Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Gas Prices Surge as Iran Launches New Attacks in Mideast; Interview with Rep. Julie Johnson (D-TX): Trump May Soon Ask Congress for $200 Billion to Keep Funding War; President Trump Speaks Before Leaving for Mar-a-Lago; Martial Arts Master, Hollywood Legend Chuck Norris Dies at 86. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired March 20, 2026 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: History shows that when fuel prices rise, the president's popularity can drop. And those prices right now are going straight up.

For more on that, let's turn to CNN chief data analyst, Harry Enten. Harry, how are folks feeling about the way that Trump has handled gas prices?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Not good. Not good, Boris Sanchez. Not good.

I mean, look at what we're talking about here. I mean, take a look here. Hello, net approval of Trump on gas prices.

Overall, woohoo, negative 39 points. My goodness gracious. You think that's low?

Look at independence. Even lower, negative 53 points. He is underwater swimming in the deep blue sea.

And even amongst those who voted for him in 2024, he's getting just 56 percent approval there.

[15:35:00]

The bottom line is this, Americans, independents, they hate, hate, hate the way that Trump is handling gas prices at this point.

SANCHEZ: And how does this relate to cost of living?

ENTEN: Yes. OK. That's the key question, right?

Because we know that inflation was the key reason why Donald Trump was reelected to a second term back in 2024. It sunk the Joe Biden presidency, brought down Kamala Harris's chances of winning in 2024 down with it. And you go right here.

And I mean, this really tells the story. OK. Americans on Trump and the cost of living. In October of 2024, Trump was more trusted than Kamala Harris by three points. Look at this side of the screen, though. His net approval rating now on the cost of living. My goodness gracious, we're talking about 41 points underwater.

And I was digging deeper into that poll, Boris, and I saw that his net approval rating among independents was minus 60, minus 60 points among independents, near universal dislike of trust on the cost of living.

And not much of a surprise, you see it right here. This is now a record low for Donald Trump on the cost of living, including either his first term or his second term. And with gas prices going up, that means the cost of living is going up as well.

No wonder that Trump is at a record low.

SANCHEZ: What does this mean for the overall approval rating?

ENTEN: OK, now that's a key question right there, because you see this, you see the net approval rating on the cost of living, you see that's low. You see on gas prices, again, very, very low. Overall, independents, very, very low.

But here's what's so interesting. Take a look here. Americans who approve of Trump.

In late February, before the Iran war started, it was 41 percent. You look now, it's that same 41 percent. So, so far, the president, at least when it comes to his overall approval rating, has been escaping that blame, at least being transferred over to his overall approval rating, despite the fact that Americans don't like him on gas prices, despite the fact that the cost of living, they really don't like him to a historic degree.

It is not yet transferred over to his overall approval rating. Of course, I will note that 41 percent is not a very high approval rating to start out with. So I think the question that a lot of folks like myself are asking is, maybe he is as low as he possibly can go.

SANCHEZ: Where does this put Trump and Republicans just a few months ahead of midterms?

ENTEN: OK, OK, my dear Miami Dolphins fan, now you're asking the key question here, because Trump ain't on the ballot again around the time of the midterm elections, you're Miami Dolphins, my Buffalo Bills will be taking on each other, both in Miami and then, of course, up at the new stadium up in Orchard Park, New York.

And this is the key question because Trump is below 50 percent. The president's party average House midterm seat shift. Get this, they lose 35 seats on average in the House of Representatives when the president at this point in time, at this point in time, at the beginning of the spring before the midterm election, when his approval rating is under 50 percent and Donald Trump is way under 50 percent, they lose 35 seats.

So all I can say is I hope my Bills and maybe your Dolphins do better than I think Republicans are going to do this midterm election.

SANCHEZ: I was waiting to see where you would tie this in. I was I thought there might be some fact. The other day I heard you talk about the 72 Dolphins, the last era in which a Dolphins fan was truly.

