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China Announces 34 Percent Retaliatory Tariffs on U.S. Goods; U.K. Police Charge Comedian Russell Brand with Rape; TikTok Ban Looms This Weekend Unless a Sale is Agreed; Top NATO Diplomats Meet as Allies Face U.S. Tariffs; South Korean Court Removes President Yoon from Office; 7 Killed as Dozens of Tornadoes Hit Central U.S.; Kansas City Grapples with Impact of DOGE Layoffs; New Tech Could Help Clean Up Maritime Shipping. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired April 04, 2025 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[10:00:39]
ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN London, this is CONNECT THE WORLD.
CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Welcome to our second hour of CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Christina MacFarlane in London.
Our top stories, China said it would hit back if Donald Trump started a trade war. And now it has a 34 percent tariff on U.S. imports. Also ahead,
as Israel steps up its assault on Gaza, an overnight strike in Khan Younis kills 25 people, nearly all from a single family. Plus, British police say
they've charged actor-comedian Russell Brand with rape and multiple counts of assault over a number of allegations between 1999 and 2005.
It's another day of financial pain on Wall Street. Here's a look at the stocks. Half an hour after Friday's trading session, and of course, they
are way down again with the sell-off propelled by the news just a few hours earlier that China is slapping retaliatory 34 percent tariffs on all U.S.
goods.
Well, even before that announcement, stocks were in the red across the globe. Here are the top European exchanges all facing steep sell-offs for
the second day in a row. And all of this happening in the wake of President Donald Trump's decision to slap tariffs on the most of the world's
countries, a move that many economists say could spark a global recession.
The president and his allies have painted a gloomy picture of American job losses as the reason for the tariffs. But the job market showed strength
last month, even after Elon Musk's DOGE started laying off thousands of federal staffers. 228,000 jobs were created in March, which was more than
expected. Whether the trend continues, though, well, that's too soon to know, and many more layoffs are anticipated in the coming months.
Well, CNN is covering all angles on this, but we're starting first with Marc Stewart in Beijing.
MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right, Cristina. China has said it will fight back. But if this is a war, if this is indeed a trade war, China is
not revealing at least just yet how and when it will strike back. In fact, all day today we heard a lot of themes about discussion, about diplomacy,
about reconsideration. But if it comes to a point where China deems it necessary to show its force, it certainly has an arsenal of options, that
includes further tariffs against American agriculture products.
China imports a lot of soybeans from the United States, and further tariffs imposed by China really could impact farmers. It could impact middle
America, it could support -- it could really hurt some of the communities that Donald Trump has seen some support. So that's something we're
certainly going to be watching for. We certainly have an economics argument to all of this. But there's also ego. In fact, we heard from one analyst
today who brought up the point, who's going to cave in first, who's going to be the one who, you know, really, really falls into all of this? Will it
be Xi Jinping or will it be Donald Trump? There's a lot of ego involved.
MACFARLANE: Well, CNN's Anna Stewart joins us now live from London.
And, Anna, as we prepare to chat about what the markets are doing, Donald Trump is actually on social media calling out China and saying that they
played it wrong, quote, and that they panicked in response to his tariffs. But, you know, all of this obviously evident in the global stock markets,
which have tanked since that China announcement just a couple of hours ago.
ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And I think the message we just had from the president of the United States just goes to show there is a lot of ego
involved. And you do question how far tit-for-tat goes. Looking at global markets, let's have a check in with Dow Jones is down. I think it was 1100
points so far today. It was down 1600 yesterday. And we're seeing the steepest losses in stocks like Apple, Qualcomm, Tesla, caterpillar, Nvidia.
These are companies with big exposure to China. So you're starting to see some real pain for big American companies. And of course that will impact
portfolios for all sorts of investors and consumers, your average person in the United States. So we have the pain there. We're having steep losses in
Europe as well. No retaliation from Europe yet. We're expecting to see more retaliation from other nations next week once all of this has been
processed.
But, you know, we saw Xetra DAX down around 4 percent before I came on air. FTSE 100, similar sort of levels, and the CAC.
[10:05:06]
And that follows on from steep losses in Asia. So really another day of absolutely steep losses across the board.
MACFARLANE: And I think at times like these, when many are wondering what qualifies as a stock market crash, and are we any getting anywhere close to
that?
A. STEWART: I was having this conversation with my team. When is it a plunge? When is it a tank? And when is it a crash? You'll be thrilled to
know we're nowhere near a crash yet. We have been tiptoeing towards tank in some markets, for instance, the Xetra DAX and the FTSE MIB in Italy, which
is down more than 5 percent.
We're not at a crash yet, but you have to consider the losses we've also had, not just today and yesterday, but in recent weeks and recent months,
as all the uncertainty, all the threats of tariffs has added up and really taken, you know, we're talking billions of dollars off stock markets. And
looking at today, I had a note from Deutsche Bank that said the market is doing one thing, pricing in a global recession.
And if this remains the way things are going and if we see more retaliation, that is where we are headed.
