0:00

Ryan Reynolds here for Mint Mobile. I

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0:31

I'm Taylor Wilson. Today is

0:33

Tuesday, April 15th, 2025. This

0:36

is the expert. Today,

0:38

El Salvador's president says

0:40

a wrongly deported man will

0:42

not be leaving a Salvadoran

0:45

prison. Plus, we check in

0:47

with the markets amid some

0:50

positive stock indicators early in

0:52

the week and could Trump

0:54

transform DC's African-American

0:56

history museum. El

1:00

Salvador's President Nye Bukelay indicated he

1:03

does not plan to send a

1:05

wrongfully deported Maryland man back to

1:07

the U.S. after the Supreme Court

1:09

ordered the Trump administration to facilitate

1:11

his return. Bukelay said at an oval

1:13

office meeting with President Donald Trump that

1:15

he does not have the power to

1:18

return Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a man he accused

1:20

of being a terrorist. as a model of terrorist

1:22

today in the United States. I don't have the

1:24

power to return him to the United States. But

1:26

you could release him inside of the world. Yeah,

1:29

but I'm not releasing, I mean, we're not very

1:31

fond of releasing terrorists into our country. The Trump

1:33

administration says Abrago Garcia is a

1:35

member of the criminal MS-13 gang.

1:37

A claim a U.S. district judge

1:39

said the administration had not provided

1:41

evidence to support, according to court

1:43

documents. Abrigo Garcia's lawyers say the

1:45

MS-13 chapter he was accused of

1:47

being a part of is based

1:49

in New York, a state in

1:51

which he has never lived. A

1:54

court ruled who was wrongfully deported

1:56

to a supermax prison in El

1:58

Salvador, where suspected members of MS-13.

2:00

held. The Supreme Court ruled last

2:02

week that the Trump administration must

2:05

facilitate his return. The administration has

2:07

argued the high court's ruling said

2:09

it was their responsibility to facilitate

2:11

his return, but that the government

2:14

did not have to bring it

2:16

about. Attorney General Pambondi said during

2:18

Trump's meeting with Buchelli that it's

2:20

up to El Salvador if they

2:22

want to return him. I caught

2:25

up with USA Today, Money, and

2:27

Personal Finance reporter Madora Lee to

2:29

discuss and take a look at

2:31

some encouraging news from the markets.

2:33

Hello, Madora. Hi, how are you?

2:36

Good, good. Thanks for wrapping on.

2:38

So we began a new week

2:40

with more tariff news. Unsurprisingly. I

2:42

know we heard about an exemption

2:45

for the automakers. I guess let's

2:47

start there. What happened on this

2:49

front? Okay, so this is not

2:51

for certain yet, but President Trump

2:53

floated that he's considering some temporary

2:55

exemptions from his. 25% tariffs on

2:57

the auto industry. And the point

2:59

was to try to give the

3:01

car companies more time to transition

3:03

their manufacturing into the US again

3:05

and away from Canada and Mexico

3:07

and wherever else. So when he

3:09

made these remarks, people were pretty

3:11

excited because he had just made

3:13

an exemption for smartphones, computers and

3:15

other electronics from. the reciprocal tariffs

3:17

and so people are kind of

3:19

excited about that because if he

3:21

is narrowing his targets and removing

3:24

some of the tariffs I think

3:26

that that should be seen as

3:28

a positive for the stock market.

3:30

Well let's talk about the stock

3:32

market we have seen some dark

3:34

days really Maduro in recent weeks.

3:36

How did this week begin? We

3:38

began pretty good because of the

3:40

exemptions for smartphones and computers and

3:42

other electronics, and this is particularly

3:44

good news for Apple. Apple does

3:46

a lot of its manufacturing of

3:48

those iPhones that we love in

3:50

China or uses parts from China

3:52

as well. So I think that

3:54

this was seen as really good

3:56

news because people were very worried

3:58

about those extremely high tariffs on

4:00

China. And so the markets were

4:02

pretty happy about that. And it's

4:04

interesting because they started to kind

4:06

of give back their gains around

4:08

mid-session. And then Trump, of course,

4:10

comes in with his possible exemption

4:13

on auto industry to save the

4:15

day. Right. Well, in trying to

4:17

get a read, I guess, of

4:19

the markets overall right now, Madour,

4:21

I mean... Was this Monday trading

4:23

a sign that investor confidence is

4:25

growing at all around these tariffs?

