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Ricky Smith is Interviewed about Airport Security Lines; TSA Shutdown Showdown; Coerte Voorhees and John Voorhees is Interviewed about Kilmer Movie. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired March 24, 2026 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00]

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Is where it may be different. And that is what people are going to be keeping a close eye on. Of course, the president is going to swear him in this afternoon, and then he'll start his tenure at the Department of Homeland Security. And so far, everyone's waiting within the department on pins and needles, but they are expecting or anticipating that it will move -- the course correction here will be a welcome one.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: As you noted, he is very close with the president, as we know. And there were questions, as you also pointed out, during his hearings about, you know, just how much he would listen to the president, how much pushback there could be from the president. Where do those discussions stand now? What was the feeling coming out of those hearings?

ALVAREZ: Well, he also said during those confirmation hearings that he would abide to the president's policies. He was asked, for example, about the White House deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller, who is the architect of the Trump administration's immigration policies. And when those questions came up, he would pivot to the president and following what the president -- president's policies were. So, so far, both Markwayne Mullin and the president have signaled that they are very much on the same page. And Markwayne Mullin, again, is a supporter of the president. And yesterday the president said that he had confidence in Markwayne Mullin, that they had already discussed people that Mullin wanted to bring to the Department of Homeland Security.

So, the question is, with the Department of Homeland Security being one of the key federal agencies for the president's domestic priority of mass deportation, that puts him at the crosshairs, or any DHS secretary at the crosshairs of the White House and Capitol Hill. And so it's going to be interesting to see how he navigates that, because that has been a challenge for every secretary who has worked under President Trump. In the first Trump administration, there were five secretaries of the Department of Homeland Security. So, everyone is watching how he handles the immense pressure that comes with being the secretary of DHS, while also balancing the president's demands,

And the ICE going to TSA is a perfect example of that. That was the president's idea over the weekend. Behind the scenes, officials were scrambling to make that plan happen.

So, we'll see how all of this unfolds in the weeks and months to come.

HILL: Yes, absolutely. Priscilla, really appreciate it. Thank you.

Well, the late actor Val Kilmer returning to the big screen after his death. How the movie's director used A.I. and the blessing of his family to create that performance.

Plus, the markets just opening. I can't see them. There they are. All red today. We'll see if that can shift into the green throughout the course of the day. But that's a quick look at the opening there for you. Much more ahead here on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:37:16]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, White House official tells CNN, conversations are ongoing, but a deal to end the partial government shutdown seems to be acceptable. Meantime, travelers facing another day of potential hours long waits at security checkpoints at airports across the country.

But you are looking at live pictures right now of Atlanta Hartsfield- Jackson there. And that is an incredible picture there because we haven't seen that in days. Almost no one having to wait in line. The time and day, of course, might have something to do with it. There have been long lines for a very long time. ICE agents were even deployed to try and help out the situation as some of the TSA workers were not able to show up to work due to the fact that they're not getting paid.

Joining me now is Ricky Smith, the general manager of Hartsfield- Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

Sir, first of all, can you give us some sense of what is happening right now at the airport? Because we are seeing something very different, at least in one terminal, with wait times.

RICKY SMITH, GENERAL MANAGER, HARTSFIELD-JACKSON ATLANTA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT: Yes. Good morning. So, right now we're experiencing more calm than we've seen in a very long time. This morning we had about an average wait time of about an hour, 45 minutes to an hour, which is, you know, a much shorter wait time than we've experienced over the last few days. We think we're seeing the end of the spring break rush. And so, traffic has tailed off a little bit. So, as you can see on the screen, the lines are pretty clear. And someone who's traveling now would not believe what we were experiencing yesterday and the day before.

SIDNER: Yes. I mean we've been seeing -- our Ryan Young has been out there just showing us just the length of the lines there. And, of course, you're not the only airport dealing with that.

I do wonder what you are thinking about the fact that they have put ICE agents there. I want to let you listen to what we heard from our reporter there, Ryan Young, who was watching the scene and seeing what the ICE agents were doing in the airport.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Talking about those ICE agents. Yes, they are here. They are walking around the perimeter. But they are not helping check people in. So, when you see this line in, and our camera will pan over, you can just see the sea of people throughout this airport. They've been trying to coordinate this all day long, making sure they change their plan, bringing extra agents in if they can to put them in certain locations, to move them through.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: So, that was a couple of hours ago. Are ICE agents helping to diminish the lines, to make things faster, or doing something else?

SMITH: Well, you know, we've been working very closely with TSA, and ICE as an extension of TSA, throughout this entire shutdown. And, you know, the lines have been long, but they've been orderly and the crowds have been moving and they've been very pleasant and understanding.

[09:40:07]

And so, we think we've always had a pretty strong handle over the crowds. And the emergence of ICE is just an extension of TSA's efforts to try and make sure that we maintain order.

SIDNER: One person in the line said, look, I like them here for security, but they're not helping make things faster necessarily.

I do want to ask you about some of the technology that seemed to be overloaded there, people looking at trying to figure out how long they were going to wait in line at the screens, and those didn't seem to match. What happened there? And has that issue been fixed?

