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CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip
Polls Show Broad Opposition to Trump's Iran War Among Americans; Trump Says, I'm Trying Not to Say War to Avoid Congressional Approval; Trump Faces Backlash Over Easing Iran Oil Sanctions Amid War. Airport Chaos Continues; Trump's Housing Chief Issues New Criminal Referrals Targeting New York Attorney General Letitia James. Aired 10-11p ET
Aired March 25, 2026 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[22:00:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR (voice over): Tonight, new polls show Americans are largely against Donald Trump's war as the clock ticks on his deadline.
KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: President Trump does not bluff and he is prepared to unleash hell.
HUNT: Plus, the president once blasted Barack Obama for cash payments to Iran.
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Obama's deal was one of the -- maybe the worst deal I've ever seen. It gave everything to Iran, including billions of dollars,
HUNT: But now his administration is defending a $14 billion windfall to Iran in the middle of war.
Also --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel angry. I feel used. I feel abused.
HUNT: As the pain from the DHS shutdown intensifies, talks appear to go backwards.
LEAVITT: For the Democrats in Congress, the cruelty of this shutdown is the point.
HUNT: And extreme makeover ICE Edition, Trump says sending agents to airports is rehabbing their image.
Live at the table, Steve Moore, Neera Tanden, Shermichael Singleton and Congresswoman Marilyn Strickland.
Americans with different perspectives aren't talking to each other, but here, they do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT (on camera): Good evening. I'm Kasie Hunt in tonight for Abby.
As questions mount over the war in Iran and the White House seeks an off-ramp, angst is growing among Americans, Republicans, key leaders who all seem to be losing patience with President Trump and his administration over the ongoing conflict. New polling shows a majority of voters broadly oppose U.S. military action in Iran. A separate survey finds 59 percent of Americans think it's gone too far. And another 59 percent think the U.S. made the wrong decision to begin with.
The White House, though, refusing to back down.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEAVITT: President Trump dad is not bluff and he is prepared to unleash hell. Iran should not miscalculate again. Any violence beyond this point will be because the Iranian regime refused to understand they have already been defeated and refused to come to a deal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Today, Trump administration officials met with lawmakers to discuss the state of the war, and it apparently didn't go well. Republican House Armed Services Committee Chair Mike Rogers called out the Pentagon for not providing clear answers. And GOP Congresswoman Nancy Mace walked out saying she refuses to support troops on the ground and compared the conflict to another Iraq.
So, what comes next in this war and for the world? Here's the U.N. chief with this stark warning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTONIO GUTERRES, U.N. SECRETARY GENERAL: More than three weeks on the war is out of control. The conflict has broken past the limits even leaders saw unimaginable. The world is staring down the barrel of a wider war.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Staring down the barrel of a wider war. We're going to debate here.
How, Congresswoman, do you think this is going among, especially your Republican colleagues, Mike Rogers, not someone who's been afraid to call out this administration or disagree with them in public, not something every Republican member of Congress is willing to do, but noteworthy in that it seems to be spreading from just MAGA Republicans who are worried about, you know, who want America first, is how they would put it, to a more mainstream voice in the party?
REP. MARILYN STRICKLAND (D-MD): Well, this president campaigned on no more wars, and you saw the comments coming out of the briefing, bipartisan dissatisfaction. And when I was on your show about a month ago, I talked about the fact that the president did not make the case to the American people. The president did not make the case to Congress, and we have the authority to declare war. And here we are a month in, and everything just seems so conflicted. You hear the president say something on social media that it's almost over. We're coming to a deal. Then Iran says, no, we're not.
[22:05:00]
And so I think part of the problem here is that the clear case was never made. We've been in for four weeks now, and now we're talking about putting troops on the ground. There is no excuse for not coming to the American people and to Congress for making the case for why this is important.
And I want to make sure that we're not denying the fact that the Islamic Republic Guard, largest state sponsor terror in the world, Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, we're not denying that, but the way this war has been conducted has a lot of Americans on both sides of the aisle very concerned.
SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think that's actually a fair point, and I think that there is a case to be made. I think at this point it's a little too late to say, well, was this the right decision? And I think the question that should be begged, is if we did not act, what would the end result would be? And what does winning look like, to your point about making a case to the American people?
One, you do want to end the number one state sponsor of terror. I think that's critically important. But, two, an argument that I've been framing for a couple of weeks now is the China issue. When I look at Venezuela, when I look at Iran, the importance of diminishing China's global reach is, I think, fundamentally important to the United States in the immediate, but also in the long run.
And so if I were advising the president, I would say, Mr. President, you can make a case to the American people. Make that case now. Maybe you'll lose some --
HUNT: You say that's not the case the president is currently.
SINGLETON: But I would say, Kasie, that I think you would even find some Democrats who would find that message to be palatable with the right strategy and an end date in mind.
