AI-Powered Parenting & “A Crisis of Trust” in Higher Education 3/24/25

0:00Bring in show music please. Hi, I'm CNBC producer Katie Kramer. Today on Squawk Pod. Columbia University has agreed to certain conditions from the Trump administration after the government pulled$400 million of federal funding. What's going on on campuses? University of Chicago President Paul Olivasatos says he's concerned. Right now, we're in a crisis of trust for higher education. And the way universities build trust or can rebuild trust is by showing over and over again that they're genuinely places of truth-seeking. Jeffrey Katzenberg, the Disney and DreamWorks vet, has a long career as a media mogul.

0:44Now he's turning his attention to safety when it comes to kids online. When you give a 16-year-old a car, you don't say, all right, have at it, take it out into the world, do whatever you want. You actually start with a set of restrictions that are appropriate for their knowledge and abilities and all that. Plus the rest of today's news that got us squawking, Snow White at the box office, changes at the IRS, and maybe some flexibility when it comes to President Trump's tariff plans. The less tariffs, the less, it seems, worries of a slowdown in the economy. It's Monday, March 24th. 24th. Squawk Pod begins right now.

1:26Stand Becky by in 3, 2, 1. Cue it, please. Good morning, everybody. Welcome to Squawk Box right here on CNBC. We're live from the NASDAQ market site in Times Square. I'm Becky Quick along with Joe Kernan. Andrew is off today. It's a Monday morning and right now, I guess traders feeling pretty good despite the rain outside. Check it out, though. A little bit of sun when it comes here. The tariffs aren't raining so hard. No, they are not. At least that's the interpretation. Although if you dig through some of these stories, it's hard to really figure it out. For the week last week, I think the Dow was up by 1.2 percent.

2:01The S &P was up by about half a percent. The Nasdaq was up fractionally. And you're still talking about markets that are off the all-time highs. For the Nasdaq, it's down by more than 11 percent from the all-time high. For the S &P, down by about 7.8 percent. For the Dow, down by 6.8 percent. Last week was a little less tumultuous, though. And we'll see if this is an indicator of what you can anticipate just ahead of that tariff news that's coming on April 2nd. There is the Wall Street Journal. We're going to talk about that in just a moment, what they've been reporting, what Bloomberg's been reporting.

2:33Let's also take a look very quickly at Treasury yields. You'll see right now that it looks like the 10-year is sitting around 4.28 percent, two years back below 4 percent. It's at 397. I think oil is up, and I think, or at least it turned around a little, and Bitcoin was back to 87 or so. So these are all what you might think, well, it's not up that much. But the less tariffs, the less, it seems, worries of a slowdown in the economy. Again and again, and this is after speaking to some people about how U.S. companies like the automakers would be affected by across-the-board tariffs that didn't maybe make that much sense with Canada because they're USMCA compliant.

3:23Right, which is an agreement with the Trump administration, the first Trump administration. And they were hopeful that maybe cooler heads would prevent it. Did you read through this, though? It's not that different? I don't know. It's hard to say. It still seems like there's a lot of unknowns. The reciprocals, I'm ready. The dirty, what did? Dirty 15, the top 15 trading nations. It looks like there are going to be significantly higher tariffs on just about everything that's imported into this country. And I think that's the big question. They can stop it by getting rid of their tariffs. Yeah. Yeah.

3:56Here we go. New tariffs from the Trump administration expected early next month could be more narrow and targeted than previously thought. This is a published report that came out over the weekend, hence the move we're seeing in the futures. They say despite significant tariffs set to be announced on April 2nd, sector-specific tariff announcements likely won't be unveiled that day. Things could still change. You're kidding. But that would represent, what is it, how long is it? To April 2nd, we have a week. Yeah. A million things could change. A week and two days. A softer approach in many countries had previously feared.