SMITH: So, you know, our terminal, which is one of the largest in the country, it handles more passengers than any other terminal in the world, was not designed for this type of crowd. You know, we typically expect to manage passengers in the security checkpoint in terms of processing them to go through that checkpoint. We use a software that measures the wait times in the checkpoint. And, obviously, lines have extended well beyond the checkpoints. They've extended into, here in Atlanta Hartsfield, into the baggage claim area, to some degree on the curbside and we simply do not have a system that's designed to track passenger movements outside of the security checkpoint. And so we decided to take it down because it was deceptive to passengers who thought that it was measuring the entire time in the line when it was only tracking their movements in the security checkpoint.

SIDNER: Well, I know you've been dealing with a lot of frustration from passengers, but Ricky Smith, a reprieve today. As you said, it looks like the spring break crowd has kind of started to trickle away. And there is no waiting time right now. You don't need the boards to see that from those lines. So, I guess there's a congratulations to you right now from passengers who want to get to their place quickly.

I do appreciate you coming on this morning.

All right, coming up, how A.I. is being used to bring the late actor Val Kilmer back to the big screen. We'll be talking to the director in just a bit here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:46:34]

SIDNER: All right, there's some new optimism this morning that a deal to end the partial government shutdown will get the green light from Democrats and the White House. A White House official telling CNN the deal seems to be acceptable. And this is as travelers, of course, have been facing these excruciatingly long security lines at some airports across the country.

CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten stepping in to his role as the data guru. Guru.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Guru.

SIDNER: I can't, guru, garu, whatever.

ENTEN: Guru. Sara. Sara.

SIDNER: All right, so how much of this shutdown in TSA lines are -- how much are people noticing? Because, obviously, anyone going to the airport is going to notice. But there are those who just might be wondering about what the heck's going on.

ENTEN: Yes, you know, there are some government shutdowns, partial government shutdowns, where a lot of folks who were not affected by them directly don't really notice them. That is not the case in this situation.

SIDNER: Yes.

ENTEN: Just take a look at the Google searches for the TSA.

SIDNER: Good grief.

ENTEN: Up 1,000 percent. Up like a rocket from March 1st. That is by far an all-time high for the number of folks who were searching for the TSA. This is a government -- partial government shutdown that can't hide from the American people. They're really noticing it.

SIDNER: That is a lot. And look, it's spring break as well. So, a lot of people were either looking to travel or planning on traveling or were traveling. So, there's that.

How does each party feel about whether their side should stick to their guns and continue to let this shutdown happen?

ENTEN: Yes, I think this is the key political question, right, because you see this up 1,000 percent. People are noticing. And what you see in the polling right now is, it was the Democrats, the Democrats who said their party should, in fact, stick to their guns, say it was worth a shutdown, a partial government shutdown, over the funding of ICE and the DHS. We're talking about 55 percent here Dems on congressional Dems. Just 29 percent of Republicans said that their side, congressional Republicans should, in fact, stick to their guns. It was worth the government shutdown.

So, we're dealing with these long lines. You see the Democrats saying, you know what, it is worth it. But the Republicans saying, you know what, not really. And that's why they're coming to the table at this point.

SIDNER: Yes, it looks like there could be a deal in place, hopefully soon.

Just how many of Trump's -- in Trump's second term has had at least one shutdown as far as by president.

ENTEN: Yes. Yes. OK. And I'm going to do two slides at once here, Sara Sidner.

SIDNER: Oh. Oh.

ENTEN: I'm going to switch the script because I'm getting the time cues in my ear here.

SIDNER: Oh, my.

ENTEN: Oh, my goodness gracious. OK, look at this, percentage of the term that the government is shut down. Look at this, 20 percent.

SIDNER: Whoo.

ENTEN: Twenty percent of Trump's second term there has at least been a partial government shutdown. That is 40 times the average of all the other presidents, just 0.5 percent. There's been so much time wasted on this, on these different government shutdowns. No wonder Republicans want to get to the table to actually, you know, pass legislation. But I will note that there is optimism going on here. Chance that this shutdown goes past next Tuesday at 10:00 a.m., according to the Kalshi prediction markets. Yesterday we were near a 90 percent chance. Now, with the news coming out, only about half that. Look at that, 49 percent chance.

SIDNER: Yes, That's pretty clear.

ENTEN: Yes.

SIDNER: And there may be a deal coming soon.

Harry Enten --

ENTEN: We're hopeful.

SIDNER: Appreciate it.

ENTEN: Thank you.

SIDNER: We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:54:02]

SIDNER: On our radar, a highly unusual scenario playing out in court today. Secretary of State Marco Rubio set to testify against his former friend and former congressman, David Rivera. Rivera is suspected of secretly lobbying for the Venezuelan government and Nicolas Maduro during President Trump's first term in the White House. This is him arriving at court this morning. Rubio's testimony today will be the first time in more than 40 years that a sitting cabinet member has testified in a criminal trial.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRAVIS KELCE, KANSAS CITY CHIEFS PLAYER: Chiefs kingdom. Let's go baby. It's official. I'm excited for 2026 and just excited to put on a Chiefs uniform in front of you guys again. Let's get Arrowhead rocking, baby. We'll see you guys in a few months.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: He's not stopping y'all. You heard it straight from his mouth. Travis Kelce is staying put in Kansas City and squashing all those retirement rumors. The Chiefs just locked down the 36-year-old tight end with a new three year, yes, it's a big one, $57 million contract.

