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Kilmer Estate Approves First Generative AI Film Role; TSA Lines More Than Two Hours at Atlanta's Airport This Morning; U.S. Gas Prices Soar to $3.91 a Gallon Amid Iran War; Netanyahu: Many Possibilities for a Ground Component in War; GOP Hardliners Show Signs of Wavering on Bondi Subpoena. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired March 20, 2026 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

CLARE DUFFY, CNN TECH REPORTER: His estate, his daughter put out this statement saying that Kilmer quote, "He always looked at emerging technologies with optimism and as a tool to expand the possibilities of storytelling. This spirit is something that we are all honoring within this specific film of which he was an integral part."

And indeed, Kilmer did seem to be a proponent of AI technology. He used AI back in 2021 to bring back his voice, which he had lost to throat cancer for his documentary. But this is really the first time that we're seeing AI used to have a deceased actor play a full part in a movie.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: What's Hollywood think about this?

DUFFY: It's interesting, I think, to sort of contrast. There has been some controversy around this, some backlash, but a much more muted reaction than we saw, for example, to the full AI actor Tillie Norwood, who we talked about last year. Hollywood had such a negative reaction to that.

SAG-AFTRA took issue with the fact that it was trained on human work without compensation and that then it could replace human jobs. There seems to be less of a reaction here. And maybe that is in part because you're taking this beloved human actor and bringing them back, not necessarily replacing humans with something that is fully AI generated.

BERMAN: With consent of the estate --

DUFFY: Exactly.

BERMAN: -- which I think is a big part of it. All right, Clare Duffy, thank you very much.

Brand new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Right now, wait times for air travel in places like Atlanta going up to two hours. It's really bad, but it's going to get worse. That is the warning from the transportation secretary as the DHS shutdown shows no signs of stopping.

And the cost of war starting to hit hard for Americans at home. Gas prices continuing to climb, crossing $3.90 a gallon. This as President Trump may soon ask Congress for new money to fund the war effort as much as $200 billion.

And your weekend soundtrack is here. A brand new album from one of the biggest bands in the entire world. A triumphant return of BTS.

I'm Sara Sidner with John Berman and Kate Bolduan. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, let's get to the breaking news this morning. It's about to get worse. That is the warning now from Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.

He is, of course, talking about the long lines that you have been seeing all week at airports nationwide. As the partial government shutdown rolls on with no relief in sight.

(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 grid halt. Stop.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: On average, more than 10 percent of TSA agents across the country are now calling out daily. That is five times the normal rate. Security wait times at Atlanta and Houston's airports right now are more than two hours long.

Last hour, former TSA administrator John Pistole was on with us and said that this isn't just inconvenient now. It's now posing a new security risk.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN PISTOLE, FORMER TSA ADMINISTRATOR: The officers are probably distracted because, OK, this is the second full paycheck and a half when it started back February 14th. So that whole notion of am I focused on my job to just to spot that that putative terrorist who might be trying to do something to exploit what they see as a vulnerability, unfortunately?

BOLDUAN: CNN's Ryan Young in Atlanta for us yet again this morning. I mean, we saw you last hour. How does it look in this hour?

RYAN YOUNG, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Better, but maybe more people and more frustration. And we're hearing more stories about people missing vacations. Being upset about getting here as early as 2:45 this morning and still missing their flights.

This is the atrium. This is where earlier the line went all the way out the back. So it's better now.

But still, you have over an hour and a half before you make it to the front of the line here. I want to flip to this side. That over there is the TSA precheck line that's wrapping around over and over again.

Those lines are so long. People who are veteran travelers say they've never seen this before. We've been walking and talking and asking people about their experience here at the airport.

Some good, some bad. We kind of walked by each other early. I saw your face.

What has this been like today?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is creating anxiety for me. You know, I expected there to be longer wait waiting time. I came at least three hours ahead of time.

And this is just unbelievable. So for me to actually get on my flight, my thoughts are I'm not going to make it.

YOUNG: Your flight's out at what time?

[08:05:00]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 9:40. Boarding starts at nine o'clock.

YOUNG: And you're probably an hour and a half away from the front, don't you think?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Absolutely. So we'll see.

YOUNG: What do you think about Congress right now? What would you want to say to them?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is not right. This is creating havoc. And as you look around, we can see that it's creating this for everyone.

It's not just one person or two people. It's a whole lot of people. So just get a grip.

We're the ones that are suffering for this. So let's see if there's something that can be done about it.

YOUNG: Perfect. Thank you so much. Good luck to you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.

YOUNG: So, look, we've been talking to folks in this line. I'm going to walk you up this direction because this is the part of the airport we've been showing you. This is the main checkpoint. So many people have been experiencing the pain here. Like I've been saying before, it's really 80 minutes from that main checkpoint sign right there.

We talked to a man a little earlier, the one who I was telling you about, who got here at 2:45 this morning. His flight was out at six. He still missed his flight.

