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Treasury Secretary: U.S. May Unsanction Iranian Oil "In Coming Days"; Long Security Lines Form At Airports as TSA Officers Go Unpaid; Kilmer Estate Approves First Generative I.A. Film Role. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired March 20, 2026 - 09:30   ET

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

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[09:34:17]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: So, this morning, if you go to get gas, you're going to pay about $1 more a gallon than you did one month ago. This is because of the war on Iran. In response, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suggested that the U.S. could lift sanctions on Iranian oil.

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SCOTT BESSENT, TREASURY SECRETARY: In the coming days, we may unsanction the Iranian oil that's on the water. It's about 140 million barrels, so depending on how you count it, that's 10 days to two weeks of supply that the Iranians had been pushing out. That would have all gone to China. In essence, we will be using the Iranian barrels against the Iranians to keep the price down for the next 10 or 14 days.

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[09:35:04]

BERMAN: With us now is Senator Ed Markey, a Democrat from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Senator, how do you feel about that? Lifting sanctions on Iranian oil when you're at war with Iran.

SEN. ED MARKEY (D-MA): Well, this is just a continuation of the lack of rationale for this war in the first place. If we lift the sanctions on Iran oil, we lift the sanctions on the Russian oil as they continue to invade Ukraine, then ultimately we have to ask, what are we doing? What is the whole point of this exercise?

If Iran gets more funding for their ability to fight us, Russia gets more funding for their ability to fight against Ukraine and the United States and Ukraine's allies.

So, obviously, this is just a continuation of an absolutely still lack of a justification for this war that makes any sense at all. And simultaneously, it shows the pressure that Trump and his White House are now feeling with the rise in the price of gasoline at the pump. Because at a buck a gallon, every American driver is going to pay $500 more in gasoline prices at the pump this year. And by asking for $200 billion more for the war at $2 billion a day for the war, that means he intends to keep the war going into the summer.

So, this is an absolute catastrophe for the administration. Lift sanctions on Iran, lift sanctions on Russia, while simultaneously having no plan to reduce the cost at the pump for the American driver.

BERMAN: "Axios" is reporting there are discussions inside the administration for a possible operation on Kharg Island that could involve ground troops maybe occupying the island for a period of time. There's a quote in this story from Barak Ravid, our friend. He said, this quote says, we've -- from a senior U.S. official, apparently, "We've always had boots on the ground in conflicts under every president, including Trump. I know this is a fixation in the media and I get the politics, but the president is going to do what's right." That's according to an official quoted in Barak Ravid's piece.

So, the idea of ground troops now to occupy that island, how would that affect your views?

MARKEY: Well, again, we'll continue to pay a very high price for oil, gasoline, home heating oil, natural gas in our country, pay a very high price in terms of the taxpayer dollars that have to get spent for an operation like that. And we're going to pay a very high price in American lives, in the servicemen and servicewomen who will be lost in that operation, all for a war that is pointless, that the president can end or at least begin the process of ending immediately. And he should do that.

Otherwise, we are about to get into a quagmire and it will ultimately wind up much worse than it has so far. He's now looking for a blank check of $200 billion from the Republicans in Congress to keep it going indefinitely. And Kharg Island would just be the beginning of yet another stage of invoking the law of unintended consequences on steroids, which this entire war has been right from the beginning.

BERMAN: We've been talking all morning, Senator, to passengers at airports around the country, Houston and Atlanta, where the wait times in Atlanta this morning are two, three hours to get through security at TSA checkpoints, TSA workers, many of them calling in sick, many of them quitting because they're not getting paid because of the partial government shutdown. Why should passengers and TSA workers have to suffer because Washington can't fund the Department of Homeland Security?

