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Trump to Host El Salvador's President at White House; Trump Administration Canceling or Reviewing Billions in University Funding. Aired 6-6:30a ET
Aired April 14, 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: And thank you for joining us here on EARLY START and starting your morning -- and starting your week off with us. I'm Rahel Solomon, live in New York. We leave you now with this beautiful, beautiful skyline of New York City.
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And CNN THIS MORNING starts right now. I'll see you tomorrow.
AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: It is Monday, April 14. Here's what's happening right now on CNN THIS MORNING.
A key ally in President Trump's immigration crackdown gets a White House visit today. What to expect from the man who calls himself the world's coolest dictator.
Plus --
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are here today, because our universities are under attack.
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CORNISH: International students deported, grants and funding cut. How the impact could spread beyond college campuses.
Also --
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GOV. JOSH SHAPIRO (D), PENNSYLVANIA: This type of violence is not OK.
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CORNISH: The governor of Pennsylvania rushed from his home after someone set it on fire. How the suspect got around security to get inside.
And a rocket ride for Katy Perry and Gayle King. They join an all- female crew in a journey into orbit.
It's 6 a.m. here on the East Coast. Here is a live look at Capitol Hill here in the nation's capital. It's spring break. You're probably on an eighth-grade trip here. Everyone has been, traditionally.
Good morning, everybody. I'm Audie Cornish. I want to thank you for waking up with me.
Now, in just a few hours, the president of El Salvador will visit the White House. This is just three minutes [SIC] into Trump's second term. Nayib Bukele has made himself a key ally in the president's policies on mass deportation.
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DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I think he's doing a fantastic job, and he's taking care of a lot of problems that we have that we really wouldn't be able to take care of from a cost standpoint. And he's doing really -- He's been amazing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What about human rights?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You've got two minutes left.
TRUMP: I don't see it. I don't see that.
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CORNISH: Over the weekend, the U.S. deported ten more men to El Salvador, the latest in the hundreds who have been removed for allegedly being gang members and criminals.
Lawyers and family members for some of those men argue they are innocent, that they didn't receive due process. And in the case of one man, Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, the government even admits his deportation was a mistake.
Still, on Sunday, the Trump administration told a federal judge it did not have to work with El Salvador to return him.
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TRUMP: The president has done an incredible job with MS-13. He realizes what a threat they are.
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CORNISH: So, this trip to Washington could see the two leaders grow closer on more than just immigration. This is Bukele, addressing CPAC during the 2024 election, using language straight out of what could have been a Trump campaign speech.
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NAYIB BUKELE, PRESIDENT OF EL SALVADOR: We did the unthinkable to cleanse our society. We arrested the terrorists, but we have to remove corrupt judges and corrupt attorneys and prosecutors.
And it wasn't just the gangs. The corrupt system worked in tandem with the so-called international community, the NGOs, and of course, the fake news, just like it happens here in the United States.
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CORNISH: All right. The group chat is here this morning to break it down. Stephen Collinson is back, CNN politics senior reporter; Shelby Talcott, White House correspondent for "Semafor"; and Margaret Talev, senior contributor to Axios and the director of the Institute for Democracy, Journalism and Citizenship at Syracuse.
And that means, Margaret, I start with you, because that's a hefty title. It's about democracy.
MARGARET TALEV, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Cool.
CORNISH: And we're talking about a visit from a man who calls himself the region's coolest dictator.
Now, obviously, in El Salvador and many countries in the region, they have a very serious gang crime corruption problem. So, there may be some appeal to -- to people in terms of tackling those issues.
But when it comes to Bukele here, what are you going to be listening for these as these two men talk?
TALEV: Actually, economic policy and tariff policy is a lot of what we're going to -- we're going to be listening for.
Because of course --
CORNISH: Even though, on immigration, they're -- they're aligned.
TALEV: Well --
CORNISH: Like El Salvador is hosting deportees in their supermax prisons.
TALEV: Absolutely. It's that prison. And we have been hearing and seeing a lot of it, and we're going to continue to see a lot more. And that certainly sets up the idea that these two leaders are allies.
But underneath the scenes, there are all kinds of other tensions going on. Remember, El Salvador does export coffee, sugar, clothing, things that that are going to be impacted by tariffs.
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But the other number to look for is you'll remember in the last couple of administrations, including the previous Trump administration, El Salvador was one of the primary countries that undocumented migrants were flowing from El Salvador, across the border into the United States.
So much so that nearly 1 in 4 dollars of Salvador's -- El Salvador's GDP is because of U.S. remittances. So, these are --
CORNISH: Literally, the migrants sending money back home. TALEV: -- documented and undocumented -- yes. Migrants sending money
home accounts for a quarter of the country's GDP.
So, if you take that number plus the tariffs number, there's a lot to watch here.
CORNISH: OK. You just laid out the whole agenda. I don't even know if half of -- Margaret, half of that is on it. I want to let you guys jump in.
Shelby, what do you know about what the White House wants to talk about, versus things the public might be curious about? Like, can they get El Salvador to return the man who was accidentally deported? I say accidentally. Who a judge says bring him back home.
