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Rep. Wesley Bell (D-MO) On Senate Unanimously Moving To Fund Most Of DHS, Pay TSA Workers; Sources: Many Of Trump's Options In Iran Risk Heavy Casualties; Savannah Guthrie: "Faith Is How I Will Stay Connected To My Mom." Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired March 27, 2026 - 07:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL)

[07:30:50]

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: This morning after a more than 40-day standoff a major step toward ending the partial government shutdown. And, of course, that would mean also toward finally paying the tens of thousands of TSA workers who have been showing up to their jobs to keep you safe at airports without a paycheck.

Overnight, the Senate unanimously moving to fund most of the Department of Homeland Security except for ICE and part of Customs and Border Protection, so that bill will now move to the House. This also comes a short time after President Trump had said he would order DHS to pay TSA officers.

So the big question this morning is actually when would that happen because all of it could shorten those massive lines that we've seen across the country at airports, including Houston's George Bush Intercontinental where wait times reached four hours before 5:00 a.m. local this morning.

That is where Ed Lavandera has actually moved for us and he now lives at the airport in Houston. So Ed, these lines starting it would seem even earlier than you've seen the last couple of days. How are people feeling this morning?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh, yeah. The frustration I think is growing. I think people have been -- you know, they had flights booked for today. They have been spending days trying to figure out how they're going to manage all of this and they're just kind of tired, you know.

Once again, lines this morning already showing up to be about three to four hours long. This is still about an hour away from the TSA security lines and it continues to fill the terminal area here in terminal E of George Bush Intercontinental Airport.

The lines go out into the drive-up where people are -- where passengers are normally dropped off. And then once again you're seeing the lines on the floor below. You can look down here where the lines -- they've had these makeshift lines created for several days now where people have to continue. And sometimes it has gone down even to another level below this into a subway area that has the tram that connects people to various terminals.

And all of this happening because the callout rate from TSA employees at this particular airport has been hovering around 40 percent all week. And airport officials here put out a video talking about what kind of challenges that creates for them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM SZCZESNIAK, DIRECTOR OF AVIATION, HOUSTON AIRPORT SYSTEM: What we're seeing right now is the TSA staffing ability has been in the below 50 percent range. So what we are dealing with is 100 percent spring break traffic trying to squeeze through 50 percent or less of our TSA checkpoints. So that -- the math does not work and that's why we're seeing these extended lines.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: And Erica, even with that, airport officials also announced that TSA was sending an additional 32 TSA employees here to this airport, but still we're not seeing much of the effects of that. And even with the ICE agents that we see roaming around this airport as well, many of those not fully trained up yet to be able to work or create the ability to open up more security lines here at this airport.

So the nightmare continues and it's an extremely busy weekend of travel for the city. There's various events going on and it's only going to continue to complicate things not just today but at the end of the weekend on Sunday and Monday when people are traveling out or coming back in that is going to an even bigger headache in the days ahead -- Erica.

HILL: Yeah, certainly no relief in sight. And those numbers I think do really put it into perspective for what the challenges are there in Houston and what folks are working with.

Ed, appreciate it. Thank you -- Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Thank you so much, Erica. I do appreciate it.

Joining us now, Democratic Congressman Wesley Bell of Missouri. Thank you so much for being here with us this morning.

Let's first talk about the TSA workers. They've been without a full paycheck for more than 40 days now.

Will you vote to pass the bill that will fund DHS the way it is now without the concessions and protections from ICE that Democrats wanted?

REP. WESLEY BELL (D-MO): Well, I have not seen the bill as of yet. I'm understanding that there are reports of a bill that will fund DHS and that will not fund ICE, and that is what Democrats and Americans have been asking for, for that matter. And so once I get an actual opportunity to read the bill I can tell you with certainty what I would do. But any resources, any funds -- additional funds for ICE, I'm a hard no.

[07:35:05]

SIDNER: Senate Republicans are expected to try to pass the ICE funding later through reconciliation which would basically allow them to approve this with just a simple majority, which they have.

If that's the case what was this all for if ICE is going to end up being funded anyway?