MACFARLANE: Yes. Is there any way to avoid that at this point? Has the rot set in? Would there be anything that could reverse the markets in that
direction at this point?
A. STEWART: Negotiation and --
MACFARLANE: Isn't it too late for negotiation?
A. STEWART: U.S. president backing down at this stage.
MELBER: OK. All right, Anna, thank you.
Well, we have a panel of economists here to dissect this. CNN analyst Rana Faroohar is in New York, and economics professor Ha-Joon Chang joins us
from London.
Great to see you both.
Rana, I want to go to you first because we were talking about Donald Trump being on social media there. Well, he's also been mentioning a couple of
other things that I want to raise. He's been saying in the past hour that his policies will never change, and that this is a great time to get rich,
richer than ever before.
What do you make of those comments in this moment of chaos?
RANA FAROOHAR, CNN GLOBAL ECONOMIC ANALYST: You know, there's two ways to look at this. The first way, and the scarier way, frankly, is that he's
just shooting from the hip. There really is no global strategy here. And this is Donald Trump and his ego, as we've just spoken about. And I think
that you can make a strong case about that. He doesn't, you know, assuming there's no coup in the U.S., he doesn't have a chance to get reelected. And
so he may be less concerned about global markets this time around and U.S. stock markets than he was before. It may be about power and ego.
The other case, the more sort of there is a strategy here case is that he really feels and I know many on his team feel, that the global trading
system has needed an overhaul for some time. He wants to move overall tariff rates that the U.S. puts on other countries versus what they put on
us closer together. Of course, that's now all been thrown up because we're in a complete trade war. I don't think these numbers are going to last. I
do think that there's going to be some horse trading, and there already is some horse trading behind the scenes.
But it is, what I can say is that I think there's now a very good chance of recession, in part because trust has been obliterated. I also think we're
in unprecedented territory. This is the biggest shift, potentially, to the global economic system that we've seen in half a century.
MACFARLANE: Yes. And on that point, Ha-Joon, that Rana was talking about, I mean, even if markets do recover a little bit, we do see these moves to
negotiate. How irreparable is the damage that has been wreaked on economies globally at this stage?
HA-JOON CHANG, RESEARCH PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS, SOAS: Yes. Yes. Last few days I've been trying to figure out whether there's some method in madness.
I concluded that the method is wishful thinking because what is going on is that Mr. Trump thinks that if he puts up tariff wall, foreign companies
will, first of all, come and invest. They are not really going to do that on any significant scale because the U.S. industrial base has been run down
for the last four decades, and you cannot rebuild it in a few years.
Moreover, if they actually come in a major way, there'll be no tariff, you know, so that he cannot have his cake and eat it. As for American
companies, they are not going to invest on any large scale because, you know, the American financial system in the last few decades have become
really parasitic and has been working as a mechanism to suck out the profit from corporations. So in the last 25 years, 90 percent to 95 percent of
corporate profits have been given to the shareholders in the form of excessively high dividends and stock buybacks.
And American companies do not have money to invest. So unless he does something about the financial system as well, all this extra profit
generated for American companies by tariffs will be just that, that leaking out of the system.
[10:10:11]
So I'm afraid that it's all based on wishful thinking and that most critically the last couple of days that the United States has basically
given up on being a country that based on the rule of law, you know, South Korea, my native country, signed the free trade agreement with the United
States about 15, 20 years ago. And now that we are getting 25 percent tariff, so that now, who's going to take American commitment seriously?
MACFARLANE: Yes, in many ways it's a realignment of world order that's happening here, Rana. And it was interesting to see China's vice commerce
minister come out earlier and say he wants to work with the E.U. on -- to oppose protectionism, unilateral bullying. I mean, how expansive are the
moves we're going to see here for realignment globally among trading blocs?
FAROOHAR: Huge. It's going to be huge. And this is -- it really is an opportunity for China. It's kind of in some ways it's China's game to lose
now. And it'll be very interesting to see how Xi Jinping and how Beijing plays this. You know, I would be a little bit skeptical about whether
you're going to see some kind of complete new alliance between China and Europe because what's going to happen now is that a lot of cheap Chinese
goods are going to flood into Europe because they can no longer flood into the U.S.
And are the Europeans going to like that? No, they're not. So this is where you start to get into that cascading sense of, oh, boy, you know, we really
are in a global trade war here. Now, if the Chinese were to suddenly say, you know what, we're going to acknowledge that we've been dumping cheap
steel, cheap EVs, you know, cheap solar panels onto the world, and guess what, Europe, we are going to cut a new and more productive paradigm with
you, well, that would be very interesting.
And in that sense, then Donald Trump may have made Europe great again, you know? But these are right now I'm speculating. These are just one of many,
many multiple possibilities that we could see.
MACFARLANE: Ha-Joon, I just wonder, you know, as we wait for the European response here, we were talking last hour to a member of the E.U. saying,
you know, they are considering steel, aluminum at this point. They probably won't act until April 9th. What did you -- what do you make of China's
response here for, you know, an eye for an eye, that 34 percent levy right back at the U.S.? Do you think that was the right response?
