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Long Security Lines Remain Even as Trump to Sign Order Paying TSA; Interview with Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-CA): Senate Unanimously Moves to Fund Most of DHS, Pay TSA Workers; May Charged with Placing Bomb at U.S. Air Base Flees to China; Supreme Court to Weigh Future of Birthright Citizenship Next Week. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired March 27, 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]

ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: 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 VIDEOTAPE)

HON. MICHAEL K. MCNALLY: Am I crazy, or does it not look like you're driving that car?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm not driving the car. I'm a passenger in the car, sir.

MCNALLY: Now you're lying to me, right?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, I'm not, sir.

MCNALLY: Let me see the driver. Let me see the driver.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hang on one second.

MCNALLY: Now.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have to ask her -- I have to ask their permission.

MCNALLY: Now. No, you're not in the -- you weren't in the driver's side. You think I'm that stupid?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: I just think the look on her face. I'd like to see the driver, whoop, caught. The judge ultimately entered a default judgment against the woman for nearly $2,000.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: This morning could be good news. The Senate, finally, voting to fund most of Homeland Security and pay TSA workers. The big question now, what will the House do? When will TSA employees get paid, and how soon will those massive security lines in some airports disappear? We're live on the Hill and at the airports.

Plus, President Trump has several options for his next step in the war with Iran. But most of them are bad. We have new reporting on what he could do if efforts to reach a peace deal fail and the consequences of those options.

Also, stunning video this morning. A truck explodes with a man just inches from the hood. What happened here? How this all ended? We have that story and more coming up.

John and Kate are off. I am Sara Sidner with Erica Hill. This is CNN New Central.

All right, breaking for you this morning. Could the agony finally be over at the airports? The Senate, overnight, unanimously moved to fund most of the Department of Homeland Security and finally, pay TSA workers who have gotten -- gone without a paycheck for more than 40 days. Left out of it is funding for ICE and Customs and Border Protection. Republicans are now expected to try and muscle that through later on in a later bill.

Now, the bill now moves to the House where time is ticking to pass something before Congress is expected to leave today for a two-week recess. It comes after President Trump said that he would order DHS to pay TSA officers, but it is not clear at this hour exactly when that will happen. All of this could shorten those major lines, but it may take a bit.

At Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport, wait times reached four hours before five this morning. And that's where Ed Lavandera is right now. Ed, give us a sense of what you're seeing because it doesn't look pretty.

ED LAVANDERA, SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No, it's another nightmarish day here at George Bush Intercontinental Airport if you are a traveler trying to make your way through. And it's so difficult to really kind of show you the scope of how many people and how long these lines are. We are on the top part of Terminal E.

The people you see standing behind me are a good like hour and a half from the front of the line. If you look down below into the floor below us, this is usually the baggage claim area. And they've created these makeshift lines so that people can -- the end of this line is down there somewhere.

Actually, it's right underneath the ceiling here, but it's just so massive. And all of those people down here, eventually, Sara, pop up out of an escalator over there. And then once you think you're close, oh, no, no, no, no, you have to go outside and wind your way through about eight lines that have been created in a passenger drop-off area outside the terminal so that you can come back into this area and then wind your way around. And then the promised land of the security checkpoints is over there behind those gate area that you see way there in the distance. So it's a long road for these passengers. And you can really sense over the last few days that we've been here, just the growing frustration.

So many people tell us they're coming here seven, eight hours ahead of their scheduled flight time to make sure that they don't miss it. It's just eating up so much time, so much brain power as you're trying to figure out what's the best way to navigate the airport here at this time.

[08:35:00]

And if things don't change quickly and dramatically, this is going to be a very long weekend because it's a very busy weekend here in Houston with Final Four games, March Madness games, and there's also other events going on. And you know, so Sunday, Monday could be even more dramatic than what we're seeing right here, right now.

SIDNER: Yes, I take dozens and dozens of flights every single year. And you know what I'm not doing this weekend because of your reporting and Ryan's reporting? Not flying.

That looks miserable, Ed Lavandera. Thank you, thank you, thank you for your reporting. You're keeping me happy, but these four people who have to stand in these lines, what a mess, appreciate it -- Erica.

HILL: I will be flying this weekend, Sara. I will give you a full report and let you know if I make it there or not.

SIDNER: We'll be in touch.

HILL: Joining me now, Democratic Congressman Jimmy Gomez of California. He serves on House Intelligence and also on the Ways and Means Committee. Congressman, good to have you with us this morning.

So this Senate vote passing, right? Unanimously in the wee hours. Do you have any information this morning on the timing of a House vote?

REP. JIMMY GOMEZ (D-CA), INTELLIGENCE AND WAYS AND MEANS COMMITTEES: No, one of the strangest things, I haven't heard anything from House leadership on this. I haven't even seen it on Twitter or in the press about what the plans are with this bill, what they're going to do. Are they going to try to do unanimous consent, so they don't need any votes?

