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Asia Markets Slide After Wall Street Sell-Off; U.S. Hold Talks with Ukraine Tuesday in Saudi Arabia; Syrian Government Signs Deal With Kurdish-Led SDF to Merge Forces; Young People Celebrate Freedom ro Learn; Children Celebrate Freedom to Learn; Guatemala Volcano Erupts; Pope Francis No Longer in "Imminent Danger". Aired 2-3a ET

Aired March 11, 2025 - 02:00   ET

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

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[02:00:10]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world and everyone streaming us on CNN Max. I'm Rosemary Church.

Just ahead, market turmoil. Stocks plummet after Donald Trump, who promised an economic boom, refuses to rule out a recession.

Coming to the table, Ukraine's president is in Saudi Arabia ahead of critical peace talks with the U.S.

And celebrations in Syria after the government signs a deal with Kurdish led forces in an effort to unify a country in turmoil.

ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta. This is CNN NEWSROOM with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: Good to have you with us, and we begin with market uncertainty and instability around the globe. As Asia markets are now trading lower following a worsening sell off on Wall Street, U.S. stocks plunge Monday, with the Dow closing down nearly 900 points, the markets' worst day of the year. The NASDAQ saw its biggest single day decline since September 2022.

We're still several hours away from a new trading day, but here's where U.S. Futures stand right now, at least in positive territory there, but only just.

U.S. President Donald Trump is set to meet with top business leaders in Washington in the hours ahead, where he may offer more clarity on his trade policy.

Right now, concerns are growing over the impact of Mr. Trump's tariffs and his refusal to rule out a recession this year.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 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. We're bringing wealth back to America. That's a big thing.

And there are always periods of, it takes a little time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: CNN's Marc Stewart is following developments. He joins us now live from Beijing. So, Mark, how are your markets looking, certainly in your part of the world right now?

MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rosemary, when the president speaks, the world listens, and that includes his comments on the economy. And as such, we have seen a very rocky day here in Asia.

In fact, if we look at the latest numbers, we will continue to see some declines, although a bit of an improvement from earlier in the day. There's no question, the president's words have some weight, but also the remarks from corporate America also matter.

So, for example, Delta Airlines in the last 24 hours actually cut its revenue forecast in half based off of economic jitters and concerns that Americans don't want to spend money or won't want to spend money in the future because of all of this uncertainty, that can rattle markets and markets around the world take notice, especially from a company like Delta, an international airline that flies here to Asia as well as to Europe.

In fact, as we look in the hours ahead, a number of companies in the United States are going to report their earnings. Of course, we're going to be curious to see how they did in the last quarter, but a big part of reporting earnings is providing an outlook for the future. How do these companies view the economics future of America? It reflects the sentiment that we've heard from Delta Airlines. We could be in for a very rough day when U.S. markets open in just around seven hours from now.

But these economic troubles are not just related to the United States. Here in China, we're dealing with an economic phenomenon known as deflation. It's when prices drop, the opposite of inflation, when prices rise.

So, why is deflation such a bad thing? Well, it means that people have been hesitant to spend money, and here in China, consumers have been very leery about what the economic future holds. They are -- they are holding back making purchases. They're also waiting to perhaps see if prices drop even further.

So, that, in itself can cause an economic slowdown. Rosemary, we talk so much about the importance of stability in markets, but right now, there is a big search for stability, so many factors creating a lot of uncertainty here in Asia and of course, in the United States.

CHURCH: Yes, it has many people on edge for sure. Marc Stewart joining us live from Beijing. Many thanks.

We are getting word of a massive Ukrainian attack on the Russian Capital overnight. According to Russian state media, more than 300 drones were fired by Ukraine toward Moscow earlier, officials say dozens were destroyed, but one person was killed and three others wounded in the strikes. The Moscow mayor says falling debris also damaged buildings. No word yet from the Ukrainian side.

[02:05:12]

But the attack unfolded just hours before high stakes talks between the U.S. and Ukraine on ending the war with Russia.

Well, that meeting in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, is set to begin in less than three hours from now, and it comes less than two weeks after the last U.S.-Ukraine meeting devolved into a shouting match at the White House.

