Return to Transcripts main page

CNN This Morning

Trump Threatens To Deploy ICE Agents To Airports Monday; Long Security Lines Form At Airports As TSA Officers Go Unpaid; Trump Threatens Iran If Strait Of Hormuz Not Opened In 48 Hours; Iran Vows To Hit U.S. Infrastructure If Power Plants Targeted; European Countries, Japan: Ready To Help Ensure Safety Of Strait Of Hormuz; Officials Declare Mass Casualty Event After Iranian Missile Hits Arad In Southern Israel; Cuba Suffers Third Power Outage Amid U.S. Oil Blockade; Robert Mueller, Second Longest-Serving FBI Director Dies At 81; Hawaii Flooding Worst In 20 Years, Rescues Underway; Higher Gas Prices Putting A Strain On Family Budgets. Homan Negotiates With Senators To End DHS Shutdown; DHS: Shutdown Could Force Some Airports To Close; Trump Threatens To Deploy ICE Agents To Airports Monday. Aired 6-7a ET

Aired March 22, 2026 - 06:00   ET

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

[06:00:31]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to CNN THIS MORNING. Here's what you need to know today. It's 6:00 a.m. in the east, and already we're seeing another morning of long TSA security lines. Live look for you at Atlanta's airport. Wait times are already more than two hours.

And now President Trump is issuing a threat to lawmakers, fund DHS, or he'll send ICE agents to the airports tomorrow. The question is, what would they even do?

New this morning, Iran is threatening to target U.S. infrastructure in the Gulf region. It's in response to President Trump threatening to obliterate Iranian power plants. We're live in the region.

Plus, Cuba plunged into darkness again. The entire electrical grid is down. More than 10 million people without power. A report from the island is straight ahead on CNN THIS MORNING.

It is Sunday, March 22nd. I'm Victor Blackwell. Thank you for joining us.

President Trump is threatening to send ICE agents to airports as soon as tomorrow if Congress does not agree to end the partial government shutdown. In a Truth Social post on Saturday, the president told ICE to get ready. He claims they will handle security better than ever.

Now, it's unclear what role ICE agents would take on as they're not trained for airport security screenings. Democrats are slamming the plan as an unconstitutional use of, quote, "state police force." The shutdown has caused travel chaos with security lines stretching for hours in major hubs like Atlanta and Houston.

Hundreds of TSA agents have quit. They've gone more than a month now without a full paycheck. A lot of travelers are frustrated with those long lines but also that the TSA workers are going without pay.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It seems that the people that are, you know, working here, they come in for free, which we greatly appreciate. But I hope that, you know, it must be very difficult for their personal situation. And I think we all have to thank them to come in under these circumstances.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, I want these guys to get paid for their -- for doing work. I mean, if I wasn't getting paid for my job, I wouldn't show up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: CNN's Rafael Romo joins us now from Hartsfield-Jackson Airport in Atlanta. Rafael, we have the times on the screen here. Two and a half hours already at the airport?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Victor, I would say that it's even more than that. And here's the situation, right? When we were here yesterday, people were using terms like pandemonium, craziness, ridiculous to describe the situation here. I'm sorry to say that today is even worse.

Let's say you're a regular passenger. You have general boarding. You come to the main checkpoint area and they tell you, no, the line doesn't start here. Take a look at this line. It's not only one line, it's three lines and there's two on the other side.

And so, you try to find the end of the line and you start walking and walking. And then this hallway right here that takes you to the atrium you're going to see how that's full of people too. And one thing that we have noticed, Victor, in the last few days, they were indicating wait times on monitors. We don't see that anymore.

So, now we're in the atrium. Take a look at the line. There's another holding area for people right here. But this is not the end of the line, Victor. You have to keep on walking and walking. And then there's like a third holding area.

You see some people advancing there in the background. You still have to walk. And again, we're talking about not one line, not three, but five lines that are all the way here deep.

I'm going to try to get across. You know, this is another holding area. Now, we're getting close to the baggage area, Victor. And so. I'm going to ask Stuart, our wonderful photographer, to follow me because we're trying to find the end of the line. And as long as I've been talking, I've been walking and we still don't find the line.

Take a look. Victor, you know this airport very well. Now, we're approaching the baggage area, and we still haven't reached the end of the line.