HILL: Wow.

SIDNER: Kelce was a free agent and opted not to test the market.

[09:55:01]

He will earn $12 million this season, which keeps him as one of the highest paid players at his position.

HILL: Wow.

SIDNER: Wow.

HILL: A new movie is taking Hollywood by storm. The late Oscar nominated actor Val Kilmer is set to return to the big screen in the film "As Deep as the Grave." All of this happening with the help of A.I. Kilmer, who lost his battle with cancer last year, was actually cast in the movie years before his death. Joining us now are Coerte Voorhees, the film's director, and John Voorhees, the film's producer.

It's nice to see both of you this morning.

COERTE VOORHEES, DIRECTOR, "AS DEEP AS THE GRAVE": Good morning.

HILL: I think a lot of people, they see the headline and think, wait a minute, how did this happen? It's important to note, you did have the blessing of his family here.

C. VOORHEES: Absolutely.

This entire project is being done with the great support of Mercedes Kilmer and Jack Kilmer, the Navajo Nation, the New Mexico film industry. And we're just so honored to work with everybody on this last chapter. It's a really important part of the story. It's a really important part of the movie. And we're just so honored to bring it out to everyone to see this great character that we built together.

SIDNER: I mean he has played so many roles and taken -- sort of taken us with him while he has played those roles so well.

C. VOORHEES: Yes.

SIDNER: Did you have any reservations as you're doing this? Because this is a time when a lot of actors are worried. They're deeply worried about A.I. taking over their jobs.

JOHN VOORHEES, PRODUCER, "AS DEEP AS THE GRAVE": So, we think that when people see what we're creating, and also the way that we're creating it, as my brother said, this is a really uncertain time for a lot of people, and there's a lot of free for all out there on the internet right now with people using the names and likenesses of people without their permission or their consent.

C. VOORHEES: Yes.

J. VOORHEES: We were working on this project years ago and, with years later, now that we have the family's support to do this, we do actually believe we can demonstrate something that is the right way to ethically portray a character in A.I. We want to make it clear too because this gets brought up in this conversation, what -- is this somehow bringing him back, the man that he was? And we want to be clear that it's not. That's impossible to do. He's the movie star that we all loved, and he was so much more than that too. A very complicated, nuanced man.

But just like when you're working with an actor on a movie set and you're co-creating a character, we're doing something similar, you know, and using this new technology. And we're doing it in a way that we believe is going to be faithful to what we might have been able to do had we had the blessing to work together.

C. VOORHEES: And we definitely want to do it right. We definitely wouldn't do it unless we thought we could do it right, which we absolutely will. It's a tribute to him and we want to celebrate him in the absolute best way possible.

HILL: To that point and the fact that he was cast years before, right, his passing --

C. VOORHEES: Yes.

HILL: I mean what were the conversations that you all had been having, preparing yourself so that you had a good sense of what the role was, and that he did, too?

C. VOORHEES: Absolutely. And it came -- Val really responded to the character. That's how, you know, actors want to be a part of projects is if they feel that the character speaks to them. So, we were really fortunate we had such an important, historical character that he identified with. And for me, my background is in history, so I always just lean into what is true and going to the truth and expressing that in the best way possible. And that's what Val identified with.

And we believe this story is so important. Val believed it was important. It's about North America's first female archeologist who worked with the Navajo in the 1920s to uncover our early history. This is history that really, really is important to today. And Val's role in that was significant.

I know a lot of people didn't know before this all happened that Val is Native American. Our Native American stories unite us. The Native American people in this country have the best stories. And this is what the archeologists were trying to figure out. And Val's character was central to that. And he just thought it was really, really important to tell this story and be a part of it. And we're just so honored and we're so grateful that Mercedes and Jack believe that this is a way of honoring what their father wanted. And their father casting attention on this important story.

So, with all of that, we're just going to do everything we can and we will make this a great film and a great celebration of Val, because that's all we care about is celebrating him and having this be a true tribute to the great man that was Val Kilmer.

SIDNER: Yes. You talk about Native Americans and what they've been through. And they have great stories. They've also had really hard times here in the United States.

C. VOORHEES: Yes.

SIDNER: What drew you both to this film? Because you said he was natural -- he was just naturally drawn to this incredible story that most of us had never heard of until now.

C. VOORHEES: Yes, I've been working on this film since I was 12 years old.

SIDNER: Wow.

C. VOORHEES: I was first introduced to this subject matter when I was a child. My brother, sitting right next to me, brought me to the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History in Boulder, where we grew up.

[10:00:01]

I saw photographs of the southwest and of these characters. And I thought, one day I'm going to make this into a movie.

J. VOORHEES: We also spent a lot of time in New Mexico, where Val was a longtime resident, and