BELL: Well, I mean, if you're -- if you're in a fight you can't -- you can't anticipate what four punches down the road are going to look like. You've got to deal with the punch that's coming at you right now. And right now Republicans have the majority in the House, the Senate, and the presidency so they get to dictate what gets to the House floor.

And as Democrats fighting for the American people, fighting for lower costs, fighting for lower health care costs, we have to continue to fight as the fight comes to us. And so this is the hill we're on and we're going to fight for the American people, and that includes not one more red cent for ICE.

SIDNER: You know, after the killing of Alex Pretti at the hands of federal agents, and Renee Good, you said that you thought that ICE should be abolished. Do you still feel that way?

BELL: The way ICE is being deployed by this administration, they need to be abolished, defunded, stripped for parts.

Now, if there is going to be some larger conversations because it is important that we secure our borders, we can treat those folks who are coming here for a better life with the dignity and respect that they deserve.

But I do understand the -- most Americans believe that we do have to secure our borders, but the way that they're doing it -- terrorizing not only immigrants coming into this country but also killing Americans in broad daylight -- how can we sit back and do nothing? No. We're going to fight and we're going to do everything that we can to make certain that if ICE exists that they are deployed and they act as every law enforcement department in this country. There are rules they have to follow to ensure that Americans' rights are protected.

SIDNER: All right, let's move now to Iran. The president has extended the deadline for Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz before he does an attack, and Iran says that -- he says that Iran asked for this negotiation. But at the same time he's sending even more troops to the region who could begin a ground invasion if ordered to.

How would you like to see this end now that we are in this, either a) end the war right now, b) keep fighting this war and degrading its military capabilities by air, or c) boots on the ground to try and open the Strait of Hormuz?

BELL: And I'm glad you're calling it what it is. It's a war. The president has called it a war. The Secretary of State has called it a war. The Joint Chiefs have called it a war. And so as the saying goes, if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and goes quack-quack, it's a duck.

And so with that said, Congress, by the -- per the Constitution, authorizes any wars and that has not been done. And so unless and until the three questions that have to be answered whenever we take this country into war are answered, which are why are we doing this, what are our objectives, and what is the exit strategy?

I serve on the Armed Services Committee. I have availed myself of the classified briefings. I have left those classified briefings with more questions than answers. And until those questions are answered and until we are sure that if we're going to put the men and women of our armed services in harm's way and take this country into war, we need to make certain that there's a plan, and there is no plan.

And until those questions are answered, because I have no sympathy for the Iranian regime. They are a murderous regime that is the leading terror sponsor in the world, much less the Middle East. So there is no sympathy for them. That said, if we're going to take this country into war and expose the men and women of our armed services, we need to make sure we know what the plan is, and we don't.

SIDNER: We are told from our great reporters who have been talking to sources that all of the scenarios that are potentially out there for the president when it comes to deploying troops on the ground -- that none of them are good. That heavy casualties are very much likely if there is a ground invasion.

So what would you tell the president to do at this point? Because he has not come to Congress not to start this and he hasn't come to Congress yet, and he's sending troops that could potentially be told you are deployed and you've got to enter Iran's territory on the ground.

BELL: Yeah. Several of the bases that were attacked in Bahrain, in the UAE, in Iraq, In Erbil, I visited those bases earlier this year. I talked with our soldiers who were there. And those are real men and women that are protecting this country. And to send them into harm's way without a real plan, without authorization, without following the Constitution to ensure that we are getting it right and those questions are being answered, is unacceptable.

[07:40:22]

And so again, I'll keep saying this. We know that Iran is a bad actor. No question about that.

But if we're going to go into war, we have to know what the objectives are, why we're doing it, and what our exit strategy is to make certain that we are putting our troops in the best situation possible. But also if we're going to potentially go into a war -- not potentially -- I'm sorry. If we are in a war, we need to know that America's national security interests are being served.

SIDNER: Congressman Wesley Bell, thank you so much for joining us this morning. I do appreciate it -- Erica.

HILL: Well, the breaking news this morning, as Sara just mentioned, sources telling CNN President Trump is considering a number of options for escalating the war in Iran. All of those options could result in heavy U.S. casualties and there is also no guarantee that they would succeed in ending the war.

