Kevin Hassett doubles down on Trump tariffs, says dozens of countries are asking to negotiate

White House Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett doubled down on the effectiveness of President Donald Trump's tariffs on Sunday, saying dozens of countries are now seeking to open negotiations and U.S. manufacturing is booming.

Hassett made the claim during an appearance on ABC News' "This Week" with host George Stephanopoulos. He said that over 50 countries have already said they want to negotiate new trade agreements with Trump's administration since the tariffs hit last week, though he acknowledged there may be short-term pain for consumers.

He pointed to the decrease in prices that has existed since China entered the World Trade Organization in 2000, arguing that the loss of jobs outweighs the low prices.

"If cheap goods were the answer, if cheap goods were going to make Americans' real wages better off, then real incomes would have gone up over that time. Instead, they went down because wages went down more than prices went down. So we got the cheap goods at the grocery store, but then we had fewer jobs," he said.

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Hassett added that he has received "anecdotal word" that some U.S. auto plants are adding second shifts to their work schedules in response to the tariffs.

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Stephanopoulos then pressed Hassett to explain why Russia wasn't targeted with any additional tariffs.

"There's obviously an ongoing negotiation with Russia and Ukraine, and I think the president made the decision not to conflate the two issues. It doesn't mean that Russia in the fullness of time, is going to be treated wildly different than every other country," Hassett responded.

"But Russia's one of the only countries, one of few countries that is not subject to these new tariffs, aren't they?" Stephanopoulos pressed.

"They're in the middle of a negotiation, George, aren't they?" Hassett countered. "Would you literally advise that you go in and put a whole bunch of new things on the table in the middle of a negotiation that affects so many American and Ukrainian and Russian lives?"

"Negotiators do that all the time," Stephanopoulos argued.

"Russia is in the midst of negotiations over peace that affects really thousands and thousands of lives of people and that's what President Trump's focused on right now," Hassett said.

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Alex Ovechkin breaks Wayne Gretzky's record for most career goals

Alex Ovechkin on Sunday broke Wayne Gretzky’s record for most career goals when he scored No. 895 against the New York Islanders on Sunday afternoon.

The Washington Capitals went on the powerplay in the second period. The puck got to Ovechkin and he was able to send one past goalie Ilya Sorokin. The crowd at the UBS Arena burst into jubilation when the horn sounded. Ovechkin dove across the ice.

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New York led 2-1 at that point.

"Alex Ovechkin has been an unstoppable force from the moment he entered the NHL in 2005 – a unique package of effervescent personality, dynamic physicality and other-worldly talent for shooting the puck," NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement. "His passion for winning is matched only by his incredible ability to score goals. 

"And today, he stands alone. Having completed his relentless pursuit of a record most thought unbreakable, Alex makes hockey history – succeeding Wayne Gretzky, who had eclipsed Gordie Howe, who had surpassed Maurice Richard – as the National Hockey League’s all-time goals leader. The NHL salutes Alex Ovechkin for this astounding achievement."

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Ovechkin tied the record on Friday with two goals against the Chicago Blackhawks. He could have had a chance at a third but vowed not to score the record-setter on an empty-net goal.

He needed just one more day in between to surpass Gretzky.

"It was my honor to hold the National Hockey League goals record for the last three decades," Gretzky said in a statement. "I now am delighted to pass that honor to a man who truly was born to put the puck in the net and who has played our game with remarkable passion and power. 

"I forever will be grateful for the way my idol, Gordie Howe, congratulated me upon breaking his record in 1994. And I am thrilled that I could be in attendance to share this moment with you, Alex, as you now are the leading goal-scorer in NHL history."

Ovechkin set the record as he played for the Capitals for all of his career. He completed the feat in his 1,487th game. He scored the first goal of his career on Oct. 5, 2005, against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Nearly 20 years later, he’s on top of the hockey world.