CHANG: Well, you know, economically speaking, actually it's not the -- a good idea to retaliate, you know, because why should you make things more
expensive for you? But politically speaking, once you do not respond and cave in, then the other guy will come at you and pull you further so that -
- that's what I think the Chinese are doing.
But I think, as Rana said, I mean, it's very interesting to think about possible realignment, but I think the most important thing that has
happened in the last couple of months is that the rest of the world is now daring to think that a world economy without the United States is possible.
I mean, the U.S. economy is actually not as important as people think in the global terms because, yes, its GDP might account for 25 percent of
world GDP but in terms of trade, because it's a relatively closed economy, it's only about 10 percent, you know?
MACFARLANE: Yes.
CHANG: So, yes, it's still huge. But in the long run, actually the rest of the world can realign themselves and build the world economy that doesn't
rely so much on the United States. But, I mean, that's for the long term.
MACFARLANE: And, Rana, just finally, as we consider that, you know, this realignment now might happen with the United States out of the world order,
no longer top of it, that's for sure, I just wanted to ask you what you feel with Donald Trump's end game here? I mean, he's talked, of course,
about wanting to bring manufacturing back to the heartlands of, you know, the Midwest of the United States. But what does he think success is going
to look like for, like here? What was his intention?
FAROOHAR: So, again, you know, let's put aside ego and psychology and let's assume that there is a little bit of strategy here. I think that his
intentions in terms of re-industrialization have been less about job growth. And frankly, that's probably realistic because technology is doing
a lot of manufacturing jobs much more than in the past, and more about security.
[10:15:03]
Just look at some of the announcements we've seen around things like shipbuilding in the U.S. China has about 5500 ocean going vessels. The U.S.
has about 180. There's a grand strategy in the Arctic, you know, as the Arctic melts, the idea that China and Russia are sort of, you know, closer
and more able to transverse those seas. He wants the option and people around him, more importantly, want the option to be able to make critical
goods, you know, things like ships, chips, critical minerals, et cetera., either at home or nearby for security reasons.
But, you know, this is part, as we heard earlier from our other guest, this is part of a larger process. If you're going to try and make that kind of
change, tariffs alone don't do it. You need industrial strategy at home. You need to rethink the financial system quite right. You need to shift
from being an economy that is all about share prices going up and consumer prices going down to one that's more about a balance of production and
consumption.
That involves negotiation. It involves collective work, together in groups, something Donald Trump is not so good at. And it involves some sharing of
pain between consumers, companies, the country. That's something that Asians have been pretty good at. Americans, not so much in recent years.
MACFARLANE: Yes, it certainly requires a nuanced approach, which the current administration are not particularly adept at.
Rana Foroohar and Ha-Joon Chang, we appreciate your time with us. Thank you.
CHANG: Thank you.
MACFARLANE: All right. Still to come. They're dancing in the streets of Seoul today after a ruling from the constitutional court on the future of
the president, Yoon Suk Yeol.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MACFARLANE: Turning now to a developing story out of the U.K. British comedian Russell Brand facing multiple charges including rape and sexual
assault. London's Metropolitan Police said the charges are related to four separate women.
The 50-year-old has been the subject of several media investigations in recent years, as well as a documentary program about sexual assaults. He
previously maintained his innocence.
Let's go straight to Salma Abdelaziz who's covering this here.
What more do we know about these charges?
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So we've only just recently received this statement from the police. But let's start by parsing through what he
has been charged with. And that is again, according to British police, he has been charged with one count of rape, one count of indecent assault, one
count of oral rape, and two counts of sexual assault. These charges relate to four separate women, and they stem from allegations between 1999 and
2005.
So we're talking about some very, very serious charges here, of course. Now you may ask, where is Russell Brand? It is believed that he does have
residence in Oxfordshire, but he may also have residence in the United States. That's going to make it difficult, of course, when it comes to
speaking about how he's going to face these charges.
[10:20:02]
And just to remind our viewers, of course, of who Russell Brand is, I mean, at one point, he was basically one of Britain's most famous comedians,
celebrities, pop stars, actors. Of course in recent years, he switched to more of a social media commentator and has been accused at times of
spreading conspiracy theories on those social media platforms.
Now this all began in 2023 after a Channel Four documentary was released where four separate women accused Russell Brand of various acts of rape and
sexual assault. Russell Brand did respond to those allegations at the time, denying them and accusing the British government of trying to censor him.
YouTube also responded by demonetizing his channel, and Russell Brand has continued to deny these charges against him.
Now, the other thing I want to mention is that the Met says that the investigation remains open, so they say they still are open to women coming
forward who may have more information. They have a specialist team for any victims and survivors that can handle this case going forward.
And again, police now charged actor Russell Brand with rape and multiple counts of assault 1999 to 2005. So we'll see what happens next with this.