SHELBY TALCOTT, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, "SEMAFOR": Yes, I think that's going to be really interesting, because the El Salvador president has mostly been pretty quiet about this case.
And of course, the U.S. is sort of arguing that the Supreme Court ruled that they have to facilitate removing barriers to his removal, but not necessarily facilitate his actual removal.
So, clearly, El Salvador could play a key role in there. So. I'm going to be looking out, if any -- you know, I don't anticipate that that -- all of the conversation is going to be made public.
CORNISH: Yes.
TALCOTT: But when reporters get brought in, is this going to be a question that gets posed?
CORNISH: Well, I mean, Kristi Noem is, like, parading around the CECOT Prison. So, obviously, you can get something that you want.
TALCOTT: Exactly. Yes. So, that's going to be really notable.
I agree on the tariffs. That's going to be sort of an underlying topic.
But I also am curious, you know, how much the focus really is going to be on immigration. Because, of course, that is the big positive that the two countries sort of have in common. That's the thing that is -- that is keeping them together, essentially.
So, I'm curious how much the White House plays up those immigration conversations.
CORNISH: Yes. You know, one of the things about Bukele is that he's massively curtailed civil rights. I think El Salvador has been in a state of emergency that keeps getting suspended -- extended periodically.
There's just like now, a full percentage of the population in prison.
I just want to do a little context here for who he is and what he likes to talk about. But, Stephen, what do you see in this meeting?
STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Well, Bukele is, in many senses, the kind of leader that Trump would like to be. He's, at this point effectively, an elected authoritarian. As you say, he's erased protections of civil rights. He's challenged the rule of law, media freedoms. The prison world.
CORNISH: Successfully. In all these cases, he's wrested control.
COLLINSON: Exactly. He's also very popular, because he's led a crackdown on crime. So, he's a very MAGA-ish leader. But --
CORNISH: Yes. Hence, we were showing him at CPAC earlier. Yes.
COLLINSON: The fact that he is now, however, in the middle of a showdown between the administration and the Supreme Court about the separation of powers over this Maryland man, Mr. Garcia, that was swept up and sent to El Salvador with very little due process. I think it tells us as much about our politics and where it is and where it's heading as the politics of El Salvador.
CORNISH: What do you mean?
COLLINSON: Because the -- Mr. Garcia was sent to this prison in El Salvador. Many people believe that he didn't get due process and the protection of the rule of law. It's very questionable, the administration's argument that he's a gang member.
And the administration is arguing, even though we mistakenly sent him, we can't bring him back, because that would be an abrogation of the president's right to conduct foreign policy. So --
CORNISH: And we should note, this is the president of El Salvador, who I think -- did they tweet "Oopsies" --
COLLINSON: Right, yes.
CORNISH: -- when this deportation happened?
COLLINSON: And he -- he was actually mocking the rule of law in the United States, as well as in his own country.
So, I think it's a commentary on the friends that the administration likes and the way they help advance its, some would say, rather authoritarian impulses in the United States.
TALEV: And they're such -- they're clearly such close political allies. The issue is not -- and the White House is not even really arguing that they can't, that the Salvadoran leader won't allow the U.S. to pull this person back.
The White House's argument is we don't have to.
CORNISH: Yes. Which is very different.
TALCOTT: That's not -- yes. CORNISH: OK, you guys stick around. We're actually going to hear from our friends at CNNE later. We've got more to discuss.
Coming up on CNN THIS MORNING, constructive talks. Can the U.S. and Iran come to an agreement on Iran's nuclear program?
Plus, heading to the edge of space, an all-female celebrity crew preparing for an out-of-this-world trip today.
And adding to the chaos. President Trump's team says the tariff exemption on consumer tech, well, it's only a temporary.
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JAMES AUSTIN JOHNSON, CAST MEMBER, NBC'S "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE": Some people say I don't know what I'm doing, but I actually -- I'm playing four-dimensional chess. OK?
Bing-bing, bong-bong. Bing, bing, bing, bing, bong-bong bing. King me.
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CORNISH: If you're getting ready, it's almost 15 minutes past the hour. And here's your morning roundup. Some of the stories you need to know to get your day going.
There are signs of progress in nuclear talks between the U.S. and Iran. Delegations from both countries planning to meet again this week after wrapping up negotiations -- negotiations on Saturday in Oman.
Iran's foreign minister reporting the two sides got very close to reaching a framework for future talks.
And an urgent search this morning off the Eastern coast of Florida. A boat capsized Friday in the Atlantic Ocean near the Saint Lucie Inlet. Four people were actually rescued on Sunday. One person was found dead. Five others are still missing.
At least six people were injured, including two firefighters, after a home explosion Sunday in Austin. One house was leveled. At least two dozen more were damaged. One of the victims now in critical condition.
The cause of the blast is still under investigation.
And Ecuador's president, Daniel Noboa, reelected on Sunday. Now, he made fighting crime and the economy two of his main causes. But the country is also facing an energy crisis. They suffer constant blackouts.
And Noboa's challenger is rejecting the results and demanding a recount.
And you've got to see this.