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'This Is Us' star Chrissy Metz left Hollywood after two decades, says she found a 'better quality of life'

After over two decades in Los Angeles, "This is Us" actress Chrissy Metz is embracing life in Nashville, Tennessee. 

"I moved to Nashville," the 44-year-old actress and singer told People magazine in a new interview. "I was in LA for 21 years, but my family is in Florida, where I'm from, and during the pandemic, I could drive to them from here. It's just a better quality of life here. Everything is 15 minutes away, and it's just so much less stress."

"There's a lot going on," she added. "There's obviously great music, great food. I grew up in the South, so I'm used to sort of that hospitality—it feels more communal here. In L.A. it was always like, 'Oh, you have an audition? What's it for? Oh, you have an audition? What for?' It was all very dog-eat-dog."

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Lately, Metz – who starred alongside Mandy Moore, Justin Hartley, Milo Ventimiglia and Sterling K. Brown in the series from 2016 to 2022 – has been focusing on her career in music and the upcoming release of her new children's book, "When I Talk to God, I Talk About Feelings."

"I think we're coming into this age of mental health awareness and just talking about our feelings in real ways," she told the outlet. "And so I wondered, could we preemptively strike and get the kids to name their feelings and then express their feelings and have the confidence to even do that?"

Metz isn't the only celeb who has been open about their retreat from Hollywood. 

Renée Zellweger recently reflected on her six-year hiatus from Los Angeles,

Zellweger, who found fame starring in movies like "Jerry Maguire" and "Cold Mountain," was featured on the cover of British Vogue's February 2025 issue and explained that there was one specific reason she decided to leave the spotlight in 2010.

"Because I needed to. I was sick of the sound of my own voice."

"When I was working, I was like, 'Oh, my gosh, listen to you. Are you sad again, Renée? Oh, is this your mad voice?' It was a regurgitation of the same emotional experiences," she told the outlet.

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Prior to her return to Hollywood in 2016, Zellweger "wrote music and studied international law."

She also "built a house, rescued a pair of older doggies, created a partnership that led to a production company, advocated for and fundraised with a sick friend and spent alot of time with family and godchildren and driving across the country with the dogs."

"I got healthy," Zellweger explained.

Fox News Digital's Janelle Ash contributed to this post. 

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Governor Tim Walz grilled on ‘major mistake’ of Biden seeking re-election

Gov. Tim Walz, D-Minn., was grilled by CNN's Jake Tapper on Sunday about whether members of the Democratic Party needed to acknowledge that former President Biden wasn't up to running for re-election. 

"Don‘t you think your party needs to acknowledge that President Biden was not up for the job of running for reelection, and that this was a major mistake?" Tapper asked, as Walz argued that Biden made the decision to drop out. "You all went along with the idea that he was up for it and he wasn‘t, and everybody saw it. And the country rejected it."

Walz, who was former Vice President Kamala Harris's 2024 running mate, also told Tapper that the Democratic Party needed to do some soul-searching in the wake of their loss to President Donald Trump. 

"History will tell us to go back on that. That very well could be the case, Jake. What I‘m concerned about is learning from those lessons. I would hope we would never do it again, make a mistake, make sure we go through and get someone. But I don‘t know where it helps us going forward," Walz said, before pivoting to Trump. 

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Tapper also pressed Walz on Harris' recent remarks, during which she said, "I’m not here to say I told you so," during a speech in California on Thursday.

"What does ‘I told you so’ really mean here? I mean, people heard her message. They did not vote for her. She lost every battleground state. You yourself have criticized the Harris-Walz campaign for being too cautious. She may have told the American people, you know, she may have warned the American people, but she didn‘t do it compellingly enough to win," the CNN host said. 

Walz said he owned the loss and criticized himself for it. However, he said Harris tried to warn people of what Trump was planning to do.  

