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U.S. Markets Set to Open After Worst Day of 2025; U.S. and Ukraine Hold Talks on War; Vance Meets with House GOP; Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) is Interviewed about the Funding Vote. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired March 11, 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]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Also got a message from Cheri. "It was utter devastation. Within a month, I lost two close co-workers to Covid. One beloved ER doctor took his own life, and that's when I left. I never want to experience anything like that again."

And last we have Susan in Ocean Pines, Maryland, she shared this message with us. "It prompted me to reevaluate my work-life balance, and I made significant career changes to be able to enjoy days with life in the slow lane. I don't know whether I'd have come to this realization had Covid not happened, and I might still be going 100 miles per hour to the hamster wheel."

Sanjay, these are such deeply personal reflections, and you have some of your - we all have them.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

SIDNER: You have some of your own. What were some of your own reflections?

GUPTA: Yes, I've got to say, first of all, you know, I think because I was a reporter covering this, just walking down the street, even walking here today, people still will share their reflections with me.

SIDNER: Yes.

GUPTA: I mean, it is - it is deeply ingrained in a lot of people's psyche. I think for me, you know, obviously it was just a constant sort of drumbeat. I mean, I was getting up at 4:30 in the morning every day for years and -

SIDNER: Yes, you were never not on TV.

GUPTA: Yes, I mean -

SIDNER: I remember that, yes.

GUPTA: And talking to people, reporting on this all the time.

SIDNER: Yes. GUPTA: I think I am worried about the overall impact on public health. I mean, CDC just got rid of 550 people, the NIH, 1,100 people. We have measles that are circulating. I was just in west Texas. We're still concerned about H5N1 -

SIDNER: This is one of the vestiges.

GUPTA: Yes.

SIDNER: Yes.

GUPTA: So, we are going to have some real challenges. And I think the question will be, does the public health system have the infrastructure to be able to respond to this? It was already challenged even before the pandemic. We'll see what happens now.

SIDNER: That was my biggest worry and my biggest takeaway was going into hospitals. I am no doctor, but I watched people die, and I watched nurses and doctors, you know, saying they don't think they can do this anymore. And I thought, oh, my God, are we going to lose our health system the way in which we are used to it? And it was a big moment for me. I mean I lost it on the air because I just was so scared for all of us.

GUPTA: I remember. I remember, yes. Yes. I remember that conversation with you.

SIDNER: Yes, it was really, really hard.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, I'm so glad you're still with us. I'm so glad that you're still here telling us the truth about what's happening in our world.

GUPTA: Yes. We'll keep doing it. Absolutely.

SIDNER: I appreciate you.

GUPTA: You got it.

SIDNER: OK, I'm so glad to see you in person. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, with us in person. Please come back.

GUPTA: You got it. I will.

SIDNER: All right, our next hour starts now.

All right, happening this hour, we are standing by for the opening bell on Wall Street after a bruising selloff yesterday. Investors on edge over President Trump's recession talk and the tariff whiplash. Will stocks bounce back today?

And, right now, critical talks underway in Saudi Arabia. They've been going for about four hours now with the hope of ending Russia's war in Ukraine. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is meeting with top Ukrainian officials as the fighting rages on there. And Vice President J.D. Vance on Capitol Hill. He's meeting with House

Republicans to try to shore up support for their stopgap spending bill ahead of an expected vote today.

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

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: This hour we are standing by for the markets to open after they had an ugly start to the week. The Dow and S&P 500 each had their worst day of the year. The Nasdaq posted its biggest single day decline since September 2022. Fears of recession and President Trump's trade war is causing concern among investors. Someone not helping to allay those concerns, President Trump himself, when he would not rule out a recession could hit this year. Instead answering the question by saying, the U.S. - the U.S. economy will see a, quote/unquote," period of transition.

A little less than 30 minutes until the opening bell. Futures right now, they are down.

CNN's Alayna Treene is at the White House tracking all of this for us.

So, Alayna, what are you hearing from the White House right now about - well, what we're looking at. Futures are down. Markets are about to open. And what happened yesterday?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Right. Well, we haven't actually heard much, particularly directly from President Donald Trump, which is unusual given how much we have heard from him almost daily, really, coming out and speaking to reporters. I know that yesterday we did not hear from him publicly. He did not open up any of his executive order signings or other events to the press. And we're not expected to hear from him today either until after markets close. He's set to speak to the business roundtable at 5:00 p.m. There will be a lot of CEOs and other business leaders there. But again, that is after markets closed.

All to say, everyone is going to be watching those remarks very closely, really looking for some reassurances from the president after one, of course, this trade war and the concerns and uncertainty that the tariffs that he has been imposing on the United States' neighbors, questions about that, but then also, of course, about what he said over the weekend where he refused to rule out a recession.

