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Early Start with Rahel Solomon

Trump Touts Handling Of Immigration, Polls Say Otherwise; CNN Poll: Americans Unhappy With Tariffs, Economy; Trump Admin Labels Thousands Of International Students As Criminals. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired April 30, 2025 - 05:00   ET

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

[05:00:22]

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning and welcome to our viewers joining us from the U.S. and all around the world. I'm Rahel Solomon. It is Wednesday, April 30th, 5:00 a.m. here in New York.

And straight ahead on EARLY START:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: The president celebrated his 100th day in office with the kind of victory rally tonight in Warren, Michigan.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The most successful first 100 days of any administration in the history of our country.

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: Trump's administration designated thousands of international students as criminals, even though they never charged them.

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: It's hard to explain just how horrific and terrible this has been for foreign students.

ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: The White House is taking aggressive aim at Amazon after reports the company was considering showing the added cost of tariffs on the products it sells.

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: This is a hostile and political act by Amazon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC)

SOLOMON: And we begin this morning with brand new CNN polling released just moments ago on President Trump's handling of immigration. It's an issue that he considers a major success, as he said to his supporters at a campaign style rally in the battleground state of Michigan. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TRUMP: You know, I won on the basis of I think the number one thing was on illegal immigration, the border. Democrats have vowed mass invasion and mass migration. We are delivering mass deportation, and it's happening very fast. And the worst of the worst are being sent to a no nonsense prison in El Salvador. So, under President Trump, America is a dumping ground for criminals no longer. They're not even trying to come in.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: So, here's a look at the polls now. Fifty-two percent say that Trump's actions on deportations have gone too far. That is up seven points since February, 33 percent say they're about right, 14 percent say they don't go far enough.

CNN asked if the president's immigration policies are making the U.S. safer, and 47 percent said yes, 52 percent said no. Declining support is in line with other CNN polling released this week, 45 percent say that they approve of the president's handling of immigration, 39 percent approve of his economic policies, and his overall approval rating, well, that stands at 41 percent.

More now on the president's rally in Michigan and his claims of economic success from CNN's Jeff Zeleny.

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JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: With his first 100 days now behind him, President Trump wrapped a rally in Macomb County, Michigan, on Tuesday night, waxing nostalgic about the last decade of his public life far more than talking about the challenges ahead. But he said that his administration so far in this first 100 days has been the most successful and busy in history.

TRUMP: We're here tonight in the heartland of our nation to celebrate the most successful first 100 days of any administration in the history of our country. And that's according to many, many people. This is the best, they say, 100 days start of any president in history and everyone is saying it. We're just -- we've just gotten started. You haven't even seen anything yet.

ZELENY: But that belies, of course, the challenges that remain for the president. His agenda, his tax agenda and so much more. The president spent very little time dwelling on the economic anxieties that are so clearly coursing through the American country.

Nearly 6 in 10 Americans believe that the policies of the Trump administration have worsened the economy. That was clear as we spent time talking to voters here in Michigan that they want to hear more from President Trump on the economy. There is no doubt that tariff policies and how that is ultimately resolved, including the trade war with China, will go a large degree to determining how successful the Trump administration will be.

But for now, at least, the president, basking in the glow of his supporters as they filed out of this rally. The next 100 days begin on Wednesday in Washington, with so much more and so many challenges to accomplish.

Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Warren, Michigan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOLOMON: And our thanks to Jeff there.

We are in the midst of a pretty big week, pretty telling week for the U.S. economy. In a few hours, well get the first quarter GDP report. This is our first official glimpse at the economic record of Trump 2.0.

Also, the Fed's preferred inflation gauge will also be released just about the same time.

[05:05:02]

And there are also troubling signs from consumers who are worried about a trade war, rising inflation and a possible recession. A survey released Tuesday shows consumer confidence in April sank to its lowest level since May of 2020. It's a bigger decline than economists projected, and this comes as major European companies like Adidas, HSBC and Deutsche Bank warn of pain for consumers and themselves as a direct result of Trump's tariffs.

And we are also expecting earnings reports from American tech giants this week. We have Microsoft and Meta later today after the bell, and then Apple and Amazon on Thursday.

Now, the jobs report, that's also out this week but not until Friday. But we're already getting a sense that employment opportunities may be shrinking. New data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics released Tuesday shows openings dropped to a six-month low in March.

