Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Rubio Heads to Ukraine Talks; Trump Won't Rule Out Recession; Missing Student on Spring Break in Dominican Republic; House Set to Vote Tuesday on Funding. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired March 10, 2025 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

HADAS GOLD, CNN MEDIA CORRESPONDENT (voice over): And this will at least finally put some sort of penalties behind that.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Hadas Gold, thank you. Great reporting. It's great.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Right now, top U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, are on the way to Saudi Arabia for what really may be the make or break talks and moment leading to the end of Russia's war on Ukraine. A State Department official saying the U.S. believes Ukraine is ready to push forward to end the conflict.

And also this morning, stock futures are down right now after President Trump injected even more uncertainty into the economy by saying, who knows if a recession will happen this year.

And, new today, a desperate search for a college student who vanished while on spring break in the Caribbean. Authorities are now interviewing a young man who was last seen with her.

John is out today. I'm Kate Bolduan, with Sara Sidner. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

SIDNER: The U.S. believes Ukraine is ready to move forward on talks to end the war Russia started. That's what a State Department - a senior State Department official is saying, as Secretary of State Marco Rubio is traveling right now to Saudi Arabia. In hours he's expected to meet with Ukrainian counterparts for talks on ending the war with Russia. It's unclear if he will also be part of separate talks in Saudi Arabia this week between the U.S. and Russia. These meetings are happening less than two weeks after that stunning Oval Office blowup between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Last week, Zelenskyy suggested a ceasefire should include an end to aerial bombing and maritime fighting. Zelenskyy saying that would be the first step towards ending the war.

CNN's Alex Marquardt is joining us now from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

This morning, what can you tell us is expected today as Rubio heads there? He's on his way as we speak.

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Rubio set to land here in just a few hours, Sara. He's going to be joined on this trip in Jeddah with the national security adviser, Mike Waltz. They are expected to meet with the Saudi crown prince, who is a real moderator in all of these talks.

But, of course, the major focus is going to be what happens tomorrow. That is when these two high-level delegations from both the U.S. and Ukraine are expected to sit down. This will be another step at attempting to smooth over what happened in the Oval Office just two weeks ago, that explosive meeting. That was followed by the U.S., the Trump administration, suspending military and intelligence assistance.

We did hear from President Trump just yesterday saying that that assistance could come back online soon. And he said that he expected very big things to happen this week.

Now, what is going to happen tomorrow is those two delegations getting ready to sit down. We do know now from a senior official traveling with Secretary Rubio that they do believe that Ukraine is in a position where they want to move forward on these talks.

I want to read you a little bit of what that official told reporters. "The fact," he said, "that they are coming here at senior levels is a good indication to us that they want to sit down and they're ready to move forward."

But, Sara, what that looks like is not clear. That minerals deal that was supposed to be signed in Washington two weeks ago, that did not get signed. There have been no more assurances from the United States that there would be any kind of backstop or security guarantees.

We would expect the Ukrainian delegation to push forward on this proposal for what's being called a partial ceasefire that we've heard President Zelenskyy talking about. A ceasefire of aerial bombardments on civilian and energy infrastructure, a stop to the fighting in the Black Sea. That is something that the U.S. could get on board with, and then get - send it over to the Russian side if they believe it's significant enough. Of course, far from certain that that's something that the Russians would agree to, Sara.

SIDNER: Yes, there are a lot of questions here, and there's a lot at stake.

Alex Marquardt, thank you so much, live there from Jeddah for us.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: So, what is clear at this hour is there is a lot of renewed talk once again about a possible recession setting in. What is not clear right now is how the Trump administration can stave one off if Trump's trade war drags on. And also not clear exactly what the president himself thinks about the risk. His words, who knows? Investors right now do not seem satisfied with that answer. U.S. stock futures are down this morning as we stand by for markets to open this hour.

I want to play for you what Trump said about this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARIA BARTIROMO, FOX NEWS HOST: But are you expecting a recession this year?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I hate to predict things like that. There is a period of transition because what we're doing is very big.

Of course you hesitate. Who knows? All I know is this, we're going to take in hundreds of billions of dollars in tariffs, and we're going to become so rich you're not going to know where to spend all that money. I'm telling you, you just watch.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[09:05:05]

BOLDUAN: One thing also to watch is that the president is injecting new, more - new and more uncertainty into the economy, now warning that tariffs against Mexico and Canada, quote, could go up. That is right after he pumped the brakes on some of those tariffs just last week.