[09:05:06]

And those comments, to me, Kate, just as someone who's covered the president for as long as I have, were so striking to me because he is a president who likes to exaggerate, to use hyperbole. But he, again, refused to say that there could not be a recession, that there would not be a recession, I should say, and also refused to rule out higher prices.

Now, we did get one statement from the White House yesterday. It essentially urged reporters to look at the investments that have been spurred because of the president's election win and the investments coming into America. They also pointed to the successes of the president's first term when it related to economic policy. But again, nothing very specific in light of that market reaction and really seeing the markets worst day of 2025, wiping away any gains that have been seen since the president took office.

Now, one other thing as well that I do want to point out is, this all seems to be really testing - like the president and the White House seem to be really testing the resilience of the economy. And when I talk to White House officials, Trump officials, they tell me that the president is dug in, unlike during his first term where he used to, you know, sometimes dictate policy and definitely dictated rhetoric based on the stock market performance. We're not really seeing that this time around. He is very committed to these tariffs. He believes that the United States is being taken advantage of. And it does seem like he's ready to continue moving forward with that, despite the uncertainty and concerns we're hearing from Wall Street.

BOLDUAN: Yes, Alayna, thank you so much. Let's see what happens in the next 30 minutes.

Sara.

SIDNER: Tick tock.

All right, the big question this morning, will markets rebound or will they do the opposite?

CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich is with me now.

Vanessa, everybody's kind of waiting and watching on tenterhooks.

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. So, yesterday, the S&P and the Dow had their worst day of 2025. The Nasdaq had their steepest drop - had its steepest drop since September of 2022. But look at futures right now. Pretty much flat. This could be Wall Street taking a breath, trying to assess what's coming next. We know that the president is holding that business roundtable. Maybe that is quelling some fears. But we're about 30 minutes away from the open. Of course this could change throughout the day.

Wall Street is also looking at a mixed economic picture right now, right? We have consumer confidence, which is down. We have inflation rising. We have job growth pretty solid but a little less than expected in the jobs report last week. Tariffs going up and GDP estimates pointing down. So, a lot of mixed messaging about the economy right now.

We heard from Larry Summers yesterday. He's the former treasury secretary. Here's what he said about what he thinks is going on and what is impacting Wall Street and main street.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LARRY SUMMERS, FORMER TREASURY SECRETARY: People depend upon predictability. Predictability of policy. Predictability of what the central bank is going to do. Predictability about the enforcement of law. Predictability about their supply chains. And we've given up all of that with surprise after surprise after surprise.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YURKEVICH: Now, he went on to say that earlier in the year he would not have predicted a recession. Now he's about 50/50. However, Goldman Sachs goes on to say that they believe there's a 20 percent chance of a recession, just up slightly from 15 percent. That is not very high odds.

The overall economy right now is pretty sturdy. We are grappling with constant changes in economic policy. Jerome Powell said last week that he believes that we need to wait and see what's going to happen because before we can make any determinations about the economy, he said that the economy is in a good place right now.

I don't know if Jerome Powell is going to have that much sway at this moment, but you can see the picture right now, mixed, pretty much flat on Wall Street as we wait for that opening bell.

SIDNER: We will wait and see. It's just another day on Wall Street.

YURKEVICH: Another day on Wall Street.

SIDNER: But ultimately we have to find out what's going to happen in the big picture. And that takes a lot longer to try to figure out.

Vanessa Yurkevich, it's always a pleasure to have you in. Thank you.

YURKEVICH: Thank you.

SIDNER: All right, over to you, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Much more to come on that front.

We've also got the other breaking news, let's turn to, that we've been tracking this morning. Critical talks between the United States and Kyiv are happening as we speak in Saudi Arabia. Over four hours now. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump's national security advisor, Mike Waltz, have been in meetings - have been meeting - sitting down - well, you see the pictures there - with their Ukrainian counterparts. Hanging in the balance this morning, lots. A minerals deal, a potential ceasefire, intel and military aid restarting for Ukraine, and, bottom line, an end to Russia's brutal assault.

Now, CNN anchor and chief national security analyst Jim Sciutto is with me now watching this very, very, very closely as things progress.

[09:10:02]

But what are you going to look for when they come out of this meeting today?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, for one, what is the U.S. demanding from Russia, right? I mean, the public talk in recent days, and actions, has been pressure solely on Ukraine. You saw Marco Rubio yesterday say, going into these talks, they're curious what Ukraine is willing to give up, what concessions it's willing to make.

This is, of course, happening as the U.S. has already taken something away from Ukraine, which is crucial intelligence sharing, which is, and I've been speaking to Ukrainian officers on the ground in Ukraine, it is impacting current operations there. They are feeling this.