[06:05:04]

And the problem is that they had people doing pre-check here yesterday. That's the baggage area. And I'm afraid I'm not going to find the end of the line in this live shot because it snakes around and it wraps around the baggage area. So, when you were saying 2.5 hours, I don't know, maybe, but the reality is that it's really hard for these folks.

Now, one piece of good news before I go back to back to you, Victor, what we saw yesterday, the first three, four hours in the morning were brutal for passengers. And then all of a sudden, I don't know what happened if they got more TSA agents, if there were less people, if rush hour had finished but it was normal. Actually, better than normal.

So, the hope is that today the same thing will happen. But there's no guarantees. About 10 percent absentee rate so far in the last few days, and more than 360 TSA screeners that have quit so far in this partial government shutdown. Victor, that's the situation here at Atlanta -- at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. Now, back to you.

BLACKWELL: It's almost unbelievable that -- we gave you two and a half, three minutes to do the shot. And in that time you couldn't even get to the end of the line. Rafael, I think we're probably in this moment now where the problem is compounded because people are showing up earlier and are in line earlier which makes the lines even longer.

ROMO: Yes.

BLACKWELL: And so, someone who would typically show up two hours for this line shows up at three, and that's what you get at 6:00 in the morning on a Sunday. Rafael Romo, walking us through what people are waiting through at the busiest airport in the world, we'll get back to you next hour.

All right. President Trump's threat to send ICE agents to airports sparked immediate backlash and some confusion. Critics point out that ICE agents, they don't have the months of specialized training required for screening. They may not even know how to use the technology to scan a bag. CNN's Julia Benbrook has more on the president's plans for ICE.

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Donald Trump says that if an agreement isn't reached to fund the Department of Homeland Security, that he's sending Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to airports to, quote, "do security like no one has seen before."

I want to pull up one of his posts about this specifically, where he looked to place the full blame for this lapse in funding on Democrats as Americans continue to feel the impact. He said in part, if the Democrats do not allow for just and proper security at our airports and elsewhere throughout our country, ICE will do the job far better than ever done before. Adding, I look forward to moving ICE in on Monday and have already told them, get ready, no more waiting, no more games. Now, it's unclear what function the agents would perform as they are not trained in airport security screening. It is possible that they could step into a more limited role, like managing lines, but we have reached out to DHS and the White House for more specifics on this.

Now, during the halt in funding, TSA officers have been working without pay and staffing shortages have contributed to delays across the country. When it comes to funding DHS, and that argument taking place on Capitol Hill, demands for reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement are at the heart of it. Democrats are withholding their votes until they can see changes there. Negotiations are ongoing, but many have said that the White House has not given them any real concessions.

Traveling with the president in Florida, Julia Benbrook, CNN.

BLACKWELL: Julia, thank you very much. Be sure to watch STATE OF THE UNION later this morning. White House border czar Tom Homan and Israeli ambassador to the U.S. Michael Leiter joined Dana Bash. That's at 9:00 a.m. eastern right here on CNN.

New developments this morning in the war on Iran. The clock is ticking after President Trump gave Iran an ultimatum. In a social media post he demanded Iran reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours. Or he says he will, quote, "hit and obliterate" Iran's power plants.

Now, Iranian media says Iran will retaliate by striking U.S. infrastructure in the region if Trump attacks Iran's power plants. Iran's representative to the United Nations' Maritime Agency says the Strait of Hormuz is open to everyone except Iran's enemies.

In a joint statement, several European countries and Japan said that they're ready to help with the efforts to ensure the safe passageway of ships across the Strait of Hormuz. Japan's foreign minister said the country would consider helping with minesweeping if there's a ceasefire, but the president has said he's not interested in a ceasefire.

[06:10:07]

He claims Iran wants to make a deal, but the president says that he doesn't want to. Meanwhile, the IDF says that it was unable to intercept two Iranian missiles, one of them injured several people, destroyed a small building in Israel, the home of the country's nuclear program. The other hit Arad, where officials declared a mass casualty event.

Let's go now for more on the strikes in southern Israel. Let's go to CNN Jerusalem bureau chief Oren Liebermann. Oren, what do you know?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: And, Victor, these aren't even the latest strikes that we're talking about as we sit here and get updates from Israel's emergency response service. Just a short time ago, there were sirens and alerts warning of incoming missiles in central Israel, in Tel Aviv. And we see multiple impact sites in the city of Tel Aviv itself, including in Habima Square, where there is some damage from what looks to be a cluster warhead.

