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Johnson and GOP at Standstill Over January 6 Committee Investigation; Senator Chuck Schumer Says Senate Democrats Prepared to Block House GOP Spending Bill. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired March 12, 2025 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

DMITRI ALPEROVITCH, RUSSIA AND GEOPOLITICS EXPERT: ... that they know, of course, that the Europeans are more like to insist on security guarantees is not a condition that are preferrable for Kyiv. But this will be very hard for them to pull off because Donald Trump wants to do bilateral deals. That's what he did in the first term, and that's what he's likely to do in the second.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Dmitry, thank you so much for being with us, Dmitri Alperovitch, we appreciate it.

ALPEROVITCH: Thank you.

KEILAR: Ahead a brewing disagreement among House Republicans as Speaker Johnson tries to narrow the focus of one of President Trump's key priorities.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: House Speaker Mike Johnson and some Republicans are butting heads over new investigations into the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol. Sources tell CNN that Johnson wants to stop investigating the former January 6th committee, including former Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney. He wants to narrow the focus of the inquiry.

But Republican Congressman Barry Loudermilk tapped to lead the probe, wants a broader mandate. Let's get the latest now from CNN Capitol Hill reporter Annie Grayer. Annie, what can you tell us about this standoff?

ANNIE GRAYER, CNN CAPITOL HILL REPORTER: Well, Boris, this has been going on behind the scenes for months. And that's because Republicans can't agree on what they want to investigate. House Speaker Mike Johnson wants Republicans to move forward and put their investigation into the former January 6th committee behind them. That means no longer looking into Liz Cheney.

But the Republican who's leading this investigation, Barry Loudermilk, who has really made this investigation a big part of his profile on Capitol Hill, says he has a lot more to look at and has been poring over January 6th committee records and has even at the end of last Congress recommended Liz Cheney be investigated by the FBI. And this is a lot of his work has provided fodder for, of course, President Donald Trump, who has made Liz Cheney a top target of his and made a number of attacks against her.

So if that were to be limited, what would happen, you know, to all of that fodder there? And the reason why I was looking into this is because there is still a broad conversation among the Republican Party about how much to focus on January 6th. You have Republicans who I talked to for this story who said that this investigation absolutely must move forward. And they think there's still a lot of questions to be answered. But then you have others who are thinking it's time to move on.

So the Republicans I talked to really were split in their views here. And that just is raising broader questions for what Speaker Mike Johnson is going to do, who, of course, is stuck in the middle of both sides.

SANCHEZ: And there's potential that the speaker might draw the ire of Trump if the scope of the investigation is limited, right?

GRAYER: Of course. I mean, I've reported that before he took office in December, that President Trump actually had a conversation with Mike Johnson directly and said that he wants an investigation to be a priority in the next Congress. So shortly after that, the investigation was announced that it would continue.

But that was back in January. We're now in March. It still has not fully been staffed up or gotten underway. And this new reporting that I have is explaining that delay. So what is the White House and Trump administration and the president himself going to think about this? That's kind of the open question.

SANCHEZ: We might see a social media post about it. Who knows? Annie Grayer, thanks so much for the reporting.

Still to come, a warning from the CEO of the world's largest asset manager about how Trump's policies are paralyzing American consumers and businesses. What the CEO of BlackRock told CNN after a quick break.

[15:40:00]

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KEILAR: There are growing concerns about the U.S. economy as President Trump's shifting trade policy rocks the market.

SANCHEZ: CNN spoke exclusively with the CEO of BlackRock, the largest asset manager in the country, who says the economy is weakening as we speak. CNN senior correspondent Kayla Tausche interviewed him today. Kayla, what did Larry Fink share with you?

KAYLA TAUSCHE, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Well, Larry Fink knows a thing or two about money. BlackRock, over the last several decades, has grown to 12 trillion dollars that it manages. And so when he speaks, the market listens. And I had a unique opportunity to sit down with him today about how he sees the Trump economy, this most recent market pullback, and what lies ahead. Here's a little bit of that interview.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TAUSCHE: We've seen what the markets have done in recent days. The Treasury Secretary says this is a detox period for the American economy and for the markets. How would you characterize it?

LARRY FINK, CEO, BLACKROCK: Let's put it in context. The last three years, we've had an incredible run on the equity markets since COVID. So we've had one of the largest market increases in the indexes than we've ever seen.

And so, yes, there is a lot of uncertainty, a lot of the uncertainty is coming here from Washington. But that being said, there's nothing wrong with a market, you know, pullback. There is nothing wrong with a five or seven or 10 or even 50 percent market pullback.

I look at that as a buying opportunity because I'm very bullish on America. And I believe the opportunity over the course of the next 10 years with the U.S. leadership, our leadership in AI, our leadership across so many industries, leadership in medicine, across the board, no country in the world has opportunities that financing a smart new idea where people could get capital to do it. Small and medium businesses can get capital from banks, could get capital now from the capital markets.

Yes, there is a lot of uncertainty. And yes, the markets feel really squishy at the moment.

TAUSCHE: But how much uncertainty can the markets sustain, can the economy sustain before this moves into something looking like a recession?

FINK: But there's, I mean, it depends on the duration of a recession. Could we have a one quarter or two quarter of market, of a flattening of our economy as we try to reset the economy? Absolutely.

Could we see elevated inflation in the next two quarters? Yes. But I'm looking beyond that. If we are able to unlock private capital, as I wrote about in an editorial, if we could, you know, reinvest back in America, we could build more factories and plants in America, that will restart and rekindle the next wave of a bull market.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[15:45:03]

TAUSCHE (on camera): Now, Larry Fink is someone who knows President Trump well. Trump has praised him for managing his own money and making him some pretty sizable returns. He has a direct line into the White House. And he told me that he believes that, yes, there will be some short-term chaos and uncertainty. But over the long run, he thinks that Trump's policies will be productive. He did tell me, though, that when he talks to CEOs, in his words, the

economy is weakening as we speak. They are seeing a lot of that spending pulling back. Still unclear exactly how long that's going to last.