Take a listen to his story and how upset he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I feel bad for the people that are not being paid. I feel bad for the people that are standing in line. I feel bad for everyone except people in Washington, D.C. because they don't have to stand in line and they don't have to deal with this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG: Yes, over and over, and we're starting to hear more people be upset about Congress and they want them to understand what it's like. The airport has added some more music up here to sort of calm the spirits of people down.

But you can see it in their faces. They're exasperated by what's going on here. Kate, also, I want to tell you, we are tracking that family that we talked to last hour.

I'm texting with them to see if they'll make it on their flight. They got here super early, but that's what we're going to try to do here to see what it's like for them. And their total time standing in line this morning, which they're hoping to make it on that vacation flight.

BOLDUAN: I mean, Ryan, as you're saying, the man arrives at 2:45. He's got a six a.m. flight. So what's the advice here, folks?

If you can't make your flight at six arriving at 2:45, to me, said another way, that means the airport shut down in some way because there's no option.

YOUNG: Yes. Yes. In a way.

And something that we should bring up here. Remember, the rush hour is going to end here probably in about the next 30 minutes. That's what we've noticed here.

So if your flight goes out after nine, you really have that opportunity. Just as we walk away, Kate, I just wanted to show you that's the other side, the other line here at the airport. Just wanted to give you an interpretation of that is the way there as well.

BOLDUAN: Yes. I see lines, lines, lines --

YOUNG: I'll talk to you in a second.

BOLDUAN: -- and more lines. Yes. At first, just from perspective, everyone at first, people were hesitant to talk to Ryan Young. Now that he's the mayor of Atlanta's airport, people are now going up to him because they are now it's the area of grievances to Ryan Young, which would be the segment in our next hour.

It's great to see you, buddy. Thank you so much for tracking it. You're the best, JB.

BERMAN: Yes, the music's going to make it better. I'm glad that they're piping in the music.

BOLDUAN: I'm always prone to music, but --

BERMAN: Yes. So that's really going to make things great, yes.

All right, a fresh wave of strikes across the Middle East. Gas prices surging again. Four dollars a gallon squarely in sight. Some Republicans voted to subpoena Attorney General Pam Bondi having second thoughts, raising the question, can Congress un-subpoena someone?

And the very candid conversation between Grammy award-winning singer- songwriter Sara Bareilles and CNN's Anderson Cooper.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARA BAREILLES, SINGER-SONGWRITER: It's about telling you your story and telling your story warts and all is the thing that brings you back home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[08:10:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIDNER: All right, gas prices are spiking again as the attacks on energy sites continue. Iran launching new attacks on energy sites. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the UAE, and Israel all intercepting drones and missiles.

Now, you were paying about a dollar a gallon higher than a month ago for gas due to the war. And now several U.S. allies are saying they are preparing to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, that critical oil route that Iran has effectively shut down. So far though, there are no details on exactly how they will help.

In Washington, some cracks may be emerging among Republicans as the Trump administration is seeking $200 billion in funding for the war in Iran. And there are growing questions about whether there is some daylight between the United States and Israel on their joint war effort after Israel struck Iran's South Pars gas field. Trump said he knew nothing about it.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday that Israel acted alone and will hold off further attacks on the field at Trump's request. Joining me now, CNN global affairs analyst Karim Sadjadpour and CNN

political and global affairs commentator Sabrina Singh. Sabrina, to you first.

Both U.S. and Israeli officials have told CNN and The New York Times that the Trump administration did know about the Israel strikes on Iran's oil field before the strikes happened, that they were coordinated. So why is there this strangeness, this weirdness around this particular issue?

SABRINA SINGH, CNN POLITICAL AND GLOBAL AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: Yes, I absolutely believe that there was coordination and that the United States military at least was tracking that Israel was going to strike this gas field.

[08:15:00]

When you have fighter jets in the air, especially as they are both, both the Israeli military and the United States military is conducting joint operations at any given time, there has to be a level of coordination to know where everyone's fighter jets are flying. And so the U.S. military is certainly coordinated on these efforts. Now, did the president know? I think that's a larger question. So maybe he did not know at the time.

And when he found out, I think you saw his reaction to that, that he said, you know, Israel needs to stop that because, of course, this is going to continue to raise gas prices, not just for Americans here at home, but it is changing the global markets all around the world. And so when Donald Trump, I'm sure, was delivered that news, he wanted them to stop hitting those direct oil and gas fields because prices are going to continue to rise for Americans. And that's obviously politically hitting him pretty hard here at home.

SIDNER: Yes, it is one of those things where you're watching this happen in real time and there's a question about whether the president knew, but there was certainly some sort of coordination, as Sabrina just said. I want to ask you about what appears to be a difference in how to go about this war and why to continue this war between Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Trump. Let me let you listen to what Netanyahu said when he was speaking about regime change.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: We can create the conditions, but they have to explode those conditions at a certain point. It is often said that you can't win, you can't do revolutions from the air. That is true.