This time, Volodymyr Zelenskyy is not expected to take part in the actual talks with the U.S., but the Ukrainian president is in Saudi Arabia and says his discussions with the Saudi Crown Prince have been focused on security guarantees.

The top American diplomat says he wants to know what concessions Ukraine would be willing to make, adding that these talks will be key in determining whether the U.S. will lift its pause on military aid and intelligence sharing.

CNN's Alex Marquardt has a preview of this critical meeting reporting from Jeddah.

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ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Both President Zelenskyy and Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived here in Jeddah on Monday evening. They each met separately with the Saudi Crown Prince MBS, but the main focus here in Jeddah is going to be that Tuesday meeting between the U.S. and Ukrainian delegations, which President Zelenskyy is not expected to attend.

Now, of course, this comes a week and a half after that extraordinary, acrimonious shouting match between Presidents Zelenskyy, President Trump and the Vice President J.D. Vance in the Oval Office in Washington. And since then, American and Ukrainian officials have been trying to patch things up and get the relationship back on track.

On Rubio's way into Jeddah, he told reporters on his plane that he is hopeful that Tuesday's meeting will go well. He said that he's going to be in listening mode, listening for difficult decisions that the Ukrainians are willing to make to get closer to a peace deal, listening for concessions that they are willing to make.

As he put it, he wants to hear concessions that are in the realm of the possible. They won't drill down into specifics, he said, they won't be, for example, pulling out the maps and drawing lines on different maps to show where territory could be given up or taken back.

But this does also come at a time when the U.S. has put a freeze on, put a halt on that military and intelligence sharing assistance that is absolutely critical to Ukraine. Rubio saying that Tuesday's meeting will be key for jump starting that again, for getting that tap turned back on for the Ukrainians.

So, Tuesday's meeting is essentially step two in a longer process to try to get Ukraine and Russia to the same table. The first step was three weeks ago in Riyadh also here in Saudi Arabia, when Rubio and other Americans sat down with the Russians.

The U.S. now, trying to identify the concessions, the ideas, the positions of each side, with the eventual goal of trying to get the Russians and Ukrainians to the same negotiating table.

Alex Marquardt, CNN in Jeddah.

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CHURCH: And earlier, I spoke with Robert English, the Director of Central European Studies at the University of Southern California, and I asked, what are you expecting to come out of these high stakes negotiations.

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ROBERT ENGLISH, DIRECTOR OF CENTRAL EUROPEAN STUDIES, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: Well, Secretary of State Rubio claimed that the U.S. will be in listening mode. I think it's pretty clear that they are in insisting mode, meaning they are demanding that Ukraine agree to certain basic concessions just to get the framework set for working out a lot of other details.

I think that the U.S. is going to say we don't want to hear any more about joining NATO anytime soon. That's already been decided, and you're going to have to agree to major territorial concessions. So, these are not listening, these are insisting, and then they'll go from there. It's going to be very difficult for Ukraine's team.

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CHURCH: And he added that he believes the U.S. is strong arming the Ukrainians who are in a desperate situation.

The Philippines fiery former President Rodrigo Duterte has been taken into custody by Interpol. This is video of his arrest in Manila recorded by one of his daughters who posted the images online. Duterte can be heard asking, what is the crime that I committed?

The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for him for alleged crimes against humanity, that's in connection with his deadly crack down on drugs before he left office in 2022. Duterte was detained after returning from a campaign rally in Hong Kong.

Still to come, Syria's interim president signs a deal with a Kurdish led group to integrated interstate institutions. I'll discuss with an expert what this could mean for the country's future.

[02:10:02]

And later, children and teens pushing for an end to modern day slavery. How students around the world are marking this year's My Freedom Day, back in just a moment.

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CHURCH: Syrians seen their chanting one, one, one, the Syrian people are one. And this comes as Syria's Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa reached a deal with the Syrian Democratic Forces to integrate them into the country's new state institutions.

[02:15:01]

In recent days, Syria has been rocked by the worst violence since former President Bashar al-Assad was ousted last year.

And CNN's Paula Hancocks is in Abu Dhabi with the latest. A warning, though her report contains disturbing images.