Retiring -- joining me now, retired Army Brigadier General Steve Anderson. General, always good to talk to you.

When we look at where things stand, the fact that is the reporting, right? All of these options -- the risk of heavy casualties, no guarantee that they would successfully end the conflict -- what does that tell you? What does that message say about the planning that was or was not done prior to launching this war?

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

First of all, I want to commend Rep. Bell for his comments. He was spot on target.

But what this entire war has begun is based on essentially on a miscalculation of the will to fight of the Iranian people. These people are being run -- the IRGC is being run -- they're essentially religious fanatics, OK? They are not fighting for Iran. They are fighting for Allah. They are fighting for Islam. And that's a profound difference.

And 200,000 committed fanatics are very, very difficult and they are not -- they are not going to be swayed by any kind of an invasion, any kind of attack, any kind of shutdown of their oil or their -- the profits that they're making from selling their oil. They don't care because we are the great Satan and they are fighting against the great Satan. This is a holy war to them and regime change will not result from any kind of a land incursion in sovereign Iran.

HILL: So if it's not going to result in any of that, do you see what the strategy could be moving forward for the U.S. to get out of this conflict?

ANDERSON: I think that I -- the only possible scenario that can lead to success I believe is diplomacy. You know, we are not going to do anything to motivate regime change. Sure, we're bombing them to smithereens and sure, they're bad guys -- we got it.

But the problem is that you've got this committed enemy that we're fighting. Perhaps 20 percent of the country -- that's 10 -- or probably 20 million people support them strongly. Sure, there's a lot of people that want to -- democracy and all that but they don't have the power. The IRGC has the guns, they have the weapons, they have the power, and they have shown that they are capable of killing their own people. The CIA does an assessment on regime change and one of the first

questions they ask is when they do this assessment is does the regime -- is it capable of killing their people at an industrial level, OK? They've already shown they can do that. If the answer to that question is yes, then it's not going to lead to regime change, and that's exactly what's going to happen. And we're going to put American lives at risk for essentially furthering -- pushing the football down the road but we're not going to get any closer to regime change.

HILL: Based on what you have laid out, right, in your assessment -- the IRGC, for example -- the fact that the head of the IRGC's naver -- naval, rather -- Navy, we learned yesterday was killed.

What is the impact, right, of that particular leader being taken out on the IRGC Navy, specifically because he was basically in charge, right, of this push to close the Strait of Hormuz and control it? If he's gone does it actually change anything?

ANDERSON: It doesn't change a thing, Erica. There -- someone else will step up.

I mean, they still have profound asymmetric capabilities. They have mines, they have missiles. They -- if we attack -- invade Kharg, they'll have artillery they can fire at us. They have a committed -- they have a naval fleet of perhaps 1,000 small speedboats and 1,000 miles of coastline in which to hide them. They've got all kinds of capabilities -- cyber capabilities, et cetera.

[07:45:08]

All those things are still going to be at their disposal. Despite the fact that we've hit a lot of their military infrastructure, they've shown already that they had the capability to continue to fire missiles, and it only takes a couple or three a day to shut down the Strait of Hormuz.

So we're in a -- you know, there's really no way out of this other than diplomacy because we are not going to beat them militarily.

HILL: Brigadier General Steve Anderson, appreciate your insight and your expertise this morning. Thank you -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right. Thank you so much.

New this morning, as artificial intelligence turns the tech industry upside-down Amazon is making a $200 billion -- yes, with a "b" -- bet on AI and that means axing tens of thousands of jobs. It's happening as more and more companies rely on Amazon's Web Services, and its outages affect a huge part of the internet because of its reach.

CNN tech editor Lisa Eadicicco joining me now. What does this bet on AI mean for everyone because many of us are affected by its systems that is used by a huge portion of the internet and for workers as well?

LISA EADICICCO, CNN TECH EDITOR: So AI is moving incredibly fast and that's kind of what we're seeing here. Amazon said last month that it's planning to spend $200 billion in capital expenditures this year. And so for consumers I think what that really means is we're going to see a lot of companies creating new AI services and apps, and that's really what Amazon is banking on here.