You can't do it only from the air. You can do a lot of things from the air, and we're doing, but there has to be a ground component as well. There are many possibilities for this ground component, and I take the liberty of not sharing with you all those possibilities.

(END VIDEO CLIP) SIDNER: You heard there about a ground component. I mean, is he talking about Israeli troops potentially going there? How do you see this playing out, and do you see a small crack between what the United States wants to achieve and what Israel wants to achieve?

KARIM SADJADPOUR, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: I do think there is a difference between U.S. military objectives and Israeli government objectives in Iran. I think the U.S. military has made clear that the mission here is to degrade Iran militarily. I think the Israeli government would like to see the Iranian regime implode because it's their worst adversary, a country they see as an existential threat.

But as Prime Minister Netanyahu said, Iran may no longer control its own airspace, but it does control its ground. The thing about this regime is that they are highly motivated to stay in power because if they lose power, it could mean losing their lives. And so it's a regime which is prepared to use brutal and overwhelming forms to continue to stay in power.

SIDNER: Sabrina, you heard there, and I'd just like to get your thoughts on this, Netanyahu talking about, you know, boots on the ground. And we've also heard that the Trump administration has not ruled that out. I mean, what would that actually look like?

I mean, what are we talking about here? This would be huge mission creep, wouldn't it?

SINGH: It would be mission creep, and it could mean a number of things. And that's why we don't really have clear objectives defined by this administration. We have the military objectives, but if we want to have a denuclearized Iran, that means that's going to be putting boots on the ground to take out some of that nuclear material that's buried deep in some of those mountainous areas.

In addition, as we know, the strait is closed. This administration has been mulling over potentially seizing Karg Island. That's going to require a tremendous amount of ground forces to hold and keep that island should the president make that decision.

But we are unclear on what exactly the objectives are. What is the end goal? What does success look like here?

And so ground forces in Iran could look like a number of different things. I think the president is preserving that optionality, but at the end of the day, that means American forces' lives are going to be put at risk. And is the president willing to risk that, their lives?

You know, a lot remains to be seen there, too.

SIDNER: Yes, there always are a lot of questions as to how this is going to go forward. We cannot predict the future. Sabrina Singh, thank you so much. Karim Sadjadpour to you as well -- John.

BERMAN: So who forgot to schedule spring from winter to extreme heat warnings in parts of the country today? And the stunning upheaval on The Bachelorette, the entire season canceled before it even started. New reporting on the controversial video at the center of this decision.

[08:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: So, new this morning. Some Republicans who backed issuing a subpoena for Attorney General Pam Bondi in the Jeffrey Epstein investigation are beginning to show signs of wavering. Let's get right to CNN's Annie Grayer who's covering this in Washington.

And this has to do, Bondi showed up to brief them behind closed doors, but this wasn't in response to the actual physical subpoena to answer questions under oath with a reporter there. So, what's going on here?

ANNIE GRAYER, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well, Republicans are wavering now that Bondi did meet behind closed doors with House Oversight members on Wednesday. House Oversight Chair James Comer said he's going to talk with Republicans on the committee to see if they want to change their position on the subpoena because there were five Republicans who initially voted to a subpoena Pam Bondi and at least two of them, Republicans Lauren Boebert and Tim Burchett, are now wavering in their support. Lauren Boebert, I'm told in the room on Wednesday, said that she was even embarrassed that she supported this subpoena and said that if she could, she'd take it back, that she would.

Republican Congressman Tim Burchett has said that he doesn't really see the point for it now that Attorney General Pam Bondi and her deputy, Todd Blanche, came to meet with lawmakers on Capitol Hill on Wednesday night. But Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace, who led this subpoena effort, said her vote is not changing. Her support for the subpoena still stands.

[08:25:00]

And this is exactly, though, what Democrats were afraid of. They did not want Wednesday night's briefing to replace a deposition under oath, which would have a transcript. There would be a videotape of it. Lawmakers get to control how long their questions were.

And that's why they walked out on Wednesday night, John, because they were frustrated that they were not getting a clear answer from the attorney general on whether or not she would honor her subpoena. But them walking out has caused a lot of drama. The attorney general, though, has said she will follow the law wherever it leads.

So we're going to see how this plays out after this weekend when Republicans have time to regroup. But in the meantime, the lawmakers on the Oversight Committee have been kept very busy. Just yesterday they interviewed Epstein's longtime lawyer, who has worked with -- who worked with Epstein for decades, denied knowing any wrongdoing.

But Democrats say that his testimony is not credible and he could have even lied under oath -- John.

BERMAN: So still some activity behind the scenes. But who knows what happens with the attorney general. Annie Grayer, great reporting. Thank you very much -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: So $200 billion, that's likely the ask from the president to Congress. What Trump calls a small price to pay for the war with Iran and why Republicans say they need much more detail now before they're OK signing off.

And Anderson Cooper and singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles on her new song inspired by Anderson's podcast. Anderson joins us live.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BAREILLES: Speak his name, my voice gives out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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