All right, let's take a look at U.S. futures, which are mixed at this hour. Pretty much flat for the Dow. But green is green. We'll take it, S&P, Nasdaq right now, both off between about 2/10 of a percent and 3/10 of a percent.

All right. Let's bring in Paul Donovan, the chief economist for UBS Global Wealth Management. He is with us from London this morning.

Paul, great to have you.

Let's start with that labor data yesterday. We learned that the number of open jobs in March fell to the lowest level in six months. What's interesting, though, in that same report, is that layoffs seem muted.

So how would you describe the state of the labor market right now in the U.S.?

PAUL DONOVAN, CHIEF ECONOMIST, UBS GLOBAL WEALTH MANAGEMENT: Yes. Well, the first thing is we;ve got to be very, very careful in the precision of this data. It's a really unreliable report. And that's because essentially, companies have stopped telling the government what they're doing with employment. The response rate is very low. But what we are getting a sense of from a wide range of indicators is

that companies are just sitting on their hands. They're not firing workers because the economy was doing very well at the start of this year.

But given the erratic policy environment, the uncertainties that that creates, companies are not choosing to invest in the future. And that in particular means that they are not hiring new workers. They are just keeping things steady for now.

SOLOMON: So when does that lack of investment in your words start to show up in potential layoffs? Or, not hiring and laying off people who are currently on the payroll?

DONOVAN: Well, obviously, for certain sectors, that's going to be quite rapid. If you are very much engaged in trade. So, we know, for example, that volumes in U.S. ports are collapsing. Now, that means that people who are employed in U.S. ports face the risk of at least temporary unemployment.

But then beyond that, people in the trucking sector face the risk of temporary unemployment, fewer goods coming in, fewer goods to move around the United States.

So, if you're engaged very actively in the traded goods sector, you're very vulnerable. If you're in the service sector, perhaps less so.

SOLOMON: Yeah, we know that there are 9 million people employed in the trucking sector. So that's -- that's a lot of people.

Paul, let me ask. We're going to get some other key indicators on the health of the economy in just a few hours at 8:30 Eastern. We're going to get the first estimate for first quarter GDP. The caveat, obviously, being this is the first quarter before that April tariff announcement. But we're also going to get another measure on spending inflation.

What are you watching here? What are you expecting here?

DONOVAN: Well, as you said this is very much the before times. You know, this is -- this is not going to capture the uncertainty and so on. And consumers let's remember, are not really going to start to feel the effects of the trade taxes until the end of May at the very earliest and more likely late June.

So, the full effect of that is later. However, what we are going to be looking for is whether consumers were pulling forward their purchases of goods that they were hearing. U.S. President Trump talking about taxing them, taxing trade. And they're thinking, well, yeah, we were planning to redo the kitchen in the summer. Maybe we'd better do it now. Maybe we better bring forward those purchases. So, we'll be looking for that pulling forward action in things like the durable goods purchases that are detailed in today's data.

SOLOMON: And what about any impacts to trade? I mean, I've seen some predictions that the GDP figure could in fact be negative because of that surge in imports that you were just talking about. What do you see there in terms of the trade impact?

DONOVAN: It could well be, but I mean, that doesn't actually tell us a great deal about what is going on, because what we did see very clearly in the March data was this surge in imports. And again, that's because companies were frantically scrambling to get as much into the United States as they could before President Trump imposed the trade taxes. And so, with that, you get sort of a front loading of demand, which is very much what we've been seeing in the numbers.

And because imports are a drag on U.S. GDP, a negative U.S. GDP.

[05:10:04]

That is something that could create some downside risk. But that's not really telling us anything about the underlying momentum of the economy. That's just telling us about the distorted behavior as a result of erratic policy decision-making.

SOLOMON: Yeah. Fair enough.

Paul, let me ask, where would you expect to see, you know, as we talk about the momentum from some of these tariffs sort of getting in front of some of these tariffs, where would you expect to see the first indicator of tariff by -- tariffs essentially biting.

Are you going to be looking at weekly jobless claims? Are you going to be looking at the jobs data on a monthly basis, which is obviously lagging? Where are you going to be watching first?

DONOVAN: So, the very first impact is in inflation. Inflation is going to be the area that's hit first, excepting very, very specific jobs like employment in the ports. It will be the inflation numbers that show this up first and then later on, you're likely to see probably in the unemployment numbers, the payrolls numbers more so I would say, than the initial jobless claims data. That's where the weakness comes in.