Given the fact that we're seeing other reports of damage at the same time nearby here, what's worth noting about Habima Square is that it's one of the main shelters underground there. So, we'll get the latest on that as it comes in.

The major strikes, though, were from direct hits from incoming missiles late last night, just hours apart. The first in the city of Dimona, which, as you pointed out, is home to Israel's nuclear program. There, a missile got through Israel's missile defense system.

The Israeli military said they tried to intercept it but interceptors failed to stop it. And then you see the impact from that. A one story building destroyed and dozens scores even treated by Israel's emergency response service Magen David Adom.

Then just hours later, also in southern Israel, the city of Arad, a missile got through there and destroyed or damaged a number of buildings in a residential area. There you can see the walls of the buildings torn off there in some of the video from the city of Arad as this appears to be the largest incident in terms of number of injured as a result of a single missile. Across both scenes in Dimona and Arad, again just hours apart, both missiles getting through. Magen David Adom says more than 100 were treated and taken to hospital as a result of those strikes.

The Israeli military did a briefing just a short time ago, saying they're still intercepting some 90 percent of Iran's missiles, but these two in Dimona and Arad getting through Israel's missile defense. In addition to that, it's not just missiles from Iran that are getting through here. In the town of Misgav Am, right on Israel's northern border, one killed as a missile from or rocket from Hezbollah, the Iranian proxy in Lebanon, got through there.

So you see -- you see here the impact, ongoing impact of this war with multiple missiles getting through as we are into the fourth week of the war here, Victor.

BLACKWELL: Oren, I mentioned this threat from the president to open the Strait of Hormuz, or the president would obliterate Iran's power plants. What's been the reaction in the region to that ultimatum?

LIEBERMANN: Well, Iran threatened it would hit U.S. sites around the region if Trump went through with his threat to start hitting Iranian power plants. We have already seen a sharp, sharp escalation as a result of Israel's strike on the South Pars natural gas field. After that, Iran attacked energy infrastructure sites throughout the region, showing that they too can escalate and have the command and control in place to do so.

Now, President Donald Trump further escalating by saying he'll hit Iranian power plants if the Strait of Hormuz isn't open within 48 hours, it's unclear what leverage he actually has here. He certainly thinks -- seems to think he has a lot here, but it's unclear what leverage he actually has when it comes to forcing Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz. It's unlikely they will simply open the strait just because he sent out a social media post. So, this is a critical moment as there have been so many others since the war started here, and we'll keep a close eye on this, Victor.

BLACKWELL: Oren Liebermann, from Jerusalem, thank you. All right. A few other headlines making the news this morning. Cuba is suffering from its second nationwide electrical blackout in less than a week. More than 10 million people across the island are without power. Blackouts have become more frequent since the U.S. imposed an oil blockade, cut off Venezuela, Cuba's main supplier, and threatens other providers like Mexico with tariffs.

Robert Mueller, the longest serving FBI director since J. Edgar Hoover, has died. He was chosen as FBI director by President George W. Bush. He took office days before 9/11. Because of security threats at the time, President Obama asked him to stay beyond the usual 10-year term. Mueller led important changes to how the agency operated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDREW MCCABE, FORMER DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF THE FBI: He was also the guy who brought us, sometimes kicking and screaming, into the future, right? He was there. He started as director seven days before 9/11. Quickly realized that we needed to become the nation's premier domestic law enforcement and intelligence agency.

[06:15:02]

And he turned us into a vital member of the intelligence community and turned us into an intelligence led organization.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: In 2017, Mueller was appointed special counsel to investigate ties between Russia and President Trump. Mueller's probe concluded that Russia interfered in the 2016 election on Trump's behalf. Mueller was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2021. He was 81 years old.

The worst flooding in 20 years has hit parts of Hawaii and forced rescues and evacuations. On the Island of Oahu water has destroyed homes, airports, and hospitals. Damage estimates exceeding $1 billion. Friday's storms dumped two to three months' worth of rain in 24 hours and left the ground saturated.

Still to come, Iran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz is sending gas prices soaring. We'll discuss why experts say this impact could last well into 2027.

Plus, an island in darkness as we discuss more than 10 million people without power in Cuba, another electrical blackout. We'll show you what it's like on the streets of Havana.