ENTEN: Larry Zanka, Bob Greasy.

SANCHEZ: The great Don Shula, buddy. Harry Enten. Always appreciate chatting with you, man. Thanks so much -- Brianna.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: The war with Iran may cost American taxpayers even more if President Trump gets what he wants. He's expected to request a $200 billion supplemental funding from Congress to keep those U.S. military operations against Iran going.

We're joined now by Congresswoman Julie Johnson. She is a Democrat from Texas. She is on the Homeland Security Committee. Congresswoman, thank you so much for being with us.

You hear that's a big number. Would you vote for a $200 billion supplemental?

REP. JULIE JOHNSON (D-TX), HOMELAND SECURITY COMMITTEE: Absolutely not. You know, unfortunately, this is the president's war. He had no game plan, no exit strategy, was not well thought out, all at a time when just your prior segment indicated prices are killing the American people.

We need to fund the Affordable Care Act. We need to give tax breaks. We need to deal with the escalating costs in this country.

This war needs to stop so that gas prices can come back down.

KEILAR: Would you vote for any supplemental for the war?

JOHNSON: No. I think this war is illegal. It's immoral.

It's killing people across the globe. It does not further the interests of the American people. People here are struggling.

We are having a hard time right here at home. And our resources and our attention needs to be put on putting our funding towards making life better for the American people.

[15:40:00]

KEILAR: I do want to ask you as we're looking at this partial shutdown, which DHS, these TSA lines that we're seeing, they are a disaster waiting to happen. That is what transportation security experts are telling us. They say that such large groupings of people in non-secure areas are a soft target.

You have so many TSA agents who are calling out of work as they are heading for their third missed paycheck. They are stressed and they can't do their best work. And Congress is going on a long recess in a week. Can you all sort the DHS shutdown out before then?

JOHNSON: Well, I hope so. You know, Democrats, we have tried. The Senate Democrats have put five different measures out there to fund TSA, to fund the Coast Guard, to fund FEMA.

The House just yesterday, I signed a discharge petition in order to fund all of these same agencies because to force a vote in the House to make these agencies funded, Republicans have consistently refused. To my knowledge, not one single Republican has signed on to the House discharge petition to force a vote to fund TSA to put air traffic back in place. So this is all on Republicans.

Democrats are trying to fund it and Republicans are saying no.

KEILAR: If you only fund, you know, if you if you fund these agencies outside of ICE and CBP, I mean, they're funded right through that bill of President Trump's from last year.

Actually, if you can just hold on for a moment, Congresswoman, we have to listen to the president speaking outside of the White House. Here he is right now.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... in the past, what message would you send?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, we've been hitting them awfully hard. I mean, I don't know if you can possibly get hit harder, but these are thugs and animals and horrible people. But you can't hit anybody harder than we've hit them.

But I'm not surprised. They executed three young people for protesting.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And do you plan to escort those ships through the Strait of Hormuz with or without allies?

TRUMP: We're doing very well there. We're doing very well overall. You know, we don't use the Strait.

We don't. The United States. We don't need it.

Europe needs it. Korea, Japan, China, a lot of other people. So they'll have to get involved a little bit on that one.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you still want South Korea supporting United States?

TRUMP: What about it?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you still want South Korea supporting?

TRUMP: Well, I love South Korea. We have a great relationship with South Korea. We're helping South Korea a lot.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, do you think Israel will be ready to end the war when you're ready?

TRUMP: I think so, yes. The relationship's a very good one, I think so. We want more or less similar things.

You know what we want? We want victory. Both of us.

And that's what we've got.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, how will the operation (INAUDIBLE)?

TRUMP: Well, you know, I may have a plan or I may not, but how would I ever say that to a reporter? If I said that to a reporter, Marco would say, please, sir, let's bring you over to the helicopter immediately, right? I can't tell you that. It's certainly a place that people are talking about, but I can't say that. Certainly a place that people are talking about, but I can't say yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Will the operation Epic Fury advance talks with Russia on Ukraine?

