Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

House GOP Expected To Reject DHS Bill, Likely Extending Shutdown; FAA Investigating Close Call Between United Plane, Army Chopper; Iran-linked Hackers Breach FBI Director's Personal Email Account; Trump Announces Plan To Help Farmers Hurt By War With Iran; Trump's Signature Will Soon Appear On U.S. Dollar Bills. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired March 27, 2026 - 13:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:31:05]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": Back now to our Breaking News. We've learned that House Republicans are expected to announce at any moment they are rejecting the bill that the Senate passed to fund most of the Department of Homeland Security, which included TSA officers. They're expected to offer their own plan to fund the full department for up to eight weeks. But the Senate has already left Washington for a two-week recess, which likely extends the shutdown and that proposal by the House isn't one that the Senate appears to have the votes for.

And this all comes as airports across the nation are dealing with this, what you're looking at on your screen here. Just these agonizing long security lines as TSA agents have gone weeks without pay. We're joined now by TSA worker and union member, Tanya Crocker (ph).

Tanya, thank you so much for talking with us. I know you and your colleagues were supposed to get paid today. That didn't happen. What does this mean? Tell us what you all have been going through and how you all are doing?

All right, I think we -- I think we're having a tough time with Tanya's signal there. We're going to try to reestablish that. Obviously, she's in a tough reception area. But this is a really difficult time for TSA workers who are going now, at this point, weeks without pay, some of them skipping bills and it is very much affecting them in a long-term way that even getting paid is not going to fix.

We're just days after that deadly collision at New York's LaGuardia Airport. The FAA is investigating a close call between a passenger plane and a military helicopter in Santa Ana, California -- in Orange County, California. The United Airlines flight was preparing to land when an Army National Guard Blackhawk helicopter crossed in front of it and it actually triggered the plane's collision avoidance alarm.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": According to a flight radar tracker, the two aircraft were about 500 feet apart vertically at their closest point. After the alarm sounded, the plane's pilots stopped ascending and leveled off until they were past the chopper. Here's the audio between air traffic control and the plane's pilots.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ATC: United 589, just want to clarify here, did you get just a traffic call reference to the helicopter or did they restrict your altitude or anything?

PILOT: We had a resolution advisory for United 589, RA.

ATC: We're going to be addressing that because that was not good.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: The California National Guard says the helicopter was on a routine training mission and heading back to its home base. Officials had the aircraft was flying along an established route at an assigned altitude while in communication with air traffic control. Nevertheless, an unsettling moment there given the history.

We're also following a developing story out of the Justice Department. FBI Director, Kash Patel's personal email account apparently has been hacked by individuals linked to the Iranian government.

KEILAR: CNN has confirmed the hackers have also posted some of the information found like private photos and documents. CNN Senior Justice Correspondent, Evan Perez is here with more. And Evan, your sources are telling you that these images, they are real.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: They are real.

KEILAR: Tell us more and what DOJ is saying about them.

PEREZ: Well, the hackers seem to be releasing documents and images of emails from 2011 to 2022, so this is before Kash Patel became the FBI Director and a lot of them are just mundane things. There are some of his travel plans. There are things that he forwarded from his DOJ email from when he was in the National Security Division. This is again years ago.

There are photos and so on, and it appears that these Iranian-linked hackers have been targeting a number of officials over the last few weeks. It's absolutely believed to be in connection to the Iran war that the U.S. and Israeli war in Iran, as a way for them to show what their capabilities are.

[13:35:00]

We got a statement from the FBI. They say that the FBI is aware of malicious actors targeting Director Patel's personal email information and we have taken all necessary steps to mitigate potential risks associated with this activity.

And they point out, again, that the information in question is historical and it involves no government information. But obviously, this is a very serious thing because the capabilities of the Iranians has grown in the last few years. And I should remember -- I should remind everyone that it was a previous hack in 2024 where they targeted Kash Patel, they targeted a number of other officials, people who were associated with Donald Trump.

And one of those, John Bolton, ended up getting into legal problems because of that. Those charges that he is now facing arose in part from some of the things that the FBI found after the Iranians hacked into his personal email account. So there are consequences to some of this beyond just, of course, the embarrassment of having -- the FBI director having his own personal email being breached by these hackers.

SANCHEZ: Evan Perez, thank you so much for that reporting. So if you thought the Iran war's impact on gas prices was bad, consider that an even larger percentage of the world's fertilizer moves through the Strait of Hormuz. We're going to talk to a farmer about the impact the war is having on his business when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:41:05]

SANCHEZ: President Trump says that help is on the way for farmers who are being battered by rising fuel and fertilizer costs because of the war with Iran. Moments ago at the White House, he announced a plan that included lowering the cost of farming equipment and easing industry regulations.

For nearly a month now, Iran has effectively blocked the Strait of Hormuz, a major shipping route for the world's oil. The passageway, though, also handles an even larger percentage of the world's fertilizer. As a result, diesel and fertilizer prices have surged. A gallon of diesel now costs $1.61 more than before the war started. Fertilizer costs are up 35 percent, an increase that puts more pressure on farmers who have already struggled under Trump's tariffs.

