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Gas Prices Surge As Iran Launches New Attacks In Middle East; Missing American Student James Gracey Found Dead In Barcelona; "Standoff: The FBI, Power And Paranoia" Premieres Sunday, 9PM ET/President Trump. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired March 20, 2026 - 07:30   ET

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

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[07:32:56]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: This morning lawmakers are starting to raise serious questions about the cost of the war with Iran. Even Republicans on the Hill are saying that they need much more detail before they are ready to sign off on what's expected to be a $200 billion ask for new funding for -- coming from the president. The president called this a small price to pay, meaning that price tag. But make no mistake, $200 billion though is a significant sum. It's nearly a quarter of the U.S.' entire annual defense budget.

And we're also now getting a look at the estimated cost breakdown of the U.S. operation so far in just the first six days of the war. This coming from CSIS, a bipartisan nonprofit research organization.

Now, CNN previously reported that the Pentagon told lawmakers that the first six days of this war brought a price tag of $11.3 billion. CSIS notes this number -- this number though appears to count only the operation's unbudgeted costs. It does not include the estimate cost of combat losses and infrastructure damage to the tune of $1.4 billion. Combat losses like, for example, three F-15 fighter jets that were mistakenly shot down by Kuwaiti Air Defenses in those first days that were reported on.

CSIS also points to operations and support costs and put that at over $26 million. And all of this puts then the total cost at $12.7 billion in just the first six days of this war -- Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Oof, and it's costing people in other ways. Gas prices have risen nearly every day since the war began. Analysts at Goldman Sachs who are watching the volatile price of oil suggest higher prices could last through 2027.

CNN senior business reporter David Goldman joining me now. Does that timeline surprise you at all or does it sound about right?

DAVID GOLDMAN, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS REPORTER: Yeah, it does surprise me because a lot of what we were talking about was that, you know, we were going to have these prices for a long time. But through this year and next year, I mean, we could be looking at $4.00 gas for a long time if gas stays in the triple -- if oil stays in the triple digits for a long time, yeah.

SIDNER: I mean -- and we're looking at what the price is today. Today, the average is $3.91 a gallon. We're talking about, what, a dollar above where it was?

GOLDMAN: Yeah, we're a buck above where we were a month ago. We're 90 cents above where we were before the war started. This is what it's going to be like for quite sometime if oil stays -- right now we're at $110.

SIDNER: Right.

GOLDMAN: If we keep marching higher to $120 and maybe even hitting records near $140 -- I mean, we could be seeing $5.00 gas. And we're already seeing that. You were mentioning earlier in L.A., you know, prices are almost $6.00.

SIDNER: Oh, yeah. They are going up and up and up.

Look, consumers obviously are dealing with this and it's really hard on them. But businesses also have to deal with this, especially those who have to rely on diesel.

Is there any plan that you've learned of that businesses are trying to do to try and save themselves basically from these prices?

GOLDMAN: Well, they'd love to, right? I mean, the small businesses that we're talking to, they have different circumstances, but they all said the same thing, which is that our customers will not let us raise prices. We are dealing with the tariffs, we are dealing with the inflation crisis, and now we're dealing with this. They know that their customers will walk away if they start to raise prices, so that means they need to eat all of the transportation costs. And some of them say they had to start laying off workers because they just couldn't find anywhere to save money.

[07:35:05]

SIDNER: There is a knock-on effect always.

Thank you for going through it with us and we'll have to just be watching these. I know you're watching them closely, David.

GOLDMAN: I wish I had better news on a Friday.

SIDNER: I mean, you did. Friday is the good news but that's it. David, thank you so much -- John.

GOLDMAN: Thank you.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Look, just to remind people of why these fuel prices are going up, it's because oil is not flowing out of the Strait of Hormuz. There's not shipping getting through here right now. That's the strait, 20 miles wide. Just a two-mile shipping lane. You can see no traffic currently in there, effectively shut down. All right, joining us now to talk more about this, I've got Alex Plitsas standing here right with me, a CNN national security analyst. Also with us, retired Army Brig. Gen. Steve Anderson.

And General, I do want to start with you because when we talk about this mission to keep the straits open or to reopen them -- they're not open right now -- one of the things that Dan Caine, the chair of the Joint Chiefs -- the general told the other day was that they are introducing now two new weapons here, the A-10 Warthog. This closed infantry, close support fighter jet is now flying missions over the strait as well as Apache helicopters.