4:34The Wall Street Journal says a group of 15 nations with regularly large trade imbalances with the U.S. will be the hardest hit. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent referred to those nations last week as the dirty 15. The movie was The Dirty Dozen. So we're adding about 25 percent. How quickly did I do that? That was good. Damn good. 25 percent. On a Monday, a rocky, rainy Monday. On Friday, the president told reporters in the Oval Office that, in his words, there will be flexibility. There'll be flexibility, but basically it's reciprocal. So that if China is charging us 50 percent or 30 percent or 20 percent, and I don't mean China, I mean anybody, any country.

5:24The president has for weeks teased April 2nd as Liberation Day, or the day when reciprocal tariffs are going to go into effect. Sources tell CNBC that South Korean auto giant Hyundai will announce a$20 billion investment in the United States when its chairman visits the White House today. Sources say that that pledge includes$5 billion set for a steel plant in Louisiana with plans to hire 1 ,500 employees and produce next-generation steel for Hyundai and Kia cars. That move comes after similar investment commitments from SoftBank and chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor earlier this year. And Hyundai and Kia have kind of leapfrogged some of the Japanese automakers.

6:08And I mentioned about if you're going to buy an EV, normally you'd think Tesla. But some of those Hyundais and Kias, they're pretty neat-looking cars. I don't know about... Although I still love my Toyota hybrid. You got a hybrid. That's not an EV. It's a hybrid. It's a hybrid. It's got great gas mileage. It's not. You put gas in it. I put gas in it and you don't have to charge it. It does that itself. And the IRS could see a sharp drop in revenue collected this tax filing season. That's according to a Washington Post report that says senior tax officials are bracing for a shortfall that would be tied to changing taxpayer behavior and attempted IRS cuts by President Trump.

6:49The Post cites several sources in an article that says that the Treasury Department is expecting a more than 10 percent drop in tax receipts by April 15th compared to last year. That would amount to about$500 billion in lost revenue. The article says that the IRS has noticed more online chatter from people who say they won't pay their taxes or will claim deductions for which they are ineligible. eligible. Separately, reports over the weekend said that the IRS was closing in on an agreement with other federal officials to help them locate immigrants for deportation. All I can say, I read this report over the weekend, all I can say is if you are thinking about not filing your taxes, good luck with that because you've got seven years, you've got to look out that they can come after you.

7:35Tax law could change a lot. Enforcement could change a lot over that period of time. And they're basing this on what they've seen so far with receipts that have been turned into this point. We'll see as we get closer to April 15th. It's worth watching those numbers. It wouldn't be because last year was a downturn in the economy or because there was a problem. Can you imagine not filing your taxes? No, I can't. I'm waiting for seven years hoping nobody catches you. I'm tired of saying I don't want to file my taxes. For some reason, these sleazebag firms keep calling. They call you and say, our files indicate you owe back taxes.

8:11Do you get a lot of that? I don't answer the landline. It's never anybody I want to talk to. This comes on these. And I deliberately call them back. I do. And I say. You're like the old crank who has a lot of time on his hands. No, no, no. I'm not cranky. I call back and I say, wow, I didn't know I owed back taxes. So your files show, I mean, now I'm really concerned. And then they go, well, what? They're lying. They're liars. I know, but you actually called me that. But then I say, well, then I say, you knew exactly what you were doing. Do your parents know what you do for a living? Because you are the sleaze, they are the worst.

8:51It's a very hard job, and they don't keep people in those jobs for very long. I had a brother who worked very temporarily. You shouldn't be telling people they owe back taxes. You shouldn't be calling and saying you have a file that says people owe back taxes. I don't think people stay in those jobs for very long. I think it's an incredibly high turnover. If you stay for a month, they're like, wow, you're employee of the year. Because they're doing hell next month. Disney's live action Snow White taking the top spot at the box office over the weekend. But the movie's estimated$43 million in ticket sales was a disappointment.

9:23The film cost more than$250 million to make. and certainly mediocre reviews. It's also been caught up in a series of controversies centering on the accusations that the film is too woke. It earned$44 million overseas for a total of about$87 million. A few weeks ago, expectations for the film were significantly higher and a 23-year-old star of the film has made some comments that didn't go over well. Can you imagine a multi-billion dollar company and all the shareholders being held hostage by the comments of a 23-year-old actress, which is what we've seen. Here's a five-year chart. It's not doing much today.

