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Quest Means Business
Trump To Speak In Michigan After 100 Days In Office; Trump: Amazon Did The Right Thing On Tariff After Bezos Call; Carney Declares Victory, Stands Firm Against Trump Threats; Portugal's Prime Minister Blames Spain For Power Outage; Searches For U.K. Degrees Spike Among U.S. Students; Arizona Voters Reflect On Trump's First 100 Days; Korean Air CEO On Adapting To Tariffs. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired April 29, 2025 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[16:00:08]
ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: And there is your closing bell. The Dow up just slightly, but we will take the green closing out the day. So that of course
is a look at the markets. These are the main events.
On his 100th day in office, President Trump still reckoning with his trade policy. The President is easing auto tariffs amid falling consumer
sentiment, and he has also called Jeff Bezos to complain we are learning after reports that Amazon was considering displaying a separate tariff
charge.
Well, those same tariffs are impacting airlines. The CEO of Korean Air says economic uncertainty is already denting passenger numbers.
Coming to you live from New York. It is Tuesday, April 29th. I am Erica Hill, in for Richard Quest. This is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.
It is good to have you with us on this Tuesday.
Right now the U.S. President is on the road to mark his first 100 days in office as businesses struggle to keep up with his trade policies. Donald
trump set to speak at just a matter of moments from now in Michigan. Automakers in that state are now facing yet another new tariff plan, with
Mr. Trump set to sign an executive order that would ease tariffs on imported cars. White House officials say the shift comes after the
President spoke with multiple auto executives.
Jeff Zeleny is in Warren, Michigan, where the President is set to hold a rally later today. So, Jeff, this move on tariffs for cars, what more can
you tell us about that?
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Erica, it is one more example in really a string of examples over the last several
months about the on again, off again nature of these tariff policies. President Trump is offering a bit of relief to automakers and this has been
a key priority of the big three automakers here in Detroit -- Ford, General Motors and Stellantis.
They believe that the cost of automobiles would be essentially out of reach. They really worried about the economic fallout for them. And, of
course, then for the rest of the economy in Michigan. One out of every five jobs in the state of Michigan is related to the automobile industry. So
this certainly is a concern.
So what the President is doing is effectively lowering the tariffs on auto parts. He is also taking away the double dipping, if you will, for some car
companies that were charged double tariffs for steel and aluminum. I am going to lower my voice here for one second. They are saying the Pledge of
Allegiance at this Trump rally about to begin.
So yes, the President marking his 100th day here in Michigan, Erica. No surprise, Macomb, Michigan, a working class stronghold. He won it by 14
points and it was one of the linchpins to him, going on to carry the state of Michigan and indeed all battleground states in November.
HILL: Yes, certainly an important destination chosen for a very specific purpose.
Jeff, appreciate it. Thank you.
Well, when Donald Trump took the Oath of Office, stocks were near all-time highs, boosted by hopes for dealmaking and deregulation. One hundred days
later, the S&P 500 is down eight percent, marking its worst performance during the first 100 days of a presidency since 1974, when Gerald Ford took
over from Richard Nixon.
But the pain isn't just limited to Wall Street. Consumer confidence dropping now for a fifth straight month in April, plunging nearly eight
points as you see there. The Conference Board's Index is now at its lowest level since the pandemic, and companies continue to sound the alarm in
earnings reports.
Just today, Kraft Heinz lowering its sales outlook while General Motors actually pulled its annual forecast amid tariff uncertainty.
Paul Krugman is a Nobel Prize winning economist and a distinguished professor of Economics at City University of New York, and he joins me now.
Paul, it is great to have you with us.
So when we look at this 100 days in, how would you characterize the start of Donald Trump's second term?
PAUL KRUGMAN, ECONOMIST AND COLUMNIST, "THE NEW YORK TIMES": Well, it has certainly been extreme. I think, you know, a lot of people tried to analyze
his campaign proposals, but there was a widespread sense that he would not go as far as what he was saying during the campaign, he has gone much
further. This is -- the tariff policy has been leading the charge, and it is the most -- most extreme tariff policy in U.S. history. I mean, we've
just gone from nearly free trade to tariffs higher than the infamous Smoot- Hawley tariff of 1930 all at once, and this is an economy that is much more dependent on trade than it was back in 1930.
So this is the biggest shock from trade policy in U.S. history. It is probably -- it is ten times as big in terms of its impact as Smoot-Hawley.
So this is incredible and it has been a real problem. You know, business is not happy. The economy appears to be headed for certainly a slowdown,
possibly a recession. You know, right away, we seem to be headed for a COVID-style supply shock from these tariffs. It is quite a hundred days.