And I had the chance to sit down with the CEO of Amazon Web Services, which as you mentioned is really a critical piece of the internet. When it went down last year in October we all saw how parts of society were kind of grinding to a halt, right? So when I spoke to the CEO of that division he kind of said that these investments are necessary to kind of fuel that buildout that's happening in the AI space right now.

So I think in terms of what this means for everyday people, I think it means that we're going to see a lot of companies moving faster and moving more quickly. We're already seeing that with Anthropic's Claude and OpenAI's ChatGPT models that are advancing at a pretty quick rate almost every week it feels. And Amazon partners with those companies and provides really critical tools that power the services that those companies offer and helps them train their models as well.

SIDNER: Yeah. A lot of didn't know what AWS was. We would see the ad sometimes, you know, on television or in our feeds. But when it coughs the rest of us get a cold, right?

So what did you learn -- what more did you learn from speaking to the CEO?

EADICICCO: So one of the biggest things I learned was, again, about that $200 billion investment that they mentioned last month that raised a lot of eyebrows on Wall Street. But the CEO is really adamant here that spending is needed, and that's exactly the kind of spending that has raised a lot of concerns about an AI bubble. But he doesn't think that we're seeing any signs of an AI bubble.

And he cited this meeting that he was in with about 150 senior technology leaders that said they're all seeing a return on investment or expect to.

SIDNER: Yeah. AI is not just fueling sort of tech; it is fueling the markets as well and has been a big player in the markets. We will see what happened.

Lisa Eadicicco, thank you so much for your reporting.

EADICICCO: Of course.

SIDNER: All right. Ahead, we are just now learning when Savannah Guthrie will return to her job at the "TODAY" show as she is going through the worst nightmare of her life, her mother's disappearance. That story is ahead.

Also, a Michigan woman dumbfounds a judge as it appears she's driving during a virtual court hearing. And the judge asks her what she's doing driving while doing this. Hear what she said to him.

(COMMERCIAL) [07:52:45]

HILL: This morning we are hearing more from Savannah Guthrie about how she's keeping her faith during her family's agonizing search for her mother, Nancy. She's also addressing when she may be back at the "TODAY" show.

CNN's Brian Stelter joining me now. So Brian, what did we hear from Savannah this morning? I think so many people just so touched and frankly, heartbroken by what we saw in her interview with Hoda yesterday.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: Yes, she has been in the public eye in the worst possible circumstances for the past two months, mostly through those Instagram videos pleading for help, pleading for tips that might lead to some information about her mom. Many tips came in but there has been no resolution, no closure. And we can see in Savannah's eyes, in her voice how painful that has been.

But she's also talking about how she's going to find some way to find a path forward. How she's going to be there for her children, for her family, and yes, for her millions of fans on television.

She talks about this in a new clip that we can play reflecting back on her father's death. Savannah was in high school when her dad died and she saw how her mom Nancy recovered and responded, and she saw the resilience from her mom. She says she's going to try to use that strength in the same way.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE, ANCHOR, NBC "TODAY" SHOW: This is how I will stay connected to my mom.

HODA KOTB, ANCHOR, NBC "TODAY SHOW": Um-hum.

GUTHRIE: God is how I'm holding hands with my mom. And I won't let sadness win for her. She taught me. I saw her grieve. I saw her world shatter. I saw it --

KOTB: Um-hum.

GUTHRIE: -- and I saw her get up.

KOTB: Um.

GUTHRIE: And I saw her believe.

KOTB: Um.

GUTHRIE: And I saw her love. And I saw her hope.

KOTB: Um.

GUTHRIE: And I saw her smile.

KOTB: Um-hum.

GUTHRIE: And I saw her laugh. I saw her joy. I saw her love of the world and adventure. I saw her belief. I saw her faith.

[07:55:00]

She taught me. She taught all of us. And I may not do it as well as her, but I will do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STELTER: Savannah says that "My joy" -- you know, "The joy is my protest. The joy is my protest." Meaning to find ways to be joyful. To find ways to live. To find ways to go on will be her response to whoever committed this apparent crime. She also acknowledges she doesn't know if she can do it, but she is going to try.