What is the introduction of these two aircraft -- what does that do to the conflict?

BRIG. GEN. STEVE ANDERSON, U.S. ARMY (RET.) (via Webex by Cisco): Well, thank you, John.

Well, this significantly increases our ability to attack small targets, you know. So they're probably going after the thousands of small speedboats that the Iranians have on the coastline. I mean, you're talking about 1,000-mile coastline. That's the entire West Coast of the United States, you know, from California to Washington State.

And so the A-10 is an incredibly capable air-to-ground weapon as is, of course, the Apache helicopter. And so this means that they've gotten the capability now to go after the smaller targets. It probably can also go after some of the launching sites for perhaps cruise missiles and other missile sites. And they can also go after small boats that are trying to lay mines and whatnot. So it greatly increases the capability of the United States to interdict small targets.

BERMAN: So we have the A-10 and we have the Apache flying over the straits now in some capacity, Alex. What does that mean if there is now this new mission to open the straits? What does that tell you about the state of play?

ALEX PLITSAS, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST, DIRECTOR, COUNTERTERRORISM PROJECT, ATLANTIC COUNCIL: I mean, it speaks to mission creep. There's really no other way to describe it at this point.

You know, the White House and the Department of War laid out very clear, you know, goals that had to be rectified a little bit. But essentially, it's, you know, going after the missiles, the drones, the associated industrial base, the Navy, potentially the nuclear program. And obviously, we saw the decapitation strikes who were largely the leaders responsible for the deaths of the protesters.

That was a three to five-week mission, a very clear set of targets that were defined by U.S. Central Command, that they're working through right now -- what we call an air tasking order.

But this is a new military mission with new objectives here. So the president has tried a few things. There were strikes on Kharg Island that resulted in counterstrikes on infrastructure in the region. The Israelis struck the -- you know, the Pars gas field, which is right here, that led to retaliatory strikes. Seventeen percent of Qatar's liquid natural gas is gone -- a $20 billion plant. It could take three to five years. So that didn't work.

At this point it looks like additional military forces are going to be needed to free this up.

BERMAN: OK, you brought up Kharg Island here. I want to show people again --

PLITSAS: Yeah.

BERMAN: -- where this is. This is the island. It's toward the north of the Persian Gulf here. This is where there were airstrikes --

PLITSAS: Yeah.

BERMAN: -- the other day.

Barak Ravid and Axios is reporting there are serious discussions now about a ground operation, right --

PLITSAS: Sure.

BERMAN: -- because landing there -- landing troops there -- it be ground troops --

PLITSAS: Yeah.

BERMAN: -- despite what some people say -- a ground operation on Kharg either occupied or otherwise.

What would be needed for something like that?

PLITSAS: Well -- so what we're seeing now is several thousand Marines have been activated from a Marine Expeditionary unit. Just for context there are no infantry divisions or armored divisions either from the U.S. Army or U.S. Marine Corps that have been activated or mobilized.

And Iran itself is a country of 90 million people that's extremely mountainous. We're not going to see a major ground invasion based on the forced posture we see right now, but it is possible that those Marines could be used in amphibious landings here to hold territory as Kharg is 90 percent of Iran's oil basically flows through there for loading.

BERMAN: General, right now, as Alex was saying there, we do think there is this Marine Expeditionary unit headed to the region. We don't know exactly how close they are. They haven't arrived just yet is our understanding.

Would that be enough to take and hold Kharg Island?

ANDERSON: I think that probably would be a suitable mission for them. You know, they're talking about 2,500 Marines with an air component. The problem, of course, is once they get on the ground -- it's a small island. It's only about 7.7 square miles, you know, and it's probably likely defended.

But as Alex very rightly points out this would be mission creep, and once you're on the ground, you're on the ground and you are a target. And think of the political impact of losing soldiers, sailors, airmen, or Marines on the ground at a place like Kharg Island, you know. That would be a tremendous blow.

[07:40:00]

But, you know, the president's stuck because he's got to do something to relieve the Strait of Hormuz. He just can't allow this to go on. And right now, with 1,500 ships out there waiting to get through the strait it's going to take three months to get through that -- work off that backlog. And remember, they were -- they were restore -- they had at the time about 100 ships a day and no one's going through there.

And, of course, the Saudis can't even produce oil now because there's nowhere to store it. So, you know, they've got to do something to relief the strait.