[16:05:15]
HILL: It is quite a hundred days. I was struck by "The Wall Street Journal" Editorial Board this morning writing: Trump 2.0 is in trouble, saying there
needs to be a major reset. I mean, in some ways we are seeing a reset. It feels like almost daily, it is not quite that often, but there is the mixed
messaging, there is the chaos, the confusion, the uncertainty. As these policies shift and change, is there room for a full reset?
KRUGMAN: I think not. The problem -- I mean, the uncertainty is as bad as the policies themselves. That's not just high tariffs, but tariffs that we
don't know what they will be next week. I mean we had April 2nd, a huge rollout of tariffs, which were very extreme and then a week later was never
mind, here is a different set of tariffs that are just as extreme in their own way. What will it be next month? What will it be six months from now?
It is very hard for businesses to plan on that basis. And the constant turmoil adds to the shock. I mean, normally tariffs aren't necessarily
recessionary, but a tariff where you have no idea what the rates going to be by the time an investment matures, that is recessionary.
HILL: When we look at this, you have a piece out talking about Trump's policies, noting that the new tagline, if you will, from Chinese diplomats
is that Trump is a bully who can't be trusted. You say they are right.
KRUGMAN: Well, I mean, just ask the Canadians. Ask the Japanese who sent a delegation to negotiate a deal, earnestly, wanted to negotiate a deal, and
finally left in disgust because they kept -- they said the Americans won't tell us what they want. They keep on saying, make us an offer, but they
won't tell us what they want.
So, you know, how does anybody make a deal with the current U.S. administration? I called him a godfather in reverse. He makes you an offer
you can't accept.
HILL: When we look at this then, we have heard from different officials today, including the president, that there could be a deal announced soon.
Of course, it would not be surprising if they wanted to announce a deal on this 100-day mark, potentially with India, as we are seeing.
When we look at this, what would the impact be to having at least one deal in place?
KRUGMAN: Well, it might goose the markets for a little while, but you know, that's -- India is not -- it is a big important country, but it is not a
major U.S. trade partner. It is not even clear what a deal would mean. But you know, in a way, the big three or big four would be Canada, Mexico,
China and the European Union, and there is no hint of any motion there and there is this weird thing where Trump officials say that they are in
negotiations with China, and the Chinese say they aren't, that they are not talking to us at all.
And I am sorry to say that, you know, it is Trump said Xi said, but I am sorry to say that there is no reason to believe that the Americans are
telling the truth. The Chinese seem much more credible on this and it is just kind of pathetic, isn't it? we are saying that, you know, we are
negotiating with them and they say, no, we aren't.
HILL: It is a remarkable moment in time, that is for sure. When we look at where things stand. It was also quite a moment to see the impact that the
bond markets, for example, had on the president in terms of a shift in policy.
Do you believe it is really only -- are the markets the only thing that Donald Trump will really be -- I don't know that "rein in" is the right
phrase, but is it really the only the markets that will truly impact the direction?
KRUGMAN: Well, that and I mean, he says he doesn't believe the polls, but I am sure we know that he is watching them, so his plunging popularity has
got to have some effect. And look, we are going to see some stuff, never mind the bond markets. We are likely to see probably sharply rising prices
of a lot of imported goods and even shortages.
I mean, there have been very few ships arriving in in West Coast ports from Asia in the last couple of weeks, which is going to translate into empty
shelves across a lot of America just a few weeks from now. I think that will get the attention even of this White House.
HILL: We will be watching. Paul, great to have you here. Thank you.
KRUGMAN: Great to be on.
HILL: Well, 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. Donald Trump called founder, Jeff Bezos to complain about that move. Amazon, for its part, is saying the plan was only under
consideration for one of its spinoff sites that sells items below $20.00 adding it was, "never approved and not going to happen."
Well, the President also addressed it, talking about his conversation with Bezos just a short time ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Great. Jeff Bezos was very nice. He was terrific. He solved the problem very quickly
and he did the right thing and he is a good guy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[16:10:10]
HILL: Clare Duffy joins me here in New York with more on this.
It was quite a headline this morning, and the reaction was swift.
CLARE DUFFY, CNN BUSINESS WRITER: Yes, Erica, it is pretty incredible how this story all unfolded.
It all started this morning when Punchbowl News published this story saying that Amazon was planning to add a label to the cost of products on its
site, showing what percentage of those costs could be attributed to tariffs. Now what we now know, according to two senior White House
officials who spoke with our colleague, Alayna Treene, is that a senior White House official saw that headline, called President Trump and Trump
was "pissed."
As one official told CNN, of course he was pissed, why should a multi- billion dollar company pass off costs to consumers? White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also called this label a hostile and political
act. And we now know that Trump also called Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos.
Amazon quickly put out a statement basically saying that it was, as you said, only considering adding this label for a portion of its site, not the
main site, but that it was not going to happen.