"I do think the challenge for Democrats, and this is, I think, a structural problem that’s going to take a lot more thinking. Why, with all of that out there, did they not think we were any better than that? And they didn‘t, and I’m very concerned with the folks who stayed home," he said, acknowledging that Trump did a good job identifying voters' anxieties. 

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The CNN host also asked about criticisms that the Democratic Party was gaslighting Americans about inflation, the border, and Biden's fitness. 

"And then, fundamentally, this idea that President Biden was up for another four years of the job while Americans in poll after poll, for year after year, were saying, ‘he‘s too old to do the job,’ your party stood against all of those things," Tapper said. 

Walz argued that Biden led the country out of the COVID-19 pandemic and that he did a good job, but that the Democratic Party failed to message correctly on issues such as immigration. 

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Rachel Morin’s alleged illegal killer left slain jogger’s body along 150-foot blood trail: prosecutors

Community members discovered the 150-foot blood trail leading to Rachel Morin's lifeless body on a hiking trail as volunteers helped police search for the Maryland mom, opening remarks revealed in the long-awaited trial for her accused migrant killer.

Opening statements began Friday morning at the Harford County Circuit Court in Bel Air, Maryland, for the trial of Victor Antonio Martinez-Hernandez, a 23-year-old from El Salvador, who is charged with murdering the 37-year-old Morin in 2023.

Morin's family members, including her mother, Patty Morin, were seen arriving at the courthouse on Friday.

Martinez-Hernandez is accused of raping and killing Morin, a Harford County mother of five, whose body was discovered along a popular walking trail back in August 2023.

ILLEGAL ACCUSED IN JOGGER RACHEL MORIN'S MURDER SET TO FACE FAMILY, JURY

Morin was reported missing after she did not return home from some evening exercise on the Ma & Pa Trail in Bel Air on Aug. 5.

In opening statements Friday, Harford County State's Attorney Alison Healey said that concerned community members had gone along the walking trail after seeing missing person posters on Facebook.

Along the creek line, they found a trail that resembled a deer trail, with flattened leaves, before finding rocks with blood on them. The pair walked through two tunnels, with overgrown brush, where they found Morin's body, Healey said.

The community members immediately called 911. Authorities retraced the path where Morin’s body had been dragged after her brutal rape and murder. Police also collected large bloody rocks that authorities say she had been bashed with. 

Healey said that Morin's right shoe and socks had been left on, and her left shoe and socks had been discarded. She noted that Morin's bra had been pulled over her breasts.

Healey said the defendant, Martinez-Hernandez, forced Morin against the tunnel wall and raped her. Evidence revealed that the brutal assault had taken place between 7:04 and 7:10 p.m., she said.

Authorities discovered her phone submerged in the water, completely shattered, along with her destroyed Apple Watch. Nearby, they also found her Apple AirPods.

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Autopsy results revealed that Morin had endured 15 to 20 blows to the head and had died from a combination of strangulation and blunt force trauma. Her death was officially ruled a homicide.

Her body bore bruises around her neck, and according to Healey, a DNA profile matched Martinez-Hernandez.

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On June 14, 2024, authorities pinged Martinez-Hernandez's cellphone and responded to a bar in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He eventually admitted his identity after initially lying to police and providing a false name, authorities said.

When authorities searched his phone, they said they discovered internet queries for "Bel Air, [Md.]" and "Rachel"—including a misspelled version of Morin's name—along with images of Morin and media coverage related to the investigation.

WATCH: BODY CAMERA FOOTAGE OF MIGRANT ACCUSED IN MURDER, RAPE OF MARYLAND MOM RACHEL MORIN

Martinez-Hernandez repeatedly told authorities that he had never been in Maryland, only in Texas and Oklahoma, they said. 

"You will be convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that all of it is the defendant's DNA," Healey said Friday. "I’m certain you will be convinced that he had a plan to grab her off the trail and conceal her in the tunnel, drug her in there, bashed her in the head, disrobed her and left his DNA."