And a big swath of the country, from Illinois to New Jersey, will be experiencing storms today. Ahead, the latest on severe weather. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:21:07]

BLACKWELL: Iranian media is now reporting that Tehran will target U.S. infrastructure in the region if its power plants are attacked. You see, President Trump threatened last night to hit and obliterate Iran's power plants if it doesn't open the Strait of Hormuz. About a fifth of the world's oil supply travels through there, and it's been effectively blocked for days. It's threatening a global energy shock. And many Americans are already feeling the effects as gas prices rise.

Energy economist Mark Wolfe joins me now to talk about what could happen next. Mark, good to have you along.

Let me start here with this announcement from the administration this weekend to lift the sanctions on 140 million barrels of oil. And the treasury secretary posted on social media that by doing this the administration is expanding the amount of worldwide energy and helping to relieve the temporary pressures on supply caused by Iran.

In essence, we will be using the Iranian barrels against Tehran to keep the price down as we continue Operation Epic Fury. How much actual relief does this offer?

MARK WOLFE, ENERGY ECONOMIST: So far, not a lot. You know, energy prices for gasoline, especially, it's up by about $1.00 a gallon since the war started. Oil prices are at some of the highest levels in years. The price of a barrel of oil right now is about $120 a barrel.

And what that means for families, and I think that's what's really important, it's not just the price of gasoline. So, families are may be spending an extra $15.00 a week right now for gasoline, but you also need diesel fuel for trucks to bring food to grocery stores. Those prices are going up. Airline tickets are going up. So, this is adding to really the overall affordability issue that the country is facing now.

Now before the war, we were struggling with high electricity prices, for example. High health care prices. Food prices are going up faster than inflation. And now we have gasoline going up faster than inflation.

So, the overall impact on families is really pretty severe. I mean, the president said something like, it's a small price to pay. But I think he's not really thinking, is that for low income and middle income families? They just don't really have very much excess capacity in their budgets. They live from paycheck to paycheck.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

WOLFE: So, what I'm concerned about is what happens to low and middle income families as this war goes on. And keep in mind, even if the war ends tomorrow it could take months to rebuild the infrastructure in the Middle East. So, prices are going to stay high into the foreseeable future no matter what happens. And yes, it helps to release energy from the strategic petroleum reserve. But it's not enough because 20 percent of oil goes through the Straits of Hormuz. That's an enormous amount of energy.

BLACKWELL: In addition to the oil that goes through, there's also the fertilizer that goes through that will be more expensive. And farming organizations have said that food is going to cost more.

You know, what's interesting is that we know acutely the price of gas goes up. And you said food and airfare as well. But there's a formula you shared with my producers that as the cost of fuel goes up the commencement rate of food cost goes up. Share that with the audience.

WOLFE: OK. So, there are rough rules of thumb that as the price of oil goes up, the price of food goes up. Now, oil is still a relatively small part of the total cost. So, some people estimate that for every one percent that the price of oil goes up, food goes up by, say, a 10th of one percent. So if oil goes up by 10 percent, food goes up by one percent.

[06:25:01]

So, we're looking at potentially an increase of, say, 50 percent of the price of oil. That would raise the price of food by five percent. So, that's the way to think about it.

And it's really kind of a drip, drip, drip problem. It's not just the price of gasoline going up, but it's all the things that are related and how we use petroleum in this country. And I think that's what concerns me.

So when a politician, for example, the president or the secretary of energy, says it's a small price to pay, he's right for upper middle class families, it's not a problem. But for lower income families and middle income families who spend five to 10 percent of their budgets on home energy and gasoline that's really a very difficult cost.

So that's why even in Congress now they're talking about a windfall profits tax. And we had that during the last Iranian-Iraqi war. There was a windfall profits tax essentially to help those families pay these extra costs.

BLACKWELL: Because the margins are so thin. I mean, when you're talking about five percent here, 10 percent there, for families that are on lower end of the income scale, those margins are probably too broad already for paycheck to paycheck, week to week. Mark Wolfe, thank you so much for speaking with us this morning.

For years, President Trump has made insensitive, let's call them, statements about his opponents. But his comments after former FBI director Robert Mueller's death, more controversial than usual. We'll discuss in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:30:29] VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Congress is back in session tomorrow, and the list is long. The plate is full. Top of the list, ending the shutdown, the Department of Homeland Security.

Border Czar Tom Homan met Friday night with a bipartisan group of senators reportedly offered Democrats additional concessions on ICE reforms. And while those talks drag on, lines are getting longer. Tempers are growing shorter. The nation's airports. Wait times have reached up to four hours. 40 percent of TSA agents have called out sick at some airports. Roughly 50,000 agents are working without pay.