That probably won't happen. Are they going to try to pass a rule today? So we're kind of in the dark on what the House majority, the Republicans are going to do.

We haven't heard from Democratic leadership either. So we're still waiting to hear what the next steps are going to be.

HILL: Well, please let us know if you do hear anything because we are trying to get that answer as well. Where would you stand at this point based on what we saw in the Senate? How would you vote? GOMEZ: I'm going to talk to my constituents, but one of my biggest concerns is that there's no restriction on ICE and CBP. These are rogue agents for the administration that have been sent to my district in downtown L.A. that have violated people's rights based on just what they look like, the accent that they have, as well as the jobs that they do. So my concerns are still along those lines.

I haven't made a final decision, but I'll probably end up voting no. But my district isn't like everybody else's district. My district represents a cross-section of every background in the country.

And they've been at the back -- you know, they've had the boot of a lot of these CBP agents, but also Department of Homeland Security agents as well. So this is not just those two agencies, but I think a lot of my colleagues will end up voting for this if the bill comes to the floor.

HILL: So you said you're walking through a scenario where you would be a no. If you did vote no, what would your message then be to not only the TSA workers who are showing up not getting paid, but also Americans across the country who are looking at these long lines, many of them traveling for work, some for pleasure, but just trying to get where they need to go?

GOMEZ: I have a constituent in my district who was picked up by ICE. He was in the Adelanto Detention Center and passed away. What do I tell his family that I ended up continuing to support and fund an agency that has caused one of their loved ones to perish in custody?

This is something that we've seen time and time again. Or the mother, she was eight months pregnant, was picked up one day. I tried to go and see her the next day.

She wasn't even in the system. The next day we find out she was already deported, eight months pregnant, back to Nicaragua. So my constituents, my district's very different than a lot of other districts, but so they know that I have to put up a fight.

And here's the thing, we're trying to get changes in Department of Homeland Security, CBP, and ICE. Simple things, right? Don't deport U.S. citizens.

Have a judicial warrant before you kick somebody's door down. Take off the face mask. So what we consider simple issues, they refuse to do.

So what do I say to those individuals in my district that have honestly been abused by ICE and CBP? And let's not forget, they still have $175 billion in One Big Beautiful Bill that they can use with no strings attached. So I believe that in my district they would want me to vote no.

If the majority can pass it on unanimous consent, they don't need our votes, they should go ahead and do it. Even though some of my other colleagues will vote for it, that's fine, that's up to them.

HILL: So let me ask you, just because of what you're saying, right, about those reforms that many Democrats did want. Senator Thune saying in response to the vote last night, and I'm quoting him here.

"The Dems wanted reforms. We tried to work with them on reforms. They ended up getting no reforms, but you know we're going to have to fight some of those battles another day."

Senator Schumer said he was happy that the caucus stayed united. Beyond that, what do you feel Democrats got in the Senate last night?

GOMEZ: Well, for some of the Democrats, they ended up getting the funding for TSA, as you said, and that's a bigger deal for their areas. And that's what they're going to support.

[08:40:00]

And that CBP and ICE was not included. For me, that's not enough. For me, I want to see more restrictions. Because right now, you have a slush fund in the One Big Beautiful Bill that Trump can use to do whatever he wants with CBP and ICE.

How do you think he's allowed to send them to airports? How do you think he's allowed to send them to Minnesota and all over the country? He has a slush fund.

He can do whatever he wants with it. He can even use it to pay for TSA employees. So he could've done that weeks ago. He chose not to.

So although they ended up funding the Department of Homeland Security, there's not a lot of restrictions on how that money is going to be used when it comes to CBP and ICE.

HILL: Congressman, very quickly, I only have time for a yes or no, but Democratic Representative Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick went before the House Ethics Committee, of course, on Thursday. This is about allegations that she stole millions in federal disaster funds, used it for her campaign in 2021. Should she step aside?

GOMEZ: If the Ethics Committee found that she violated the rules of the House, she should definitely step aside.

HILL: OK, Congressman Jimmy Gomez, appreciate your time this morning. Thank you.

An explosive device planted near a U.S. military base. It took officials six days to find that device. What we know now about the man accused of planting it.

And a presidential first coming to your wallet. President Trump's signature set to appear on dollar bills, but why?

Plus, a suspect finds himself in a thorny situation while trying to run from police and a rather painful arrest ensued.

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SIDNER: New details about a bomb planted at a U.S. Air Force base in Florida. We're now learning the bomb was viable and sat undiscovered for six days while the suspect fled to China. MacDill Air Force Base is home to U.S. Central Command, the nerve center of the U.S. military operations in the Middle East.

CNN's Holmes Lybrand joining us now with more on this story. Wow, sitting there for six days, it was viable. Where was the bomb planted exactly, Holmes?

HOLMES LYBRAND, CNN REPORTER: That's right, Sara. It was actually planted in a remote area near the visitor center. And that's why Air Force security did not find it for those six days.