BERMAN: Again, this is the strait right now. You can no ships currently moving through it.

Alex Plitsas, Gen. Anderson, thank you both so much for being with us -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Let's get back to the airports right now. Atlanta's airport this morning is already showing security line stretching more than two hours long. We're showing you one live look of the airport there.

TSA workers are about to miss a second full paycheck, all a result of the partial government shutdown that really has -- is showing no end in sight.

Yesterday I spoke with a former TSA officer at Salt Lake City's airport. He just quit due to this shutdown after being with the agency for nine years.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT ECHEVERRIA, FORMER LEAD TSA OFFICER, SALT LAKE CITY INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT: When this last one just came through I just -- I needed to put the well-being of my family, of myself before anything else and I had to -- I had to walk away from something that I loved for so many years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: That's Robert Echeverria. He says that so many TSA workers -- his former colleagues -- are in the very same place between an impossible rock and a hard place just as we now have a new warning coming in from the transportation secretary about how bad this is about to get for the flying public if Congress do its job soon. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEAN DUFFY, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: As we get into next week, Becky, and they're about to miss another payment, this is going to look like child's play -- what's happening right now. You're going to see small airports, I believe, shut down. You're going to see extensive lines, and air travel is going to almost come to a -- to a -- to a grid halt stop.

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BOLDUAN: And joining me right now is former TSA administrator John Pistole. It's good to see you again.

I mean, the numbers are -- since Sunday we've learned --

JOHN PISTOLE, FORMER TSA ADMINISTRATOR (via Webex by Cisco): Good morning, Kate.

BOLDUAN: -- at around 10 percent of TSA airport personnel have failed to show for work daily, which is about five times the normal rate just to give people perspective on what is happening.

John, what would you be doing right now in public or behind the scenes if you were still over there running things at TSA?

PISTOLE: Well, yeah, just really -- thank you, Kate. Just really imploring members of Congress and the administration to work out a compromise.

Look, this is one of those situations where nobody "wins." It's something that there is a partial shutdown because of ICE and CPP issues that people disagree with about their tactics. It has nothing to do with TSA, so it's a -- they are the victim, I will say, where politics are interfering with things.

And yeah, you mentioned the callout rates. Those vary anywhere from low single digits to 35-40 percent at some of the busiest airports -- Atlanta, as you know, JFK, Houston. There are just some bad situations that is preventable and solvable.

BOLDUAN: We're showing some pictures this morning of -- I believe this is Atlanta's airport. I mean, it's an absolute mess at these airports. People are -- and people are missing flights.

PISTOLE: Yeah.

BOLDUAN: They're showing up for so many hours early. I can't even figure out where the lines begins or ends and how long it's going to take to get to the front of this.

I mean, what happens structurally with the -- when these callouts get to, you know, if you're talking 30 percent? What happens structurally at the airport that is of your biggest concern from your perspective of running the agency? PISTOLE: Yeah. Well, a couple of things, Kate. And one is obviously some checkpoints in the bigger airports. There's five categories of airports from Cat X, the largest ones, down to a Category four, the smallest ones. And some of those airports, as the acting deputy administrator Adam Stahl mentioned a couple of days ago -- some of those may have to shut down. But unfortunately, it's also a security risk from the standpoint of a suicide bomber or a shooter wants to go in and just shoot up the area of the airport where people are in these long queues. So it's a double problem.

And, for example, in last fall's shutdown of 42 days, we're closing in on that now and there were almost 1,100 officers who resigned for the reasons that you heard in your interview earlier. And there's been over 300, going on 400 resigned now. And I think that's just going to continue, which is going to exacerbate the delays and it's just not good for business. It's not good for leisure travel. It's just not good for America to have people not being able to have a little more predictability with safety and security paramount.

[07:45:00]

BOLDUAN: So let's -- and let's push into that and push past the it is extremely inconvenient to have -- to wait in these lines --

PISTOLE: Yeah.

BOLDUAN: -- to get through security and potentially miss your flight.

I asked the man I had on yesterday -- the former TSA worker, Robert Echeverria. I asked what it means to him if he's concerned that security is going to be compromised. It'll be less safe to fly as this drags on. And I have to tell John, he said he trusts his former colleagues implicitly in their professionalism.

But he says it does start adding up. You're losing sleep. You're going in without work. You have the stress at home.