CNN's Alayna Treene at the White House, joining us right now.

And, Alayna, I understand the president's top economic adviser just spoke. You were able to hear from him. What did he say?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: That's right. He said a lot of things, actually. And I was able to catch up with him, Kate, this morning here at the White House as well following that.

First of all, he tried to argue that some of the uncertainty in the market, a lot of the uncertainty around trade policy and tariff policy is going to be offset by other economic priorities, like the tax cuts that are being proposed in this current spending bill. Of course, we have to see how that goes and if there is a shutdown on Friday. That will only thrust the economy into more uncertainty.

But he also argued and acknowledged that people are concerned about these tariffs. But he again said that he believes it would be temporary. Take a listen to how he put it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN HASSETT, DIRECTOR, WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL: People are anxious about future tariffs and so they're stockpiling. And so that's a very, very temporary phenomenon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: So, that's very similar rhetoric, Kate, to what we've heard the president say. Look, I mean, it is very different from also the rhetoric I think that we're used to as someone who's covered the president over the past two years, he's often overly optimistic, uses a lot of hyperbole. But he's been very open about saying there is going to be some short term disturbances because of these tariff policies.

And I think the stop and start nature of it, of course, as well, that having them be imposed, then taking a one month pause, imposing them again, then giving some exceptions for another month and saying they're going to go into effect on April 2nd, all of that, that kind of whiplash we are seeing affected in the stock market. But again, we heard the president say, you know, don't pay too much attention to the stock market. He says that, you know, he admires the way that China has a 100-year outlook. He thinks that the United States needs to be more long term and allow for the markets and Americans really to be patient.

But I did find it very striking that he twice did not rule out higher prices, at a time when so many Americans are concerned about their wallets, about inflation. And then also, of course, wouldn't rule out a potential recession.

Now, one thing that's very clear from all of this is that he's really testing - I think the Trump administration overall is doing this, testing the resiliency of the economy. And again, you know, trying to look really far ahead rather than in the short term. But all of that we're still seeing.

In the meantime, the markets really reacting to this. As you mentioned, stock futures down and a lot of people concerned about what that could mean. And economists as well warning that in the next 12 months if we don't see things change, there could be a recession, or as many people are concerned about stagflation as well, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Alayna, thank you so much, from the White House for us.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, with us now to discuss more, Democratic strategist and CNN political commentator Maria Cardona, and also former Republican strategist and pollster, Lee Carter.

Lee, first to you.

Donald Trump inherited an economy that was, by almost all accounts, on the rise, but prices were still high. Just two months - as we're looking at this, just a month in, he's not ruling out a recession after his decision to put tariffs in place. So, can you explain how this could be a good thing for the American people, Lee?

LEE CARTER, STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS EXPERT: Well, I think that there's a lot of people who do believe that this system is unfair. A lot of people out there believe that it shouldn't be that we're paying more tariffs on - than our trading partners are. And a lot of people are willing to go the distance.

Now, when you look at the polling on tariffs, they're not wildly popular. Only a third of Americans say that they support tariffs.

SIDNER: They're unpopular, yes.

CARTER: But on the other hand you've got 43 percent of Americans who say they're not sure and they're willing to take a moment to see what's going to happen. Many people support the idea of getting things back in balance and getting things fair and fighting back a little bit.

Now, how long are they willing to do that? I'm not so sure. The prices aren't coming down, and I know that's one of the number one mandates of this president. We're seeing his polls slip just a little bit. But I am seeing the American voters still saying they're willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and see what he's going to do.

SIDNER: Maria, the United Auto Workers union's leadership says it supports Trump's tariffs because the free trade agreement did not create the jobs they argue in America. In fact, indeed sucked jobs away from America. What do Democrats say to that argument?

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think what Democrats are underscoring is the fact that this president ran on the economy. This president ran on bringing down inflation. This president ran on lowering the cost of groceries, gas, rent and eggs on day one.

Do you know what he posted this past weekend on his Truth Social, Sara? He posted a message saying, shut up about the price of eggs.

[09:10:03]

That's how much this president cares about the promises that he made to America's working families, to those exact voters who trusted him to take care about this number one issue. That's why you're seeing his poll numbers go down. That's why you're seeing that the majority of Americans don't think he's done enough to focus on inflation. The number one issue for them in the election, and the number one issue that they trusted him on.