And I want to just walk through a timeline of these events according to officials, because I think that that really is key to understanding this case. Now, the man in question, Alen Zheng, placed the bomb on March 10th, again, in that secluded area near the visitor center of MacDill. And as you mentioned, this is a home of Central Command, which is leading the U.S.-Israeli conflict against Iran. So it's a key Air Force base. Now, Air Force security swept the premises, especially focused on sensitive areas inside the base. They did not find the device that day.

They searched the device because of a 911 call from Zheng himself. Now, Zheng did not identify himself. He didn't say where the bomb was located.

And then the next day, he and his sister, Ann Mary, buy tickets and sell the car -- the car he used to transport the bomb, to MacDill. They buy tickets to China. And on March 12th, they flee the country.

This is all before the FBI knows who placed the call and even discovered the bomb. So they fled the country on March 12th. On March 16th, as you mentioned, six days after the bomb was placed, an Air Force security officer finds it in the remote area, and the FBI starts getting involved.

From there, they trace the 911 call to a phone that was purchased at Best Buy. From the security footage, they saw Zheng purchase the phone. They also saw Zheng in his car, the same car that he used to transport the device.

So from there, the FBI was able to look through the home and see that there were explosive devices inside of the home related to the IED, and Zheng is in China still. His sister came back to the U.S. and is under custody.

SIDNER: Wow, the story is just surprising that it sat there for so long, but as you said, it was sort of a remote area that wasn't heavily trafficked. Holmes Lybrand, thank you so much. Really interesting details there and thank goodness that the bomb did not explode.

All right, ahead. President Trump being presented with multiple options that could dramatically escalate the war with Iran. None of the options looking good, according to our sources, all of them coming with the risk of heavy U.S. casualties. Plus, the Supreme Court preparing to consider a key case on birthright

citizenship that, of course, could affect millions of Americans. New reporting on how their families became citizens.

[08:50:00]

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HILL: Next week, the Supreme Court will take up a historic dispute that really gets to the core of American identity. It's about the future of birthright citizenship. So this is a case that could also make the justices reflect possibly on their own family heritage, how their ancestors came to the United States from a coal mining village in Northwestern England, a small town in Italy, to being shipped from Africa in horrific bondage.

CNN's Chief Supreme Court Analyst, Joan Biskupic, joining us now. There has been so much anticipation building up to this, Joan, and this critical, critical case.

JOAN BISKUPIC, CNN CHIEF SUPREME COURT ANALYST: That's right, it's really historic. Donald Trump is challenging our understanding of the Fourth Amendment guarantee of nearly automatic birthright citizenship here in America. If a child is born here, he or she automatically becomes a citizen irrespective of the parent's immigrant status.

And we thought as we were exploring many themes to that important legal question to be argued next Wednesday to look at the justices' identities themselves because they all have very distinct origin stories and some of them express a lot of pride in their ancestral line and where they come from. So I'll just run through a couple right now for you, Erica, and we'll start with the one that you started with. Chief Justice John Roberts has family that goes back to English mining town and Slovakia, both settled in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.

In fact, I think it's interesting that his great, great, great grandfather who was working in Northwest England in a coal mine ends up in coal mining country here in Johnstown. That's a very familiar pattern for many families. Their ancestors coming over to this country doing the same kind of work.

Another person who next in line for seniority is Clarence Thomas. And he has talked about descending from African slaves who came to America many, many, many decades ago, centuries ago, and he was raised in Savannah by his maternal grandparents. And he even spoke recently at an appearance about how his grandfather had a grandmother who was born into slavery, and he has spoken about how meaningful that connection is to him.

[08:55:00]

It just really shapes some of these justices in different ways. And another justice just like that would be Samuel Alito, who's one of the -- comes from a family that's more recent to the U.S. His grandparents came here from Southern Italy. In fact, they had a different name than he has now. His grandfather when he immigrated was -- his name was Salvador Alati, A-L-A-T-I.

I think that's how you probably pronounce it. But he's, Justice Alito has said that was either changed at Ellis Island or soon after. And he especially remains very close to his Italian heritage.

Two other justices who I will quickly name for you, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, she talks all the time about her Puerto Rican roots. And Puerto Rico, of course, has been part of the U.S. since the early 1900s. But her parents themselves, her grandparents before that, went back to Puerto Rico when it was still Spanish territory.

And finally, Elena Kagan, who speaks very much of how her Jewish identity is intertwined with her American identity. Three of her four grandparents were Russian Jews who immigrated here from the territory that is now part of Ukraine -- Erica.

HILL: Yes, it is so interesting as you get that snapshot into all of their origin stories. Joan, appreciate it, thank you.

Well, the Senate passing a bill to fund most of DHS. While you were sleeping, the House, though, has to act now before Congress leaves for two weeks. Remember, they're supposed to leave for that recess today.

Plus, new this morning, Savannah Guthrie announcing her plans to return to the Today Show as investigators continue the desperate search for her mother.

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