But I think the bottom line here is that you're seeing the Trump administration does not want major companies passing on the cost of tariffs
to consumers, although I don't know how much control it is going to have over that piece of things, but it definitely does not want these companies
letting consumers know how much more expensive their goods are getting and attributing that to tariffs -- Erica.
HILL: Yes, they certainly don't want that form of transparency out there, it would seem.
I am curious. We saw so much from the leaders of some of the country's leading tech companies, really looking to cozy up with the President ahead
of the Inauguration. How are those relationships faring now a hundred days in?
DUFFY: Yes, it is really interesting because we saw some of the leading CEOs, the founders of these companies sitting front and center at the
Inauguration, and I think the message that they were hoping people would take away from that is that they were close to Trump, that this was going
to benefit their companies, but I think what we've really seen a hundred days in is that it seems much more like these leaders are under the thumb
of President Trump.
I mean, look, he can call up Jeff Bezos, who is no longer even the CEO of Amazon, and he can get the company to come out and quickly say that it will
not be adding these labels, these price labels, to its products.
You look at some of the other CEOs that were at the Inauguration. Google is currently in court fighting the FTC, which wants to break up the company.
Meta also in court fighting an antitrust battle that could break up the company.
And so I think these companies aren't necessarily seeing the benefit of that close relationship to Trump that perhaps they were hoping to, although
the Trump administration appears to be seeing some benefit.
HILL: Yes, Clare, really appreciate it. Good to see you. Thanks.
Well, Donald Trump adding some new rules to his auto tariffs. They are intended to make things easier for U.S. car makers who are trying to
adjust. So will this shift work? We will take a closer look, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:15:29]
HILL: Fresh off an election victory, Canada's Prime Minister is vowing to never yield to Donald Trump's threats.
Mark Carney and his liberal party rode a wave of anti-Trump backlash to stage a major political comeback at the polls on Monday, winning another
term in power. The Canadian national broadcaster, CBC did just project, though, that Prime Minister Carney will have to form a minority government.
Paula Newton has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARK CARNEY, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: Who's ready?
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
CARNEY: Who's ready? Who's ready to stand up for Canada with me?
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST AND CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A rallying cry for Canadian sovereignty as Mark Carney declared victory in
the country's federal elections.
CARNEY: We are once again -- we are once again at one of those hinge moments of history. Our old relationship with the United States, a
relationship based on steadily increasing integration is over.
We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons.
NEWTON (voice over): The liberal party leader issuing a stunning rebuke to President Trump as he promised his country would never yield to the United
States.
CARNEY: As I've been warning for months, America wants our land, our resources, our water, our country.
(CROWD shout "never.")
CARNEY: Never. But these are not -- these are not idle threats. President Trump is trying to break us so that America can own us.
That will never -- that will never, ever happen.
NEWTON (voice over): The 60 -year-old former Central Banker, also sending a message of unity to the millions that did not vote for him.
CARNEY: And my message to every Canadian is this, no matter where you live, no matter what language you speak, no matter how you voted, I will always
do my best to represent everyone who calls Canada home.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
PIERRE POILIEVRE, FORMER MINISTER OF DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS OF CANADA: So I would like to congratulate, Prime Minister Carney.
NEWTON (voice over): Conservative opposition leader, Pierre Poilievre conceded defeat early Tuesday, saying Carney had won enough seats to form a
razor thin minority government.
Throughout his campaign, Carney rode a wave of anti-Trump sentiment since winning his party's leadership contest in a landslide after former Prime
Minister Justin Trudeau stepped down last month.
CARNEY: We are fighting unjustified U.S. tariffs.
Trump's tariffs on imports from Canada and continued threats to annex the country as the 51st state only helped him ride that wave to victory.
Paula Newton, CNN, Ottawa.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HILL: Well, just moments ago, Donald Trump arrived in Michigan. On his way there on the plane, he signed two executive orders to ease the tariffs he
imposed on automakers. So keep in mind here, that 25 percent tariff on imported cars, that will still be in effect. The tariff will apply to auto
parts starting this weekend.
But the difference now is that U.S. carmakers will be reimbursed for the tariff on parts up to 3.75 percent of the car's value. President Trump is
also sparing manufacturers from facing multiple tariffs, saying they will only be subject to the highest tariff associated with the good they are
importing.
Flavio Volpe is the president of Canada's Automotive Parts Manufacturers Association and joins us now from Toronto.
Flavio, good to have you with us. So just give me a sense when you look at these changes, this shift with these new executive orders, what does that
actually change for you?
FLAVIO VOLPE, PRESIDENT, CANADA AUTOMOTIVE PARTS MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATION: Well, it doesn't change anything really. The auto business, both American
auto business and the rest of the world operates on six or seven percent returns. So he has provided some relief for American automakers who import
parts that effectively turns a 25 percent tariff into a 15 percent tariff, or twice the profit margin.