And it's not just on offensive operations, because a lot of the intelligence that the U.S. has stopped sharing impacts their defensive operations as well because they cannot strike Russian positions before they fire on Ukraine, including Ukrainian cities.

So, the focus has been on, what can Ukraine bring to the table. And this, of course, has been a consistent thing, Kate, because it goes back to that infamous Oval Office meeting with President Trump, is the pressure on the Ukrainian side.

Now, I know, in the midst of the back and forth over the last couple of weeks, Trump has said he may raise sanctions or impose new sanctions on Russia, but we haven't seen that yet. And that's the difference here. And that's what I hear from European diplomats is that they fear an imbalance in these negotiations.

BOLDUAN: That's a great point. I mean what you've definitely - it's not just saying it. You are seeing it.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

BOLDUAN: Actions have been taken when it comes to Ukraine. Actions have not been taken when you're talking about with Russia.

On Russia, has Russia said anyone within the Kremlin say - said or shown any willingness on concessions for peace?

SCIUTTO: Zero, right? And - and the U.S. intelligence read of this has been consistent for weeks, and that is that Russia has no intention of making significant concessions that they are holding on to their maximalist positions, right, which is to keep the territory they've taken via an invasion, right? I mean, that's how this happened. They invaded the country twice in 2014 and 2022. And that they don't want to give that up. And that, in fact, President Putin's intention remains to take the entire - those two entire eastern provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk and that, again, you know, when you think of who's getting pressured to give something up, you know, first of all, the U.S. pressuring the Ukrainian side, not clearly pressuring the Russian side, at least publicly. If Russia holds to those maximalist positions, where does that leave these negotiations? We don't know.

BOLDUAN: That's exactly right.

It's great to see you, Jim. Thanks for jumping on.

SCIUTTO: Thanks so much.

BOLDUAN: Sara.

SIDNER: All right, ahead, Vice President J.D. Vance meeting with House Republicans ahead of a crucial funding vote, as Speaker Johnson works to lock in support and avoid a government shutdown. But with a razor thin majority, there is no room for error.

And a judge temporarily blocking the Trump administration's efforts to deport a Palestinian activist who helped lead the Columbia student protests for Gaza.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:17:47]

SIDNER: This morning, Vice President J.D. Vance arriving on Capitol Hill. He's set to meet with House GOP lawmakers ahead of a possible vote today on their plan to avert a potential government shutdown. With the Friday deadline looming, there's little time to spare. And with the GOP's razor thin majority in the House, Speaker Mike Johnson can likely only afford to lose one Republican vote.

CNN's Lauren Fox is on Capitol Hill.

We know there is one Republican who is refusing to vote for this stopgap bill. Where do the others stand this morning, and what are you hearing as to whether they will have the votes?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, there's a lot of work ahead to do today for House Republican leaders as they try to convince some skeptical Republicans to get behind this stopgap measure, arguing that this is the clearest way to make sure that the president can advance the rest of his agenda. Basically, move aside this issue of funding until the end of September and go ahead and pursue tax cuts, a debt ceiling increase, as well as other cuts that are important to conservatives.

But first, leadership has to get the votes. And like you noted, there's already one Republican who is a hard no, but there are many others who are skeptical. Here are two of them, Tim Burchett and Rich McCormick.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. TIM BURCHETT (R-TN): Currently, but I'd like to talk some more. I'm -

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Are you a hard no?

BURCHETT: No, I'm going to listen. I haven't talked to the president yet this week, but I'm sure I will.

RAJU: You're a no?

REP. RICH MCCORMICK (R-GA): No.

RAJU: Why is that?

MCCORMICK: Because I don't see what changes between now and September. We could have had a good - a good bill that had just a few changes that actually made a difference. Things that were - that Americans agree on. And Republicans would have gotten behind 100 percent. You would have had Massie. You would have had several other members that right now are not happy with a bill that should be Republican only (ph).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOX: Now, the challenge for House Republican leadership today is that House Democrats have already argued that they are going to be united against this proposal. So, that means Johnson has to carry this vote on his own. If House Republicans can get this out of their chamber, the challenge also rests in the United States Senate, where there is expected to at least need to be eight Democrats to vote for this proposal to avert a government shutdown.

[09:20:08]

Right now it's really unclear where a lot of Senate Democrats are. Many of them last night noncommittal as we were asking them whether or not they were going to be supporting this proposal, Sara.

SIDNER: We are glad that you're safe from the chairs that almost attacked you there. You kept it real. Thank you so much, Lauren Fox. Really appreciate your reporting from Capitol Hill this morning.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Even the chairs are dangerous on Capitol Hill, really.