So all of this, I think, is going to come back and bite him politically because it has been a huge betrayal of that one promise that he made to the American people.

And what else are they seeing, that he is fighting to make sure that he gets money to give his rich friends, like Elon Musk, and like the newly minted American oligarchy of billionaires, huge tax cuts, which is what we're seeing now play out in the budget negotiations. That's not going to go well for him or for Republicans going into the 2026 midterm elections.

SIDNER: I do want to talk about the fact that Canada made up just 0.2 percent of fentanyl seizures at the U.S. border last year, but the White House economic advisor has time and again, Kevin Hassett, said that this is a drug war, not a trade war. Is this an honest argument, Lee?

CARTER: I think it's a very interesting reframe of the - of the argument, because it's not just about Canada. We're also looking at Mexico. We're also looking at China, where there are significant issues with fentanyl. And many people have said there was no way that this was going to do anything on the fentanyl and that there - it's impossible to implement. And yet already we're seeing a huge shift in behavior in Mexico.

So, I do believe that, you know, while it's not fair in its totality because of - of what - as you described Canada, I do think that it's a fair assessment of what they're trying to do when it goes back to China, when it comes to Mexico. And we're seeing the impact of that already.

SIDNER: So why go after Canada I guess is the big question, who have been unequivocal in their fight against America. They - I mean they literally can't believe that the people they thought were their closest allies and friends are now putting them in this position.

CARTER: I mean, I can't explain why he's decided to go after Canada.

CARDONA: I - I think - I think that's a -

SIDNER: That was to Lee. Go ahead, Lee.

CARTER: Oh, I can't explain why he's - he's going after Canada. But I don't think this is all about one issue. We're not just talking about fentanyl, and we're not just talking about one thing. We're talking about fair trade across the board.

And I think that, you know, in that issue, when it comes to Canada, there are some things that he's bringing up that many people will say are worth discussing. Is it fair to treat them the same way that we're treating some of the other trade partners, which really are causing huge problems for us? I don't think so. And I don't think it's popular with the American people, and it's certainly causing friction when you look at polling on how Canadians are viewing Americans.

SIDNER: Maria, I want to talk about the shutdown that is four days away unless there is something passed. Republicans do or could go this alone. And we're hearing from John Fetterman saying, I am never going to vote for a government shutdown. What are Democrats going to do on all this?

CARDONA: I think we need to wait and see what Democratic senators are going to do on this, Sara, which I think is going to be where the real, I think, decision making is going to have to be done. In the House, you know, Republicans own it all. They can and should pass this House bill on their own because they did nothing to bring Democrats to the table to negotiate and to try to come up with a bipartisan compromise, which is what should happen from the appropriations process. And that's what Democratic senators are hoping will happen ultimately in the Senate. There is a bipartisan effort still going on for appropriators to actually do what their job is, which is to come together, figure out the appropriations and go through the process. That is what is supposed to happen.

Now, you know, with all due respect to Senator Fetterman, you know, he talked about how he will not shut down the government. And I think that's a good idea to have, and that's a good effort to have. Democrats do not want to shut down the government. He said that he will never do this because he's not going to, you know, put the house on fire. But with all due respect to him, the house is already on fire. And the arsonists are Donald Trump and Elon Musk because of what they have injected into the economy, the uncertainty, firing so many people all at once, making sure that the benefits of whatever it is, the cost savings, are going to go to the richest people in America. That is not something that Democrats believe is worth fighting for. And, in fact, Democrats are going to focus on the message that they're the ones who have the backs of America's working class and America's working families.

[09:15:07]

And so that's going to be the focus for Democrats, no matter what happens in these negotiations.

SIDNER: There are just a few days to figure all of this out. We will see what happens. We are back at it again worrying about a shutdown.

Maria Cardona, Lee Carter, thank you both so much. Appreciate it.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Ahead for us, a teenager in Florida is now under arrest after police say that he threatened to, quote, "shoot up" a high school there. We have new details on what police found.

And welcome to another week of Congress needing to get its act together. Just as we were discussing there was Sara, staring down a government shutdown at the end of this week. So, do the Republican majorities have the votes? And what are Democrats going to do about it?

