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Republicans Scramble To Pass Bill To Avert Government Shutdown; Now: Judge Hears Case On Trump Efforts To Dismantle CFPB; X Announces Plan For In-App Payments As DOGE Looks To Close Agency Regulating Cash Apps; Democrats Try To Catch A Break On Sports Radio. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired March 10, 2025 - 12:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:33:04]

DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR: Right now, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson is back on Capitol Hill preparing to push forward with the newly unveiled plan to keep the government open and funded. The hope? Pass a Trump-endorsed stopgap bill that buys lawmakers seven months.

The challenge? Friday night's deadline or shutdown. Democrats are already forecasting a fight, despite the Republican promise, to pass a clean bill.

I want to bring in Manu Raju who has spent the morning on Capitol Hill. Obviously, you've been talking to your sources. It seems, just to cut to the chase, that your sense is that the House is more likely, the question is what's going to happen when it gets to the Senate where they don't have Republican votes, at least 60 Republican votes?

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I think that's right. I think Democrats have a major calculation here on their hand about whether or not they're going to try to kill this in the Senate, and that's where this is probably going to land.

But let's look at the process here first.

BASH: OK.

RAJU: It's got to pass the House tomorrow. Mike Johnson has the narrowest of majorities. He's already lost one Republican vote. That's Thomas Massie. If all Democrats vote no, that means he cannot lose another Republican vote. You're seeing it on your screen there.

Tim Burchett of Tennessee, he told me this morning, he's undecided. Another congressman, Tony Gonzales, had previously said that he would oppose any stopgap measure. That was before Donald Trump weighed in.

Now Donald Trump wants everyone to fall in line, which is why Republican leaders believe they'll get this out of the House, and it seems they could be right. And then by Tuesday night, they could be gone. The House is leaving for its previously scheduled recess starting as early as Tuesday night, and then the Senate has a calculation.

The Democrats in the Senate, there'll need to be eight Democrats at least because we expect Rand Paul on the Republican side to vote no on this bill, to break a Republican -- Democratic-led filibuster. Will eight Democrats break ranks and join with their party to join with the Republicans?

BASH: For a lot of Democrats.

RAJU: There's a lot of Democrats, especially when they're concerned about the cuts to domestic spending. They didn't get anything to constrain Donald Trump, and they have absolutely no leverage. This is the one piece of leverage that they may not be able to use here effectively, which is why it's unclear how Chuck Schumer will ultimately decide to come down when it comes down to the Senate.

[12:35:11]

BASH: Here we are again.

RAJU: Yes.

BASH: All right, don't go anywhere because coming up, does Elon Musk have an ulterior motive for pushing to shut down the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau? The agency's now former director, who was fired by the Trump administration, is here next.

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[12:40:00]

BASH: Federal workers are in a D.C. courtroom now urging a judge to stop the White House from shuttering the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Already, DOGE has hollowed it out. Employees were sent home and basically told to stop working.

Its former director, who was fired by Donald Trump, says doing that, hollowing out the Consumer Protection Board, puts Americans with mortgages, with student loans, medical debt, and more at risk. And he warns the slasher-in-chief, I'm talking about Elon Musk, could have another goal, laying the groundwork for a wild west of big tech currencies operating with no government oversight.

That former director, Rohit Chopra, is here now. Thank you so much for being here. I really appreciate it.

So this is really -- because there's so many things that the CFPB does or did until a few weeks ago. But I do want to talk about Elon Musk. And just to start this conversation with a tweet that he put out there in -- a couple of months ago. When he rebranded Twitter as X, he said he wanted it to be an everything app where you could conduct your entire financial world.

So now what is happening, as Musk and his team, they have access to pretty much everything in the federal government. Sensitive data about and by and from American citizens. So explain in layman's terms why this is such a big deal.

ROHIT CHOPRA, FORMER DIRECTOR, CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU: Well, you know, big tech companies in the U.S. have really been drooling at what they see in China, where Chinese tech companies can conduct surveillance on all Chinese citizens and what they're buying every day.