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PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The violence has been indiscriminate and brutal. Four days of fighting between the Syrian military and supporters of the ousted Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, an affiliated gunmen adding to the deadly chaos.

779 have been killed, according to Syrian Network for Human Rights. A large proportion of them civilians.

Bodies lie where they fell on the western coastal areas of Syria. Majority Alawite areas, the heart of Assad's former support. Syria's leader says forces were trying to quell an insurgency. A successful operation he claims has now ended.

Speaking to Reuters, President Ahmad Al-Sharaa acknowledges there were revenge killings against the Alawite community.

AHMAD AL-SHARAA, SYRIAN'S INTERIM PRESIDENT (through translator): Syria is a state of law. The law will take its course on all. We fought to defend the oppressed, and we won't accept that any blood be shed unjustly or goes without punishment or accountability. Even among those closest to us.

HANCOCKS (voice over): Residents describe armed men setting fire to civilian homes. Syrian Network for Human Rights spoke of, "widespread field executions."

An elderly man begs for his life.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): He is a remnant of the regime.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I have children, I swear to God!

HANCOCKS (voice over): He is executed.

Fears of ethnic minorities being targeted have weighed heavily on optimism since the 50 year reign of the Assad family ended abruptly last December.

GARETH BROWNE, SYRIA CORRESPONDENT, THE ECONOMIST: A huge part of Ahmad Al-Sharaa's project was about confidence- building, particularly when it comes to Syria's minorities. The Alawites, the Druze, the Christians, the Kurds. And I think the events of the last few days have absolutely ruptured that confidence.

HANCOCKS (voice over): Authorities have now released photos of two militants accused of a separate extrajudicial killing being arrested. Keen to show the fragile sense of order could be restored.

HANCOCKS (on camera): There was one significant sign of unity this Monday, the Kurdish led and U.S. backed Syrian Democratic Forces has agreed to merge itself into Syria's new state institutions. The agreement emphasizes a cease fire and also its intent to support Syria in its fight against al-Assad's forces.

Paula Hancocks, CNN, Abu Dhabi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Joining us now is Rim Turkmani, Director of the Syria Conflict Research Programme at the London School of Economics, and she joins us live from London. Appreciate you being with us.

RIM TURKMANI, DIRECTOR OF THE SYRIA CONFLICT RESEARCH PROGRAMME, LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS: Thank you for inviting me.

CHURCH: So, days of fighting between loyalists of former President Bashar al-Assad and supporters of Syria's new interim president has resulted in hundreds being killed, some executed, but this new deal with the Kurdish led and U.S. backed Syrian democratic forces could change this. How significant and sustainable is this newly signed deal do you think?

TURKMANI: It's hugely significant and very sadly, it came on the back of that horrific bloodshed of the five days. Have we had that deal before that bloodshed, probably what would have happened would have been at least, much less costly.

But it was a very good moment that they signed this deal, and there was joy across Syria. Everyone was happy, was cheering that this was signed. I think the only constituency which was probably not happy is the ex-regime officials who started an armed resistance back five days ago.

CHURCH: And what is your assessment of interim President Ahmed al- Sharaa's vision for Syria and what he's done so far.

TURKMANI: I don't think the problem is his vision. He's saying the right things. I think the problem is ability to get things done. He inherited a wreck of a country that is fragmented. Everything, everything is fragmented, including his own forces, and joining this together is extremely difficult task.

And his words do not match what is happening on the ground. And I think no one else in Syria can also pull this together. I think we need technical assistance. This is a bitter conflict. It's not entirely over, and we need a neutral presence in Syria. People need to feel safe around, let's say U.N. presence, or Arabic presence. We need technical assistance, all these fighters around. It's very difficult to integrate them in one army. We need security sector reform help. We need to help with DDR, to disarm and integrate many of the fighters, and we're not getting this.

[02:20:14]

We're told that we have to do this in our own, all other conflicts. I mean, worldwide, the world helped help, technically, to rebuild the country, to provide the system, to provide support, to provide protection for civilians, like those who were massacred in the last few days.