10:03And so it's all... You didn't get good reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. No, it's a crappy movie probably too, but... I didn't see it, but... It was... I mean, media, the challenges faced by all media companies are well-known, but that was almost$200, a share,$190 or so, back when we thought Disney Plus was going to take over the world. during the pandemic. So it's lost$100. It's now at about of of stock price now below 100. And I don't know how much of that is woke you go broke. Some of it, no doubt. Genetic testing firm 23andMe filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection CEO Ann Wojcicki has resigned from her position, but staying on the board.

10:49She's been trying to buy back the company but has been unsuccessful so far in a post on x late yesterday she said she's still committed to buy the company's assets 23andme had a 3.5 billion dollar market cap when it went public in 2021 but it's now at about 50 million have you done this i did years and years and years ago because i was actually interviewing ann with jet skin i wanted to try it before i interviewed her My daughter did it. Yeah. So I kind of know, and I'm adopted, so it's really... There's a lot. You can find out. I don't know what the hell I am. Does it matter? Well, you know, it matters if you get to the point of trying to monitor your health down the road, if you're looking for any potential things that could show up.

11:34And sometimes, based on your heritage and your genealogy, you can find some things that you're more likely to contract and maybe alter your behavior as a result. I've found out a lot about health lately, and as you get older, it gets worse. Newsflash. Yeah. Cheese will be next. Coming up on Squawk Pod, some of the most well-known universities grappling with free speech on campus and the availability of millions in federal funding. University of Chicago President Paul Olivasatos on the battle for dollars and for perception. Where the government comes in and intervenes and starts saying who's going to teach what and who the professors are and so on.

12:16I don't think that's a future that we want. We'll be right back.

12:24Welcome back to Squawk Pod today with Joe Kernan and Becky Quick. Here's Becky. Columbia University will cede to a list of demands from President Trump's administration following a threat to halt the university's$400 million in federal funding. The university has agreed to ban masks, to give campus police enhanced power to arrest students and to other demands as well. The Trump administration had moved aggressively to investigate anti-Semitism on campuses across the U.S., with a focus on Colombia in particular, following last year's on-campus protests. Joining us right now to talk about school defunding, free speech, and more is Paul Olivasatos.

13:05He is president of the University of Chicago. And Paul, thank you for being here today. Good morning. Thank you. So let's talk about what's happening at this point. Columbia pretty quickly caved to the Trump administration's demands. I know that there have been a number of university professors who have asked you not to do the same at the University of Chicago. But where do you think we stand right now? So first of all, let me say right now we're in a crisis of trust for higher education. And the way universities build trust or can rebuild trust is by showing over and over again that they're genuinely places of truth-seeking.

13:42And for us at the University of Chicago, that means we start from free expression. It means we teach our students to look at problems from different sides, to engage on issues where they have a difference thoughtfully, with rigor, being quantitative, with curiosity. those kinds of things which are embedded in the Chicago principles and institutional neutrality. The situation at Columbia is very concerning for two reasons. One is I'm very concerned about the many young scientists there who are working on important projects. They're working on important projects for them and for the country and its competitiveness.

14:20So I'm very concerned about what's happening to them. and what we see also is there are obviously threats to free expression that come from below, cancel culture, disruption of classes. Those things should not be happening at universities, but on the other hand now we're also seeing that there can be threats to free expression that come from government intervention inside the university. I mean, University of Chicago is in a very unique place, I think, because of your history, because of what you've laid out. I think back to 2016 and a letter that the dean wrote to the incoming freshman that year that caught a lot of flack because you said that this was not going to be a school where there were safe places or worries about triggering students on campus.

