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CNN Poll: Approval of Trump's Handling of Economy Sinks to 39%; A.I. Companies Target College Students. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired April 28, 2025 - 06:00   ET

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

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN ANCHOR: The White House. They will celebrate their victory over the Kansas City Chiefs for their second championship title. Still feels so good.

[06:00:10]

The first title around during Trump's first term in 2018. They decided not to join him. The president then uninvited the team and falsely accused them of "taking a knee" during the "Star Spangled Banner."

No word yet on if the Eagles will "fly" down to Washington or maybe just take the Amtrak. Corny joke.

Thanks for joining us here on EARLY START. I'm Rahel Solomon in New York. CNN THIS MORNING starts right now.

AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: It's Monday, April 28. Here's what's happening right now on CNN THIS MORNING.

Donald Trump's first 100 days. New polling says he's the most unpopular president at this point in his term seen in seven decades. So, why is he saying he runs the world in a new interview released just moments ago?

Plus --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM HOMAN, TRUMP'S IMMIGRATION CZAR: The children aren't deported. The mother chose to take the children with her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Did the Trump administration deport children who are citizens born in the U.S.? We'll hear again from the man in charge in a matter of hours.

And a deadly hit-and-run on the water. A boat slams into a ferry filled with people and then flees the scene.

Also, this.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is everyone in college right now, like, passing with flying colors because of A.I.?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: A.I. companies are betting big on college students, but how long will the era of free help with your homework last?

It's 6 a.m. here on the East Coast. Here's a live look at the White House as the president prepares to mark his first 100 days in office.

Good morning, everybody. I'm Audie Cornish. I want to thank you for waking up with me.

And we're going to talk about the president, because he's basically getting ready to take a kind of victory lap this week as he marks 100 days in office for his second term.

He's holding a rally in Michigan tomorrow to celebrate with his supporters on what his team is calling "Promises Made and Promises Kept."

New CNN polling seems to have a slightly different takeaway from the last 99 days. According to a new poll, the president Trump's -- President Trump's approval ratings now sit at 41 percent. That's the lowest number for any president at this point in their term, and that's going back 70 years.

Leading the charge for the sagging poll numbers, the president's handling of the economy. Both his approval ratings on tariffs and the economy are down since March, now dipping into the 30s, lower than at any point in his first term.

But his cabinet remains confident in the president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BROOKE ROLLINS, AGRICULTURE SECRETARY: There are 100 different polls that say 100 different things. At the end of the day, President Trump is resolutely focused on ensuring that we are realigning the American economy to put Americans first.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Joining me now, the group chat: Sara Fischer, CNN media analyst and media correspondent and -- for Axios; Stephen Collinson, CNN senior politics reporter; and Alex Thompson, CNN political analyst and national political correspondent at Axios. Thank you, guys, for coming in, looking bright-eyes and bushy-tailed on a Monday morning.

Stephen, I want to start with you, because you've commented that this is the most fundamental shift of the American economy in decades. And I want to know if that is also the reason why these numbers are the way they are, as people are living through that shift.

STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Certainly, the tariff economy -- trying to rebuild American manufacturing is what the president says he's trying to do -- is going to be exceedingly painful, if he follows it through to the logical extent of what he's planning.

CORNISH: Which is?

COLLINSON: Which is keeping tariffs high, trying to eradicate China's advantage in manufacturing --

CORNISH: Right.

COLLINSON: -- for example. The issue here, I think, though, is that, in political terms, although we've seen the start of this, and the president's approval ratings are already plummeted; and the economy was a key area of strength for him in his first term.

We haven't yet seen the actual impact on everybody's lives of tariffs. What's likely to happen is prices are to go up. There could be shortages on the shelves of supermarkets.

CORNISH: Well, I actually think, more importantly, those things that you're saying are now common parlance to everyday people. Like, people who I used -- I used to start my stories, like, tariffs, so boring, but here we go.