One of those farmers joins us now. Aaron Lehman is the President of the Iowa Farmers Union. Aaron, thank you so much for sharing part of your day with us. How has the war impacted you and members of your union?

AARON LEHMAN, SOYBEAN & CORN FARMER: Yeah, it's really had a dramatic impact on farmers who are already hurting because of a chaotic trade policy, cuts to USDA programs and personnel. And on top of all this, this unpredictable situation with fertilizer price increases just means it's so much harder for farmers to find a way to get the financing in order to get a crop in the field this spring.

SANCHEZ: Talk to us about the timing because this is a critical set of weeks for farmers, right? This is when you start planning for the year.

LEHMAN: Absolutely. This is the time where we're getting crops into the ground and our final fertilizer applications made. And while some farmers have had the chance to lock in some prices early, but our most vulnerable farmers, unfortunately, have been waiting to get some assistance from the USDA regarding trade tensions, and they weren't able to lock in their fertilizer prices. So they've gotten a double whammy. Now that they finally can find some funds to pay, the price has gone up dramatically.

SANCHEZ: The administration did offer a $12 billion aid package for farmers back in December, in part to help with something that you alluded to, the cost of tariffs. We've spoken to farmers since who say that that has not helped cover the extent of their losses.

I wonder how many of your members have been able to fully recover from the impact of tariffs and are now dealing with this.

LEHMAN: Oh, yeah. The impact is in the really short term and our long term relationships have suffered. So what's that mean? We're seeing farm bankruptcies. The number of farm bankruptcies go up. We're seeing the amount of farmers taking on debt going up.

Our mental health and farmer stress hotlines are experiencing a lot more calls. It's having a big impact. And that impact is on the farm and it's across our entire rural communities.

SANCHEZ: Do you think what Trump announced today is a step in the right direction? How helpful will it be?

LEHMAN: Well, it's too difficult to know at this point exactly what is being proposed and how it could be helpful. We know that the damage is very impactful. Earlier this week, the secretary of agriculture said there shouldn't be much disruption to the fertilizer plans for farmers.

Well, that's just not based in reality. Our farmers are feeling it. And the small changes that we're hearing about today really don't make a big dent in the damage that farmers are feeling right now.

[13:45:00]

SANCHEZ: So what is your message to President Trump, Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins, and members of Congress?

LEHMAN: Yeah, you know, we should be doing more to support our farmers and making their ability to deal with a troubled farm economy by passing a farm bill now. That provides stability for farmers. It is -- our current farm bill is eight years old. It is three years out of date. We should be demanding that we address the monopoly problem we have in agriculture. We only have a couple of companies that we can choose to buy our products from and to sell what we grow into. So the farmer share is dropping.

In addition to that, a lot of USDA programs have had extreme cuts and staff cuts, down 20 percent. All these supports help farmers in times of instability, but we're not doing those things to help farmers through these difficult times.

SANCHEZ: Aaron Lehman, thank you so much for sharing your perspective with us. We appreciate your time. LEHMAN: Thank you so much, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Thanks so much.

Still ahead, what's in your wallet? What's on your currency? Pretty soon, it'll be the president's signature. We'll explain next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:51:21]

KEILAR: It is well-established that President Trump likes to put his name on things. And now, the Treasury Department is delivering his signature on U.S. dollar bills. It's the first for a sitting president. CNN's Tom Foreman is with us now. And what's the rationale for this move?

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I'm pretty sure it's just because he wants to do it, but they do have a rationale. They're saying, look, it's the 250th anniversary. If you look at what Scott Bessent, the Treasury Secretary, said about it, he basically said you tie it into this celebration of this 250th anniversary of the country.

He says there is no more powerful way to recognize the historic achievements of our great country and President Donald J. Trump than U.S. dollar bills bearing his name, and it is only appropriate that this historic currency be issued at the semiquincentennial.

I think we're going to be saying that word a lot in days coming up. That's their take on it. Let's do it this way. It's not really clear which bills they will be on, but it's the first time a living president has done it. Usually, it's the secretary of the treasury. He'll still be on there. But the Treasurer himself will not be.

KEILAR: So he has done or this has been done sort of in his honor by people who he has appointed, et cetera, and so forth. He really likes his name on things. And we've seen this before, as I mentioned.

FOREMAN: We've never seen anything like this before with the president. We've seen it before with him. For example, if you look at some of the things he's done, there is this commemorative coin. There's a law against a president being on a coin, but now there's commemorative coin out there. TrumpRx, the drug program, the gold visa card for people to pay a whole bunch of money and get citizenship faster, the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center, he put his name up on top of that.

On top of which, he put his name on the U.S. Institute of Peace on its face, on these passes into national parks. He's wanted Dulles Airport renamed for him. And they announced last year, late last year, these new Trump-class battleships out there.

The simple truth is, yeah, he likes to put his image and his name in a whole lot of places, very much like he did as a private citizen, saying that his name is so valuable. So in that sense, with the new ballroom going up and the possible arch over in Virginia, I don't think this name game is anywhere close to done. You can bet your money on that.

(LAUGH)

KEILAR: Or your coin, which --

FOREMAN: Or your coin.