He says that unfortunately, things are going to actually start being missed. A gun getting through. A knife getting through. He is concerned that the risks begin to increase when it comes to airport safety and security and flying as this drags on.

Do you think that as well?

PISTOLE: Well, yeah. I agree with him, Kate, unfortunately, that I think he's spot on in terms of as you limit the number -- the fewer TSOs -- Transportation Security Officers as they're called -- show up and they're under an increased stress because they're trying to get the same number of people through or more, especially this Sunday is going to be a high travel day closing in on 2.8 million again.

But that poses a problem because the officers are probably distracted because OK, missing a second full paycheck and a half when it started back February 14. So that whole notion of am I focused on my job to spot that putative terrorist who might be trying to something to exploit what they see as a vulnerability, unfortunately. And so it is a situation that needs to be addressed. And again, going

back to your first question, I would just implore members of Congress and the administration to work together to find a compromise -- a reasonable compromise that doesn't suit everybody's needs, but it addresses the issue and provides for the safety and security of the traveling public every day here in the U.S.

BOLDUAN: Yeah. By definition compromise and also by definition Congress doing its actual job.

John Pistole, thank you so much. It's great to see you. Thanks for coming in -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right. This morning a tragic end to the search for a missing American college student. The University of Alabama student James Gracey was found dead by authorities. He went missing days ago during a night out with friends in Barcelona.

CNN's Melisssa Bell is there.

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MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Sara, really tragic news here from Barcelona. The end of the search for the young James Gracey, the 20-year-old University of Alabama student who vanished from this nightclub in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

His father had flown over to try and find his son. He'd been here on spring break just for a week. And we heard last night that the remains of a body had been found just off the beach here, later confirmed to be the remains of James Gracey.

The investigation continues to try and figure out what could have happened to him in those hours after he went missing. His phone, we understand, had been stolen with authorities trying to figure out who he might have spoken to or where he might have gone. But it was tragically just across from the club where he last went missing that his remains were found.

His family issuing a statemen to speak of their heartbreak and thanking everyone for the support, love, and prayers that they'd received, Sara.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIDNER: A heartbreaking story.

All right, remember this image? It became the haunting face of a Minneapolis immigration crackdown that left that community reeling. It shows 5-year-old Liam Ramos with his Spiderman backpack and bunny hat being detained by an ICE agent while his mom was just feet away inside their home.

Now their lawyer says a judge has denied asylum for Liam and his family, ordering them deported to Ecuador. The government said the boy's father entered the U.S. illegally in December 2024. The family's lawyer, however, says he entered legally, requesting asylum and that his asylum claim allows him to stay in the United States. The family's lawyer is appealing, calling the ruling misguided, and says the family is scared as they face a future in limbo.

You can learn more about Liam's story and stories of other children in Minneapolis whose lives have been completely disrupted by ICE in my new special, "Minneapolis: The Robbing of Innocence." It's now streaming on the CNN app.

All right. Ahead, how a trooper is doing after a car slammed into him during a traffic stop. This is dramatic. We'll bring that to you in a bit.

And one year after his death, Val Kilmer is coming back to the big screen but his appearance, as you probably already figured out, completely AI.

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[07:54:08]

BOLDUAN: The new CNN original series "STANDOFF: THE FBI, POWER AND PARANOIA" explores the complex relationship between FBI directors and the presidents that they serve.

CNN's John -- Josh Campbell worked for three FBI directors, and he offers an inside look now at that complicated partnership between the Oval Office and the director's office.

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KASH PATEL, FBI DIRECTOR: And thanks to your brave leadership and the mandate you were given by the American people to not only defend the homeland but crush violent crime --

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): It is a new era at the FBI.

PATEL: We are thankful for President Trump's steadfast leadership, and this FBI will fearlessly follow in his footsteps.

CAMPBELL (voiceover): One of the nation's premier law enforcement agencies, which once prided itself on strict independence from politicians, now taking shape as a political arm of the president. Director Kash Patel often mirroring Donald Trump's own style with the president's perceived political enemies.

[07:55:00]

PATEL: What I am doing is protecting this country and combating the weaponization of intelligence by the likes of you.

CAMPBELL (voiceover): But the history at the bureau has been marked by frequent clashes with the White House. That intense conflict is the topic of a new CNN original series documentary exploring the fragile and high-risk relationship between FBI directors past and the presidents they served as the FBI's quest for independence was pushed to the brink.