But very serious charges that have been coming with this almost year and a half investigation ongoing.
MACFARLANE: Yes. And we will continue to follow it. Selma, thank you.
Now it's down to the wire for a TikTok deal. Tomorrow is the deadline for a ban on TikTok in the U.S. that could go into effect if a new buyer doesn't
emerge. Well, TikTok is owned by Chinese company ByteDance. And on Thursday, President Trump seemed to suggest his new tariffs may clear the
way to get China to sign off on a deal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have a situation with TikTok where China will probably say, we'll approve a deal, but will you do
something on the tariff? The tariffs give us great power to negotiate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: Joining me now is Kaya Yurieff. She's the reporter with the information. She regularly writes about on social networks, including
TikTok.
Just quickly, Kaya, I suppose a straight response to this, what are you hearing about where things stand?
KAYA YURIEFF, REPORTER, THE INFORMATION: Yes. I mean, the latest is that there will be some sort of proposal from the White House before the
Saturday deadline. They've been working to finalize that this week. So things seem to be on track before Saturday.
MACFARLANE: And just on what President Trump was saying there that the tariffs could be used as a sort of negotiating tool, or he's claiming they
could be used as a negotiating tool. I mean, how is that going to influence this sale in any way?
YURIEFF: Yes, I mean, it's a good question. China has been really silent on this issue. So there's big questions of whether China will approve a TikTok
deal. But tariffs I think certainly could come into play here.
MACFARLANE: And what did you make of Vice President JD Vance pretty much guaranteeing a deal will happen in time. And I suppose that chimes with
what you're hearing.
YURIEFF: I think what we have to caution is that this is a proposal. So what the White House has been finalizing is a proposal to keep TikTok alive
in the U.S. but there are still so many questions about, again, whether ByteDance will approve it, whether China will approve it. But from the
White House, and they are finalizing some sort of deal.
MACFARLANE: And in terms of the buyers themselves, I mean, there's a raft who've been sort of put forward on the table. But I mean, how much is
Amazon emerging as a sort of frontrunner in this?
YURIEFF: Yes, I mean, it's been a wild 48 hours on this story. We've had Amazon put in a last minute bid. We've had the founder of OnlyFans, which
of course is the adult content site, as well as Applovin, the mobile app provider. Amazon, we're hearing, is not a serious contender at this point.
Throughout this process, really, Oracle has been the lead contender. Of course, Larry Ellison, the founder, has a deep relationship with the
president.
What we reported earlier this week is that the White House proposal would basically create a new company called TikTok America, and that would be
owned by 50 percent of new U.S. investors, 30 percent would be owned by existing investors in ByteDance, which is, of course, TikTok's parent
company. And then ByteDance would retain a stake in the company.
MACFARLANE: So if you had to roll the dice on the chances of TikTok going dark again, where do you stand on that at the moment?
YURIEFF: I don't expect it to go dark. I think in January we obviously saw it go down. I think for now we will be OK, but you never know. This has
been such a crazy story to watch.
MACFARLANE: Yes, well, the clock is ticking down, isn't it? Not much time left now, but, Kaya, we appreciate you giving us the update. Thank you.
All right. Still to come on CNN, why America's top diplomat says the U.S. will know in a matter of weeks if Russia is serious about peace with
Ukraine.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:27:14]
MACFARLANE: Welcome back to CONNECT THE WORLD with me, Christina MacFarlane. Here are your headlines.
It's another day of steep sell-offs on Wall Street after China announced 34 percent retaliatory tariffs on all U.S. goods. That follows President
Donald Trump's tariff announcement, impacting most countries that the U.S. trades with, which have sent global stock markets into a tailspin.
Well, U.S. President Donald Trump has fired both the director and deputy director of the National Security Agency and a major shakeup to the U.S.
intelligence community. That decision comes hours after he met with far- right activist Laura Loomer. But the president denies she was involved in the decision.
South Korea's highest court has officially removed President Yoon Suk Yeol from office. It found his short-lived declaration of martial law in
December to be a violation of the constitution. A general election to choose the new president must be held within 60 days.
And America's top diplomat addressing concerns over President Donald Trump's new tariffs targeting nearly every country that trades with the
U.S. Earlier today, he acknowledged that markets are crashing but says financial markets will adjust to the rapid changes. Rubio's remarks in
Brussels came after China said it would respond to the tariffs with 34 percent tariffs of its own on all imports from the U.S. starting next week.
CNN's Alex Marquardt has been following this story for us from Brussels. So talk to us more about those comments from Rubio.
ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Christina, of course, this was a NATO meeting about NATO defense issues, about
Ukraine. But of course, the tariffs news was going to loom very large over this two days of meetings, all of these countries attending are now facing
increased tariffs. All of them are stunned and upset with the United States.