4:27

What can we take away from

4:29

this Monday trading of anything? I

4:31

think that most analysts are still

4:33

pretty cautious. They are saying that

4:35

after the last couple of weeks,

4:37

we all know that now markets

4:39

can swing violently one way or

4:41

another. I think people are feeling

4:43

cautiously optimistic that maybe Trump is

4:45

softening his tariffs, but they're not

4:47

100% convinced because over the weekend.

4:49

people from the administration made the

4:51

Sunday talk show rounds and they

4:53

continued to sound pretty hawkish that

4:55

you know they reminded people that

4:57

these are just temporary that we

4:59

still intend to put tariffs on

5:02

all these electronics and smartphones sort

5:04

of like don't get carried away.

5:06

So we'll have to see what

5:08

happens. The one thing that I

5:10

think a lot of people also

5:12

who are trying to stay optimistic

5:14

are saying that the big thing

5:16

that could turn this around. is

5:18

not just the narrowing of tariffs.

5:20

And even if we don't soften

5:22

the tariffs a ton, just a

5:24

little bit, if Trump can enact

5:26

some pro-growth policies in the second

5:28

half of the year, we could

5:30

maybe avoid a big slowdown or

5:32

a recession. And those kind of

5:34

pro-growth things are deregulation and tax

5:36

cuts. You know, some comments that

5:38

stood out to me were from

5:40

former Treasury Secretary Janet Yellin who

5:42

said Trump's tariffs. escalated the risks

5:44

of a recession. What do you

5:46

make of those comments this week

5:48

from her? I would expect that

5:50

from her because she was probably

5:53

slightly more of a free trader.

5:55

That's actually what a lot of

5:57

a con. haven't discussed too. I

5:59

mean I think Goldman Sachs raised

6:01

its odds of recession recently as

6:03

well because the tariffs just seemed

6:05

to be so aggressive and the

6:07

ones particularly against China were very

6:09

very high and there are their

6:11

largest trading partner. So there's a

6:13

lot of concern that that's going

6:15

to spark inflation and hit household

6:17

incomes and slow spending and slow

6:19

economic growth and businesses are going

6:21

to be hesitant to spend money

6:23

and invest in their businesses when

6:25

they don't really know what's going

6:27

to happen. So I think that

6:29

she's probably just echoing the cores

6:31

of economists out there who are

6:33

saying the same thing. But like

6:35

I said, there's also a contingency

6:37

out there that says, you know,

6:39

in the long term, this could

6:42

be good for America. and maybe

6:44

Trump's right that we have to

6:46

endure some short-term pain. I don't

6:48

know how short-term it's going to

6:50

be though, maybe a few years

6:52

or more. In terms of some

6:54

of the things we're looking out

6:56

for over the next few days,

6:58

Madour, I know some of the

7:00

indicators out of the corporate world

7:02

are catching your eye. What's on

7:04

the horizon? So we have just

7:06

kicked off earning season, and I

7:08

think that a lot of people

7:10

be looking and listening to see

7:12

how the are handling potential price

7:14

increases because of tariffs and what

7:16

their outlook is. It's still early

7:18

this week. Lots still to come,

7:20

I'd imagine, Medora League covers money

7:22

and personal finance for USA Today.

7:24

Thanks, Medora. Thank you. The

7:29

U.S.S. on Friday surpassed 700 confirmed

7:31

measles cases in 2025, according to

7:33

figures posted by the CDC. As

7:35

a Friday, the CDC reported 79

7:37

hospitalizations, including 45 patients who were

7:39

under the age of five. Most

7:41

measles cases, 97 percent, occurred in

7:43

unvaccinated patients or whose vaccination status

7:45

is unknown. So far, the agency

7:47

has reported cases in two dozen

7:49

states with the vast majority in

7:51

Texas. In that state, two unvaccinated

7:53

children with no underlying health conditions.

7:55

have died, including an eight-year-old girl.