So they're all trying to train their algorithms, artificial intelligence. And that's why you see Google Pay, Apple Pay, and now X Money wants to be able to know everything you're buying, how much you're paying for it, and what were you thinking about at the time?

And this really could lay the groundwork for the end of the price tag, where we are purchasing goods based on our behavior and our web browsing history, rather than a transparent price, because that is the way these tech companies can make a huge amount of money.

BASH: And how can his access to virtually all of our data help advance his goal -- to do that in his private company?

CHOPRA: Well, people have been wondering why are they so fixated with this -- with a small agency like the CFPB? It's because the CFPB is responsible for monitoring all of those tech companies for how they're moving our money to protect against privacy errors and fraud. And if they can creep in there and look even at their competitors, that could be a big edge for them.

You know, I really worry that when we buy an airplane ticket or something online, it should really be a fair price that you and I see the same thing. But more and more Americans are noticing that the price may be different based on who is looking at it and when. And that really raises some real issues about intrusive pricing in our life.

BASH: Yes, I mean, I've noticed that even when I've gone back to look for a ticket, the price goes up because they know I really want it. But let's stay focused on Elon Musk for a second, because just to go back to the concern that you've expressed about DOGE snooping on loan or mortgage data, why is that something that he can really benefit from, again, in his company and in his ultimate goal, which if you know anything about his sort of business evolution, from the very beginning, he has been really interested in having a platform that is everything.

And that when he bought X, he wanted it to transform into a financial payment process, just like a sort of an advanced version of what PayPal was.

CHOPRA: Yes. I mean, five years ago, we saw the same thing from Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook, where they tried to create a new global currency. And they were pretty open about it, that if they could have their own currency, they could track people's spending across their digital life.

And they would be able to charge companies that are using that currency big money. And this is, I think, part of a broader effort to create currencies that are outside of oversight when it comes to fraud, privacy, and more.

In fact, the Senate right now is thinking about letting those tech companies create their own currencies. And that raises just real questions about power, oversight, and could it actually lead to a risk to our financial system.

[12:45:04]

BASH: So there's the creating your own currency, which he's not the only one who's wanted to do this. I mean, we've seen this at other big tech companies and also other big financial companies as well. But the argument that he has made about the access that he has now to all of our data is that he had the same access when he was at PayPal and he didn't do anything to, you know, to disrupt or to use it in an untoward way.

But can you just explain whether or not it is, nevermind the latter part of what I just said, but explain why having access to data via PayPal and having access to data via the federal government are two different things?

CHOPRA: Well, I mean, it's all about volume and all about the types of transactions that you can ingest information about. Look, a lot of these companies are taking in huge amounts of data to train artificial intelligence. And those models might be used to determine what prices we pay on things.

It might also be used for a whole host of other commercial purposes. Part of the reason why we separate off our financial privacy and our health privacy is because when it falls into the wrong hands, that data, there is a big mismatch and abuse of power. And it is why we should not let these big tech companies control our nation's currency.

BASH: And right now there is no one at your now former agency, which you were ahead of, who's doing the basic job of trying to protect consumers that they were enacted or sort of the legislation passed and the president signed it into law in order to do.

CHOPRA: What's really suspicious is that some of the first people they fired were the technologists, those who specialize in overseeing these tech companies. I think they were illegally fired, but isn't it something that they were the first to be on the chopping block?

BASH: Thank you so much for coming in.

CHOPRA: Thank you.

BASH: I hope you come back. Appreciate it.

And coming up, Democrats are trying to show they've got game.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

GOV. JOSH SHAPIRO (D), PENNSYLVANIA: I think we can hold them to under 30 points. And so to me, I see a game of 31-27 birds.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

BASH: Is a full court press on sports shows a winning political strategy? That's next.

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[12:51:56]

BASH: Democrats are looking to rebound, and the New York Times reports they have a new game plan to try to reach voters. Yak it up about sports on radio and podcasts.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

SHAPIRO: The chatter about the passing game going into that game against the Steelers was kind of overblown, to be honest with you.

GOV. KATHY HOCHUL (D), NEW YORK: You don't have to say hi or goodbye. It's real simple. Just say, go Bills.

