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Stocks Set for Back-to-Back Losing Sessions on Iran Fears; U.S. Economy Lost 92K Jobs Last Month, Jobless Rate Rises to 4.4 Percent; Russia Giving Iran Intel on U.S. Military Targets; Former President Bill Clinton Speaks at Funeral for Rev. Jesse Jackson. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired March 06, 2026 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: We're just minutes away from the closing bell on Wall Street and stocks are on track to close lower for a second straight day. All three major indexes down as uncertainty grows over the war with Iran. Qatar's top energy official says the conflict could push oil prices to a staggering $150 a barrel if tankers and other ships remain cut off from the Strait of Hormuz.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN HOST: It's not been a good day for economic indicators across the board. I mean, job numbers, too. President Trump says he is not worried about rising costs, telling CNN this morning the prices will, quote, go way down very quickly once the war is over and that he's already figured out how to deal with the vital waterway, the Strait of Hormuz in the Middle East.

[15:35:00]

Joining us now, senior reporter Matt Egan. Matt, the president has claimed to have a solution for this, right, either escorting oil tankers through or somehow backstopping insurance for tankers.

But it doesn't seem that the markets are buying this.

MATT EGAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Yes, Jim, that's right. I think the market is increasingly alarmed about the situation in the Middle East. And the message from the market is this is not sustainable.

Let's look at where oil prices are right now. Look at this, a 12 percent, a nearly 12 percent increase for WTI. That's the U.S. benchmark. This is a rare move. I mean, you don't see a move like this. In fact, oil prices settled with their biggest one day percentage increase since COVID related supply disruptions back in 2020.

You see oil prices above $90 a barrel for the first time since the fall of 2023. Look at this chart. Oil prices going back to June.

They were relatively low and stable and then the war hit and now they're going straight up. In fact, this is the biggest one week increase for oil prices since futures trading started back in 1983. A 36 percent increase since the close of trading on Friday, all because of the war.

And look, this is having a direct impact on energy prices, everything from diesel and jet fuel to, of course, gasoline. Look at where gas prices are. The national average now at $3.32 a gallon. That's up from just below $3 a gallon before the war started. This is the highest national average during either of the president's terms in the White House.

Now, as you mentioned, the focus is on the Strait of Hormuz. This is the most critical waterway, most critical choke point for oil on the planet. Normally, there's dozens of oil tankers going through the Strait of Hormuz, carrying oil from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations to the rest of the world. Right now, it's effectively zero.

Now, the president has suggested this is going to be short term and just a blip, and hopefully he's right. But I've got to tell you, some of the energy traders that I'm talking to don't think so.

I talked to Bob McNally. He's a veteran energy analyst. And he told me the market has gone from complacency when this conflict started to the edge of panic. And he said, until investors see evidence that vessels are starting to go through the Strait of Hormuz, he thinks oil prices are going to blow past $100 a barrel and just keep going until they start a recession.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: And Matt, jobs, I mean, the numbers, not great. And I know that certainly the president's supporters were hoping that what we saw last month was going to be the beginning of a turnaround.

EGAN: Yes, that's right, Brianna. I think that was the hope that we would see signs of stabilization. But we didn't.

The U.S. economy lost 92,000 jobs in February. That's much worse than the gain of 60,000 that was expected. This is a massive slowdown from the 126,000 jobs that were added in January.

And December was revised lower as well. It went from a modest gain to a small loss. And when you look at the trend, you can see that job loss, these bars that go down have not been an anomaly.

In fact, this is the fifth month out of the last nine where the U.S. economy lost jobs after going years without any months of job loss. And the unemployment rate also went the wrong way. It went up to 4.4 percent unexpectedly. That's not high. But you look at the trend over the last three years, you can see it's clearly gone up. So why did this happen?

Well, part of it may have been some one-offs. There was a major strike of nurses in health care. That accounted for the job loss in what has been a very strong sector for job gains.

Construction and leisure and hospitality also losing jobs. And that likely has to do with the extremely cold weather and significant amount of snow in parts of the country. But this wasn't just about weather and strikes because other sectors like manufacturing and information also lost jobs as well.