So, I think it's important to focus on this, and not just on what is being said in Damascus. Al-Sharaa faces huge challenges from his own constituency as well. I mean, many of the people who committed horrific crimes at the coast are ex international jihadists who came to Syria to join his very own group, and now they're all loose in Syria, running Catholics, killing civilians. He has to deal with them.

CHURCH: And how big a force are we talking about when we refer to Assad's loyalists and can they be contained? And when we talk about containment, what does that mean? What is going to happen to those loyalists of Assad?

TURKMANI: Look, I think first, it's important to not label them exactly as loyalist. And no one is fighting for the regime anymore. No one wants the regime in Syria.

It's people who had power before and had lots of illicit resources, like trading in drugs and kept account trade, and now they're suddenly out of power and out of resources. There has to be a process to deal with those people, otherwise they will continue to be an issue.

They -- you know, there should have been transitional justice, or they should have been involved in security sector of what -- of some sort. I mean, there should have been something to address them, but they were just let loose like this around the country.

But what is more important than them is the constituency, is the Alawite community. I spoke to so many Alawites when I went to Syria. They didn't want this. They don't want another episode of violence.

Remember, they didn't even fight for Assad. When the regime was collapsing, they did not fight for him. They don't want this. They're done with it. Those people, they don't support this armed uprising. They paid the

price for it, and we have to think of them. We have to think, how can we absorb their frustrated young men and women who feel now completely excluded out of the system, not represented at all -- at all in any of the bodies we've seen emerging in Damascus and the new authorities, you don't spot an Alawite.

They need to be represented. They need to be feel included. They -- we need to have the developmental projects in their areas to absorb all those people who've been laid off by the government as well.

I mean, they laid off hundreds of thousands of civil servants who came from the Alawite community. So, we have to end this exclusion, represent them and help them as well to rebuild their community again, especially after these absolutely horrific massacres, there would be a shame in the Syrian history.

CHURCH: Rim Turkmani, we want to thank you so much for joining us. Appreciate it.

TURKMANI: Thank you.

CHURCH: A cargo ship smashed into a U.S. military chartered oil tanker off the northeast coast of England Monday, causing a massive fire. The container ship contained sodium cyanide and alcohol, and the tanker was loaded with jet fuel. The British Coast Guard says the search for a missing crew member has ended and the person has not been found.

Authorities say 36 people were treated by ambulance services after reaching the shore. It's unclear whether the sodium cyanide has entered the water.

Coming up, we're back in Hong Kong to check in on the sweatshop demonstration on this, the ninth annual My Freedom Day. Do stay with us.

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[02:28:57]

CHURCH: A powerful student led day of action against modern day slavery is here, it's CNN 9th Annual My Freedom Day. We have teams across the globe visiting schools to see how they're exploring this year's theme freedom to learn. Students in Chicago showed the freedom to learn is the freedom to dance. And their peers in Buenos Aires are refusing to stay silent in the face of injustice.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STUDENTS: We believe every child should have the freedom to learn.

I solve problems.

I work with others.

I ask questions. My Freedom Day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: So, let's go live to Hong Kong, where CNN's Hanako Montgomery is at the King George V School. Hanako, what has been happening today as students celebrate the freedom to learn?

HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Rosemary. So as you said, I'm at Hong Kong's King George V School, where students participated in a very intense simulation that mimicked a factory like setting, an environment that a child laborer might actually experience.

[02:30:00]

Now, the simulation went on for about 30 minutes or so, and one of the organizers is this individual, Matt Friedman. He is also the CEO of a non-profit organization called The Mekong Club, which works with the private sector to try to end Modern-day slavery.

And I just want to ask Matt a few questions about today's simulation and the lessons that students are supposed to take away from today's activities. So, Matt, thank you so much for joining us.

MATT FRIEDMAN, CEO AND FOUNDER, THE MEKONG CLUB: Thank you for the opportunity.

MONTGOMERY: Of course.

FRIEDMAN: Good to be here.

MONTGOMERY: And what is the main lesson that you want students to take away from today's activity?

FRIEDMAN: You know, when students do academic work, it's often cerebral, esoteric, you know, theoretical. And so, they hear about child labor and they hear about what happens to them, but it's all in their brain. What we do with this simulation is simulate a situation where they actually have to do something repetitive on a regular basis over and over again. And then, they get shouted at, and they get scolded, and so forth.