She does want to return to work, and NBC says she'll be back on the "TODAY" show on Monday, April 6. And I think that timing is probably no coincidence. It's the day after Easter. The day after the resurrection. And so for her to be back on the show, she says that that's going to be a way for her to find joy in her own life.

But she's also going to be modeling something that I think many people are going to want to see. She's going to be modeling how to find a way forward in the face of unimaginable tragedy.

HILL: Yeah. It is -- it is so difficult to wrap your head around. She is living it and sharing so much of that, which I know has just resonated with so many.

Brian, appreciate it. Thank you -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right. Thank you, Erica.

Ahead -- new this morning, a weather whiplash. Much of the country -- first it was hot and now it's going to be cold after what's been a record-breaking heatwave.

CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar joining us now. I like to complain, apparently, because it just can't -- it's like Goldilocks. I just -- I can't get it right.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, and neither can Mother Nature if that makes you feel any better. Because yes, those temperatures -- we went from records, and not just daily records, all- time March records in many, many places, and now we're going to be seeing a big drop in the temperatures.

And it's all because of this cold front. So once a lot of that rain moves through you can already see some of the cold air that's really going to start to filter into a lot of these areas starting with the Midwest.

Now you look at where we were, say, this same time yesterday. It was 21 degrees cooler in Chicago, nearly 20 degrees cooler in Indianapolis. Same thing in Pittsburgh.

Look at the high temperatures yesterday compared to today. Columbus -- they hit almost 80 degrees yesterday for the high. Today it really won't get much warmer than 43 for the afternoon high temperature. Chicago going from a high of 72 yesterday to only 39 today.

Now you still have some warm spots left for today. That includes places like Raleigh, Columbia, South Carolina, even into Atlanta. But that all changes even for those locations tomorrow. Look at the drop there -- another 20, 30, even in some places almost a 40-degree drop in those high temperatures once that colder air comes in.

Now again, you've got a few more areas where we could see some record temperatures across the Southeast, especially the closer you are to the Atlantic. But really, in the forecast we're going to start to see more of those records begin to pop up across areas of the West as we head through the weekend. Again, some of the same places that just broke their all-time March record over the last week. This is all of them, by the way. It was a large number areas that broke that March record.

The only downfall is all of that heat is melting a lot of the western snowpack out in the West. That's going to be a concern for the upcoming fire season.

SIDNER: It absolutely will. A lot of people worried about that already in California.

Allison Chinchar, thank you so much. I do appreciate it -- Erica.

HILL: Your next Netflix binge is going to be a little more expensive. Netflix is upping its prices for all subscription plans in the United States. This comes as the streaming giant is adding podcasts and live sports to its list. The streamer's ad-supported tier -- that will now set you back $8.99. Let's just call it $9.00 a month. That's up by a dollar. The standard plan is up two bucks to $19.99.

In Iowa, a 911 call about a possible grass fire turned out to be a false alarm. So a homeowner calls in to report smoke in some trees. The firefighters arrive and they discover that said plume of smoke was actually plumes of pollen from cedar trees. So the crews determined there was no danger unless, of course, anyone in the area is allergic to cedar trees. And in that case -- well, good luck.

A three-week standoff, meantime, on I-44 in south central Missouri finally over. A semi hauling nearly 80,000 pounds of tofu crashed. This was back on March 1. After the crash it sat in a ravine for weeks while state officials haggled over insurance. You know what else happened in that time? The temperatures rose. Add to the odor of the tofu -- a smell that spread across the town. One neighbor said it smelled like, get this, catfish bait. Yum.

The fire department had some fun posting AI-generated images dubbing the rotting wreck "Jerome the Tofu Monster." I don't want to meet that guy. This week, however, Jerome was defeated and finally cleared away, and the town lived happily ever after. A virtual court appearance going viral this morning after a Michigan woman was caught driving during her hearing and then apparently lying to the judge about it. She was appearing before the judge for a debt hearing. It looked a lot like she was driving. You could see things moving in the background. She tried to claim she was just a passenger, but the judge wasn't having it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUDGE MICHAEL K. MCNALLY: Am I crazy or does it not look like you're driving?