Joining us right now on the topic that Lauren was just talking about, let's get to it, top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee is joining us now, Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon.

Senator, thank you for being here and dealing with our nonsense.

I read you quoted as saying about the CR, "shutdowns are a bad idea. I'm not a shutdown guy." Does that mean that you will be voting in support of this?

SEN. RON WYDEN (D-OR): Well, here's where we are, Kate. You know, the House Republicans are throwing in with Elon and his saboteurs. And I just don't see any advantage to the country by going along with that. I think it makes much more sense to come up with a short term, you know, approach that's fair, that's balanced, and that's my preferred route.

BOLDUAN: That might be your preference, but given the options that you might be faced, are you a yes if it's just the - the year-long extension and that's it.

WYDEN: Let's see what happens today. You know this is going to be a long day. It's clear that the Republicans have some questions about their votes. I've already made it clear that particularly Elon's influence on this package is very troubling to me as the ranking Democrat. And the reality is, and you all have had it on - on the show already, we had more bad news for working families this morning. And tomorrow, aluminum and steel are supposed to be 25 percent, you know, tariffs. That means the price of cars is going to go up.

So, we're going to be watching through the day what it's going to take to make sure that working families and seniors don't get hammered some more.

BOLDUAN: A little bit more on the CR. Patty Murray, obviously an important Democrat when it comes to all of this, said this, "Speaker Johnson has rolled out a slush fund continuing resolution that would give Donald Trump and Elon Musk more power over federal spending, more power to pick winners and losers, which threatens families in blue and red states alike."

Even if it's what we're looking at and a shorter extension, do you think you could sign on if that's what this does?

WYDEN: Well, I think Senator Murray is making my point. She, too, wants something that's short term, that's fair, and is not another gift to Elon Musk.

BOLDUAN: So, let's see what happens today.

Let's talk about Elon Musk because he did an - he did a new interview and was talking about entitlements, basically saying this is - it's a new - it's his next target, saying that when it comes to entitlements, quote, "that's the big one to eliminate." Says he's targeting around $700 billion there.

I just asked a Republican congressman how he feels about, quote/unquote, you know, that being the big one to eliminate in terms of entitlements. He said this. Let me play this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MARK ALFORD (R-MO): I think when he talks about elimination, I think we're talking about eliminating the waste, abuse and fraud. And it is true that the Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security make up about 75 percent of our budget. It's mandatory spending. We've got to find the savings there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Senator, what do you think of that?

WYDEN: What I think is, Elon Musk is on his way to privatizing Social Security. If you combine what's going on now in terms of the cutbacks and, you know, taking the role of government smaller and smaller and probably going to private contractors, that's what's at stake. He's already been talking about comparing Social Security to a Ponzi scheme. I think his remarks in the last week or so are a prelude to privatization.

BOLDUAN: Let's see. And let's see if he can clarify and if eliminate doesn't mean - eliminate means eliminate waste. Maybe that needs to be asked.

U.S. stocks, you talked about it, U.S. stocks tanked yesterday. Worst day of the year. Turning south. As "The Wall Street Journal" put it, "Wall Street fears Trump will wreck the soft landing," Senator.

Republicans are giving him space, though, to run on this, giving him some room to run, saying that a lot of this reaction is a lingering impact from President Biden. Let me play what a Republican told me yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NICOLE MALLIOTAKIS (R-NY): You can't disregard the damage that the Biden administration did to our economy with their regulations, with their inflationary spending, with the - the - the interest rates that have skyrocketed because of his policies. You can't - you can't negate that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: It is just six weeks into President Trump's second term. Do you think it is too early for Trump to own this economy?

[09:25:04]

WYDEN: Well, the trade - trade chaos that we've seen in the last few weeks was not caused by Joe Biden. This trade chaos, in my view, is like a big anchor around the American economy. And if it continues, literally every 24 or 48 hours, I think some working families are going to get thrown deep into the water.

BOLDUAN: What - is it the - is it the threat, then pulling back? Is it then putting it on? Is it the uncertainty or is it the tariff that you think is worse?

WYDEN: Kate, I've got town meetings coming up, four of them in Oregon over the weekend. And what small businesses are most concerned about is all the uncertainty. If you come to one of my meetings, you listen to the small businesses, they just want some predictability. And the fact that he's got them on a swivel with this kind of trade whiplash every few hours is really causing tremendous problems for our small businesses across America.

BOLDUAN: Senator, thank you very much for coming on. We'll see what happens today.

WYDEN: Do it again. Thank you.

BOLDUAN: Thank you.

Coming up for us, X was hit with a major outage. Elon Musk blaming a cyberattack. But he's also making accusations about who he thinks is behind it.

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