State of the Union: Senators Cruz (R-TX) & Cantwell (D-WA) 2/24/26

Squawk Pod

CNBC

Business News, News, Investing, Business

4.2 • 543 Ratings

🗓️ 24 February 2026

⏱️ 33 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Ahead of the President’s State of the Union address tonight, Joe Kernen sits down with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. First, Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) discusses the Supreme Court’s tariff ruling and his outlook for geopolitical shifts in the rest of President Trump’s term. Then, Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Washington) discusses tariff confusion and the latest development in Netflix’s and Paramount Skydance’s competing bids for Warner Bros. Discovery. Sen. Ted Cruz - 10:48 Sen. Maria Cantwell - 24:16 In this episode: Ted Cruz, @SenTedCruz Maria Cantwell, @SenatorCantwell Joe Kernen, @JoeSquawk Andrew Ross Sorkin, @andrewrsorkin Cameron Costa, @CameronCostaNY

Transcript

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0:00.0	Bring in show music, please.
0:04.3	This is Squawk Pod, and I'm CNBC producer Cameron Costa.
0:08.7	On today's episode, gearing up for the president's State of the Union address.
0:15.0	Joe is in D.C. on Capitol Hill with senators from both sides of the aisle.
0:20.4	First, Ted Cruz.
0:21.9	I'm not a tariff guy, but I will say President Trump has changed my mind on one aspect,
0:27.5	which is I think tariffs are an incredibly effective lever point for the president.
0:31.9	Then what Democrats are hoping to hear on tariffs tonight with Washington Senator Maria Cantwell.
0:38.1	In a dream world, I would love the president to say, I hear the courts, and I'm going to go to
0:43.7	Congress, and I'm going to have a discussion with them about trade and about how to get markets
0:49.0	open, about how to get soybeans into Asia or apples from our state.
0:58.9	Plus, Wall Street's fears of AI disruption keep rattling the markets.
1:03.1	And the bidding war for Warren Brothers' discovery just keeps heating up.
1:08.1	Big enough and interesting enough for us to spend a lot of time talking about, which we do.
1:14.9	It's Tuesday, February 24th, 2026, and Squawk Pod begins right now.
1:23.1	Stand and under by in three, two, one, cue, Andrew. Good morning and welcome to Squackbox right here on CNBC. We are live at the NASDAQ Market Set in Times Square. I'm Andrew Ross Sorkin, along with Joe Kernan, who is in Washington, D.C. this morning, wearing a suit, no less, ahead of tonight's state of the union address. Becky's off. We got a whole bunch of things gone. No pocket square, Joe Karnan, no pocket square. No, but take a screenshot. This never happens. I know.
1:45.0	I know. You without the jacket, me, me with the jacket. I feel like, I mean, I feel totally
1:51.3	inhibited. I could be a totally different person. Well, we'll see how that works out. We can only hope.
1:56.7	We're coming off some drops of more than 1% for all the major averages.
2:01.2	And in focus for investors, renewed fears of an AI disruption in the tech sector.
2:06.0	Cybersecurity stocks were hit particularly hard.
2:08.8	IBM lost 13% on worries that Anthropa could poach some of its business.
	...

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