So Rubio, in the face of all that was still defending the president's decision to put tariffs on all these countries and saying that essentially
that markets and businesses all around the world will eventually readjust when they learn the new rules. He pushed back on the notion that economies
are crashing, but he did, rather remarkably acknowledge that markets, as we can all plainly see, are crashing as we speak. Here's a little bit more of
what he told reporters today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARCO RUBIO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: I don't think it's fair to say economies are crashing. Markets are crashing because markets are based on
the stock value of companies who today are embedded in modes of production that are bad for the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MARQUARDT: And Christina, he went on to say that we have to reset the global order of trade. Now, I've been speaking with foreign ministers at
these meetings. They have not appeared to hold these tariffs move against him. But as the Canadian foreign minister told me, it has been distracting
and has overshadowed a lot of these conversations.
[10:30:07]
Mlanie Joly telling me that it is difficult to have these very important NATO conversations in the middle of a trade war -- Christina.
MACFARLANE: Yes, and he also obviously addressed the Russia-Ukraine war during his briefing in Brussels as well. What did he say, Alex, about those
ongoing negotiations?
MARQUARDT: Well, so many of the NATO officials here, officials from all across the alliance, would tell their American counterparts that Putin
can't be trusted and that he doesn't really want peace. And Rubio was responding to questions from reporters, including from me, about what comes
next in these U.S. led negotiations over a cease fire, over an eventual peace deal? And Rubio actually revealed that before coming to Brussels, he
sat down in Washington with Kirill Dmitriev, who is the Kremlin envoy, the close Putin ally who was in Washington for meetings with the Trump
administration this week.
And Rubio told me that his message to Dmitriev was essentially that the clock is ticking, that the U.S. wants to know whether or not Russia is
serious about wanting a peace deal, and that they want an answer soon. He said that he wants to know this essentially in the next few weeks and that
time is short and that that message should be taken by Dmitriev back to back to Putin so we can see where things actually stand.
Of course, the Ukrainians have agreed three weeks ago to an immediate and full ceasefire, whereas the Russians have rejected that and have
essentially said, well, we're only willing to do certain things if conditions are lifted. So Rubio placing the ball firmly back in Russia's
court. Rubio told me that they don't have any more meetings planned because they don't want to just keep having negotiations about negotiations.
They want answers from the Russians. They want to be convinced that Russia is indeed serious about these talks, which, of course, so many people doubt
-- Christina.
MARQUARDT: And Alex. I mean, this was awkward timing for Marco Rubio on many fronts, but also with regard to Donald Trump's comments over Greenland
and the threat to sort of take over the autonomous country. I mean, was there any discussion about that or any comment made from Rubio on that?
MARQUARDT: Especially in the context of NATO, because here you have the most powerful member of NATO in the United States talking about taking
territory away from another NATO ally in Denmark, because Greenland is, of course, a Danish territory. And there was the potential for an awkward
moment when Rubio sat down with his Danish counterpart. All appeared to be friendly in that meeting. We are told by the State Department that
Greenland actually did not come up.
The Danes have a policy, as it turns out, to not discuss Greenland without officials from Greenland in the room. So they kind of stayed away from
that. They really just focused on the issues pertaining to NATO. And I think that's essentially a common theme here. In the same way that tariffs
weren't necessarily brought up directly with Rubio in official conversations, they really are trying to focus on the things that they have
in common, that they can move forward, that they agree on, discussions over defense spending, for example, over Ukrainian security and unity in NATO.
But Rubio has not shied away from the president's position that he wants to take over Greenland. He did push back on a little bit of this notion that
the president was ready to use military force to fight with the Danes over it, but that is clearly what President Trump said recently, that he's not
taking military force off the table. So it still remains a very hot issue. It just wasn't one that was focused on over the past few days here in
Brussels.
MACFARLANE: OK, Alex, we appreciate your reporting there. Thank you.
And as Alex was just referencing there, Vladimir Putin's top negotiator says the Trump administration understands Russia's concerns after his high
level talks with U.S. officials on Thursday. According to Russian state media, Kirill Dmitriev claims a main topic now is restoring Russian-
American ties, a relationship that was apparently interrupted during the Biden administration. Thursday, he told CNN there has been major progress
regarding a ceasefire in Ukraine thanks to the Trump White House.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KIRILL DMITRIEV, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN'S SPECIAL ENVOY: I think there is an understanding for how we can move to finalize the agreement,
and there have been lots of discussion in that realm, lots of differences still remain, but I think there are several paths to try to address all of
the issues, and only a diplomatic solution can be possible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: Well, Dmitriev has been highlighting Russia's absence from the list of global tariffs unveiled by President Trump on Wednesday, and says
U.S. businesses would be welcome in Russia if punitive sanctions over its war in Ukraine were lifted.
Ukrainian officials say three people were injured in a massive drone attack on the southeastern city of Dnipro Friday.
[10:35:02]
The city's mayor says no one was killed and there was minimal damage. And in Kharkiv, at least two people were killed and another 32 injured during a
Russian drone attack on Thursday. Russia had targeted Ukraine's second largest city almost nightly over the past week.