And so, even though they're only doing it for 30 minutes, they're walking the talk. They're feeling what it's like. They're being able to identify in their mind, imagine if I had to do this from 6:00 in the morning till 11:00, and it stays with them.

MONTGOMERY: And it really seemed that it made an impact on the students.

FRIEDMAN: Well, I had a number of students come up afterwards and say, well, I want to do what it is that you do. Well, how do I go about doing that? Because, you know, students, by their very nature, they're compassionate, empathetic, and they want to help and they're natural problem solvers. They're a little bit black and white in the way they do that, but when they hear that there's 160 million child laborers in the world, and, you know, 18 million of them are in human trafficking situations, and the world hasn't had a lot of impact in addressing this, they say, well, what can I do to help?

So, even at their age -- my youngest volunteer was nine years old. A girl approached me, saw me in a documentary and said, I want to help. I said, you're nine years old. She said, well, give me an opportunity to show what I could do. I asked her to get online materials and she did what my second year Yale law students couldn't find because she used that skill that she had inherently in her. Everyone has a particular skill, in her particular case, it was that. So, we want to reach out and tap into that. Get people excited about that.

MONTGOMERY: Yes. And that's really incredible to hear that. I mean, that is what My Freedom Day is, right? It's about getting students to be active, to engage in this very, very sinister and dark topic. I want to ask, how does child slavery impact a child's development?

FRIEDMAN: Well, they stop developing. They don't get to go to school. They mature very quickly. They develop defense mechanisms that are, you know, reactive because of the situations that they have. They don't understand love and joy and having fun, and it retards their development. It's a terrible thing to have a child in a situation where they're not able to grow, to participate in classrooms, to learn to socialize, to make friends and all of that. That gets changed in a person's life when they're in that situation.

MONTGOMERY: And it really is a common problem, right? It's very widespread in this world.

FRIEDMAN: One in 10 children are in child labor around the world. That's a huge number. Just imagine a thousand people, you know, 10 percent of them being in that kind of a situation. You know, and when it comes to human trafficking, there's 50 million people. Last year, the world helped 133,000, which is less than a half percent.

We, as a world, have to do a better job of stepping up and getting involved, and it starts with the students. You plant the seed now and this will result in them basically kind of going on and doing similar things to what I do.

MONTGOMERY: Absolutely. Thank you so much for your time today. There you have it, Rosemary. Freedom to learn is a very important skill. It's a very important right that should be guaranteed for millions of children worldwide. Rosemary.

CHURCH: A very important lesson for those students. Hanako Montgomery in Hong Kong, many thanks for that report. And our international coverage of My Freedom Day continues throughout today. Send us your thoughts on Freedom to Learn using the hashtag MyFreedomDay on social media and visit cnn.com/MyFreedomDay for more information.

And just ahead, hundreds evacuate after a major volcano erupts in Guatemala. More on how it's impacting people in the area after the break.

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CHURCH: A major volcanic eruption in Guatemala is forcing hundreds of people to evacuate. Authorities have evacuated nearly 300 families after Guatemala's volcano of fire started erupting overnight Monday. Another 30,000 people in the area could be at risk. The volcano is one of the most active in Central America. Nearly 200 people were killed when it erupted back in 2018.

A landslide destroyed dozens of homes in Bolivia's capital, La Paz, on Monday. Local officials say the disaster was caused by heavy rainfall that saturated the soil. Residents were able to retrieve some of their possessions from their homes, including large items like refrigerators. Security teams cleared the damaged structures before allowing residents to return. At least 40 families were affected by the landslide.

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For the first time since his hospitalization. Doctors say Pope Francis's health is improving. A Vatican source says the pontiff is not considered to be in imminent danger from double pneumonia in his lungs. The 88-year-old pontiff has been hospitalized since February 14th. However, the source says the pope's condition remains complex and he is not entirely out of danger. There's no timeline yet for his release from the hospital.

I want to thank you so much for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church. World Sport is coming up next. And Christina MacFarlane will have the day's news with more CNN Newsroom in 15 minutes from now. Do stay with us.

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