And just real fast to look at how U.S. markets are ending the week, because of that disappointing jobs report and because of the energy price shock, we're seeing U.S. markets end solidly in the red, at least with 20 minutes or so to go in trading in what has been a very volatile week. Back to you, guys.

KEILAR: Yes, certainly. Matt Egan, thank you so much.

And next, new CNN reporting on how Russia is providing Iran with intelligence about the locations and movements of American troops and assets in the Middle East. That is some of Jim and our colleagues reporting.

SCIUTTO: And we're keeping a close eye on the homegoing service for the Reverend Jesse Jackson. It's underway right now in Chicago. You see Reverend Al Sharpton speaking there now.

[15:40:00]

President Bill Clinton expected to speak in just moments. We're going to bring you his comments live. Please stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCIUTTO: The Trump administration is temporarily rolling back sanctions on Russia in an effort to curb rising oil prices. The Treasury Secretary says the rollback, which will temporarily allow India to buy Russian oil, will not significantly benefit Moscow financially, since it only applies to oil already stranded at sea.

[15:45:00]

But the easing of sanctions notably comes as sources tell CNN that Russia is feeding Iran intelligence specifically about U.S. military targets in the region. CNN's Natasha Bertrand, who was working on the story with me on this. I mean, this is remarkable because it's not just any intelligence.

It is intelligence that puts U.S. forces at risk.

NATAHSA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Exactly right. And we're told that this is coming largely from Russia's constellation of satellites, that it has sophisticated constellation of space capabilities, and it is providing imagery to the Iranians to essentially pinpoint where U.S. troops are at any given time. And not just U.S. troops but also ships and aircraft and bases. And so this is intelligence that really could have an impact on what Iran is targeting. And as we've seen, Iran has been successfully targeting U.S. military personnel in the region over the last few days. I mean, we just saw in Kuwait, they successfully launched a drone strike against a temporary operations center there that killed six service members.

And so while it is very difficult, of course, to pinpoint exactly how effective the intelligence sharing is, it is undoubted that at this point, Iran has been successfully targeting Americans. And, you know, obviously, Russia and Iran, they have a long history of sharing this kind of technology and this kind of intelligence, most notably during the Ukraine war, when Iran was providing Russia with the Shahad drones, the very same ones it's using now against the U.S.

SCIUTTO: It's also notable because the U.S. is claiming as one success that it has effectively blinded Iran, right? You know, taking out so many of its own capabilities. So you have kind of, it seems like Russia backfilling.

How about China here? Because the China piece of this too, like Russia, has this kind of burgeoning partnership with Iran. To what degree do we believe China is getting involved?

BERTRAND: So according to our sources, and you've heard this too, Jim, it's a little bit more nuanced than the Russian position. They are a little bit more reluctant to get involved in this war. They kind of want to see it end because they rely so heavily on Iranian oil and other imports from the Middle East.

That being said, they are facing significant pressure right now because of that oil problem. And they're trying to get Iran to open up the Strait of Hormuz to get ships passing through so that that stuff can keep moving. And at the same time, we're told China has been considering, perhaps in exchange for that from Iran, providing them with financial assistance, with spare parts for weapons and with missile components.

And so while they're a little bit more reluctant right now for a full- throated effort, you know, joining the war, providing missiles and actual weapons in totality, they are considering, you know, in what way they can get involved. And it's very similar to their support for the Russians in Ukraine.

SCIUTTO: It is a notable comparison because in Ukraine, while China has not shipped tanks, say, right to Russia, it's provided technology that has gone into Russian weapons. And it seems like they're following a similar format here.

Now, the White House was asked about our reporting today. Karoline Leavitt, how did she respond to this?

BERTRAND: So Leavitt said that it does not really matter because the U.S. has so successfully, according to the administration, obliterated Iran's capabilities at this point. It's ballistic missile launchers, it's drone capabilities. They say the U.S. is really making a dent in those. But at the same time, you know, it is intelligence sharing that is clearly being used to target not only U.S. personnel, but U.S. assets in the region.