OK, you are watching CONNECT THE WORLD. There's more news after this quick break. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MACFARLANE: The search for a new president is underway in South Korea. The country's constitutional court has upheld the impeachment of previous
president, Yoon Suk Yeol.
CNN's Mike Valerio has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're pretty much in the center of the old city. For anybody who's ever been to Seoul, this is right in front of
Gyeongbokgung Palace, Gwanghwamun Gate. It's been here for centuries, a gathering point, and this has been a gathering point for people who are
rallying against the now former president of South Korea, Yoon Suk Yeol. But a lot of people are starting to leave. It's a far cry from the
thousands of people who were cramming in close to the constitutional court and all the streets and alleyways that had not been closed down by police.
So people here are having their after-lunch sort of victory celebrations. And now what happens next is that we have all on our phones read the
throwing in the towel statements, so to speak, of the former president Yoon Suk Yeol, where he apologized and said a word of thanks to his supporters.
Now, we did speak to an anti-Yoon demonstrator. Listen to her reaction. What she felt when the verdict came down earlier today.
KIM NA-YOUNG, ANTI-YOON PROTESTER: It's hard to describe, honestly. Excited. Happy. But the moment the constitutional court said that he was
impeached, I started bawling. I cried for four minutes and I couldn't talk. And it was such a -- it was such a heavy feeling.
VALERIO: And this is a very visceral moment for millions of South Koreans because this is all about martial law. This all goes back to December 3rd
of last year, when the now former president Yoon Suk Yeol to try to solve a political crisis sent troops, members of the military to the National
Assembly a couple of kilometers away from where we're standing. The heart of South Korean democracy in the name of, from his point of view, resolving
a logjam, resolving a political crisis.
But those gathered around us, certainly the majority of South Koreans, said sending in the military is not how a democracy functions. You don't send
troops to get rid of a political logjam and solve a crisis. So where do we go from here? Later in the evening, down one of these main avenues, this is
where we're going to see a rally of anti-Yoon supporters, those who are thrilled with today's decision, 7:00 p.m. local time by city hall.
[10:40:05]
We're now headed towards elections within the next 60 days. That brings us around to June 3rd. The country is going to need to elect somebody who can
go toe to toe with the Trump administration after 25 percent tariffs levied against South Korea yesterday.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLANE: Well, as Israel launches a major expansion of its military operation in Gaza, Donald Trump says he expects to welcome Benjamin
Netanyahu to the U.S. as soon as next week. The U.S. president says he spoke with the Israeli prime minister on Thursday. Here's what he told
reporters on board Air Force One.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Gaza is a very, very important thing. It's been under siege for many, many years. And it's a shame. It's a shame. A lot of people die in
Gaza. Gaza has been a place we have had a lot of people die. A lot of bad things happen in Gaza. We'll see what we can do about it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: Meanwhile, a senior Hamas source tells CNN the group has rejected Israel's latest proposal for a temporary ceasefire in Gaza. The
plan called for a 40-day pause in fighting in exchange for the release of 11 living hostages and half of the 35 deceased hostages.
As the IDF extends airstrikes and ground operations across much of Gaza, the enclave's Ministry of Health says Friday that nearly 300 injured people
had been brought to Gaza hospitals in the last 24 hours, as well as the bodies of 86 people. 25 people were killed in an Israeli strike on Khan
Younis, according to the Gaza municipality, which says all but one of the dead were from the same family. It added that more people are still missing
under the rubble.
Meantime, Hamas's military wing has confirmed the killing of one of its commanders in an Israeli strike on the southern Lebanese city of Sidon
Friday. Also killed were Farhat's daughter and his son, who was a Hamas fighter. Tensions between Israel and Lebanon have increased in recent weeks
as a series of cross-border strikes strained the ceasefire struck between Israel and Hezbollah four months ago.
And dozens of powerful tornadoes ripped through the central U.S., killing at least seven people. Houses were leveled across Arkansas, Mississippi and
Tennessee, with severe storms expected to last until Saturday. The storms also brought heavy rain and flash flooding. More than a dozen water rescues
took place in Nashville. Authorities warn people to prepare for more tornado and flooding alerts in the days ahead. The tornadoes left behind a
trail of devastation, leaving people to pick up the pieces.
CNN's Nick Valencia spoke to people in the town of Selma, Tennessee.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): This is all that's left today after relentless and severe storms ripped through the Midwest and
South overnight, spawning dozens of tornadoes that crushed homes, flipped over cars, and killed at least seven people.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When the first one touched down, we watched it come through, but we was hoping it missed our house. But as soon as we drove up,
we realized there we have nothing left.
VALENCIA: The total number of tornadoes not yet known, but here in Western Tennessee, emergency management told CNN there were 35 tornado warnings.
GOV. BILL LEE (R), TENNESSEE: Of this county, once again, this has happened before. There's been a tornado here just a couple years ago. But, once
again, they're facing what's really just heartbreaking circumstance out there.
JIMMY MOORE, HOUSE DESTROYED BY TORNADO: It is a mess. Unbelievable the damage that's caused by a tornado.