We've got to remember, initial jobless claims is people who have lost their jobs going out and claiming. So that will underreport the fact that new people entering the labor market, college graduates, high school leavers, they're not going to appear in the initial claims numbers.

So, first, look for the inflation data and the impact on household spending power. Thats going to be the first indicator that the tariffs are starting to bite.

SOLOMON: Yeah. Great point. I mean in a period where sort of uncertainty is the buzzword, everyone's trying to get a sense of what where do you look first for some sense of certainty for some sense of what's ahead? Paul Donovan, appreciate you being here this morning. Thank you.

DONOVAN: Thank you.

SOLOMON: Federal judge says that she is, quote, concerned and troubled by a legally dubious U.S. operations operation. Coming up, how the Trump administration labeled thousands of foreign students as criminals.

And President Trump gets into a heated exchange over what he calls a, quote, stupid interview question. Hear what he had to say about his defense secretary when we return.

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SOLOMON: Welcome back. More now on the just released CNN poll on the Trump administrations actions on immigration.

On the question about deporting some immigrants living in the U.S. directly to a prison in El Salvador, 29 percent support it, but a majority, 51 percent oppose the policy.

During an ABC interview, Trump cast doubt on whether undocumented immigrants are entitled to due process protections that are guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

INTERVIEWER: In our country, even bad guys get due process, right?

TRUMP: If people come into our country illegally, there's a different standard. These are illegal -- they came in illegally.

INTERVIEWER: But they get due process.

TRUMP: Well, they get a process where we have to get them out. Yeah.

INTERVIEWER: Okay. Let's talk about the Venezuelans.

TRUMP: They get whatever my lawyers say.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: By a 28-point margin, Americans say that they are against revoking the visas of some international students based on their, quote, beliefs, statements or associations. And the Trump administration has effectively designated thousands of international students in the U.S. as criminals without checking for evidence or charges. That's according to court records reviewed by CNN.

Now, some of those students have already left the country, despite most having broken no immigration rules. A federal judge Tuesday called the operation a blatant violation of due process.

CNN's Shimon Prokupecz broke down his reporting for our Erin Burnett.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PROKUPECZ: Through all the court documents, and I've looked through now dozens and dozens court documents. I've spoken to probably about a dozen attorneys now that are representing many of these students. But it's hard to explain just how horrific and terrible this has been for foreign students, 1.3 million foreign students became the target of this administration. They took all of their names, put them through a criminal database, and if they got hits for them, they basically then did without really any kind of investigation, without any kind of work. They essentially sent notices to them saying that they would basically -- were losing their status as students. And they see this.

BURNETT: And this could be, first of all, they didn't have to prove anything, but it could be like a speeding ticket.

PROKUPECZ: In many cases, it was speeding tickets. In some cases, there were people who were actually arrested for shoplifting, DUI, things that, you know, college age kids may do, but what happens is almost all of these cases, there were no formal charges or in some instances they were even dismissed. But they're not removed from the NCIC, which is the National Criminal Information Center, where all this data is scooped up. DHS has access to this.

And so, they ran their names. They did not a whole lot of investigative. In some cases, it was just within minutes where they send information back and forth and then we're told, okay, terminate these students.

BURNETT: And now these students are gone or terminated or.

PROKUPECZ: What is so horrible is for the students who left, students who were so scared because as this was going on, remember, it was during the time when homeland security and ICE officers were out making arrests, out searching for students on college campuses. All of this is happening at the same time.

So, the foreign students who got these notices freaked out, and they left because they were afraid they were going to be detained. And now what happens? They have no recourse since they left the country. They can't get back in, they can't fight.

And many of them spent years, years paying into this education system, years learning in this education system, hoping to pay back.

[05:20:04]

They can't.

BURNETT : And is the Trump administration backtracking on any of this? I mean, you're saying some of this can't be undone.

PROKUPECZ: They realized that they were getting really hit hard in the court system, and judges were demanding to know what was going on here. And today, they released a new policy. It all started last week on Friday, they said they were reversing some of this.

Today in court, they released more information. But really, for the first time, we got to see exactly how this worked and how it unfolded. And it's just horrific.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: In the coming hours, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee will start work on a plan to pay for President Trump's sweeping immigration crackdown. It includes money for mass deportations, stronger border enforcement and costly new fees for people seeking entrance into the U.S.