NEERA TANDEN, PRESIDENT AND CEO, CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS: I guess I would just ask you, how are we exactly weakening China right now? I mean, I could even imagine if you weren't giving the $14 billion to Iran to basically fund, send oil to China. But I think China is looking at these facts and sitting pretty happily, the fact that we are kind of at war with our own allies, we're attacking our allies in Europe. I think the rest of the world, countries like India, other countries in Asia are identifying the United States as the source of their increasing oil prices. They have food lines in India because they're so reliant on fertilizer and oil.
So, I actually think the truth is that this war is making us weaker relative to China. And so --
SINGLETON: Can I answer that question just quickly?
TANDEN: Sure.
HUNT: And then I want Steve to jump in, yes.
SINGLETON: Sure. About 14 -- 13 to 14 percent of oil that's imported into China comes from Iran. Now, according to some of the research that I did earlier before this segment, a lot of that is set aside for strategic purposes. That's not a small amount of oil. So, the question --
HUNT: You just flipped at the same --
SINGLETON: So, the question of how that will impact China, my framing of the argument would be that's exactly how.
TANDEN: But that's -- they did -- I just want to say they did just allow that oil to be sold to China that is lifting the sanctions.
SINGLETON: With the $14 billion of Iranian oil.
HUNT: We're going to just dig into that in the next block.
STEPHEN MOORE, FORMER TRUMP ECONOMICS ADVISER: So, look, I'm a strong Trump supporter, always have been, but I guess if that poll was asked me, I'm somewhere in the middle on this. I'm, kind of undecided about whether this makes sense or not. I want to see how it turns out.
There's clearly -- and one thing that nobody talks about, there was clearly a humanitarian objective here. I mean, this was a murderous regime that was killing thousands and thousands of his own people. We're also discovering that they had all sorts of weapons that were dangerous.
And so I think the real question is not how Americans feel about it now. I mean, the poll, I think a lot of clearly Americans are skeptical, but the question is, how will people feel six months from now or a year from now? Will they feel like the world's a safer place because of this? Will they feel like, you know, the ramifications that we've kind of brought some stability to the Middle East?
I mean, look, I remember the 1970s, we've been dealing with these Middle Eastern issues since the Iranian hostage situation. So, hopefully, we can bring some stability to it.
So, I think Americans will basically say in the end of the day, this might have been the right thing to do but let's see what the world looks like.
One other quick thing, It's got to get over with quickly. Americans want this to be done. There was a news story about The Wall Street Journal just an hour ago saying, Trump wants to get this done quickly.
HUNT: Well, that's exactly what I was going to ask you, because I take your point on what does the polling say in six months, right? And that's how history is going to write itself. But this president makes a lot of decisions based on polling that he's getting in the moment, right? And if these polls are particularly bad, those gas prices are getting worse and worse, it's going to impact how he makes decisions, you know?
MOORE: Well, it's going to impact the economy. That's the problem. That's the big problem right now is we're looking at $4 and $5 gallon gasoline. And when energy prices go up, that affects inflation of just about everything. And it's another reason why the administration would do well to get this over with as quickly as possible and hopefully victoriously.
SINGLETON: But, Kasie, if I could just add, I mean, I take the point of getting it over with quickly, but what does that mean in terms of the regime? You have a stronger regime who I would suspect would want to increase their ability to get to a nuclear weapon as quickly as possible, and the idea that if we have at least one or two nukes, this probably won't happen again. And I can't imagine anyone in the west or even our allies in the region would like an Iranian regime with nukes that they can give to terror proxies --
HUNT: So, are you arguing that months and months to avoid that?
[22:10:02]
SINGLETON: Well, I'm not arguing months and months. I just think that has to be factored in, Kasie, a quick resolution to this, but then what, as it pertains to the regime in the long run. I don't think that's been considered at all here.
STRICKLAND: But I will say this, I mean, there was never spelled out what success looks like, right? And I've heard a variety of things. Sometimes it's regime change. Sometimes it's getting rid of the ballistic vessels. Sometimes it's, well, let's just diminish their nuclear capabilities. And because we're not getting accurate information or consistent information from this administration, people don't know what to think, and so it's confusing.
MOORE: Do you favor regime change in Iran?
STRICKLAND: You know what? The United States is not good at regime change. So, if it happens, it should be a multinational coalition.
MOORE: But it would a safer world if we got rid of this regime.
STRICKLAND: But not the people who live there determine how that works out.
MOORE: It's not working out so well for the Iranians.
SINGLETON: We should support those efforts.
TANDEN: But I think that actually this discussion is, I think, precisely the problem.
HUNT: Right.
TANDEN: Right? I mean, there have been people who have been gaming at regime change for many years, for decades with Iran, exactly. And the real challenge is people knew beforehand that the Iranians would likely take control of the Strait of Hormuz.