VALENCIA: In Selmer, Tennessee, Jimmy Moore says this is the second time his home has been hit by a tornado.
MOORE: We were in it the first time.
VALENCIA: This time, his daughter, who lives here now with her children, escaped to a shelter at the courthouse just before the tornado hit the
house again, this time destroying it.
MOORE: Yes. We were glad though that they made it to the courthouse. We can replace the house, but the grandkids a little harder.
VALENCIA: At these newly built apartments nearby, more destruction.
PHYLICIA SECADA, APARTMENT DESTROYED IN TORNADO: We got each other, OK?
VALENCIA: Phylicia Secada has only lived here less than a month, and luckily wasn't home when the tornado blasted through.
SECADA: We watched the storm come through on the radar and we saw it coming, you know, straight through and just kept looking and looking at
Facebook, and then saw people posting pictures and stuff and realized that this had taken a direct hit.
VALENCIA: Have you ever been through a natural disaster before?
SECADA: No, I'm not from these parts, so, no, this is my first time ever. I mean, I'm used to California wildfires and this is different.
VALENCIA (on-camera): Search and rescue teams are still going through this area to make sure that everyone is accounted for. And with a tornado watch
in effect through this evening, there is a lot of concern about what that could bring. Local residents here, they call this tornado alley. And let me
give you a sense of what happened here overnight.
They've gone through several tornadoes in the last several years. They're not out of the clear just yet, and they're hoping that they can just catch
a break.
Nick Valencia, CNN, Selmer, Tennessee.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[10:45:02]
MACFARLANE: A major shakeup in the U.S. intelligence community with both the director and deputy director of the National Security Agency forced
out. Just why the Trump administration fired General Timothy Hauff and his deputy, Wendy Noble, hasn't so far been disclosed. Democrats on the Senate
and House Intelligence Committee have slammed the move.
According to one source, the decision came down after President Trump met with far-right activist Laura Loomer on Wednesday. Loomer, who once claimed
9/11 was an inside job, urged the president to remove several National Security Council staff for being disloyal. President Trump defended the
firings and said Loomer was not involved.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Laura Loomer is a very good patriot. She is a very strong person. And I saw her yesterday for a little while. She makes recommendations of
things and people and sometimes I listen to those recommendations like I do with everybody. I listen to everybody, and then I make a decision.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: Well, Loomer was an influential voice close to President Trump during the 2024 election campaign, even though several of his advisers
tried to keep her at a distance.
High-level NSA officials aren't the only U.S. government officials facing unemployment. The controversial Department of Government Efficiency is
still cutting jobs across multiple branches and across the country.
CNN's Kayla Tausche spoke to some workers in Kansas City who are reeling from Elon Musk's DOGE cuts.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KAYLA TAUSCHE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): More than a thousand miles from Washington, D.C., the impact of DOGE is hitting the
heartland.
In Kansas City, the federal government is the largest employer, a growing presence in recent years. In Trump's first term, the Department of
Agriculture relocated two divisions to the area to save money and move closer to farmers. Now USDA is among the many agencies scaling back here.
All told, job cuts are expected to be in the thousands.
QUINTON LUCAS, KANSAS CITY MAYOR: It's going to hurt the city. It's going to hurt the people a lot. It's going to hurt their families, and it's going
to hurt a lot of secondary businesses.
TAUSCHE: Kansas City's Democratic mayor says the city won't be able to absorb all the laid-off workers.
LUCAS: We're not building a new 4,000-person factory to replace 4,000 jobs at the IRS at the same time. And frankly these folks will have very
different skills.
TAUSCHE: At Kauffman Stadium, Jason Buck has picked up bartending part time. He used to manage fleets of government vehicles until he was fired a
month ago. The search for a new job was slow going.
JASON BUCK, GSA PROGRAM SUPPORT SPECIALIST: Get a spattering of interviews over the course of a month and, you know, I haven't really had any headway
on that.
TAUSCHE: While we spoke with him, his manager called to say he'd been reinstated. He doesn't know for how long.
Do you worry that this is temporary?
BUCK: Absolutely. Yes. Yes. I don't know if I'm going back just to get -- be a part of a reduction in force at some point, or I have no idea what to
expect.
TAUSCHE (voice-over): Daniel Scharpenburg worries his job is on the line, too. He joined the IRS 16 years ago. With two teenage kids, he's taken a
second job to save money.
DANIEL SCHARPENBURG, IRS EMPLOYEE: Some days I get off work here and I go straight to the movie theater. I bring my work uniform with me and I
change, and I go straight to the movie theater and work there. I'm 45 years old. I'm too old to be working two jobs.
TAUSCHE: The owner of Waterbird Coffee says business has picked up with federal workers ordered back to offices. But he fears its short lived.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE, OWNER, WATERBIRD COFFEE: Definitely the mood just feels sort of different. Everything feels kind of stressful, uncertain. It just
kind of created this mood of anxiety overall.