And now, we play clips all the time of people saying tariffs are a tax.

SARA FISCHER, CNN MEDIA ANALYST: Yes. And when we talk to companies in the public sector, publicly traded firms, this is a big earnings week. So, we are hearing from different corporate stakeholders, saying, Look, we are giving you really, really bad forecasts for the next two quarters. You might not feel it right now, shareholders. Our business does not feel it right now. But we know it's coming.

[06:05:01]

And when that message gets put out time and time again by corporations, many of which are sucking up to Trump -- I'm talking about big tech firms -- that's a message that the American people are going to start to pay attention to.

ALEX THOMPSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes.

FISCHER: Because they're buying stocks. They want to have faith in the economy. But when un -- purportedly unbiased corporate leaders are saying that this is coming, they're listening.

CORNISH: It's interest -- go ahead.

THOMPSON: I was going to say, there's the other problem, which -- I mean, you're seeing the front-page story just this morning, which is basically that companies basically, because Trump is so unpredictable, they are holding back on their own investments.

CORNISH: Yes, and they're going to say that on these calls.

THOMPSON: Their own factories.

FISCHER: And hirings.

CORNISH: Yes.

FISCHER: Holding back on hiring past the (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

CORNISH: OK, my time to turn the paper. "Tariffs Mount: So Do Questions." And these are the two big questions. Can tariff revenue replace income -- the income tax, which is what Congress is dealing with next. And is the economy headed for recession? Which is not what some of these key demographics who voted for Trump the first time around are interested in hearing. Right?

That's where you're starting to see him lower in the margins in our polling, when you're talking about women, Hispanic voters and as we said, sort of where they -- where they were, which ahead of the midterms, is not ideal.

Polling did find he was above-water approval on one issue, which is gender identity. A lot of these executive orders. Specifically, there's one that says the government says this is a man; this is a woman. And it's reverberated since then.

Does that mean we're going to keep hearing about this topic?

FISCHER: I think so. Huge platform for Donald Trump when he was running. I cover sports as it pertains to media. It's a huge issue in women's sports right now, and it's an issue that the White House has made a priority.

I've never seen, in my time covering media in sports, that the White House puts out on their main Instagram, an entire video reel dedicated to gender identity.

But the reason they're doing that is because it's a community issue. Almost everybody in every community is rooting for their high school team, has kids who are in sports. They know this is a winning issue for them, so I believe --

CORNISH: Because it's been framed as safety for girls.

FISCHER: Absolutely.

CORNISH: Rather than --

FISCHER: That's the whole framing of this DEI issue.

CORNISH: The past was discrimination against trans youth.

COLLINSON: And it also is an issue that Democrats find very difficult to talk about, because it splits their coalition internally. So, the White House is always going to use that as a political lever.

THOMPSON: You're seeing very few Democrats actually go out and say -- you know, and support having transgender women compete in women's sports. Instead, they keep retreating and saying, Well, it's a local issue. It's a state issue. It's a case-by-case issue. You don't have any vocal defenders, in the way that you just -- that you had even just four years ago.

FISCHER: And just, big zoom out, that is a very calculated move. We're not talking anymore about DEI.

CORNISH: Or talking anymore about abuse or violence against trans women.

FISCHER: No. We're talking very specifically about transgender issues, because they know that that is the winning issue with the base. And they're talking very specifically about things like sports that are relatable to the American people.

CORNISH: And in between is immigration. And I want to know where -- his immigration approval is still high. And I think, in the news, we've talked so much about these high-profile deportation flights; the concern, of course, that people are being sent, without due process, or who are innocent, so to speak.

Does this start to have an impact, or are we seeing that, like, he's -- he's justified in thinking he should move forward on this issue as aggressively as possible?

COLLINSON: I think he has support on that issue and, since the first term, the country has moved right on the issue of immigration. Yet, you see these cases whereby there was a child, an American citizen, deported who's battling cancer. Because they went with their mother.