And, you know, we should also know that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, he was asked about this on Wednesday as well, what are Russia and China doing and how are they viewing this? And he called them a, quote, non-factor in this war, which, as we are seeing clearly, they could become a much bigger problem. SCIUTTO: Trump specifically cited Iranian support, weapons that killed U.S. soldiers in the war in Iraq as one of the justifications for this war. So, you know, presumably Russian support that would endanger U.S. soldiers would be something that would spark a reaction. Natasha Bertram, thanks so much.

Well, we have been following and continue to services in Chicago for the late Reverend Jesse Jackson. We're now waiting to hear from former President Bill Clinton. Former President Obama spoke a short time ago. We'll bring you Clinton's comments live after a quick break.

[15:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: The U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran have been ramping up, and they have been dropping bomb after bomb on Iran's missile launchers.

SCIUTTO: This campaign is expanding, there's no question. CNN's Tom Foreman takes a closer look at those launchers specifically. It explains why taking them out is a crucial part of Israeli and U.S. plans. Actually, stand with us. We are going to go back -- hate to interrupt our Tom Foreman there.

We're going to go back. There's former President Bill Clinton speaking at the funeral of Jesse Jackson. Let's listen in.

BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: ... I think we should not forget, and Jim thought we didn't, he did a fine job, but this is a celebration and a memorial service. And you have to ask yourself, what did Jesse Jackson do that I admire most, that moved me most, and what can I do right now that would maybe be as good as what he did then? That's what we're all facing here.

I love Jackie and her family. Santita sang at my second inauguration.

[15:55:00]

The boys got to go to Congress, and Yusef, I thought, the boys got to go to Congress, and Yusef I thought -- when the first time I met Yusuf, I thought, I can do whatever I wanted if he worked for me. He'd just take care of things. And you're good at it. It's been an honor to know all of you.

But I want to say something, you know, highly personal tonight. I came to truly love Jesse Jackson. And we had more in common than he thought.

We were both two guys who were born to single mothers living in the South. And so I got to watch this guy. And frankly, the first time we met was at the 20th anniversary of the celebration of the integration of Little Rock Central High School.

And some young people may not even know why that's important. But in the 1920s, that school was voted the most beautiful high school in America. And the whole time I was governor of Arkansas, that one school accounted for 25 percent of our merit scholars.

You could go there, study Latin and Greek, which was a pretty big deal out in the country, in addition to all the science and math. So they were celebrating the 20th anniversary. And Jesse showed up to help them.

But he was always asking himself, what can we use the observation of a past victory for to get something done today? So by the late 70s, all these medium-sized little towns in the middle of the country were being flooded with drugs. All these folks were facing more vigorous law enforcement on the coast, but they were coming in.

And I kept thinking, I know Jesse Jackson's going to know this, and he's going to say something. And I just want to be there. And I was a 29-year-old attorney general.

And Hillary, a Chicago girl, was --

(APPLAUSE)

CLINTON: -- she was practicing law and supporting us because the salary was almost non-existent. So Jesse gets up in front of this crowd of kids, and their eyes were big as dollars. And he said, you owe a lot to the Little Rock Nine who integrated this school.

You owe a lot to Daisy Bates and the other people who supported them. You owe a lot to the people who were there long before them. You cannot take this achievement and throw it away on drugs.

And then he said -- I'll never forget it. And I thought, where are all the conservatives when you need them to cheer? Jesse Jackson looked at these kids and he said, you have to open your brains, not your veins.

And I thought to myself, no matter how long I live and stay in politics, I may never have a single line that's that good. I mean, think about it. It's totally brilliant.

But it captures personal responsibility and caring and self-survival. All these pastors here have done such a great job on this. You know, I know you spend endless hours when you're putting your sermons together and you're running your programs in your churches and things.

What can we do that will work? And whenever I get discouraged, I think about Jesse and I just laugh. Well, you got to open your brains and not your veins ...

END