TAUSCHE: The layoffs will ripple through the economy. Many federal workers say they may have to sell their home. Others canceling family vacations.
For each federal worker who loses their job, economists say the pullback in their spending could cost the city another one and a half jobs, multiplying
the effect on unemployment.
The Kansas City metro is blue, but polls show that voters in Missouri still largely support Trump. Shannon Ellis leads the Treasury Employees Union
here and says her members feel the cuts hitting close to home.
SHANNON ELLIS, CHAPTER PRESIDENT, NATIONAL TREASURE EMPLOYEES UNION: I've had people approach me in this building and say, look, if I knew that this
was what was going to happen, that all these attacks on federal agencies, I would have voted a different way. So you can't say that all Americans still
support what's happening.
TAUSCHE (on-camera): Republican Senator Josh Hawley was among the proponents of moving these agencies from Washington to states like
Missouri. He told CNN that he thinks the state's voters are largely supportive of the move to downsize. The next major wave of federal layoffs
is expected in mid-May, but employees say they expect to learn their fate in the next two weeks.
Even so, as we were leaving Kansas City, employees reached out to tell me about ongoing cuts at the Department of Health and Human Services, with
some workers terminated on the spot. So this is happening in real time and with very real-world impact. Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLANE: Our thanks to Kayla.
Now after the break, how a boat that flies above the water could help decarbonize the maritime shipping sector.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:51:42]
MACFARLANE: Now, innovative thinking from the world of sailing may be delivering to a major breakthrough in efforts to tackle carbon emissions at
sea. The eFoiler is the world's first propulsion solution that is both zero carbon and commercially viable, as Max Foster explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MAX FOSTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Is it a boat? Is it a plane? Well, it's kind of both.
This is the EF-12, an all-electric boat flying above the water using technology inspired by high performance sailing. It's developed by Artemis
Technologies, a Belfast based firm that's leading a revolution in marine transport.
IAIN PERCY, CEO, ARTEMIS TECHNOLOGIES: I think we are the only solution worldwide in high speed maritime. That you can both practically and
economically decarbonize your operations.
FOSTER: Iain Percy is a two-time Olympic champion and a veteran of four America's Cup challenges. His extensive expertise in high performance
sailing was crucial in the company's eFoiler innovation.
Why the hydrofoil? What's the advantage to that?
PERCY: The hydrofoil is that small key that opens a big door, because the hydrofoil is really where the drag reduction comes from. We all went on
hydrofoils in the '70s and '80s, and they were what I call V-hydrofoils. They had no control system. They went up in the air and then there was less
foil so they came back down.
It didn't actually save much drag at all, maybe 20 percent. We're the different -- we're an airplane wing effectively under the water.
FOSTER (voice-over): It's that underwater wing, Artemis' eFoiler that lifts the hull out of the water, drastically reducing drag. Powered by an
electric battery, these vessels are vastly more efficient than conventional diesel-powered boats.
You can see it's pretty choppy out there. There's some wind but it's completely steady on ship. There's also a sense of flying as well.
(Voice-over): You may have been on a ferry ride or water taxi. The bumpiness, the noise, the smell of diesel. Well, not this boat. The Artemis
EF-12 vessels will be making waves in ports and harbors across the U.K. and Europe in 2025, competing with conventional diesel boats in a huge
challenge.
But what you've done is very high tech. So how have you kept the prices down?
PERCY: The core technology saves a lot of energy and therefore costs. I'm saying for a typical fast ferry, a million pounds sterling a year in fuel
savings over the conventional solution. On a pilot boat between 100,000 and 400,000 per year.
I think success for Artemis would see a pretty global, large adoption of these kind of vessels. And I think the real step change is that for the
first time, maritime solutions for kind of equal distance start to be cost comparative with trains or busses or cars. That's never been the case. That
really opens up much more mass adoption of our waterways.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLANE: Now the most comprehensive collection of the works of Michelangelo in over 150 years can now be seen at the National Gallery of
Denmark. But there's a catch.
[10:55:01]
Many of his most famous works, like the Statue of David, have not been moved, but instead 3-D printed for the exhibition. Michelangelo imperfect
is made up of 40 reproductions from the Madrid based studio, "Factum Arte," the studio uses new and traditional techniques to create copies that are
visually identical to the originals. Pretty cool.
And before we go, let's have another quick update of the markets, shall we?
U.S. stocks, of course, are sharply lower for a second straight day. Look at that, down almost by five points. And today's selloff is sparked by
Chinas decision to slap 34 percent retaliatory tariffs on all U.S. goods. Other countries may follow suit after U.S. President Donald Trump unveiled
tariffs on most countries that the U.S. trades with.
Market losses are steep around the world, with most major stock exchanges falling heavily again today. Here's the European markets and we are keeping
an eye on Wall Street, and we'll be updating you throughout the day here on CNN.
But that is it for CONNECT THE WORLD for now. Stay with us. "ONE WORLD" is up after this quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
