online smear campaign against her. Most of his claims were later thrown out in court.

But from a lot of the headlines and talk online, Lively is being characterized as a toxic diva. She's accused of throwing a tantrum.

So, is Lively's lawsuit, and the coverage of it, proof that we're deeper into this post-#MeToo era?

Well, in the new episode of "The Assignment," I spoke with author Sophie Gilbert. She's got a book out called "Girl on Girl," where she talks about how pop culture has kind of turned a generation of women against themselves.

Here's part of our conversation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) CORNISH: It feels like in the backlash to the MeToo movement, it's really turned on these very high-profile women very sharply.

SOPHIE GILBERT, AUTHOR: Yes.

CORNISH: And I don't know if I'm misreading that, because they're so public. Why do you think that is? Why do you think people are so, frankly, vicious towards the female characters of these tabloid stories?

GILBERT: I mean, with some of the women you mentioned, there is a playbook when a person is accused of wrongdoing. And it's called DARVO, and that's an acronym. It stands for deny, attack, reverse victim and offender.

So, if someone like, say, P. Diddy is accused of wrongdoing, or when video footage emerges of, like, absolute wrongdoing, the playbook that they do is to deny, to attack and then to claim victimhood for themselves and to claim that the person who is accusing them is actually the one who is bad and who should be vilified.

And it works surprisingly well. It's been around for a good while, but it works surprisingly well on TikTok. I think because of the dynamics of fan culture and the ways in which people who are big fans of a particular person will instantly be energized to make videos, to -- to sort of post content, to take all the talking points of the day and form them into a kind of favorable narrative.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CORNISH: OK, group chat is back. I was interested in this idea of weaponizing stan culture, basically, where all of a sudden you can get an army of people to create content that will shift the public narrative. You're -- you're nodding. Do you think this is a thing?

WRIGHT: Oh, it's absolutely a thing. And I think you see all of these videos where you don't actually have transparency into whether or not this person actually believes this, you know, kind of out their take or whether or not they're being paid to do it.

Whether or not they're just a mass in this collection of, like, standom.

Now, listen, I'm a Beyonce stan. So all standing is not bad. Yes.

CORNISH: Of course.

WRIGHT: But some standing is very toxic. And I just think that you're just kind of -- you have all of this content, and you don't know which way is up.

And oftentimes, it leads to some form of misogynism or some form of targeting women, particularly in a case like Diddy. We saw online.

I think you can even expand that to Blake Lively, although I know people feel a little bit differently than her.

CORNISH: But why do they feel differently? I mean, I think the thing I'm -- I'm interested in is, for the longest time, we were told men were at a disadvantage in this conversation, that these allegations could be weaponized against you.

But what I see is, like, even people who are dealing with very public -- she mentioned P. Diddy -- accusations, kind of thriving after, like having support outside the courtroom.

KLEIN: Yes. And I think what's interesting is that the women in our generation kind of came at age at a time when we were seeing Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, all sort of being glorified as these supernovas at the same time that they were being vilified for their toxic behavior.

So, it's not --

CORNISH: Yes, I think they were all in a car once, and they called it the bimbo summit.

KLEIN: Yes.

CORNISH: Do you remember this? It was like a tablet.

WARREN: Yes.

CORNISH: Or you actually remember this, Mike? Are you going to --

WARREN: Of course, yes. I was --

CORNISH: You were there.

WARREN: I remember, I remember.

WRIGHT: He's a cool guy.

WARREN: Yes, exactly.

A=So be my barometer here. Are people more vicious against the female characters in the tabloids or not?

WARREN: I mean, look, I think what this is -- all this sort of MeToo and a correct reckoning with the way that, particularly in Hollywood, this sort of toxic behavior, you know, was -- was getting exposed. And people were sort of getting some justice, is it's hitting up against this just celebrity media culture that is -- that thrives on drama.

It thrives on good guys and bad guys. Whose side are you on? Are you on? You know, who's -- who's the right one on this? I think it's all -- it's all pretty silly. And it's actually really removed from the experience that people are having, like, in regular jobs --

CORNISH: Yes.

WARREN: -- and regular relationships and interactions. CORNISH: But isn't that the point? That's your escape?

WRIGHT: Yes.

WARREN: Totally. Totally.

CORNISH: Right. Like, your escape from those difficult things is, like, watching someone else be torn down and struggle.

WARREN: As if it's not real. But it is real. I mean, that's the thing, is that things are actually happening. And women are -- and people's lives are getting upended by this stuff. And we all act like it's -- it's like reality TV. It's not real. But it is.

CORNISH: Yes, that's a good point. You guys, thank you for talking about that with me.

And if you want more of the conversation or any others, check out "The Assignment." It drops every Thursday.

Now, still ahead on CNN THIS MORNING, frustration and faulty equipment. New details about what led up to the deadly mid-air collision between an Army helicopter and a passenger plane in D.C.

And President Trump's Mideast envoy heads to Israel to discuss the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:29:25]

CORNISH: Good morning, everybody. I'm Audie Cornish, and thank you for joining me on CNN THIS MORNING. It's 29 minutes past the hour here on the East Coast. Here's what's happening right now.

Countries across the globe have less than 24 hours to make a deal with President Trump or face steep tariffs. President Trump says the August 1st deadline will not be extended.

In the past, he's made deals with South Korea, Cambodia and Thailand.

Today, U.S. Special envoy Steve Witkoff is heading to Israel. He's expected to meet with Israeli leaders to discuss the situation in Gaza.

It comes after President Trump split with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying that Palestinians are facing real starvation.

[06:30:00]