TRUMP: What about it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are the talks on the back burner right now because of Ukraine?

TRUMP: No. We're talking. We're talking about it. I think it'll get done.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When do you expect the next round of talks to take place?

TRUMP: They take place almost every day. We're making a lot of progress.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, you said that the war was militarily won in Iran. What did you mean by that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You said the war was militarily won in Iran. What did you mean by that?

TRUMP: Oh, I think we've won. We've knocked out their navy, their air force. We've knocked out their anti-aircraft. We've knocked out everything.

We're roaming free. From a military standpoint, all they're doing is clogging up the strait, but from a military standpoint, they're finished.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So how much longer for the American people to expect --?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You said opening the Strait of Hormuz is a simple military maneuver.

TRUMP: Very simple.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, but what did you mean by that?

TRUMP: It's a simple military maneuver. It's relatively safe, but you need a lot of help in the sense of you need ships. You need volume.

And NATO could help us, but they so far haven't had the courage to do so, and others could help us. But, you know, we don't use it. You know, at a certain point, it'll open itself at a certain point.

But we've defeated the enemy, and they are an enemy. They're a sick group of people. Their leadership is gone.

The navy is gone. The air force is gone. The anti-aircraft equipment that they have, the radar they have, is all gone.

Everything's gone. The strait itself, the actual strait -- how are you? The strait itself is, we're doing a good job.

But it would be nice if the countries, including China, if the countries that use it, China uses it 90 percent of their energy, Japan is 95 percent of the energy, it would be nice if those countries would get involved.

(CROSSTALK)

Have you consider taking Kharg Island, drop still safe at sea and --

TRUMP: What?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Have you spoken to that? (INAUDIBLE)

TRUMP: I thought she did a good job yesterday.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, as part of the American bases in Europe, Lindsey Graham has asked for you to reconsider the American bases in Spain, in Germany, after what they have done in the Strait of Hormuz. What's your take on that?

TRUMP: Well, it deserves. He's right about asking that. And I think NATO's gone down a long way, because they haven't -- I mean, they should be helping with the strait.

They get much of their energy from the Strait of Hormuz, and if Lindsey Graham said that, and don't forget, he was the big NATO guy for a while, and now he's not. And a lot of senators and congressmen, they were big -- they're very upset with the fact that NATO has done nothing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tokyo is calling for a ceasefire in the middle east and to reopen dialog. What do you say?

TRUMP: Well, look, we can have dialogue, but we don't -- I don't want to do a ceasefire. You know, you don't do a ceasefire when you're literally obliterating the other side. They don't have a navy, they don't have an air force, they don't have any equipment too, they don't have any spotters, they don't have anti-aircraft, they don't have radar, and their leaders have all been killed at every level.

We're not looking to do that. Thank you. KEILAR: All right, we're listening to the president there as he's heading to Mar-a-Lago, saying America doesn't use a strait, of course. Actually, let's listen back in. He's taking more questions.

(INAUDIBLE)

TRUMP: He was a great guy. He's a really good, tough cookie. You didn't want to fight him.

And he was and a great supporter. Wow. That's too bad. Now we (INAUDIBLE).

KEILAR: All right, the president commenting there on the passing of Chuck Norris, but predominantly on the war with Iran, saying the U.S. doesn't use the strait. Of course, that oil that is clogged up there certainly is affecting American gas consumers. He said he thinks Israel will be ready when the U.S. is to wrap things up.

Militarily, again, emphasizing that the U.S. has won, even as we're understanding the White House is going to seek a $200 billion or thereabouts supplemental funding bill from Congress. We'll be right back with more news.

[15:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Today fans are morning loss of TV and movie icon Chuck Norris. The Hollywood star and martial artist known for his hit action movies and the popular TV series, Walker, Texas Ranger, passed away at the age of 86.