The situation we're in right now is exactly this. We are facing higher prices. People are concerned about cost of living people. The American people have already spent $10 billion just in the last three and a half weeks in higher oil prices, at a time where people are very concerned, and yet the argument for American -- you know, American dignity and respect out of this is to keep going week after week after week. Because, honestly, I think the president expected us to have won by now, and the fact that we haven't is a deep concern about our ability.
HUNT: I mean, I will say we are still so ever within this four to six-week window that the administration, and I agree with you, there has been a lot of mixed messaging, confusion around the length of time.
TANDEN: You could say we've already won.
HUNT: But if you look at the national security community, the secretary of state and others, this four to six-week timeframe is when we're still in.
I do want to play something that the president said just a couple hours ago in terms of -- and as we know, the president often thinks and talks a lot about how things should be talked about. He is, you know, the ultimate reality T.V. show president. He understands how and why you talk about things can matter. So, here's what he said about whether or not we should be calling this a war.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: They say if you used the word war, that's maybe not a good thing to do. They don't like the word war because you're supposed to get approval. So, I'll use the word military operation, which is really what it is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: I mean, Steve Moore, is this what it is, just a military operation? Because the whole administration has been using word war, and, you know the vote -- they're going to ask Congress for $200 billion. That vote is really shaping up to be an up or down vote on whether we should be in this war.
MOORE: And that should -- you know, that's what Congress is for, and they should vote. And I want to see -- you know, I want to see what they say to that about the $200 billion.
I would say that it's a lot of money. We're facing a big budget deficit already of $2 trillion a year. I would just add one thing to this discussion. Thank God we're drilling for as much possible oil and gas in the United States as we can. You know, thanks to that policy, the United States is now producing more oil and gas than any other country in the world. Hopefully, one of the endgames of this is we won't have to be dependent on the Middle East any longer for oil and gas. We have plenty of it. We have more oil and gas than any other country in the world.
By the way, we're now a net exporter of oil and gas.
HUNT: Right. But the crisis in the strait is still going to spike oil prices.
MOORE: I know. But I'm just saying, the more we produce here at home, the better it is for the United States.
TANDEN: As we are producing more than we've ever produced, and it's a global price for oil. So, I think the real challenge is that all these goods are interconnected. Natural gas has a global price as well. So, what happens in the Strait of Hormuz affects us despite how much we're producing -- how much oil we're producing.
MOORE: Except that you were opposed to a lot of the drilling policies.
TANDEN: But you don't know exactly what I was for at any given point, honestly. But I could say, I definitely believe that we need more energy supply in the country, but I just think people who've supported these policies should recognize that it has done really nothing to insulate Americans from that dollar increase in gas from what's happened in the Strait of Hormuz.
STRICKLAND: You know, and I want to add too, you talked about the $200 billion that's going to be requested. And, you know, that amount is so ridiculous when you think about what happened with the big, ugly bill last summer. Number one, the increase bill ICE's budget.
MOORE: You mean the beautiful bill?
STRICKLAND: No, the ugly -- the really ugly bill. They increased ICE's budget by $73 billion. They took healthcare away from millions of Americans. They increased -- they took away food stamps. And these things are happening to the American people in real time.
MOORE: We took the fraud away --
STRICKLAND: Okay. So, anyway --
MOORE: (INAUDIBLE) fraudulent.
STRICKLAND: Yes.
TANDEN: 15 million people --
HUNT: Finish your thought. STRICKLAND: Yes. I'm going to finish my thought. So, all those things got taken away from the American people creating more hardship for them. Prices were increasing before this war even started, and now with the price of energy going up, it's just compounding.
[22:15:00]
And so when we have this idea that this administration's going to say, hey, we need another $200 billion, that's going to be a pretty hard no for a lot of people, including a lot of Republicans, by the way.
MOORE: Okay. But let me respond to that, because I helped write the bill. You voted against the bill, and that bill is giving every single middle class American $2,000 tax cut this year. So, you're in favor of the middle class paying $2,000 paying more taxes?
(CROSSTALKS)
MOORE: How is that going to make things more affordable to families if they have to pay $2,000 more in taxes next year? That doesn't make any sense.
TANDEN: For middle class people, it's actually at $973, people who make under $80,000, and that $973 has been wiped out by the increase in gas costs just in the last month.
(CROSSTALKS)
HUNT: We clearly keep going on all of this for the next few minutes, but we have to keep moving.
Coming up here at the top of the hour, South Carolina Congresswoman Nancy Mace is going to join Laura Coates to discuss just what happened in that briefing. Make sure you stick around for that.
But coming up next for us here, why are Republicans okay with Trump potentially giving Iran a $14 billion windfall by lifting oil sanctions after slamming Obama for a fraction of that?