He also didn't address in this E.O. and maybe there is another one coming, but like you said this weekend, there is a deadline for a Canadian and
Mexican or USMCA parts that go in by themselves, not as part of cars at a 25 percent tariff level.
The industry, all of the American automakers or foreign based automakers in the U.S. and parts makers and dealers warned in writing last week that if
he went forward with that tariff on those parts from Canada and Mexico, he would risk shutting down the industry like it did during the pandemic.
We didn't see anything on that today.
[16:20:08 ]
HILL: You didn't see anything. What about in terms of responses? What have you been -- I mean, I know you've been asked this question a lot over the
last couple of months, but when you look at how much room there is for conversation, right, with your neighbors here south of the border, how are
those conversations going? Are our lawmakers, for example, are they open to it?
I know you've said it is not necessarily about talking to President Trump, although I think you'd probably take that conversation if he offered it.
But are you making inroads anywhere?
VOLPE: Yes, with the industry, we thought it was actually very good to see our counterparts in the U.S. speak in writing in public to the President
and to the Treasury, Commerce and USTR leads that this didn't work, that it is a reflection that so much of what we do in Canada and in Mexico is in
service of the American auto sector.
Half of the cars made here are American brands, but half, 55 percent of the raw materials that Canadian plants and parts plants buy come from, you
know, steel from Pennsylvania and resins from Texas and about 50 percent of the auto parts that go into Canadian assembly for all of the cars, whether
they are Japanese that are manufactured here or the U.S., they come from U.S. plants that we are so integrated, and we are all helping to fight
China.
It doesn't really make sense to hurt the American interest across the continent and we are hearing from a lot of congressional reps and senators
and governors, and some sympathy within the administration itself to say, hey, hold on a second, before you trip yourselves up, pointing the arrow at
your partners that for 120 years, you make cars together, aren't we supposed to be competing with China? And we can help you there.
HILL: When we -- you know, the President has talked about his goal, as you know, and his hope that with a lot of these tariffs, not just when it comes
to the auto industry, is that this will spur manufacturing in the United States, that it will bring some of it back, that it will inspire companies
to move operations here or start building the factories to be able to make that happen. Do you see any evidence of that?
VOLPE: No, he likes to inflate, you know, some companies moving one product that they make in Mexico to a plant in Indiana, but nobody is picking up
and moving, and they like to talk about moving back. But, you know, the oldest car company in the U.S., Ford started its operations in Canada 120
years ago. Those jobs were never in Michigan, they were always in Ontario or Quebec.
And he is ignoring the actual industry leads in Detroit and in other auto capitals around the U.S. Forget about me. You know, who am I? But they say
this doesn't work for us. You know, the head of Ford said, tariffs on Canada and Mexico because we are so integrated, will blow a hole through
the U.S. industry. He is ignoring him.
And so we are hoping that just like we saw in February, just like we saw in March, and just like we saw at the beginning of April, that this May 3rd,
there is an off ramp available.
Continue to work with your USMCA partners, don't put a tariff on parts that come in to make cars in the U.S. that are sometimes U.S. parts companies in
these other countries who you'll put a tariff that's four times the profit margin. They just won't get shipped.
And you can't make the cars without all the parts, so if the carmakers don't accept that penalty and try to push it on to the parts suppliers,
they don't have the balance sheet to do it.
And in the pandemic, when we couldn't get all the parts, or when the Ambassador Bridge, the Detroit-Windsor Bridge was blockaded in 2022, you
can't get all the parts, you can't make all the cars and auto workers in the U.S., just like auto workers in Canada, will be sitting down, because
those plants will be will be on temporary shutdown.
HILL: We will be watching to see what rolls out next as it were.
Flavio, I appreciate your time today. Thank you.
VOLPE: Always a pleasure.
HILL: Well, the blackout blame game, well underway. Who the Prime Minister of Portugal now says is at fault for Monday's massive power outage on the
Iberian peninsula.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:27:36]
HILL: Hello, I am Erica Hill. We will have more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS in a moment when we will take a look at how Donald Trump's war on universities
is sending U.S. students now searching overseas for their education.
And the chief executive of Korean Air says he expects the South Korean economy to take a fairly big hit from U.S. tariffs.
But before that, the headlines this hour.
White House officials say President Trump called Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos following a report that his company planned to list tariff costs on its
products. Amazon announced shortly afterwards that it had scrapped the plan. Mr. Trump later telling reporters Bezos, "did the right thing."
Authorities in Sweden are investigating a shooting north of the capital of Stockholm. Police say at least three people were killed in the city of
Uppsala. Sweden's public broadcaster, SVT says the suspect fled the scene on an electric scooter. The motive is unclear at this hour.