7:57

The federal government has announced it's

7:59

freezing more than $2 billion in

8:01

grants and $60 million in contracts

8:03

to Harvard University after the school

8:05

rejected the Trump administration's demands. to

8:07

implement a mask ban and eliminate

8:09

diversity equity and inclusion programs. The

8:11

announcement came yesterday hours after the

8:13

Ivy League school said it would

8:15

not comply with a list of

8:17

demands made by the Trump administration

8:19

to change its practices, marking the

8:21

most high-profile pushback so far against

8:23

Trump's efforts to overhaul the nation's

8:25

prestigious higher education institutions. The administration

8:27

had demanded that Harvard eliminate DEA

8:29

DeI programs banned to conceal protesters'

8:32

identities. and take other steps, including

8:34

major changes to programs and departments

8:36

that fuel what it calls anti-Semitic

8:38

harassment. The proposed changes are tied

8:40

to continued federal funding. Trump has

8:42

been threatening the funds of leading

8:44

universities if they don't comply with

8:46

his demands, including Princeton, Brown, Cornell,

8:48

Northwestern, and Columbia. The government last

8:50

week canceled $400 million in funding

8:52

for Colombia and threatened to withhold

8:54

billions more, accusing the University of

8:56

not doing enough to combat anti-Semitism.

8:58

and to ensure student safety amid

9:00

last year's Gaza encampment campus protests.

9:02

You can read more with a

9:04

link in today's show notes. President

9:06

Trump is targeting museums. He says

9:08

push divisive ideology. Activists and historians

9:10

say he's trying to erase the

9:12

nation's tarnished history. I spoke with

9:14

USA Today national correspondent Deborah Barfield

9:16

Barry for more. Deborah always a

9:18

treat having you on. How are

9:20

you today? I'm fine, thank you.

9:22

Thank you for having me. Always

9:24

good to chat with you. Thanks

9:26

for making the time. So I

9:28

just want to start here. I

9:30

think it's helpful for folks who

9:32

maybe haven't gotten a chance to

9:34

go to DC and go to

9:36

this museum. What is DC's African-American

9:38

History Museum? The museum, which opened

9:40

in 2016 to a lot of

9:42

fanfare, I mean, there were thousands

9:44

who showed up for the opening.

9:46

It had been making for decades.

9:48

Many people had pushed to have

9:50

this museum. And what it does

9:52

for the most part, it tells

9:54

the story and shares the stories

9:56

of African Americans or their African-American

9:58

experience here in the United States.

10:01

And that means it tells the

10:03

story of when Africans were transported

10:05

or taken abroad here, I'm mostly

10:07

enslaved. It tells the story of

10:09

Southern life. It tells the story

10:11

of. culture and tells the story

10:13

of athletes. It tells a little

10:15

bit of everything, both the joys

10:17

and sometimes the horrors and tragedies

10:19

of the experience here. And for

10:21

the most part, it has over

10:23

the years collected artifacts and other

10:25

important milestones and pieces from across

10:27

the country and all kind of

10:29

compiled in this place where you

10:31

can go and see for the

10:33

most part what it is African

10:35

Americans have gone through in this

10:37

country. And I know, Deborah, you

10:39

spoke with a teacher for this

10:41

piece who said he's had students

10:43

in tears during trips to the

10:45

museum and that it's just overall

10:47

left a really powerful impression. What

10:49

else did he say? And what's

10:51

the significance, I guess, of this

10:53

museum for how his students learn

10:55

about African-American history? For this particular

10:57

teacher, his name is Adam Sanchez,

10:59

and he was teaching at a

11:01

school up in New York. And

11:03

he was teaching a lot of...