MARKEY: They should not have to suffer. And we are going as Democrats to force a vote on the Senate floor to ensure that every single TSA agent personnel gets paid. And we're going to force that vote beginning today. We're going to put the Republicans on record. The Democrats are going to say, break off all TSA personnel related funding. Let's vote yes. Let's get that money into the hands of all TSA agency and their families. They're protecting us. We should be protecting them. And the Republicans are going to have to be voting yes or no over the course of the next day or two on the Senate floor. Let's get those workers the funding they deserve.

BERMAN: Just to be clear, that's a standalone vote on funding TSA. They would not fund the whole Department of Homeland Security. This is not something that I think Republicans are going to go along with or allow on the floor. So, we'll see what happens there.

[09:40:00]

Senator Ed Markey, thank you very much for that.

Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin clears a key hurdle in his bid to become Homeland Security Secretary. Democrat John Fetterman was a critical vote for him to get to this point, the backlash that Fetterman is now facing from fellow Democrats.

And the ban so big and so famous that South Korea had to raise its tariff threat level for their comeback album and concert. Of course, we are talking about BTS.

John Berman.

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[09:45:12]

BERMAN: So, Oklahoma Senator Markwayne Mullin is going to get a full Senate vote to see if he will be confirmed as the new Secretary of Homeland Security. He only got out of committee because of this man, Democratic Senator John Fetterman. He was the deciding vote to pass this nomination through committee. If he voted no, it would not have happened. So, how is that sitting with fellow Democrats? Or more accurately, how is John Fetterman sitting with fellow Democrats?

With us now, CNN Chief Data Analyst Harry Enten. So, Fetterman, again, these polls are from before this decision was.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: Yeah.

BERMAN: But how is Fetterman doing among Pennsylvania Democrats right now?

ENTEN: Yeah, it's part of a larger story, Mr. Berman. I would just say that John Fetterman is doing as well with Pennsylvania Democrats as the New York Giants are as liked in the state of Pennsylvania or the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. I mean, just look at this. Among Pennsylvania Democrats, a net approval of Fetterman. Back in 2023, he was a Democrat liberal darling. He was at plus 68 points.

Look at how low he has fallen down to negative 40 points. He's down there with the Titanic among Democrats in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. And, you know, to put a comparison point on, you know, we always talk about how Chuck Schumer is not well liked by the Democratic base nationwide.

Chuck Schumer has a net popularity rating of about minus two points. He is 38 points more popular than John Fetterman is with Pennsylvania Democrats. And I was also looking at Kyrsten Sinema, who, of course, ended up leaving the Democratic Party in Arizona. She was considerably more popular just before she shifted over than John Fetterman is at minus 40 points.

BERMAN: Is this a 108-point swing?

ENTEN: This is a 108-point --

BERMAN: OK.

ENTEN: -- swing. Very good mathematics here. This is -- I mean --

BERMAN: I was honestly thinking, is that even possible? All right. How does this compare to other -- he faces a primary. If he wants to run again, you know, he faces an election in two years if he runs in a Democratic primary. How have senators who lost their primaries, how does their whole situation compare to this?

ENTEN: I would just know John was like off on the screen going, what, what? Wait a minute. Wait a minute, 108 points. You never see anything like that. But my goodness gracious.

I mean, just take a look here. OK, 2,000 senators own party net ratings about when they lost a primary. Bob Smith, plus 15. Arlen Specter, plus 13. Of course, he switched parties to Democrats. It didn't work for him from a Republican. Plus six, Joe Liberman. Dick Lugar was at zero points. Lisa Murkowski was at minus 15 points.

All of these were considerably more popular than John Fetterman is right now at minus 40 points. He is below the lowest, the ones who actually got beat in a primary. There is no historical analog to this. That is how unpopular John Fetterman is with Pennsylvania Democrats. There is basically no doubt in my mind that if Fetterman decides to run for re-election as a Democrat, he will face a primary challenge and it will be a very competitive one.

BERMAN: So, Fetterman says that Democrats are suffering from what he calls Trump derangement syndrome. Is that a compelling argument to make among the voters there?