Defense attorney Sawyer Hicks, representing Martinez-Hernandez, used his opening statement to cast doubt on the DNA match and suggest the incident was a crime of passion.

Hicks reiterated that the state has the burden of proof, noting that his client is presumed innocent until proven beyond reasonable doubt that he killed Morin.

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"When you retire to deliberate, we are confident that you will see there is reasonable doubt in this case and that Hernandez is not guilty," Hicks said.

He said that Martinez-Hernandez and Morin were strangers, and appeared to be laying the groundwork to cast suspicion on her then-boyfriend, Richard Tobin.

Hicks challenged the jury with pointed questions: "Where is the motive? Where is Richard Tobin’s DNA?'"

Tobin has never been accused of any wrongdoing in the case.

Morin's boyfriend took the stand on Friday, sharing the pair had talked for about 5 months before he asked her to be his girlfriend just five days before Morin's murder.

After Morin failed to answer Tobin's repeated text messages and phone calls, worry began to set in. He shared that his first thought was that she was cheating on him.

"Somebody messaged me on Facebook and said they had found her," he said. "I freaked out. I cried. I screamed."

Morin was reported missing in August 2023 by her boyfriend, who said she had never returned after going out for a run on the Ma & Pa Trail, a pedestrian trail in Bel Air, a quiet and typically safe town about 28 miles northeast of Baltimore, on Aug. 5, 2023.

Her body was found near the trail the next day.

In February, police released new sketches of Martinez-Hernandez.

WATCH: Rachel Morin murder suspect linked to LA home invasion, assault

The sketches came after DNA evidence linked Martinez-Hernandez to the location of a Los Angeles home invasion. Police used the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), which led them to a single DNA match for an unidentified Hispanic male.

The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) collected a hat left behind at the site of the March 2023 home invasion that had turned violent, injuring a nine-year-old girl and her mother.

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT SUSPECT IN RACHEL MORIN'S MURDER EXPECTED TO ARGUE FOR A CHANGE OF VENUE

The suspect allegedly broke into the home in the middle of the night and assaulted the family inside before he was chased out. Surveillance video footage captured the man leaving, shirtless, through the front door.

PHOTOS OF INITIAL SEARCH IN MARYLAND:

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"I'm going to make this short, because I'm very emotional," Morin's mother said previously. "I just want to take this time to thank all the law enforcement for all their hard work.

"They just really cared for our family and for our daughter," she said. "They were going to diligently work and find the person who murdered her."

Fox News' Alexandria Hoff and Sally Persons contributed to this report.

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Trump’s China tariffs face legal challenge from conservative group calling them ‘unlawful'

A conservative legal group is challenging President Donald Trump's tariffs on China, calling them "an unlawful attempt" to make Americans pay higher taxes on Chinese imports. 

The New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA) filed an initial complaint in Florida district court Thursday, challenging Trump's "unlawful use of emergency power to impose a tariff on all imports from China."

"By invoking emergency power to impose an across-the-board tariff on imports from China that the statute does not authorize, President Trump has misused that power, usurped Congress’s right to control tariffs, and upset the Constitution’s separation of powers," Andrew Morris, senior litigation counsel at NCLA, said in a statement released. 

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Trump issued an executive order on Feb. 1 titled "Imposing Duties to Address the Synthetic Opioid Supply Chain in the People’s Republic of China," and amended it on Mar. 3 to raise tariffs on Chinese imports from 10% to 20%.

Plaintiff Emily Ley, owner of Simplified, a Pensacola, Florida-based company, argues Trump's invocation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose the tariffs is unlawful. The plaintiff also argues that her business will be harmed as a result of Trump's action. 

"The key thing for all of this is that IEEPA does not provide for the tariff power, and you know that because when Congress does do it, they use the word, and they say how the president is supposed to do it," John Vecchione, senior litigation counsel at NCLA, told Fox News Digital. 

Vecchione notes that the complaint delineates the various statutes Trump used in his first term to impose tariffs, saying that in this instance, he is "using the wrong statute."