In Spain and Portugal, the power is now back on after Monday's massive blackout. Tens of millions of people were impacted by that outage. Spain's
Prime Minister says his government will create an investigation commission to determine the cause. He has reportedly ruled out an excess in renewable
energy production.
Portugal's national energy network says it has now fully stabilized the country's power grid, but it is not clear just what caused Monday's
nationwide outage. The country's Prime Minister, however, is pointing the blame squarely toward Spain. Portugal imports lower cost solar electricity
from Spain.
For more, CNN Portugal anchor, Joao Marinheiro is joining us now from Lisbon, so the finger pointing begins. What more do we know in terms of how
all of this happened? Or when will we know more, perhaps, is the more accurate question.
JOAO POVOA MARINHEIRO, CNN PORTUGAL ANCHOR: Hi, Erica. Well, we will have two separate inquiries in the next coming months that can provide more
answers. Portugal has announced that it will ask the European Union for an independent inquiry into what happened yesterday, and Spain as well, is
making moves to find questions as to what caused the major disruption and the blackout that we witnessed yesterday.
The thing is that Spain, on its hand, is not ruling out any single possibilities, including cyberattacks, but it all points right now to a
technical issue, a big spark on the grid that disrupted the channels leading to the Portuguese grid at the moment that the incident happened,
Portugal was importing about 33 percent of energy from Spain, and so the system actually shut it down. So that's what the Portuguese government is
also stating. It is pointing the blame and shifting the blame to the Spanish grid.
[16:30:34]
Obviously here in Portugal things are back to normal, especially in Lisbon. And the two biggest metropolitan areas in the country. After several hours
of blackout yesterday, about at about 8:00 p.m., things were moving at fast pace, so energy was being restored on the two major metropolitan areas in
the nation.
And so things were back to normal today in the hospitals and the schools and the transport systems, and also in the airports where many, many, many
flights were canceled due to the lack of energy. Obviously, what's happening right now in the country is that there's a political blame game
that's going on, and it's quite one sided with all of the opposition parties pointing to the government's lack of efforts in communicating and
providing proper instructions to the population.
The government has tried to shield itself from this kind of criticism. He has -- it has explained that it tried to provide instructions on the more
reliable means of communication which were the radio networks, but obviously the other opposition parties have stated that it should have done
more and it lacked some degree of authority in managing the situation.
HILL: Joao, I really appreciate the update. Thank you.
Well, more students in the U.S., it turns out, are exploring their options for higher education outside the country. So where are they looking? That's
next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:35:12]
HILL: Donald Trump marking the 100th day of his second term with a rally in Michigan. He is now in Michigan. And ahead of that event, he is speaking at
Selfridge Air National Guard Base. Let's listen in.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Any time we vote, the whole thing is so crazy. But it will be the biggest tax increase in history if we
don't get it. And that's why the Republicans can do it. But they have to stick together. And I think they are, from what I understand, really
sticking together.
I want to thank also speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, and John Thune, Leader John Thune. They have been working together, and with the senators
and the Congress, men and women. And I think they've got something that's really -- it's big league and it's very important. Biggest -- the biggest
bill ever if we get it done and I think we will.
For decades, Selfridge Air National Guard Base has stood as a crucial pillar of North American air defense. Just 20 miles north of Detroit, where
you're going to have a lot of car factories opening very soon, by the way, I might add. With access to the largest military airspace complex east of
the Mississippi, Selfridge is tightly integrated with the National All- Domain Warfighting Center.
This airfield saw its first military takeoff all the way back in 1917. Can you believe that? Wow, wouldn't that have been a shame to close this great
history for something else that wouldn't be as good? The Tuskegee Airmen trained here during World War II, and generations of Michigan patriots have
served here with great distinction. Unfortunately, that proud legacy was put at risk by the retirement of the key aircraft based here, in
particular, the A-10 Thunderbolt II Warthog, which I hear is an incredible plane.
I hear is an incredible plane. It's too bad. It's a long time it's been up there. I said, why don't we save it? I actually said that last time and we
did save it. I say that in my last term and we did save it, but now it's coming to an end. But I hear the Warthog is incredible. We have support
aircraft and also the KC- 35 Stratotankers. In recent years, many in Michigan have feared for the future of the base. They've been calling
everybody, but the only one that mattered was Trump.
They called Trump, and we got it done, which represents $850 million in economic impact across the state of Michigan. And probably it could be much
more than that as we expand it out and creates thousands and thousands of good and important jobs, both in the military and civilian jobs.