KEILAR: -- your big, big coin.

FOREMAN: It's going to be very interesting, because a lot of this is being done by fiat. He's basically just, in a sense, engineering people to do it. And there are challenges to some of it. So some of this stuff may be there now, but may not be there when he's back out of office.

KEILAR: Yeah, good point. Tom Foreman, thank you so much. Boris?

SANCHEZ: Breaking News, no funding deal.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

SANCHEZ: Breaking News to CNN. No deal, at least not right now. This hour, a bill to end the partial government shutdown is facing strong Republican pushback in the House after the Senate worked overnight to pass it unanimously.

If the measure fails today, many TSA workers could go on a sixth consecutive week without pay, as well as civilian Coast Guard employees and FEMA employees as well. The shutdown is fueling travel disruptions and has been for days. We'll go live to an airport to show you pictures there in just a moment.

But first, let's go to Capitol Hill with CNN's Lauren Fox, where we're now expecting to hear from Speaker Mike Johnson directly in about a half an hour or so. Lauren?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, that's exactly right. We are waiting right now for Speaker Mike Johnson to head to the mics and give us a little bit of an update on where things stand.

But obviously, what we know right now is that House Republicans and Senate Republicans are divided over the path forward. The Senate was able to pass by just a simple voice vote last night, funding for all parts of DHS minus immigration enforcement and ICE and CBP.

[13:55:00]

But that is obviously not the direction that House Republicans are going. Instead, they want to fund this agency for a short period of time, the entire agency, including immigration enforcement, and that is creating a really collision course at this point between the two chambers.

Meanwhile, you had Senate Democratic Leader, Chuck Schumer releasing a statement, making it crystal clear Democrats are not going to support this plan that the House is socializing at this point. That leaves you with essentially just another stalemate as TSA officials are expected to go without another paycheck over this weekend, and just really uncertain right now what the path ahead is here on the Hill.

Obviously, we are waiting to see if President Trump gets involved. That could make a big difference in this divide, but it's not going to change the minds of Democrats and you need 60 votes over in the Senate. Senators are arguing they already did their job.

Now, it's time for Speaker Mike Johnson to put their bill on the floor. Obviously, he's under tremendous pressure from his conservative rank and file to not do that.

KEILAR: Yeah, but a lot of pressure as we were seeing at these airports, a lot of pressure from the American people all over the country.

Lauren, stand by for us as we await Speaker Mike Johnson. Jeff Zeleny is here in studio with us. As she said, if the president gets involved, it can make a difference. Why hasn't he gotten involved up until now? Sort of allowing the Senate to pass something without throwing his support behind something, it seems very chaotic, disorganized, and the effects are just awful for travelers, for Americans.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Without a doubt, and that is why the frustration is just so palpable every time a passenger speaks to one of our colleagues in Houston, in Atlanta, in Baltimore, or in any airport in America that's experiencing this.

But look, the president has been fairly consistent in saying that he wants to use this as a moment to pass his SAVE America Act, which of course is a broader election bill that has nothing to do with this.

And as of now, he's been unwilling to sort of give the sign for House Republicans to come along. As Lauren was just saying there, that could always change. We've seen a delay here in Speaker Johnson's news conference.

So it's Friday afternoon, right before a two-week holiday recess. So I think we should be cautious to say that nothing is going to happen, but it looks like a deal is not going to be reached. And that means that there's going to be more pain for Americans and more dysfunction in Congress.

I mean, but Democrats also are engaging in a bit of a risk here as well, because it's a pox on everyone's house. But Republicans are obviously in control here. But you sort of wonder at the end of all this, what has been gained by this.

And for Democrats, it's the fight. They've drawn attention to the funding of Homeland Security. They've drawn attention to the immigration policies here. But that does very little for the traveling public. And imagine all those who have decided against traveling this week and last week because of how absolutely chaotic it is at the airports. SANCHEZ: For those who've decided to risk it, it's been quite a headache, especially at BWI. Let's go to the Baltimore Airport now with CNN's Pete Muntean. Pete, last I saw, there were lines out the door. Folks were having to line up outside for TSA checkpoints.

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, and the line is now inside. If you can believe it, this is the afternoon lull that they expected here at BWI. That is the checkpoint through the window there, Checkpoint C. This is handling pretty much everyone for the A, B and C piers.

That's everyone flying on Southwest Airlines, quite busy because it's the official start of spring break come Monday for Anne Arundel Public Schools, where we are. This is the line maybe three quarters of the way up to the checkpoint. And so you can see, it snakes through what was this food court here, snakes around twice there, down this hallway here.

Folks telling me up at the front of the line, they've been waiting for about an hour. Hard to believe that that's way better than what we saw earlier. Three hours, 10 minutes to three hours, 40 minutes. That's what the line was like this morning.

And the airport here tells us the line will get even worse as the day goes on, as we get into the evening rush with so many people passing through here. The expectation was 31,000 passengers in total here at BWI. That's the most they have seen since the start of this year.

The TSA call-out numbers have been particularly high, about 30 percent of employees calling out sick as they're not getting paid, just got another zero-dollar paycheck.