The House plan would give the White House the capacity to deport at least 1 million people and detain up to 100,000 per day. Republican leaders are looking to pass the bill this summer using budget powers that don't require any votes from Democrats.

At least one senate Republican appears skeptical that this can be done by July 4th.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. THOM TILLIS (R-NC): I just can't imagine we get it done by then. I mean, I'm not a chair. So, you may want to talk to the chairs. There's a lot of moving parts.

It sounds like a great aspirational target, but based on -- I've been gone for two weeks, but based on my understanding of the progress, I think that'd be a -- that's a steep hill.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: Meantime, Donald Trump continues to stand by his defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, despite mounting criticism of the pentagon chief and questions about his judgment. The president had a testy exchange with ABC Nhen asked if he still has full confidence in Hegseth. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

INTERVIEWER: You have 100 percent confidence in Pete Hegseth?

TRUMP: I don't have 100 percent confidence in anything, okay. Anything. Do I have 100 percent? It's a stupid question. Look --

INTERVIEWER: It's a pretty important position.

TRUMP: No, no, no, you don't have 100 percent. Only a liar would say I have 100 percent confidence. I don't have 100 percent confidence that we were going to finish this interview.

INTERVIEWER: We will.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: Meanwhile, Hegseth says that he is cutting an initiative that Trump himself enacted during his first term. In a social media post, Hegseth blasted the women, peace and security program, calling it woke and a distraction from war fighting. Then he later claimed that the program was ruined by former President Biden. The initiative, signed by Trump in 2017, recognizes the important role

that women play in the military, and it ensures that their needs and their perspectives are taken into account for the development of policy and equipment.

The Trump administration has dismissed all the scientists and other authors working on the next major climate report, according to an email sent on Monday. Now, Congress mandated these reports be produced every four years, and the next one is due by 2027. Well, this move could allow the administration to either skip the report or get an alternative version that may contain a more skeptical take on the issue. Climate scientists say that without the report, the government would be less prepared for extreme weather, wildfires, rising sea levels, and other important changes in the climate.

Well, still ahead for us, U.S. President Trump, acknowledging that Vladimir Putin could be, as he put it, tapping him along, but he still believes that the Russian leader wants peace in Ukraine. More of his comments coming up next.

Plus, the White House lashes out after a report that Amazon might start showing tariff costs on its website. What it took to ultimately clear things up after the break.

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[05:27:57]

SOLOMON: Welcome back.

U.S. President Donald Trump says that he believes Russian leader Vladimir Putin wants to end the war with Ukraine. However, he added that it's possible that Putin could be, quote, tapping him along in the ongoing peace negotiations.

In an interview with ABC News, President Trump would not say whether he trusts the Russian leader.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

INTERVIEWER: Do you think Vladimir Putin wants peace?

TRUMP: I think he does. Yes. I think he does.

INTERVIEWER: Still?

TRUMP: I think --

INTERVIEWER: Even with the raining missiles on --

TRUMP: I think he really -- his -- his dream was to take over the whole country. I think because of me, he's not going to do that.

INTERVIEWER: Do you trust him?

TRUMP: I think -- INTERVIEWER: Do you trust him?

TRUMP: I don't trust you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: Meantime, new Russian drone attacks on Ukraine are rattling hopes for a possible ceasefire. At least three people have been killed and 60 injured in those attacks across Ukraine, children and a pregnant woman are among the injured. Local authorities say that the cities of Dnipro and Kharkiv came under massive UAV attacks, which caused several large fires and damaged a number of residential buildings.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says that Kyiv is preparing to speak with the U.S. about slapping new sanctions on Russia, to try and put more pressure on Moscow to end the war. Zelenskyy also warning that Putin might be planning to launch further attacks from neighboring Belarus in the coming months.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: Look at Belarus. Russia is preparing something there this summer, using military drills as cover. And that's usually how they start a new attack. But where will it go? I don't know, Ukraine, Lithuania, Poland. God bless. No, but we all need to be -- we all need to be ready.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: President Trump's envoy for Ukraine, flatly rejecting a Russian proposed three-day ceasefire, calling it, quote, absurd. The Trump administration has warned that it will walk away from mediating an end to the war if progress is not made.

Let's bring in CNN's Clare Sebastian, who joins us now from London.

And, Clare, Trump himself, in a truth social post, recently floated the idea of additional sanctions.

So, what more do we know about another U.S./Ukraine meeting?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's nothing firm.