So, Gretchen, that's a big economic -- you're not going to have too many economic development jobs like that. It's great. But today I've come in
person to lay to rest any doubts about Selfridge's future and the vital role it will play in our national defense. As commander-in-chief, I'm proud
to announce that very soon we will replace the retiring A-10 Warthogs with 21 brand new F-15 EX Eagle II fighter jets, the best in the world fresh off
the line.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: Brand new. And they have an expression, you know what that means. Fresh off the line. That means they are brand new. They've never been
anywhere. This is where they're going to be for a long time. And I saw one of them flew over my head and I said, what the hell is that? That plane has
serious power. So this is the best there is anywhere in the world. The F- 15.
HILL: President Trump speaking there in -- he's in Michigan at Selfridge Air National Guard Base, where he is announcing a new fighter mission. This
is something that the governor, a Democrat, the governor of Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer, who were told is on hand. She actually greeted the
president when he arrived, that she has been pushing for to bring back to that air base.
So the president making that first stop in Michigan, and then he's going to be moving on to Macomb County, where he's holding a rally at 6:00 p.m.
local time tonight to celebrate this first 100 days of his second term as president. As all of this is unfolding, of course, it has been a very busy
100 days in pretty much every space in this country. Take a look at higher education, for example.
[16:40:00]
The president of Harvard is now apologizing to the school after a pair of reports on antisemitism and anti-Muslim bias. Alan Garber, writing in an
open letter, he's disturbed by the way students treated each other and that some students felt they were pushed to the periphery of campus life because
of who they are or what they believe.
Higher education, antisemitism, life on campus, protests, of course, these have all been a major focus for the Trump administration. In fact, since
Donald Trump's election, we're starting to see more of the impact on students themselves. The number of U.S. students now considering pursuing
higher education in the U.K. it's up, a move that could be tied to the president's fight against schools like Harvard and Columbia.
Keystone Education, a student recruitment company, says the U.K. actually stands to gain from Donald Trump's attacks on higher education. Just take a
look at some of these numbers here. U.S. searches for degrees in the U.K. spiking by 10 percent since the start of April, and the British Council
reports a similar jump this year in applications.
So what could this actually mean for those campuses? Mark Bennett is Keystone's vice president of research and insight, and joins me this hour
from Sheffield, England.
Mark, good to have you here. So when we look at this, the fact that the number of searches for U.S. students looking to perhaps do their studies in
the U.K., what does that tell you in terms of the numbers that we're seeing and when those numbers begin to change?
MARK BENNETT, VP OF RESEARCH AND INSIGHT, KEYSTONE EDUCATION GROUP: It's a pleasure to be here, Erica. Thank you. Yes. So it's been an interesting
story, actually. So Keystone Education Group's data, we've been plotting this trend for a while now. So our data showed that international interest
in the USA declined during autumn last year. But interestingly, it recovered in the first part of this year. Then in April, there's been a
further drop in domestic interest, which you've just been talking about.
So U.S. students searching for U.S. education, that's also dropped. It's down 27 percent year on year in the first part of 2025. And a lot of that
is pivoting towards the U.K. So it's pivoting towards the U.K. from the U.S. It's up around 23 percent and it's also pivoting towards the U.K. from
international students, up around 50 percent in our data at the moment.
HILL: And so separating those into two buckets, more international students looking toward the U.K. I think in many ways people can understand that
because there have been, you know, these crackdown on visa holders. There are questions for students currently in the country legally as to whether
or not if they leave, if they can come back. There's a lot of confusion.
So looking to the U.K. I get. U.S. students increasing the searches to perhaps pursue their studies in the U.K., is that tied based on your
research? Is that in fact tied to the current administration?
BENNETT: I mean, it's difficult to say. What I can talk about is what we see in our data. And I think it's really important here to separate the
politics from the policy. So we run, as well as looking at search behavior on our platforms, we also run an ongoing survey. And when we look at that,
you know, around about a third of students do say that they've put off studying in the USA by the second Trump presidency.
So that's obviously significant. But it's the majority. The majority are actually undecided. And what's interesting is that we've seen the number of
people who say that actually, you know, somewhat counterintuitively, but actually the fact of a second Trump presidency makes them more interested
in the USA. That's actually increased. But here's the thing. Policies, the defunding of education, federal defunding and the tariffs have an outsized
impact on all audiences.
So they, you know, it's around about two-thirds actually, in our survey, two-thirds of people say that these will have an impact. And I think that's
significant for domestic but also for international. If you're a domestic student, you need to know that funding is going to be there. It's going to
be continuous for your program. Also important for an international student as well. So I think it's, for me, you know, I think what we're seeing as
Keystone, what we would like to kind of highlight is the difference between, you know, the political facts and the policies, the policy that
impacts students.
HILL: Yes, it is an important distinction. It's also, you know, I've been struck by the number of stories over the last several months of European
universities looking to woo researchers who had been working in the United States. We're also seeing that sort of this, you know, perhaps a brain
drain here in the U.S., as the policies, to your point, are not only confusing, but the funding is drying up for a lot of the research here, or
at least in limbo at this point.