ENTEN: No, no. I mean, that is the last thing that Democrats want to hear. I mean, look at this. Lowest approval among Dems at this point in term two. Donald Trump has just a four-point, four-point approval rating. George W. Bush was not well liked, was at 10 percent. Richard Nixon was at 11 percent. Donald Trump is the lowest of the low on this point. The bottom line is this.

John Fetterman, when you look -- when you look at his net popularity rating at minus 40 points, he is on a completely other planet from Chuck Schumer who is also unpopular and he is on a different galaxy entirely from other incumbents who actually lost re-election far less popular than them. BERMAN: We set it up by talking about his vote to push Markwayne Mullin through committee. How likely do the prediction markets think Markwayne Mullin is to get confirmed?

ENTEN: Yeah, John Fetterman basically was the bow on this because just take a look here. OK, Chance Mullin is confirmed as DHS secretary and this is before May of 2026. Look at this, a 98 percent chance according to the Cal State prediction market.

John Fetterman is the big reason why Markwayne Mullin is going to get confirmed as DHS Secretary. Another reason for Democrats who already didn't like him to dislike him even more.

BERMAN: Harry Enten, thank you very much for that.

ENTEN: Thank you. I like you though.

BERMAN: A lot of news this morning. We'll be right back.

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[09:53:46]

BOLDUAN: So, fans of the late actor Val Kilmer will now be able to watch him in a new movie, thanks to A.I. A year after his death, First Line Films has announced an A.I. version of Val Kilmer will be starring in the film called "As Deep as the Grave." CNN's Clare Duffy has much more on this.

What's going on here?

CLARE DUFFY, CNN BUSINESS WRITER: Well, Kate, Val Kilmer actually signed onto this film about five years ago before he died, but he was never able to film because he suffered from throat cancer. He was too sick to show up to set. And so now, a year after his death, what the filmmakers realized was that he was a really instrumental part of this film, a really key character.

This is a true story about archeologists in the American Southwest discovering the history of the Navajo people. And Val Kilmer had been cast as this Catholic priest who played a really important spiritual role guiding the main character of this film. They realized that they really needed him here and that A.I. technology had advanced such that they could use his existing body of work, both his image, as I think you saw in there just a moment ago, the A.I. version of Val Kilmer, also his voice, and they could create this A.I. replica of him to star in the film.

And importantly, this is being done with the full cooperation of his family, of his estate, his daughter, Mercedes Kilmer, said in a statement that Val always looked at emerging technologies with optimism and as a tool to expand the possibilities of storytelling. This spirit, she said, is something that we are all honoring within this specific film, of which he was an integral part.

[09:55:13] And Val Kilmer did seem to really embrace this technology. Back in 2021, he used A.I. to recreate his voice for his documentary. But interesting to see them now using A.I. to really create this full character in a movie.

BOLDUAN: Which of course, I mean, and very clearly the family is on board with this, as you see here, but this, you know, dips the toe back into the water of where's the line? How's Hollywood reacting?

DUFFY: Exactly, I mean, this has been a huge concern with Hollywood in terms of A.I. actors potentially replacing human actors. It's been interesting, I think, to sort of contrast the reaction here. There has been some backlash, some controversy, but nothing like what we saw with the A.I. actor Tilly Norwood last year, where you had SAG-AFTRA complaining that they used human work to train this model and that it could potentially replace human actors. So, not as much backlash as we're seeing there, in part because this is really a beloved actor.

BOLDUAN: Yeah, and the family's on board with this. So, interesting, though. Great to see you, Clare.

DUFFY: Thank you.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: The film sounds really interesting itself, actually.

DUFFY: Yes.

SIDNER: So, we'll have to see what happens with it. Thank you so much, Clare, I appreciate it.

And thank you for joining us. Oh, it's Friday, y'all, thank goodness. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL. Situation Room is up next. Yeah, we're done. We're done.

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