11:05

history classes. That's a specialty. And

11:07

he was teaching everything from the

11:09

civil rights to reconstruction and things

11:11

about the black experience. But what

11:13

he thought and what he said

11:15

turned out to be true is

11:17

that going to a museum that

11:19

has artifacts that kind of tells

11:21

that story in a different way,

11:23

we kind of bring the history

11:25

alive. So he thought it was

11:27

important to take them there. And

11:30

he did. He was taking it

11:32

back about how moved they were

11:34

by seeing artifacts, everything from Harriet

11:36

Tubman's shawl to shackles to slave

11:38

cabins, all those kind of things

11:40

that they heard about, but now

11:42

they can actually see. He said

11:44

that really touched and moved a

11:46

lot of the students. Absolutely. So

11:48

fast forward to this moment and

11:50

President Donald Trump in his second

11:52

term, Deborah. What has he said

11:54

about the future of museums like

11:56

the African-American history museum? Well, he

11:58

had an executive order that he

12:00

signed a couple of weeks ago,

12:02

and he talked about, in the

12:04

executive order, about kind of rewriting

12:06

the history, and how basically said

12:08

that some institutions, some museums, had

12:10

kind of rewritten the histories and

12:12

talked about divisive narratives that he

12:14

thought had been happening in the

12:16

last few years, and how that

12:18

needed to be corrected and fixed.

12:20

And in his order, he particularly

12:22

singled out a couple of museums.

12:24

one of them being the national

12:26

African-American Museum. So there's been a

12:28

lot of attention to that museum

12:30

because he's going to single it

12:32

out. I'm talking about an exhibit

12:34

there that he had an issue

12:36

with. Some conservative groups as well

12:38

as President Trump have argued that

12:40

some of the institutions, not just

12:42

the Smithsonian, but some of the

12:44

institutions along the way, have painted

12:46

a not so pretty picture of

12:48

the history of the country and

12:50

that they feel in some ways

12:52

that it needs to be. written

12:54

in a way that doesn't necessarily

12:56

put the country in a bad

12:59

light. So they've been pushing back

13:01

on some teachings, banning some books,

13:03

and other efforts like that. And

13:05

actually before even as an executive

13:07

order, there's been a lot of

13:09

concern by activists and others and

13:11

educators and teachers and students about

13:13

efforts to restrict the teaching of

13:15

history, particularly of black history and

13:17

other people of color. So this

13:19

kind of raised even more of

13:21

a red flag for some of

13:23

those communities. that he particularly singled

13:25

out this museum, which is considered

13:27

for some national treasure. Yeah, is

13:29

that what you're hearing really from

13:31

activists and historians, their main concerns

13:33

about the possibility of Trump transforming

13:35

this museum or others? Yeah, and

13:37

just be clear, he hasn't laid

13:39

out exactly what that would look

13:41

like. It's not clear exactly what

13:43

all that will mean, but it's

13:45

enough for folks to be concerned

13:47

about it and raising alarms about

13:49

whether it's not just the Smithsonian

13:51

Institution, which has many museums actually

13:53

that are very culture specific, including

13:55

the African American Museum as well

13:57

as the Native American Museum. And

13:59

there's... and the works are at least

14:01

taught plans for one for the Latino

14:04

community as well as one on women's.

14:06

So with all those institutions, there's some

14:08

concern about them being particularly

14:11

vulnerable to any changes. And what

14:13

that looks like is still to be

14:15

determined and how folks push back against

14:17

that, that's still in the works

14:19

actually. Some groups are already kind

14:21

of figuring out what we're going to do

14:23

to make sure that that history is not

14:26

either erased and or in some ways diminished.

14:28

or in some ways, tamp down. Because

14:30

who's telling the story, they say,

14:32

matters. Deborah Barfield, there is a

14:35

national correspondent with USA Today.

14:37

Another great piece from you,

14:39

Deborah. Thanks so much. Thank you. The

14:44

newest class of W-N-B-A rookies has arrived.

14:46

Yukon's Page Beckers was selected with the

14:48

number one overall pick by the Dallas

14:50

Wings at the 2025 W-N-B-A draft last

14:52

night, followed by Dominic Malonga of France,

14:54

who went to the Seattle Storm at

14:57

number two. One of the draft's big

14:59

takeaways, it was a big night for

15:01

overseas superstars. Three of the top 10

15:03

picks were international. You can find more

15:05

coverage, including a look at the draft's

15:08

biggest winners and losers, from our friends

15:10

at USA Today today today's sports. And

15:12

today is Tax Day, the filing deadline

15:14

for most Americans. Don't say we didn't

15:17

want you. Thanks for listening to the

15:19

excerpt. You can get the podcast, wherever

15:21

you get your audio. If you're on

15:23

a smart speaker, just ask for the

15:26

excerpt. I'm Taylor Wilson and I'll be

15:28

back tomorrow with more of the excerpt

15:30

from USA Today.