BENNETT: Yes, I think that's really important. You know, one of the things that, you know, we can do at Keystone and the universities we partner with
is just to try and offer reassurance. It's an awful lot for students to take in. You know, we understand when something is perhaps policy, when
something is perhaps commentary or, you know, an announcement or somewhere in between the two.
Prospective students don't. And the work we do and the work that our university partners do is so important for highlighting that and reassuring
that actually, you know, in many cases, funding is still in place and where there are things they need to be aware of or things they need to be
informed of that that's happening.
HILL: Yes, it's a great point.
Mark, really appreciate your time. Thank you.
BENNETT: Thank you.
HILL: Arizona was one of the seven swing states that delivered the White House for Donald Trump in November. The president carried that state and
its 11 electoral votes by five and a half points.
CNN's John King spoke to voters recently in Arizona asking them how they're feeling now 100 days into Mr. Trump's presidency.
[16:45:10]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The afternoon rush in full swing. Pallets of produce whizzing by. Tomatoes, cucumbers,
peppers, squash, and more. Farm to table has a pit stop, this one in the Arizona desert.
Feeding America is complicated, more so right now. Everything here is for Mexico, but Donald Trump is back in the White House threatening tariffs.
MATT MANDEL, ARIZONA VOTER: It's a brave new world.
KING: Matt Mandel helps run SunFed, this warehouse just a few miles from the border.
One hundred days into the Trump presidency, your business has been impacted how?
MANDEL: The biggest problem that we have up until now is uncertainty. We have talked about tariffs, and then the tariffs are off. We have tariffs
that came into play for three days. They were canceled. But the constant threat of what if makes it very hard for us to plan.
KING (voice-over): The border crossing at Nogales is almost always humming. Commerce both ways caught up in 100 days of Trump trade turmoil.
MANDEL: Food does not make sense at all. All you're going to do is raise those costs to consumers. People have become accustomed to having all their
fruits and vegetables on a year-round basis, and that is entirely due to imports. Putting tariffs on imports is only going to limit supply, raise
prices, or both.
KING: Small businesses at the border are grumbling, too. They complain of a double whammy, tariff threats and tough immigration talk. Yes, illegal
crossings in Nogales and across Arizona are down. That's a big Trump campaign promise. But business owners say legal crossings are down, too,
dropping sales as much as 40 percent these past 100 days.
Tucson is an hour north, reliably blue, but Trump did run a bit stronger here last year, as he won Arizona and all the battlegrounds.
What's all this going to do?
TAMARA VARGA, ARIZONA VOTER: Well, this is going to train our individuals how to cook.
KING: Tamara Varga is a Trump supporter, happy with some promises kept, but nervous a big one could be broken.
VARGA: I'm worried about Medicaid and Medicare and Social Security. He did say that he wasn't going to cut them. That he was just going to find the
waste, and I really hope that he sticks to that.
KING: Why is that so important to you?
VARGA: It's important because we need to take care of our people with disabilities and our elderly and those that depend on it. And they can't
survive as it is right now, and we cannot cut.
KING (voice-over): Varga is a Tucson hero. Her food truck and candy store employ 50 people with special needs. She's renovating this restaurant to
employ even more. A devout Christian, lifelong Republican, but some big changes. Varga says she no longer believes Trump's claim the 2020 election
was rigged. She's now open to supporting Democrats for local offices and says Trump tariffs are one reason prices are not dropping fast enough.
VARGA: The items that we put in our gift baskets have gone up.
KING: So when he says there's going to be some disruption, maybe even some pain, but we're going to get there, for now you think, OK, I'll give you
some time?
VARGA: I'll give him some time, and I'm hopeful, but, you know, I think that if he doesn't come through, he's going to have a lot of people turning
on him.
KING (voice-over): Melissa Cordero is an Air Force veteran who voted for Trump once, back in 2016, and regrets it every day.
MELISSA CORDERO, ARIZONA VOTER: He's, like, crazed right now. I'm constantly going, can he do that? I'm angry because the communities that I
care the most about are being attacked. The LGBTQ community, the trans community, and what's really got me angry is immigration and what's
happening to deported veterans.
KING: Cordero just visited some deported veterans in Mexico. Just learned she lost a conservation grant that was part of a DEI program. He's
organizing protests against Trump cuts at the Veterans Administration.
CORDERO: There's no one answering the phones. Mental health, too. Making cuts in that area, that's, like, what all of us veterans need the most.
RAY FLORES, ARIZONA VOTER: She made everything. She made the best cheeseburger.
KING: Ray Flores named The Monica after a family legend. 100 years ago, Tia Monica inspired the first of what are now more than a dozen family
restaurants.