All of these issues are going to start to play with public opinion. And the question is, does there come a point where the support for Trump fractures, if you get a lot of these stories coming out?

CORNISH: Yes. OK, stay with us. We're actually going to talk about these issues more today.

Coming up on CNN THIS MORNING, have you heard of the Grandpa Gang? They're accused of stealing $10 million worth of jewelry from Kim Kardashian. And today, nine years after that infamous robbery in Paris, the suspects will face a judge.

Plus, intense flooding over the weekend and now, another severe weather outbreak. Find out if you need to be on high alert today for tornados.

Lastly, a ferry carrying dozens of people hit by another boat. The crash turning deadly overnight.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You never expect any of this to happen. We can't understand how -- we can't understand how fast they were going, how that is even logical.

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[06:13:24]

CORNISH: Hey, if you're getting ready, it's 15 minutes past the hour. Here's your morning roundup. Some of the stories you need to know to get your day going.

So, President Trump now says that the U.S. has the, quote, "confines of a deal" that would end Russia's war on Ukraine. This follows his impromptu meeting at the pope's funeral with Ukraine's president.

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DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I see him as calmer. I think he understands the picture. And I think he wants to make a deal.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is Zelenskyy ready to give up Crimea, do you think, Mr. President?

TRUMP: I think so, yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Zelenskyy has repeatedly rejected the possibility that he would recognize Russian control of Crimea.

In Yemen, Houthis claim that at least 68 people were killed in an alleged U.S. airstrike on a prison holding migrants from Africa.

So, the rebel group's news channel released this graphic footage. We have blurred it here at CNN.

The U.S. military has not yet commented.

The Midwest bracing for two rounds of severe weather today. This morning, strong thunderstorms and hail, targeting Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa.

And then later today, another round of storms could produce tornadoes in the same region.

And a prank call to University of Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders during the NFL draft. Well, it turns out it was made by the 21-year- old son of an Atlanta Falcons defensive coordinator.

Now, he apologized. So did the Falcons. Basically, he had pretended to be the G.M. of the New Orleans Saints and falsely told Sanders the team would be selecting him.

No worries. Sanders was eventually picked by the Cleveland Browns.

And you've got to see this.

[06:15:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (EXPLETIVE DELETED)

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CORNISH: So, that dramatic video showing the moment a speedboat flips through the air several times. This was during a boating competition in Arizona.

The goal is to break a speed record during a three-mile course. And it was going more than 210 miles per hour before going airborne.

The two people on the boat went to the hospital.

And after the break on CNN THIS MORNING, a major escalation in the showdown between the president and the courts. Why the FBI arrested a judge in Wisconsin, and what it could mean for future challenges to mass deportation efforts.

Plus, every day, millions of young Americans use A.I. chatbots to help them with everything from homework, to diet plans, to relationship advice. Ahead, why free A.I. might have a hidden price tag.

Good morning, Chicago. Want you to know that you are at risk for possible severe storms today. Bring an umbrella. Stay safe.

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[06:20:23]

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everyone in college uses A.I. This is just a fact at this point. You should be using A.I. to make your studying more efficient and making it easier to understand stuff.

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CORNISH: All right. Let me go off-script for my next segment, because I've been hearing a lot about how expensive things are. And then I'm hearing about college kids using A.I. And I was thinking about, like, what it's like to be a young adult in this economy.

Because there was a time when people were enjoying what they called -- economists called a lifestyle subsidy from Silicon Valley. So that's when, like all these new upstart companies -- let's say it's Uber or Airbnb, DoorDash -- they were also cheap, convenient, easy, exciting to use.

And then, like, one day they weren't so cheap. And of course, by then, we were hooked, and our wallets took the hit.

So, now the same thing could be happening with A.I., at least according to a recent article in "The Atlantic."