Joining me now are Republican strategist, Jeanette Hoffman and Democratic strategist Maria Cardona. Welcome back, Maria. Welcome for the first time, Jeanette.

MARIA CARDONA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Good morning.

BLACKWELL: Good to have you both on the show. Jeanette, let me start with you.

JEANETTE HOFFMAN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Good morning.

BLACKWELL: The president has now said that if this is not resolved this weekend, that tomorrow he will, quote, "Move our brilliant and patriotic ICE agents to the airports where they will do security like no one has ever seen before." He's got that no one has ever seen before part, right? Because what would they even do?

They're not trained for this job. Do you feel safer if you have an ICE agent trying to figure out how to use the machine to scan a bag?

HOFFMAN: Well, I think this is a stopgap measure, Victor. I don't think it really solves anything to your point because, listen, they're not trained to do homeland security in the way that TSA agents who've trained for weeks and months are trained to do. But let's get to the root of the problem.

This is the second shutdown in six months because of Chuck Schumer capitulating to the far left of his Party. There are concessions in this bill to even have ICE agents wear body cameras. But the Democrats won't open the government and fund these poor TSA agents who've gone for so long without paychecks. They don't or they aren't even able to put gas in their cars to come to work. They can't pay for childcare to come to work. And the American public is suffering.

So what really needs to happen before Friday, because Friday they go without yet another paycheck, is that this bill needs to get funded, Homeland Security needs to be reopened, and these TSA agents need to get paid.

BLACKWELL: Maria, let me come to you first on the President's threat to send ICE to fill in for TSA.

CARDONA: You know, that just shows to me how clueless, ignorant, and incompetent this president is. He has no idea what ICE agents would do at these airports other than scare the people who were there, which would continue to disrupt the operations there. So, let's be very clear.

The last thing this President Republicans are interested in is actually funding DHS and helping these TSA agents. Why do I say that? Because Democrats have put up seven bills in the last several days to fund TSA, to fund the Coast Guard, to fund FEMA, and Republicans have completely rejected it.

Let's also be very clear, what Republicans are doing with Trump at the helm is that they are prioritizing, lifting up rogue, violent ICE agents who have criminalized what they are doing on the streets of America, essentially terrorizing our communities, killing even innocent American citizens. They don't want to change anything. And they are focusing on that instead of helping to fund these TSA agents who really deserve a paycheck. And I agree this needs to end now, but Republicans can do it in three seconds, Victor.

BLACKWELL: Maria, let me ask you about this, because before the start of the shutdown, there was this PBS News, NPR merits poll that found that two-thirds of American agreed that Americans agree that ICE had just gone too far with their tactics. Democrats responded made these demands to get the votes for funding. Do you think that the public is willing to endure these inconveniences and the vulnerabilities because we are at war in exchange for what Congressional Democrats are demanding.

[06:35:11]

CARDONA: But see that's the key, right, Victor? The American public doesn't need to endure anything, if Republicans really cared about giving TSA agents a paycheck. If they cared about that, they would join Democrats to fund TSA, to fund the Coast Guard, and FEMA so that we can then continue with the negotiations about continuing to fund the full DHS, including ICE, which by the way, does not need any additional funding. They got billions of dollars with the horrible bill that was passed over the summer. So, the focus should be TSA, and they can fund it tomorrow, Victor. But Republicans refuse to do it because they have twisted priorities.

BLACKWELL: Jeanette, let me come back to you on this. Friday, the president posted on social media. The Hormuz Strait will have to be guarded and policed as necessary by other nations who used it. He said on Friday that the strait will open itself at a certain point. Then Saturday, the president threatened that, quote, "If Iran doesn't fully open without threat the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours from this exact point in time, the U.S. will hit and obliterate their various power plants, starting with the biggest one first. And that's after he told Netanyahu on Thursday not to hit the energy infrastructure in Iran.

So how do you reconcile all this? Does the president have a plan? Because this is on both sides of the issue in a matter of 48 hours.

HOFFMAN: Victor, are you asking me to decipher the President's true social posts on national TV? I can't do that. I'm asking you first of all --

BLACKWELL: I'm asking you to -- to decipher if he has plan.

HOFFMAN: But I will tell you. Yes, I mean, listen, I believe that if the Strait is not opened, there will be continued escalation from America, from Israel. 22 countries have condemned Iran for not opening the Strait. There's going to be continued escalation. I am sure of that.