Plus, a district attorney now warning ICE agents to follow the law or they'll be put in handcuffs. This is a deal to reopen DHS that seems to be falling apart.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[22:20:00]
HUNT: Tonight, as the war rages on, Donald Trump is defending a potential $14 billion windfall. It could go to Iran in the form of oil sanctions relief with prices hovering around $100 a barrel. The Trump administration says the relief is intended to increase global oil supply, and any benefit to Iran would be minimal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Any small amount of money that Iran gets is not going to have any difference in this war. But I want to have the system be lubricated.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: So, critics have been quick to point out what they say is the irony of Trump's move for years and, in fact, up until just days ago, Donald Trump has been slamming the Obama administration's $1.7 billion payment to Iran that was closely linked to the nuclear deal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I think it was the worst deal I've ever seen negotiated. I think it was a deal that should have never been negotiated.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The nuclear you're talking about?
TRUMP: Absolutely, the deal that was made by the Obama administration.
We gave them $1.7 billion in cash, which is unheard of.
Iran went on a terrorist spree funded by the money from the deal.
The missiles fired last night at us, and our allies were paid for with the funds made available by the last administration.
They sent Boeing 757s over there loaded with cash, put it into place, sent it to Iran, almost as ransom. That's not going to happen with Trump.
Can you imagine if I did that? How could -- does the president have the power to hand hundreds of millions of dollars of cash to terrorists?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: So, of course, this windfall is based on lifting sanctions that will allow oil that's already on ships essentially to be sold, put into the global market. And if you run the math, you get to $14 billion.
Steve Moore, is this good policy in this context?
MOORE: Yes, it's a tough one. I mean, look, no, we were just talking about people being angry about paying, you know, $4 and $5 a gallon gas. So, if this money makes into the market, it'll bring down the price here at home. So, this is for the American people to decide whether that's worth it to pay less at the pump to give a temporary, you know, lifting of these sanctions that get us thrown around so it gets into the tanks of the American motorists. So, I don't know, and we'll see what Americans think about that.
SINGLETON: I don't want anything going to the benefit of this regime, Kasie. I just have to be honest. I understand the point. And, Neera, you made a valid point in terms of the American people struggling at the pump. I get that. I empathize with it and I'm certainly not ignoring it. But we are in the midst of a conflict with this regime. And whether it's $14 billion or $1 billion -- well, I think it's slightly different than Obama. We're not directly giving them cash, but they are still benefiting. They are still benefiting. And I'm of the mindset that I would not want the regime to benefit.
I get the politics of this, but we have to realize if you're allowing them to access that type of capital, then that's capital that will allow them to potentially kill more of our troops when we send the 1,000 over there. So, no, I'm not a necessarily supporter of this.
TANDEN: I mean, I would argue this is, if you think what Obama did was bad, this is infinitely worse. Why? Because -- no, I'll be really clear with you why. We were not at war with Iran when that happened. We had just signed the JCPOA, the nuclear deal. Maybe you don't like it, but we weren't actually at war with them. And just a quick calculation here, $14 billion is 400,000 Shahed drones, 400,000 Shahed drones, which they can produce -- we know they can produce themselves.
So, I just want to say, I understand that the president is panicked about gas prices, but perhaps the worst possible idea is to provide resources to a regime you are actually at war with so that they can buy more weapons to threaten not only American troops that we may send over there, but, you know, our allies, et cetera. How are we funding their bonds?
HUNT: It actually sounds like this table is basically in agreement about this. The question is was when Obama did it or when Trump did worse.
SINGLETON: Right. And I was just going to say, Kasie, Neera, you're my friend, I certainly respect you, but I do think it's a little hypocritical because in the previous segment, you said, look, gas prices need to come down immediately.
[22:25:08]
TANDEN: You know, I have --
(CROSSTALKS)
TANDEN: I have a great way to lower gas prices.
MOORE: How?
TANDEN: 92 percent of Americans agree with me. The best path forward is to end the war.
SINGLETON: Okay, I know where you're going here.
TANDEN: You can end the war.
SINGLETON: That's not going to happen tomorrow.
TANDEN: By the way, it could. Apparently, we've already won the word, according to the president.
MOORE: The one thing about the gas prices, if you look at what's called the futures markets, that's what the market is predicting, the price of gas will be, you know, three, four, five, six months from now, every -- the futures market is telling us that we're going back to the very low gas prices we had before we went into Iran. So, this is a temporary situation. It'll last three or four months, and then we're going to be back to the lowest -- you know, under Trump before this --
TANDEN: Is it transitory?
MOORE: What's that?
TANDEN: Is it transitory?
MOORE: Transitory, yes. I like that one.
(CROSSTALKS)
HUNT: Okay, that only these two people sitting at the table would be capable of making with each other. Okay, transitory inflation is what Neera is talking about.
TANDEN: I'm sorry, I apologize.
HUNT: Let's watch Scott Bessent, who is the treasury secretary. He was out on Meet the Press over the weekend trying to explain this policy. And the phrase he used is, well, he says that we're jiu- jitsuing the Iranians. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCOTT BESSENT, TREASURY SECRETARY: About 140 million barrels are out on the water. In essence, we are jiu-jitsuing the Iranians. We are using their own oil against them.