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D), MINORITY LEADER: It was a rough weekend --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

JEFFRIES: -- in terms of the Knicks and seeing what happened with Cleveland and Boston. Although I will say that it looked like they were out of it, and then they made a little run --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

JEFFRIES: -- in the third quarter.

GOV. WES MOORE (D), MARYLAND: When you're thinking about all the young talent that's there and locked in, and the ability now, I mean, we have one of the best pitching rotations in baseball right now.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

BASH: My panel is back. I can't tell if you're, Nia, if you're into this or not.

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: I mean, I watch a lot of sports TV, like when I'm writing my column, I often --

BASH: And do you want Hakeem Jeffries to be participating?

HENDERSON: No, I don't want them there sounding like politicians in their suits and their ties. It just seems a little forced to me.

BASH: OK, but let me just play devil's advocate here. They are genuinely sports fans.

HENDERSON: No, I think that's right. I think that's right.

BASH: As are most of us.

HENDERSON: Yes.

BASH: And listen, they're being -- they're trying to meet the voters where they are. And if the sports podcasters will let them on their programs --

HENDERSON: I think that's right. Just don't show up in the ties. Right? I mean, just seem more like you're at a game or something.

RAJU: I think it works if you are, look, if you are authentically a sports fan.

BASH (?): Yes.

RAJU: There are politicians who are. Great. And then there are those who are not. And if you're, say, John Kerry saying Lambert Field when he said --

HENDERSON: (INAUDIBLE), great.

RAJU: -- (INAUDIBLE) for the backers, that says something. Look, obviously this is the -- where do -- who are the people who listen to sports radio? Often young men.

BASH: Yes.

RAJU: Who do the Democrats struggle with? Young men.

BASH: Exactly.

RAJU: So it makes sense that they would be trying to do this and try to show an authentic side of themselves. But you're right. If it's forced, that could backfire.

BASH: Well, I'm glad you mentioned the young men thing because I'm just, you know, going on the experience in my house with my now teenage son who is all sports all the time. And since he was even younger than he is now, he started to see evidence of some of the conservative influencers who understood that you've got to get the young men in through the sports feeds. And that's what Democrats are trying to achieve.

ANDREW EGGER, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, THE BULWARK: Yes, Republicans have been way out ahead of Democrats on this. They're having to play some catch-up. And it is kind of awkward, right? I mean, there's a little bit of how do you do fellow kids' energy about the whole thing.

But I do think like that the main insight here is like, yes, it's awkward. Yes, they're going to get a little -- you know, people will make fun of them a little bit here and there. But like, that's the podcasting world. There's always another episode. So you get your sea legs now, get the awkward stuff out of the way now.

Just keep doing it. Make it more of a thing. Make it less of a thing that we have, you know, CNN spots about, wow, there's Democrats on sports radio now --

BASH: Yes.

EGGER: -- and just kind of part of the water table. I think that's what they're hoping to get to.

HENDERSON: And Obama did some of this, right?

BASH: Yes.

HENDERSON: When he would make his picks around March Madness, Go Duke. But so, yes, we'll see.

BASH: OK. You don't really want to talk about Dukes now, do you?

HENDERSON: No, I mean, Cooper flag. I think we're going all the way.

BASH: Yes. OK.

HENDERSON: We beat Carolina. Go to hell, Carolina. So, yes.

RAJU: This is the proper way to end this --

(CROSSTALK)

BASH: Do you want to talk about the Badgers?

[12:55:10]

RAJU: I always want to talk about Badgers and I feel very good about our chances despite the end of the season. But this is a solid team. And we're going to make a run this year.

BASH: Do you have any sports --

EGGER: Yes, I'm one of those white people who's really into women's basketball now because I'm an Iowa fan (INAUDIBLE) guy the last few years. So I -- you know, you guys have that tournament and I'll pay attention to the other one.

BASH: See, Hakeem Jeffries, this is how you do it.

HENDERSON: That's right, that's right.

BASH: This is how --

RAJU: This is authenticity.

HENDERSON: Yes.

BASH: It was totally organic. It just happened. I didn't even plan it that way.

Thank you so much. Thank you for joining Inside Politics. CNN News Central starts after the break.