JAMES COMEY, FORMER FBI DIRECTOR: It was never going to work between us.

STEVE CORTES, 2016 TRUMP CAMPAIGN MEDIA SPOKESMAN: The president did not trust him.

COMEY: Donald Trump wanted an FBI director who he could count on in the political sense.

LEAH WRIGHT RIGUEUR, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST AND HISTORIAN: You have two men who have radically different visions engaged in a standoff over who is the FBI beholden to.

CORTES: James Comey's announcement, it absolutely hurt the Trump campaign, and I believe it was intended to.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: A major development here this evening at the White House. The President of the United States has terminated the director of the FBI, James Comey.

COMEY: It felt otherworldly.

DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR: This is just the beginning of a complete change in everything that's going on. I mean, it is seismic.

COMEY: Numbness, confusion because I really not expected to be fired.

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It was a great honor for me to fire -- I will tell you this, a great honor to fire James Comey.

COMEY: I often joke I'm the relationship that Trump can't get over.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To understand the FBI and really to understand the 20th century, American democracy, you have to understand J. Edgar Hoover.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hoover started keeping tabs on anyone he didn't like, and he didn't like a lot of people.

ANDREW MCCABE, FORMER DEPUTY FBI DIRECTOR: He was cunning, right? Tactical, terrorizing, vindictive, secretive, closed off. Yeah, he was a tough customer. I'm glad I didn't have to work for him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Louis Freeh had the guidepost of faith and family, and Bill Clinton had the guidepost of position and power.

LOUIS FREEH, FORMER FBI DIRECTOR: We're conducting a criminal investigation of the President of the United States. I haven't even unpacked my materials yet.

RIGUEUR: Bill Clinton comes to hate his director of the FBI, and the feeling is mutual.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Outside of current issues involving national security concerns, the President of the United States should have little or nothing to do with the FBI.

MCCABE: The FBI has a lot of power and put to the wrong ends those capabilities can be devastating.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BOLDUAN: "STANDOFF: THE FBI, POWER AND PARANOIA" premieres Sunday, 9:00 Eastern and Pacific on CNN and the next day on the CNN app -- Sara.

SIDNER: I know I'm going to watch that. It looks good -- what Josh Campbell did there.

All right, on our radar a reporter and a cameraman for the Russian state-run television network Russia Today are hospitalized after nearly being hit by an Israeli missile strike in Lebanon. Take a look -- it's dramatic.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE SWEENEY, ENGLISH LANGUAGE CORRESPONDENT, RUSSIAN NEWS CHANNEL RT: (Nearly hit by Israeli missile strike).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: They did survive that. They are in the hospital. The network says the strike happened while reporter Steve Sweeney and his cameraman Ali Rada were filming near an important bridge in southern Lebanon -- what the Israeli military says is used for Hezbollah supply routes.

All right, a terrifying chain reaction crash caught on camera. Two New York state troopers were conducting a traffic stop on the side of the highway when -- yeah -- a Chevy Suburban slammed into their patrol car sending it into the stopped vehicle and hitting one of the troopers. The officer was rushed to the hospital. Incredibly, he only suffered minor injuries. Terrifying -- John.

BERMAN: Oof, that's awful.

All right. This morning a new Val Kilmer film, sort of. A year after his death, First Line Films announced an AI version of the actor who will star in the movie "As Deep as the Grave." The studio released a first-look image of the generative AI version of Kilmer from the film.

CNN's Clare Duffy is with us now. So what's going on here?

CLARE DUFFY, CNN TECH REPORTER: Well, what's interesting is that Val Kilmer was actually cast in this film about five years ago prior to his death. This film takes a look at two archeologists -- this is a true story -- archeologists in the American Southwest discovering the history of the Navajo people.

And Kilmer was cast, in part because of his Native American heritage, in this key role of a Catholic priest, Father Fintan, who serves as sort of an inspiration to one of the main characters in this film. But unfortunately because he was battling throat cancer, Kilmer was never able to actually film as part of his role.

And so after his death the filmmakers realized that AI had become so advanced that they could actually take is significant body of work and create this AI replica of both his image that you saw in that first- look image, but also his voice to play this role in the film.

And what's really interesting is that this is being done with the full support of Kilmer's family, his estate. His daughter put out this statement saying that Kilmer "...always looked at emerging technologies with optimism as a tool to expand the possibilities of storytelling.