When we unsanctioned this, rather than the oil going to China, it can go to Japan, it can go to Korea, it can go to Indonesia, it can go to Malaysia,
KRISTEN WELKER, NBC NEWS HOST: And it can go to Iran too. I mean, isn't the point that the sanctions were in place to prevent Iran from getting any of the money? They will have access to some of the money.
BESENT: No. Again, Kristen, you're missing the point. So, please listen to me. They were getting it from China anyway.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: All right. So, Scott Bessent says that Kristen Welker was missing the point. Let's see about these Republican senators, okay, who we've heard from in recent days. The headline here is Trump draws bipartisan backlash for easing oil sanctions on Russia and Iran. Senator Chuck Grassley, Republican of Iowa, called lifting restrictions on Russian oil the, quote, wrong move, adding that every dollar generated from sales, quote, fuels Putin's war and prolonged suffering in Ukraine. Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi signaled unease with the administration's broader strategy, criticizing the combined decision to ease sanctions on both Russian and Iranian oil.
Senator Jerry Moran, Republican of Kansas, warned that the temporary waivers would, quote, enrich the very countries that we wish to harm, contending that they reversed the impact of earlier sanctions that had begun to squeeze Russia's finances.
STRICKLAND: So, Iran is the biggest beneficiary of lifting the sanctions.
HUNT: See, like, look, what, we could just go to break.
STRICKLAND: We don't debate it. We don't need to complicate it. We don't need to try to play verbal jiu-jitsu. What's the word?
HUNT: Jiu-jitsu.
STRICKLAND: Jiu-jitsu, right? I can't even say it.
HUNT: My six-year-old is his favorite thing.
STRICKLAND: Yes, exactly. But that's the thing. It's like, you know, this benefits the Islamic Republic regime, period.
SINGLETON: Whether it's Iran, the Russians, I think it's really cognizant right now for Republicans to advise the president how important it is to not permit our adversaries, quite frankly, to have the monetary ability to kill innocent people in Ukraine or innocent people in Iran, or our troops who are going to be stationed over there trying to gain control of the Strait of Hormuz.
I get the politics of it, I get the polling, but some things are a bit bigger than what's immediately before you, and that's the advice I'd give the president on this.
STRICKLAND: But I would say this, though, what is the long game? It has not been clearly communicated to the American people or to Congress. That's part of the big problem.
MOORE: To make the Middle East safer. I mean, you know, we're eliminating all of their weapons that could be used against the United States and --
TANDEN: It doesn't feel that safe right now.
MOORE: So, the world will be a safer place when we leave Iran.
HUNT: And, initially, the argument was Americans should tolerate some short-term pain --
MOORE: Well, that's the question.
HUNT: -- for the long-term gain, if you are outlining, right?
MOORE: And that's the question.
HUNT: It turns out the president seems unable to tolerate the short- term pain. So, he's doing something that it seems like everyone in this table is in agreement might not be in our long-term best interest.
Coming up next here, the TSA is sounding the alarm that agents are selling their blood and sleeping in their cars to make ends meet in this shutdown. And tonight, talks to reopen DHS have stalled out, apparently. We'll discuss
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[22:30:00]
KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: We are just days away from TSA workers missing their second full pay check. If Senate Democrats and Republicans can't agree on a DHS funding deal soon, and that does not look likely. Senate Majority Leader John Thune responded to the Democrats most recent counter proposal bluntly, telling CNN the offer was quote, "not even close to being real," end quote, and that they, quote, "know better." As pay checks hang in the balance, the TSA administrator is telling Congress just how dire the situation is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HA NGUYEN MCNEILL, ACTING TSA ADMINISTRATOR: Many in our workforce have missed bill payments, received eviction notices, had their cars repossessed and utilities shut off, lost their child care, defaulted on loans, damaged their credit line, and drained their retirement savings.
[22:35:00]
Some are sleeping in their cars, selling their blood and plasma, and taking on jobs -- second jobs to make ends meet.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: CNN's Sara Sidner spoke to a TSA officer whose husband also works for the agency. She says her family is barely getting by.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TATIANA FINLAY, TSA UNION REP, AFGE LOCAL 556: By this Friday, it'll be 42 days since officers have received a full pay check since this latest shutdown. It has come to the point of like having to skip meals because I have to make sure that my kids are fed. And so, if it comes down to, I'll just feed them and I'll skip a meal and, you know, we'll keep stretching that dollar, so be it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: The White House says that hardship is all part of the Democrats' plan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: They'll ask for something, we'll give them that concession and then they say, oh wait, that's not enough, actually. So, I think that's why I said earlier, the cruelty is the point. They want this chaos. They want to distract, I think, from the success of our military overseas right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: This is a blame game where -- not a lot of winners.