KEILAR: His tough guy persona inspired the social media trend often referred to as Chuck Norris facts. It involved an ever-growing list of hyperbolic factoids about Norris, highlighting his rugged reputation, a pop culture trend that he embraced.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHUCK NORRIS: Did you know that I got bit by a king cobra? And after five days of agonizing pain, the cobra died.

When I do push-ups, I don't push myself up, I push the earth down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Fun to see that he enjoyed that. We're joined now by Dominic Patton. He is the executive editor of Deadline Hollywood.

Dominic, what are you learning about Chuck Norris's passing? Because he just turned 86 on March 10th and he had posted this Instagram video to mark the day where you see him, you know, punching and, you know, in really good spirits and sharp as a tack.

DOMINIC PATTEN, EXECUTIVE EDITOR, DEADLINE.COM: Well, I think right now we're not learning very much, Brianna. We know that he went into the hospital yesterday in his home in Hawaii. It was called a medical emergency.

And then, of course, the sad news was posted this morning by his family, who have asked for privacy and have asked to give out no details right now about his passing, though I'm sure we will discover that in time.

SANCHEZ: Dominic, obviously we talked about Chuck Norris facts a moment ago, which I didn't realize were hyperbolic. I thought some of that stuff was serious.

KEILAR: I thought it was real.

SANCHEZ: Yes. But he embraced it in a way --

PATTEN: It's all real.

SANCHEZ: Yes. He embraced it in a way that was really endearing. And it brought him renewed popularity. Right. I wonder if you might have a favorite.

PATTEN: Oh, well, look, my favorite, actually, I can't say on air because it involves a toilet. But I will tell you about the embrace of Chuck Norris, Chuck Norris memes was to the point where he showed up in the great comedy Dodgeball as the winning vote that got Vince Vaughn's team into the finals for Dodgeball. And as everyone said, thank you, Chuck Norris.

And that's what I mean. From when I was a kid, when I saw him with Bruce Lee, remember, this is a guy who fought Bruce Lee for 10 minutes. I mean, what more do you want?

KEILAR: Yes. What I mean, that was --

PATTEN: I would just say for a lot of people. Exactly.

And I would say for a lot of people going to a lot of people remember, obviously, Chuck Norris from his movies in the 80s, Delta Force, Missing in Action, all the sequels, of course, Walker, Texas Rangers, you guys talked about. But I think what we also saw is there was a political side to him. We saw him like supporting people like Mike Huckabee when he was running for governor of Arkansas.

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: Oh, wait, Dominic. Yes, hold on. I want to play that.

Let's play that because he was also involved in politics, like you're mentioning, which is actually where he kind of used Chuck Norris facts to support Huckabee during his 2008 run. I want to play the video of that so that folks know what we're talking about.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: An important policy message from Governor Mike Huckabee.

GOV. MIKE HUCKABEE (R-AR): My plan is secure the border. Two words, Chuck Norris.

NORRIS: Mike Huckabee is a lifelong hunter who protect our Second Amendment rights.

Mike Huckabee is a lifelong hunter who protect our Second Amendment rights.

HUCKABEE: There's no chin behind Chuck Norris's beard, only another fist.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Because, Dominic, he was also known for his conservative politics, but also his faith. He was a born again Christian.

PATTEN: Yes, very much so. I mean, you know, we just saw when you guys were coming to Donald Trump getting on the helicopter, he talked about Chuck Norris. Mike Huckabee is now the ambassador to Israel, put up a tweet about it earlier today.

You know, I think in many ways, Chuck Norris represented a very strong conservative, clearly a big component of the Second Amendment. But his sense of humor about it and I think his fan base from his movies, in a way, no pun intended, softened the blow for many people. Chuck Norris was pretty straightforward about who he was.

And I think that's something a lot of people respected.

KEILAR: Dominic, thank you so much.

"THE ARENA" with Kasie Hunt starts after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

END