15:01You took a step out and said, that's not what we're going to have here. But then I look at what's happened with some of the protests you've seen on your campus too. You had five students that didn't receive their degrees last year because they were involved in some of these protests. They all eventually got their degrees and kind of came out and talked some trash about how this shows that this was a complete win for them on those sides. The ADL has said that they have concerns. I think they gave you a D grade for protecting Jewish students on campus. So you're kind of in the middle, caught on both sides of this thing.

15:31Well, first of all, let me say that we do allow protest on the campus. It's part of free expression and it occurs, but we draw the line at disruption and we've been very consistent with that. I think we've done that so that students truly are learning. I will say the ADL also did say that Jewish life on the campus is actually excellent. What they did say is they would like for us to make statements whenever other people make statements that are, you know, offensive to them. And we have institutional neutrality. We don't make statements every day. That's part of why I think our university has such a strong free expression culture.

16:09I mean, Columbia deserved what it got in this case. There are Jewish students that are afraid for their life at Columbia. You're saying that's different where you are. So suddenly the left is concerned with free expression for Hamas protesters. Didn't give a rat's ass about it for conservatives appearing on campus or for misgendering. I mean, it's totally doled out depending on what their point of view is. I can speak to our university. I know you can, but I saw Larry Summers saying that. I'm not talking about you. I'm talking about Columbia. And you allowed conservatives to speak. We sure do.

16:48Not everyone did. Well, so I told you we're in a crisis of trust for higher education. Self-inflicted. And the way back is for universities themselves, frankly, to come our way more, to be truth-seeking and to allow all the different kinds of expression. You think that the Harvard president, Columbia president, Penn president, you don't think that they all had reasons to lose their positions, given their response to the Hamas protests and what happened to Jewish students? I can't speak to what's happening to those universities. Why not? My position is to really say what I think is the way forward, to say what's the way forward for all of these institutions.

17:26And the way is to commit themselves. It's not hard to say that they should have protected the safety. Well, I definitely look, that's what we do. I certainly believe that's the right way. It was crazy enough to say they should have, too, and it was probably well-deserved what happened in Colombia. Well, let's talk a little bit about the funding, because there are some big concerns about the funding getting cut. You mentioned for scientists who are there, and this could gut the scientific study that we see at American universities and institutions. That's right. I'm deeply concerned about it. So let me give you an analogy.

17:53Let's say that the United States is in it. We're in a geopolitical competition to have scientific, technological, and therefore, ultimately, economic preeminence. And if we think about the United States over many decades, we're a little bit like a city where we field many sports teams and every year we're at the top. We win championships in every area of science and technology every single year. We're at the top globally. That can be at risk if young people don't see a path for themselves where there's funding and support for them to follow their careers. And I can just give you example after example, at least at my university, of some of the amazing things that the young people are doing.

18:35It's inspiring and we want to keep them in the game. Will the universities that have deep endowments like the University of Chicago step in to keep that funding until this gets settled and resolved? Or are there going to be cuts like we saw at Johns Hopkins? Look, at the moment at the University of Chicago, we're able to continue our work. But of course we're deeply concerned about what we see that's going on elsewhere. I want to give you two examples of things that we do with our endowment, which I think your viewers will care about. We now have received some wonderful gifts that enable us to have 10 % of our student body come from rural communities.

19:1510%. That's an astonishing percentage. And I think they bring viewpoints to the campus that enrich us. At the same time, here's another gift we just received in September. It's a gift that enables us to create our Chicago Forum for Free Inquiry and Expression. It's an incredible place. It's now sustained by that gift. So the endowments are enabling us to do important things. They're not just there to kind of pick up from other things. Did we move to Doge? Is that what we're on now? Or were you talking about what happened with Columbia? No, this is the$400 million. This is the NIH funding, actually.

19:51No, I understand, but was it from the, it was levied against Columbia because of... The halt of funding. The halt of funding had to do with the violent Hamas demonstrations. Very well. I'm just saying that there are scientists in many laboratories in Columbia that are now young people who are working on really important... But if Columbia gets attacked together, the funding comes back, doesn't it? I hope so. I was talking more about the NIH funding. I thought you were talking about that suddenly we moved on to Doe. Wasn't Hopkins Doe? Well, it was doge, but it was also the freeze of NIH funding that was for funding.