STEEVE MOORE, FORMER TRUMP ECONOMICS ADVISER: Let me start by saying, someone who flies a lot. I want to salute the TSA agents who are on the job. They are the heroes in this, no question about it. And they've made life in airports at least passable. The villain here, I hate to say this, is Congress.
REP. MARILYN STRICKLAND (D-WA): Do you really hate it? Do you really hate saying that?
MOORE: The villain is Congress. And I've lived through 40 -- I've lived in this town 40 years. I've lived through, what, 15 government shutdowns. This is the stupidest shutdown we've ever seen. Democrats are saying, we will not allow people to you don't want voter ID which is something 80 percent of Americans are in favor of, blacks are in favor of, Hispanics are --
(CROSSTALK)
HUNT: But what does voter ID have to do with funding the Department of Homeland Security?
(CROSSTALK)
MOORE: Every group is in favor of it. And -- so that we can have honest elections, you're basically creating mayhem with people.
(CROSSTALK)
MOORE: Why can't you get the thing open so people aren't facing -- missing their flights, people waiting two and three hours And all we to do is pass legislation, get voter ID, let's get the government open, and everybody goes away happy.
STRICKLAND: So, I'm going to give you a very truthful answer. There's one villain in this drama and his name is Donald Trump. Thune had a deal with the Senate.
MOORE: He didn't shut down. He didn't shut it down.
STRICKLAND: Okay, don't interrupt me, okay?
MOORE: He didn't shut down.
STRICKLAND: Thune had a deal that said we're going to separate ICE and we're going to pass the Homeland Security bill on its own. And here's the deal. ICE got $75 billion in your Big Ugly Bill. They don't need any more money. And then the mayhem that they are doing to American cities, terrorizing citizens, murdering three people, one in L.A., two in Minneapolis, and the general public does not like what ICE is doing. It's polling poorly.
So, there's a simple solution. Do what the Majority Leader Thune wanted to do. Separate ICE and CPB, pass the DHS bill, pay TSA workers, pay the Coast Guard, fund FEMA, and then we can talk about ICE later. But the President said, I don't want to do that. Then he wants to attach a voter suppression bill to that. That is ridiculous. It has nothing to do --
(CROSSTALK)
TANDEN: If you're going to raise the SAVE Act, I just need to say this. It is not a Voter ID Bill.
MOORE: It's 80 percent. Every group supports it except Democrats and Congress.
(CROSSTALK)
TANDEN: No, no. It's not a Voter ID Bill, okay?
UNKNOWN: It's a voter suppression bill.
TANDEN: I will say what the bill does. Requiring everyone to have passports or a birth certificate is not voter ID. Most people think voter ID is requirement of driver's licenses. I think a lot of Democrats are fine with the requirement of driver's licenses and they voted for that in the Freedom To Vote Act. But I will think, I would say all -- this whole conversation is exactly what's wrong with Washington --
(CROSSTALK)
TANDEN: -- because this bill -- inclusive -- you're not even responding to what I said, driver's license.
MOORE: How's that changing the subject? Everything you have to do in America requires an ID except voting?
HUNT: Let her talk. Let her talk.
TANDEN: In the states that have voter ID, they require a driver's license. There's really only no -- there's no states that are asking what the SAVE Act is, which is a birth certificate or a passport, which will honestly ensure a lot of people who have a right to vote can't vote. And honestly, this has nothing to do with DHS.
(CROSSTALK)
HUNT: I will just say that having, you know, I've been covering this now for however long it's been going on. The SAVE Act only became part of this conversation when the President brought it up a couple days ago, okay? This is a shutdown from quite a while, and it's been about ICE instead.
SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: If I could go back to the original point, which I think is really, really important here. We don't have the numbers on our side to pass this. And I think it's important for the American people to understand Republicans, the most part, are behind this. We are going to need some Democrats' help and support.
Now, I think Republicans are spot on with some of the things that they're demanding as it pertains to ICE. Democrats philosophically disagree and that's perfectly fine. My worry, though, is we are in the midst of a conflict with Iran. I do worry about the safety of Americans who are traveling. I do worry about TSA agents who are sleeping in their freaking cars because they're not getting paid. This should be unacceptable in this country.
[22:40:01]
And so honestly, I must say Democrats, we need a little help here. And let's figure out a way to compromise to pass this so that people can go to work, so that Americans can stay safe. I don't think that's asking too much.
HUNT: I mean, one question I do have is that their Republicans have accused Chuck Schumer of moving the goalposts on this. And John Thune, you know, they had gone down to the floor over and over again, Chuck Schumer had, and said, we'll fund everything except for ICE, right? John Thune gets the President to agree to a version of that, right?
They're going to try to do the SAVE Act and they're going to try to do the payments for ICE in the Reconciliation Bill. And essentially, Democrats said, no, actually, we don't really agree to that anymore, right? So, I mean, what do you say to that, right?