"Here, [Trump] declares an emergency, and then he says that his tariffs fit the emergency, that they're necessary for the emergency," Vecchione said. "IEEPA requires that they be necessary for the emergency, and they're not."

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The plaintiff argues that the law permits the president to "order sanctions as a rapid response to international emergencies," but does not authorize him to "impose tariffs on the American people."

"President Trump’s executive orders imposing a China tariff are, therefore, ultra vires and unconstitutional," the complaint states.

If the president is granted such authority, the group argues, he would have "nearly unlimited authority to commandeer Congress’s power over tariffs."

"He would be empowered to declare a national emergency based on some long-running national problem," the complaint continues, "then impose tariffs purportedly in the name of that emergency – thus sidestepping the detailed constraints Congress has placed on the tariff authority it has granted."

NCLA is asking the court to block the administration from implementing or enforcing the executive orders and to vacate "all resulting modifications" to the tariff schedule.

In response to the lawsuit, White House principal deputy press secretary Harrison Fields defended the executive orders, telling Fox News Digital, "President Trump has broad authority to impose tariffs to address issues of national emergency, such as the opioid pandemic. The Trump administration looks forward to victory in court."

The suit comes just days after the president unveiled his tariff plan during a speech in the White House Rose Garden at a highly anticipated "Make America Wealthy Again" event. 

"Now it's our turn to prosper, and in so doing, use trillions and trillions of dollars to reduce our taxes and pay down our national debt," Trump said on April 2. "And it will all happen very quickly. With today's action, we are finally going to be able to make America great again, greater than ever before."

HOW WE GOT TO LIBERATION DAY: A LOOK AT TRUMP’S PAST COMMENTS ON TARIFFS

Trump was joined by several Cabinet members in the Rose Garden on Thursday for his first official presidential event since taking office in January. During the speech, Trump announced that China would be hit with a 34% tariff.

In response, China declared retaliatory measures on Friday, saying it would impose matching 34% tariffs on U.S. goods.

The new tariffs are set to take effect April 10, according to The Wall Street Journal.

"China played it wrong, they panicked – the one thing they cannot afford to do," Trump wrote Friday on Truth Social.

Fox News Digital's Emma Colton and Greg Norman contributed to this report. 

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Reese Witherspoon’s daughter embraces 'Legally Blonde' glam in pink bikini for her acting debut

Reese Witherspoon's daughter, Ava Phillipe, is channeling her mom's iconic "Legally Blonde" character for her acting debut on ABC's "Doctor Odyssey."

On Wednesday, the 25-year-old model and actress was featured in a behind-the-scenes clip of the series wearing a hot pink bikini, similar to the swimsuit Witherspoon's character, Elle Woods, wore as part of her Harvard video application in the 2001 romantic comedy. 

Phillipe will guest-star in the medical drama's Thursday episode alongside two other starlets with famous parents: Paris Jackson, daughter of Michael Jackson, and Charlotte Lawrence, daughter of producer Bill Lawrence and actress Christa Miller.

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Witherspoon and her daughter have always had a tight bond.

In 2018, Witherspoon praised her daughter for her "strong opinions" and "empathy."

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"I think the way Ava and I are most alike is our strong opinions and our empathy," the actress wrote about Phillippe in a blog post back in 2018. "From the time that she could speak, Ava has always had her own ideas, and I love to watch her express herself. She also cares deeply about her family and the world around her. She frequently educates me on news stories and issues young women are facing."

One year later, Phillipe penned a heartfelt tribute to her mom. 

"This is the gorgeous woman who taught me about the power of graciousness, love, ambition, and hard work," Phillippe captioned an Instagram post at the time. "She inspires me every day to live with gratitude for the life I’ve been given and compassion for others. I’m thinking about her a little extra today, that’s all."

"How did I get so lucky to have a daughter like you?" Witherspoon commented. 

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