I should note, Fink was in Washington talking with policymakers about what he sees as a looming retirement crisis. Americans not saving enough for retirement. And a problem that he says is only getting worse. Here's his warning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FINK: And one of the fundamental problems in America is retirement is not that bad of a problem for the top Fortune 500 companies. We are providing enough support to our employees where they're getting the adequacy of retirement. It's beyond that.

We refuse to talk about how do we get more broadening of our economy with more Americans participating in that. And so that's why we have to have a conversation here in Washington. This has to be considered a national priority and a national promise to all Americans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAUSCHE: I said it's easy for a billionaire to tell Americans that they need to save more. And he told me there was a time when I wasn't one. You can see the full interview on CNN.com.

KEILAR: That is true, I guess. Really interesting stuff, Kayla. Thank you so much for sharing it with us.

TAUSCHE: Thank you, guys.

KEILAR: And we'll be right back.

[15:50:00]

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KEILAR: So there is science backing up that long-held belief that dog owners resemble their precious pooches.

SANCHEZ: And perhaps in more ways than one. Researchers say it's a psychological thing that you may or may not even realize.

CNN health reporter Jacqueline Howard is here to explain. So, Jacqueline, this is a fun phenomenon that most of us have probably noticed. Why do people tend to look like their pets?

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: Yes, Boris and Brianna, I spoke with several researchers about this. They say it comes down to something called the mere exposure effect. So what this means is we tend to gravitate toward things that feel and look familiar to us.

Things that we're exposed to often. And what are we exposed to more than ourselves? Many of us look at our own faces in the mirror every day.

And researchers say when choosing a pet to be a companion, to be a family member subconsciously, that's why many of us may select a pet that looks like us, like you see on the screen there.

And Boris and Brianna, there was actually a study looking into this. More than 200 women were asked to rate photos of different types of dogs and choose which dogs they prefer to take home and which ones they don't. Women with short hairstyles, on average, rated dogs with short pointy ears as having a higher preference for them compared with dogs with long ears. And then women with long hairstyles actually preferred dogs with long lopped ears compared with the dogs with the short pointy ears.

And the researchers say that women with long hairstyles, when they chose the dogs with long ears, these were dogs that actually kind of looked like them. And the same was seen among women with short hairstyles. So researchers say it's interesting how familiarity and the mirror exposure effect really is playing a role here.

KEILAR: That is interesting stuff.

SANCHEZ: Yes, it's really fascinating.

HOWARD: And Boris and Brianna, are both of you pet owners?

SANCHEZ: Yes, definitely. And I feel like I resemble my dog somewhat, Harley. She's a Rottweiler.

HOWARD: Now we have to see a photo.

SANCHEZ: Yes, see, she loves cheese, the Miami Dolphins, long walks. So I feel like, you know, I identify with her because of her love of cheese, the Miami Dolphins, and long walks.

KEILAR: I've had dogs, but I don't -- I now have a cat, which is a new acquisition. And you do look like Harley there. But check this out. This cat shows up in my backyard. And I mean, like full on twinning with the RBF. So I knew that we were meant to be together, Jacqueline. So to your point.

HOWARD: And so I'm not a pet owner. But one thing a researcher told me that I thought was really interesting about the mirror exposure effect is that we see this in other aspects of our lives.

Even at a concert, an artist will play a song that makes the crowd go wild. And it may not be their best song, but it's the best known song. You know the lyrics to it. You've heard it over and over on the radio.

And that's another example of, again, familiarity, having a comfort with something can cause this mirror exposure effect to take place and can cause you to prefer one thing over the other. So I thought that was interesting too.

KEILAR: Harley's pretty cute though.

SANCHEZ: She's a baby.

KEILAR: She's his baby.

Jacqueline, love the explanation. Thank you so much.

And from looking like your dog to searching for your cat, see the moment a Los Angeles woman was reunited with her missing feline two months after fires tore through the area.

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SANCHEZ: So breaking news into CNN. We just heard from the Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer sort of delineating plans for Democrats as a result of the House passing this stopgap bill to keep the government funded. Here's some of what Schumer said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY), MINORITY LEADER: I think the government should be a bipartisan effort. But Republicans chose a partisan path, drafting their continuing resolution without any input, any input from congressional Democrats. Because of that, Republicans do not have the votes in the Senate to invoke cloture on the House CR.

Our caucus is unified on a clean April 11th CR that will keep the government open and give Congress time to negotiate bipartisan legislation that can pass. We should vote on that. I hope, I hope our Republican colleagues will join us to avoid a shutdown on Friday.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: All right. Senator Schumer saying -- and this is what we've heard some Democrats floating, this idea of a 30-day stopgap funding measure. So not voting on the bill that would fund the government through September but instead voting on a very short 30-day bill to do that.

SANCHEZ: It's so fascinating to watch the dynamics at play because historically the party that votes to -- that votes against keeping the government open bears the brunt of it.

[16:00:00]

And usually it's been Republicans at least in the last 10, 15 years. Now it's Democrats. And I think they understand as Senator Angus King laid out that it's a lose-lose situation.

KEILAR: Yes. The question will be how far are they willing to go, right? So if Republicans who control the Senate floor, they control the calendar and they do have the majority of the votes, if not the filibuster-proof majority, you know, how far are Democrats going to go on this? It'll be really interesting.

SANCHEZ: Thanks so much for joining us today. "THE ARENA" with Kasie Hunt starts right now.

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