TANDEN: Yes, I think that the truth of this is that ICE and CBP have always been part of this negotiation for Democrats. It is CBP that actually -- the people who worked for CBP were the people who killed Alex Pretti. So, it is both of those things. I do think this is not just an ICE conversation, it's both of those. There are agreements that Senate Democrats and Republicans had last week around reforms that Senator Thune has also walked away from.
So, I think, I hope, I think we all hope that we resolve this as soon as possible. I would also say a simple way to resolve this is to have bipartisan votes to just support TSA funding, which is what Democrats have offered eight, nine or 10 times.
(CROSSTALK)
TANDEN: So, either one of those paths. But I think you're right. People have to give a way to do that is to agree to some reforms that we know Republicans have already agreed to as of last week.
HUNT: I want to play something that Senator Rick Scott had to say about this. And I think it's worth noting as you listen to this that Senator Scott is the third richest member of Congress, which means, and this is kind of wild when you think that he's only the third richest member of Congress. His net worth is over half a billion dollars, $500 million. Let's watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. RICK SCOTT (R-FL): These are Democrat sinners that make $174,000 a year, some of them multimillionaires. The average net worth of a Democrat Senator is over three million bucks, and they're okay that people are making $50,000, right? They're okay with them not getting paid. That's exactly what's happened with TSA agents. And Democrat Senators have said they have to get paid. So, they're still getting paid, right? While TSA agents aren't that are out there trying to protect us --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: So again, I think we should underscore repeatedly that these TSA agents are out there on these front lines trying to protect the American traveling public. They are not honestly paid enough money, period, the end. However, is Rick Scott the right messenger for this?
TANDEN: Yes, I'll take that one.
(CROSSTALK)
STRICKLAND: Not exactly. Not exactly.
TANDEN: It's Marley Hartwood for me.
MOORE: I don't understand why they're opposed to, at least in the short-term, until you get this resolved, put some of the Border Patrol people to help get people through the airport so they don't have to wait three hours in line.
STRICKLAND: Why don't we just fund a clean TSA that's "Pay the Employees Bill?" It's been introduced in the Senate repeatedly and Republicans keep saying no. There are easy solutions to this. But we keep complicating it.
HUNT: Well, because everyone wants to use the political leverage that exists for whatever ends they have. Welcome to Washington. Coming up next is the presence of ICE at airports rehabbing the agency's image? Donald Trump thinks so. We'll discuss.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[22:48:13]
HUNT: Tonight, hundreds of ICE officers were at 14 airports across the country. Officials say they're assisting with simpler tasks that don't require specialized training. Travelers have spotted agents handing water bottles out in long lines. And the acting TSA administrator says they've been received well by the public.
President Trump says this is helping ICE rehab a fake image that Democrats have given them. He also called them great American patriots who, quote, "happen to have much larger and harder muscles than most." Okay. Would anyone like to fact check the --
SINGLETON: The public is receptive to it. Look, I understand if you're Democrat and Democratic elected officials have taken a position in part because they're responding to their constituents. That's the nature of electoral politics. I get it. But I think if you can prioritize a limited TSA staff to focus exclusively on screening while the ICE agents are doing other things, they're doing behavioral assessments, making sure that, you know, there aren't improper people going through lines, I don't think that's necessarily an operationally bad thing.
MOORE: I agree with that. I mean, why not do it until this gets settled? The one thing that bothers me is when you keep talking about ICE agents, there's somehow, like, villains and demons. Now look, there's some bad actors, no question about it. And by the way, I'm not even a fan of the deportation of people who are in the country working. I'm opposed to that.
STRICKLAND: I'm happy to hear that.
MOORE: But look, it's putting these people in danger when Democrats say how evil these people are and so on. It's, you know, these are the people who reduced illegal immigration by 95 percent under Donald Trump. That's one of the great triumphs of modern times.
STRICKLAND: Have you seen how they treated people?
MOORE: And I'm opposed to that. Look, if the ICE agents -- and you're right. There are some ICE agents that are out of control, and I -- but there are tens of thousands of ICE agents, and you act as if they're all, you know, villains.
STRICKLAND: I'm not calling them villains. I'm just talking about this ridiculous request to fund ICE after they got $75 billion in the Big Ugly Bill. And the public watches this and they say, wait a minute, what are these ICE agents doing? So, you know, I'm not going to fault the public for feeling a sense of mistrust, especially when the message coming from this administration is we hate -- we hate them and we want them out of here.
(CROSSTALK)
MOORE: -- all that money (inaudible). We had to spend all that money because Joe Biden let in six million illegal immigrants. It takes a lot of money --
(CROSSTALK)
STRICKLAND: Joe Biden is not president anymore. Donald Trump is. Nice try.
MOORE: But the illegal owners are still in the country.
TANDEN: Respectfully, about ICE, I think the position of Democrats on ICE is that ICE should really just follow the laws that your local law enforcement does. MOORE: Okay, I agree with that.