And out west, California is preparing for back to back storms that could bring much needed rain to the state, and on the east, fires forcing a state of emergency on New York's Long Island.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:20:30]

SIDNER: Breaking overnight, police say a potential school shooting has been thwarted, and a high school student arrested after they were tipped off about a disturbing video. Police in Sanford, Florida, say, in that video, a 17-year-old threatened to shoot up Seminole High School and showed off multiple guns, vests and other items of concern, as police put it. When investigators searched his home, they found what they call extremely realistic airsoft replicas. You see them all there on the wall. It's not yet clear if they are the same items that were used in the video.

Here's what CNN senior national security analyst Juliette Kayyem told our Kate Bolduan about the case this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JULIETTE KAYYEM, FORMER ASSISTANT SECRETARY, DHS: I think it goes back to this performative aspect of violence in this country now, especially amongst teenage or young men. They want to record it. They want people to know that it's going to happen, or while it's happening. Look, these - these airsoft guns, they - they can harm. They're not - they're not going to - they're - they won't necessarily kill. They are terrifying. They are meant to terrify.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: And it was thwarted because someone made a phone call, called a tip line. Investigators say the teen does not attend the high school he's accused of threatening.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Also new this morning, authorities in the Dominican Republic are interviewing a young man about a missing University of Pittsburgh student. It's believed he was with her right before she disappeared during spring break. Twenty-year-old Sudiksha Konanki was last seen walking on a beach with a group of people at a Punta Cana hotel. And this was early Thursday. And now they're still searching for her.

CNN's Rafael Romo is following this, joins us now.

What is the very latest, Rafael?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kate, good morning.

It's already been more than four days since the 20-year-old student from the University of Pittsburgh went missing, and her whereabouts are still a mystery. What I was able to find out overnight through a law enforcement source in the Dominican Republic was that a young man is being interviewed by the Dominican National Police because he is believed to have been the last person she was with.

Twenty-year-old Sudiksha Konanki was last seen on surveillance camera with seven other people entering the beach at the Riu Republica hotel in Punta Cana on Thursday at 4:15 in the morning. According to my source, five young women and one young man who were with her left the beach area at 5:55 a.m., but Konanki stayed behind with one young man who was also part of the group. That young man is seen on surveillance video leaving the beach area four hours later at 9:55 in the morning. Konanki was reported missing at four in the afternoon that very same day.

Overnight, they also spoke on the phone with her father, who has traveled to the Dominican Republic. Subbarayudu Konanki described his daughter as a very nice girl and a very ambitious young woman who wanted to pursue a career in medicine. She's a pre-med student at the University of Pittsburgh, where she's a junior. The family initially requested the assistance of Loudoun County authorities in Virginia, the state where they live. This is what the local sheriff had to say about the case.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF MIKE CHAPMAN, LOUDOUN COUNTY, VIRGINIA: It's possible that she never went into the water. It's possible that there's something else that could have happened to her. So, we can't just assume that that's the case. So, we - we have to, you know, presume that at this point anything's possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: And, Kate, originally from India, Konanki is a permanent resident of the - of the United States, as is her family. Her father told me they have been living in the country since 2006.

Now back to you.

BOLDUAN: Rafael, thank you so much for that. We'll stay very close to this.

Still also ahead for us, top U.S. diplomats are on their way to Saudi Arabia right now for critical talks on Ukraine, the war on Ukraine, and new reporting coming in that the United States sees signals that Ukraine is ready to move forward.

And while Republican lawmakers have been facing angry constituents at town halls over Elon Musk's purge, Democrats are also now facing anger at their own town halls over how hard Democrats are or are not pushing back against it. As one person put it, "I need you to represent how angry we are."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:29:08]

SIDNER: The race is on this morning on Capitol Hill with the potential government shutdown just four days away. The House is expected to vote tomorrow on a six month stopgap to keep the government running through September. But with their ultra slim majority, do Republicans have the votes to pass it by that Friday deadline without any Democratic support?

President Trump warning on Sunday that a shutdown could happen, but says he's hopeful it won't.

CNN's Lauren Fox is on Capitol Hill for us.

Lauren, what is the feeling at this point among Republicans about whether or not they have and will have all of the votes to be able to pass this without a single Democratic vote?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, House Republican leaders are preparing for exactly that scenario. They have spent the last several days really trying to coalesce their conference around this idea of basically thwarting any potential shutdown threat until the end of September.

[09:30:05] Their argument to their membership is that they are out of time, that negotiating full