A.I. companies are targeting college students because these are the early adopters that will one day become customers who pay full price. Joining me now to discuss, the author of that piece and assistant

editor for "The Atlantic," Lila Shroff.

Welcome to the studio. Welcome to CNN THIS MORNING.

LILA SHROFF, ASSISTANT EDITOR, "THE ATLANTIC": Thank you.

CORNISH: All right. So, I can remember when credit-card companies would, like, come to campus during my freshman orientation. But A.I. is, like, online. So, how are they showing up to campus, so to speak?

SHROFF: So, you have companies like Anthropic that have actually started campus ambassador programs, where students are helping get the word out about A.I. deals on campus.

CORNISH: Is it, like, when we see a TikTok, should I be suspicious that someone is a influencer or ambassador for one of these companies?

SHROFF: I think in these cases, students are showing up in person and going to their classes and saying, hey, A.I. companies are offering students a deal. You should take it.

CORNISH: It's funny. I actually pay for one of the A.I.'s. It was a couple hundred a year, but getting it free sounds ideal.

You were writing that these deals didn't last forever -- forever, talking about, basically, those cool apps that we all took advantage of, right? Uber. DoorDash. Airbnb.

You write that they "didn't last forever, and neither can free A.I. The millennial lifestyle subsidy eventually came crashing down as the cheap money dried up."

Help me understand the economics of this, because A.I. is way more expensive than some dopey startup for something that brings it to your house. You know what I mean? Like, it's not the same value proposition, even for investors and for Wall Street.

So, how do -- how does the industry -- why does the industry think this is a viable way?

SHROFF: Totally. You know, the cost of starting an A.I. company is much more than starting up Uber, for example.

CORNISH: Like, we're talking trillions versus millions.

SHROFF: I don't know if we've quite hit trillions.

CORNISH: Yes.

SHROFF: But a huge -- huge amounts of money. And so, there is this imagined world in which A.I. cures all of the diseases, and it's just transformative and miraculous.

And, you know, maybe if A.I. continues to improve the way it has been, we eventually get there. And some investors may be betting on that. But, you know, these companies need a backup plan if A.I. doesn't

deliver the earth-shattering technology that they're hoping for. And so, they need other ways to make money.

And so, you actually start to see these companies start to look a little bit more like big tech companies. Already OpenAI is getting into search. They're starting to think about social media. It's a very interesting moment.

CORNISH: Will -- is there a chance, though? I mean, young people are so much more savvy, so much more wary of tech. They've lived through the years where there's been a backlash to tech. Do you think that they're going to be smarter than us?

And do you think that this will just end up being search? Like, browsers are still free, right? Will this -- will there still be a tier of this that isn't going to kind of be a bait-and-switch, money- wise?

SHROFF: I think there's always going to be a free tier. But you know, there's that saying: if you're not paying, you're the product.

And right now, when you search for free using A.I., there's not a lot of advertising happening. At the same time, all these companies are building up, you know, pretty vast stores of data on their users. And it's tricky for me to imagine a future where, eventually, they don't start to want to monetize that information.

CORNISH: All right. Lila Shroff, thank you so much. This is fascinating. I appreciate your time.

I want you guys to check out her article in "The Atlantic."

Now, still to come on CNN THIS MORNING, it's election day in Canada. Polls are about to open. President Trump may not be on the ballot, but his tariffs and the threat of annexation are having a dramatic impact on voters.

Plus, it's been two years since Tyre Nichols died after being beaten by police in Memphis.

[06:25:00]

Today, three former officers will face state murder charges.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We're going to make a lot of money, and we're going to cut taxes for the people of this country. It will take a little while before we do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: President Trump is asking the American people to trust him, arguing that his tariffs and trade war will pay off. But a new CNN poll shows that voters' patience is wearing thin.

Good morning, everybody. I'm Audie Cornish. I want to thank you for joining me on CNN THIS MORNING. If -- it's half past the hour. Here's what's happening right now.