TANDEN: Your local law enforcement is required to have a warrant when they break into your house. I think you, as a supporter of the Constitution, would agree with that. Those are the kinds of protections that people are asking for. No one is saying, I'm not saying, don't think you're saying, everyone who works for ICE is a terrible person.
I think the idea -- I think what's actually tragic about ICE is that the president, by basically trying to ensure that there are no protections for civilians or American citizens has created an ICE force that the public distress. And it's not just Democrats, independents and some Republicans. You know, the attitude towards ICE is very negative. I don't think three days at GSA will change it.
HUNT: Well, let's put that up. We can put it up on the screen, okay? This is an NPR-PBS poll about whether ICE has gone too far in enforcing immigration laws. Sixty-five percent of Americans say that they've gone too far. Only 12 percent say that they haven't gone far enough. And when you ask people if they approve of the job ICE is doing, 58 percent disapprove, 42 percent approve here.
And you know, this is honestly, Shermichael, the President ran and won in no small part on an advantage we had on immigration a massive advantage on border security because of how it was handled previously. But these numbers show pretty clearly, that some of that, if not all of that, has been squandered.
SINGLETON: Look, I think good faith people could have different perspectives in terms of how ISIS handled the job. I think that's perfectly permissible. I think even the President recognizes this to an extent, which is why he sent Tom Homan -- he sent Tom Homan into Minnesota. He sent Tom Homan in to correct that issue. And so, I do want to give the President some credit there.
On the whole, I do think most Americans want people coming into the country legally. On the whole, I do also believe that there is a question about competition, particularly among certain types of jobs. I think that is a legitimate argument that can be framed, we've got an economist here perfectly.
But again, overall, have there been some things that we could have done better? Absolutely. I could acknowledge that as a conservative, but that doesn't mean that the overall objective hasn't been accomplished. It clearly has. And I think that's a net benefit to the country.
STRICKLAND: And no Democrat disagrees with having secure borders. We all want secure borders. And we want -- and we want an orderly transition for people, as you said, who are hardworking folks get a path to citizenship. Get dreamer citizenship.
(CROSSTALK)
MOORE: I'm pro-immigrant. They just have to come in legally. STRICKLAND: Absolutely. Absolutely. But even those who haven't, they're still here working hard. And so, mass deportation, that's what's unpopular with the American people. And the way ICE has conducted itself, not every single agent, but a lot of them wear masks, they don't wear body cameras, they run around with no judicial warrants, and they shouldn't --
MOORE: And they should be punished if they're --
(CROSSTALK)
STRICKLAND: But here's the deal. But let's train them up. Like we've trained up every other law enforcement.
(CROSSTALK)
HUNT: Those are the two sticking points at the Capitol Hill.
SINGLETON: I was just going to say, Congressman, that there is a concern from some Republicans that if you don't have these guys covered in their faces, they can be docs, it puts their families at risk, the officers themselves at risk, and I think that is legitimate thing that Republicans and Democrats need to try to compromise.
(CROSSTALK)
TANDEN: Except --
STRICKLAND: But if they were doing their job --
TANDEN: Donald Trump said take your mask off at the airport. So, I think that it's a little hard to argue that you can't really -- that taking the mask off is such a terrible thing when all these ICE agents are now at airports at Donald Trump's request with their masks off. So, if you're really concerned about doxxing, that could happen right now. I think that's another example of how that is actually not a concern, a legitimate concern of the administration because they throw it away so quickly.
HUNT: Certainly, it's an acknowledgement of the incendiary realities that can unfold when ICE agents are masked and the way that it makes the people that they're interacting with feel. All right --
(CROSSTALK)
MOORE: I have to fly to Dallas tomorrow and I hope I'm not going to wait for two hours.
(CROSSTALK)
HUNT: Houston airport lines have just been absolutely atrocious. And again, I mean, we should since we're having this conversation, button again by saying thank you to those TSA agents that are playing such an important role in keeping all of us safe as they try to move us through the airports.
[22:55:06]
All right, guys. Thank you.
SINGLETON: Thank you, Kasie.
HUNT: There's been so much agreement at this table tonight. It's so unusual. All right. Coming up next, Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace joins CNN after she walked out of a briefing from administration officials and says the Iran war is becoming, quote, "another Iraq." Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[23:00:05]
HUNT: Tonight, a top White House official takes new legal action against a long-time Trump rival. The President's housing chief issued two new criminal referrals targeting New York Attorney General Letitia James, accusing her of suspected homeowners' insurance fraud. James' attorney says the move is part of a, quote, "revenge campaign." This is the second time the administration has issued criminal referrals against James. Her previous case was dismissed.
Thank you for watching "NewsNight." You can also catch my show "The Arena" tomorrow at 4 P.M. Eastern right here on CNN. But "Laura Coates Live" starts right now.