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(CHEERING)
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CORNISH: Rory McIlroy winning the Masters on Sunday in a sudden-death playoff over Justin Rose, becoming only the sixth player in history to achieve golf's Grand Slam.
The last player to win all four majors in their career -- the Masters, the U.S. Open, the British Open and the PGA championship -- was, of course, Tiger Woods, 25 years ago.
And ahead on CNN THIS MORNING, we're going to give you more developments on that arson attack on the Pennsylvania governor's home. Was it an act of semitism -- of antisemitism? How did the suspect get inside?
Plus, President Trump targets universities with funding cuts. Could that strategy have unintended economic consequences?
And good morning, New Orleans. It is 6:15. Actually, 5:15 in Louisiana.
Today, a judge will hear hearings -- will have arguments about the legality of the detention of a Tufts University student being held in that state. We're going to be watching that and more.
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CORNISH: So, colleges have long served as a hub for political discourse. But now that the Trump administration is threatening to withhold federal funding from universities, as well as deporting international students for their involvement in protests, higher education as we know it is in for a massive shift.
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CHRISTOPHER L. EISGRUBER, PRESIDENT, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY (via phone): I do think there's a very fundamental threat here right now with two dimensions to it, to America's research universities that anybody who cares about the strength of this country -- our economy, our prosperity, our security, our health -- should be worried about.
And one of those is the threat to this compact between the government and our universities that has produced research that's made a difference in the life of every American.
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CORNISH: Here's the thing. With those changes, there could also come unintended consequences. We're going to bring in CNN's Ron Brownstein, who's been writing about this.
Ron, good morning. Welcome to the show.
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning. Good morning.
CORNISH: It's interesting. You reframe this in a different way. We've all been preoccupied with kind of the cultural impact of colleges and universities, which we hear a lot from on the right. You are now trying to reframe it as an economic conversation.
Can you describe why you see these schools as economic engines?
BROWNSTEIN: Yes, absolutely. Good morning.
Well, you know, the administration and its allies may view the assault in multiple dimensions, as you talk about, on major research universities as kind of a cultural offensive, you know; a way to go after these bastions of the "woke mind virus."
But it has enormous economic consequences, because these universities are at the center of the regions that are driving most of the nation's economic growth at this point.
If you look at the 100 counties that are producing the most economic output in the country -- and I did this with the folks at the Brookings Metro think tanks -- 44 of those 100 counties have at least one major research university that ranks in the top 100 recipients of federal grants.
Those 44 counties, Audie, are only 1.5 percent of the whole country. There are over 3,100 counties in the country. But those 44 account for almost 35 percent of our total GDP.
These universities are the -- the -- kind of the sun around which big ecosystems of high-tech industries, advanced manufacturing, biotechnology, electronics, computer communications have evolved.
And if you disrupt the original research, which provides the foundation for all the spinoff activity, you have the threat of weakening the places that are driving our growth and are also the key to our competitiveness with China on all -- in the competition for the industries of the 21st Century, like A.V. (ph), biotech, and electric vehicles.
CORNISH: Yes, I really encourage people to read this on the line. You do a great job describing the pipeline, the kind of post-war pipeline between research --
BROWNSTEIN: Yes.
CORNISH: -- to companies and startups, to venture capital, to the marketplace.
BROWNSTEIN: Yes. CORNISH: Here's the thing. There's always been a town and gown divide, right? And it feels like the kind of backlash against universities is that dynamic, writ large.
So, how do they talk about it now? What are you seeing people do?
BROWNSTEIN: Well, it's interesting. You know, you are starting to see alliances form, as I wrote about in the story, of the communities around the country that revolve around these large research universities that have provided -- you know, there are two levels of the benefit, right?
There's the direct spending of the universities on -- on employment and services that they buy. What people usually talk about meds and eds, right? Medical -- medical and educational facilities.
But I think far more important are the spinoff effects of all the companies that -- the biotech companies in -- in Boston and the -- you know, obviously, the development of Silicon Valley in the San Francisco bay area, or software in the Northwest. Or medical technology in Madison.
And so, you are seeing chambers of commerce in these communities come together. You are seeing mayors. The Boston mayor, Michelle Wu, organized a bipartisan group of mayors to intervene in a lawsuit against some of the administration changes that could have devastating impacts on basic research.
I think people are beginning to see more directly the economic impact, which extends far beyond the gown and, really, has created a lot of opportunity in the towns that surround these places.
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And, as I say, are important not only for them but are important for the country overall, because these communities are the places that are driving the most dynamic economic growth and producing the technological breakthroughs that give us our best chance to compete for the jobs of the 21st Century.
CORNISH: There is a lot more to talk about this. I wish I could talk more with you, Ron. CNN senior political analyst Ron Brownstein.
Ahead, on CNN THIS MORNING, we're going to talk about El Salvador's president, just hours from a critical meeting at the White House. In El Salvador, he's already jailed hundreds of migrants deported by the U.S. So, what does he now want in return?
Plus, Meta on trial. Is Mark Zuckerberg's media empire about to come crumbling down?
And Katy Perry, one of six women who are about to blast off into space on Blue Origin.
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