20:27Because they're putting a freeze on everything until they go back through. And there's been an argument about how much the university can take for its general funding purposes out of all those NIH funds, too. But not due to the Hamas. Not due to the Hamas. All I'm saying is, as a country, we have an immense interest that young people come into science and explore problems with great ambition. And, you know, whichever way funding gets cut in those areas, the loss will be potentially a generation of people who won't participate, which will weaken us as a country. So as long as they can get to class without worrying about their lives, they'll be able to conduct their research.

21:02I'm not defending what happened to Columbia. Come on. That's not the NIH. Maybe they're two different things, but I don't see why you can't condemn the... That's a complete mischaracterization. Okay, but Columbia is losing some of the funding because they don't make it safe for everyone. Well, they've agreed to these demands from the Trump administration, so they probably won't get the$400 million funding. And people are getting criticized for agreeing to the demands. Every university should be a place that allows truth-seeking and that does not allow students to be disrupted in learning or harassed or treated in bad ways.

21:33Exactly. But it's not the way it is right now. Universities that aren't that way should be fixing themselves as fast as they can. There you go. Because the alternative, the alternative where the government comes in and intervenes and starts saying who's going to teach what and who the professors are and so on. I don't think that's a future that we want. Paul, thank you very much. Thank you very much. Next on SquawkPod, AI-powered parenting. How an app is keeping lines of communication open between parents and their kids online. With the founder of Aura, Hari Ravachandran. It takes a baseline of what your kid's usual behaviors are, looks at it across multiple dimensions, looks at it across sleep.

22:13What kind of apps are they using? What's their mood and sentiment as they're using these apps? And one of his backers, Jeffrey Katzenberg, you might know him as the co-founder and former CEO of Studio DreamWorks. Honestly, I'm prouder of this and Hari and what he's doing than anything I've been associated with.

22:34This is Squawk Pod. Stand by, Joe. Here's Mike. Q. You're watching Squawk Box on CNBC. I'm Joe Kernan, along with Becky Quick. Andrew is off today. Our next guests are working to make kids' experiences on social media safer, something parents are looking for all the time. Joining us right now with more on this is Jeffrey Katzenberg. He's longtime Hollywood executive and founding partner of WonderCo. Also, Hari Ravishandran, who is the founder and CEO of Aura. That's a suite of AI-powered tools that are aimed at protecting people online. And Jeffrey, we were just talking about this. Nine months ago, you were here.

23:10You did say that this was going to be a big focus, something that you were working on. Here you are. Well, so Aura, which Hari, we started together six years ago, first focus on security. How do you make all your financial information? So consumer cybersecurity. Hari, through a personal experience that he'll tell you about, also with a 13-year-old, realize that safety of our children today is truly imperiled. It's kind of shocking. And I'll share with you some statistics about it. But, you know, I spent a lifetime at DreamWorks and Disney in the business of being a safe place for families. Moms, dads, and kids, making content that was great for them.

23:54Today, and then I think about, you know, for our kids, when my kids were growing up, I cared about three things. Where are they? Who are they with? And what are they doing? Today, they're sitting on their device across from you at the kitchen table, and you actually cannot answer those three questions. And so to set out and to create something that gave parents a set of tools that could give them insights and observations without becoming, you know, intrusive and spying on them is what the mission was. and I really should pass to Hari because this is his baby. I mean, that's the thing that's so, I don't want to spy on my kids.

24:36My mom always gave me privacy and that was great. But our kids are faced with so many more potential danger spots than we were when I was that age. Hari, what happened? You're a father. I am. And you've got kids too. You decided, I'm going to build it because it doesn't exist. Yeah, look, I mean, I have four kids. We have a couple that are going through the adolescent phase. and one of them was struggling with some mental health issues about two years ago, some negative coping strategies, some generally sort of behavior that's unfortunately much more prevalent now than it used to be, say, 10 years ago.