FLORES: We're sending this to Food Network, Vince. You don't make it right, you're screwed.
KING: His biggest 100-day take, Trump turmoil is rattling consumer confidence.
FLORES: We are definitely seeing less spending at the pump. In our world, that would be the cash register, right? So we're seeing numbers dropping 7
percent, 8 percent around the system right now.
KING: People are afraid to go out to dinner.
FLORES: We're built on hospitality and celebration and spending time together, and maybe there's some fear of spending that extra money out.
KING (voice-over): Flores is an independent disgusted with both national parties, all for cutting wasteful spending, all for deporting the
undocumented who have committed crimes, but not impressed so far.
[16:50:01]
FLORES: I'm a little bewildered about how they've gone about things, only because it seems a bit haphazard.
KING: Scale of one to 10?
FLORES: I'm at a five.
KING: What's your test for the second 100 days?
FLORES: I don't want to see it get worse. I don't want to have that aggressive, somewhat mean-spirited decision-making take root on everything
we do.
KING (voice-over): A great kitchen thrives on controlled chaos, but in Trump, Flores sees too much impulse and emotion, too little planning and
creativity. 100 days of too much heat.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HILL: And our thanks to John King for that report.
The CEO of Korean Air says South Korea's economy will take a hit from U.S. tariffs. Walter Cho telling CNN's Mike Valerio how his airline is adapting.
That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HILL: The chief executive of Korean Air says he expects South Korea's economy will take a fairly big hit from U.S. tariffs. Walter Cho telling
CNN's Mike Valerio passenger numbers have already dropped. He's also warning tariffs could have a big impact on Korean Air's cargo business.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WALTER CHO, CEO AND CHAIRMAN, KOREAN AIR: Well, we're already seeing the downturn in passenger volume between Trans-Pacific and also to Europe.
MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: How big?
CHO: Subtle. Maybe 5 percent compared to last year. But, you know, it has some significant impact to our business. The Korean economy is getting hit
fairly big due to the tariff and trade wars. Korea economy is in between U.S. and China. And we depend on both economies as well quite a bit. And
we're already seeing the effects of it.
VALERIO: So when you're talking about down 5 percent, what does that mean in dollars in terms of revenue lost?
CHO: Anywhere between $500 million to $1 billion a year. We are bracing for the impact we're looking at. I don't expect this year to be great for
Korean economy. But we are looking at our cost as we speak. But I'm hoping I'm wrong.
VALERIO: Do you have a strategy to take on tariff turbulence?
CHO: It's kind of tough because we are -- about 40 percent of our business, Korean Air business, is on cargo. And that will get impacted severely when
the tariff actually hits Korea and also China.
[16:55:02]
But I'm not planning to downsize in our cargo. We're going to refocus our volume to Europe and other places where demand will still be there. And
also I've been seeing a lot of trade between China and Canada, for example. You know, we could focus on those markets as well.
VALERIO: What impacts have you seen to your business in China?
CHO: Well, since the tariff policies changed so many times in the last months, it's been a hectic market. You know, one day everybody was
canceling, next day everybody is asking for charters to push out the volume. Right now the cargo is still strong because of --
VALERIO: From China.
CHO: Yes. From China to U.S. And I'm hoping the two countries meet and make up their mind.
VALERIO: Let's talk about the deal announced in March.
CHO: Yes.
VALERIO: Your largest purchase ever from Boeing and General Electric Aerospace Engines. Do you still see the decision to buy on this scale a way
to increase ties with the United States?
CHO: Yes. But, you know, I was always a Boeing fan, so to speak. I always have, you know, well, there's only two choices. But, you know, I always
trusted Boeing. And I would always go to Boeing for my needs.
VALERIO: You're hoping to elevate the customer experience.
CHO: Yes.
VALERIO: To world class level. What is your vision to elevate the experience from first class to prestige to people riding in economy?
CHO: Back in the '60s, when flying was actually glamorous, I want to bring back that glamour. So first class, we're introducing new food, new
entertainment system, internet access, wi-fi, bringing the joy of flying back to, you know, where it's supposed to be.
VALERIO: And is the goal to get to the level of Qatar or Singapore Airways for the best of the best kind of flight experience?
CHO: Yes, it is. We are focusing on all traffic between Europe, U.S. coming to Asia and Koreans going abroad.
VALERIO: And when you're looking, Walter, at this 777 in the background, your merger with Asiana is finished, how do you feel right now? This is a
new chapter for your airline.
CHO: I'm very excited, you know. Asiana was always our competitor. We fought vigorously, but we always was fair to each other. Now we become one
family. And it's a very exciting thing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HILL: And our thanks to Mike Valerio for that interview.
This is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. I'm Erica Hill. Stay tuned, "THE LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER" is up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