What the President's plan is, I do not know exactly. I don't think the president knows what his plan is. But that Strait needs to be reopened. I will tell you that the plan isn't going to be what President Biden's plan was simply don't. That's not a plan either.

But there will be continued escalation on the part of Israel and America. I don't know if it's going to be obliterating the power plants. I don't -- I can't speak to exactly what's going to happen next.

BLACKWELL: Maria, 30 seconds.

CARDONA: You know this shows again the incompetence of this president. He went into this war which was a war of choice, not a war of necessity. And who he is putting in harm's way are American consumers who were playing -- who were are paying huge gas prices now. It's a huge betrayal of what Donald Trump promised during his campaign, which was to reduce costs, and he's increasing those costs to reduce wars. He's gotten into a war now putting Americans at risk, and they're going -- Republicans are going to pay for it during the midterm elections.

BLACKWELL: Maria Cardona, Jeanette Hoffman, thank you both.

CARDONA: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: Still to come, how the people of Cuba are coping as the island struggles with another massive blackout. Will have details from the streets of Havana. And as always, if you're headed out, you can stream my show from anywhere in the U.S. right from the CNN app. Also, check out CNN.com/watch.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:43:17]

BLACKWELL: Cuba is in crisis mode, suffering its second nationwide blackout in less than a week, and the country could be on the verge of collapse. This is during the U.S. blocking fuel supplies from Venezuela. CNN's Patrick Oppman explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PATRICK OTTMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: One of the major avenues in Havana right now. And as you can see, it's completely blacked out. Cuba is right now suffering the second complete power outage that this island has experience in the space of a week. Once again, the aging infrastructure here is giving out, and that's incredibly concerning for many people. Cubans are, of course, no strangers to blackouts. It's something

that's been fairly common in the last several years. But what's changed recently is the Trump administration has placed a total oil embargo on this island. And what that means is that there are fewer cars on the road, almost no cars, few passing here.

Schools have been had their hours cut. Hospitals are often in total darkness because they don't have oil for the generators. Life is grinding to a halt here.

And so, the Cuban government is negotiating with the U.S. Government because the Trump administration says they want to see major changes take place here. They want to see the communist run government open up both politically and economically. The Cuban government says they're open to negotiations, but they won't make major concessions.

It's hard to see, though, in the dark for the days to come how they really have any other option.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[06:45:00]

BLACKWELL: Patrick Ottman reporting from the darkness there in Havana. Thank you for that report.

A new CNN original series, "Standoff: the FBI, Power and Paranoia", explores the complex relationship between various presidents and their respective FBI directors throughout history. CNN's Josh Campbell, who worked for three past FBI directors, takes a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KASH PATEL, FBI DIRECTOR: Thanks to your brave leadership and the mandate you were given by the American people. Not only defend the homeland, but crush violent crime.

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): It is a new era at the FBI.

PATEL: We are thankful for President Trump's steadfast leadership, and this FBI will fearlessly follow in his footsteps.

CAMPBELL (voiceover): One of the nation's premier law enforcement agencies, which once prided itself on strict independence from politicians, now taking shape as the political arm of the President. Director Kash Patel, often mirroring Donald Trump's own style with the President's perceived political enemies.

PATEL: What I am doing is protecting this country and combating the weaponization of intelligence by the likes of you.

CAMPBELL (Voiceover): But the history of the Bureau has been marked by frequent clashes with the White House. That intense conflict is the topic of a new CNN Original series documentary exploring the fragile and high-risk relationship between FBI directors past and the presidents they served. As the FBI's quest for independence was pushed to the brink.

JAMES COMEY, FMR. FBI DIRECTOR: It was never going to work between us.

STEVE CORTES, 2016 TRUMP CAMPAIGN MEDIA SPOKESPERSON: The President did not trust him.

COMEY: Donald Trump wanted an FBI director who he could count on in the political sense.

LEAH WRIGHT RIGUEUR, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST AND HISTORIAN: You have two men who have radically different visions engaged in a standoff over who is the FBI beholden to.

CORTES: James Comey's announcement, it absolutely hurt the Trump campaign, and I believe it was intended to.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: The major development here this evening at the White House. The President of the United States has terminated the Director of the FBI, James Comey.

COMEY: It felt otherworldly.

DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR: This is just the beginning of a complete change in everything that's going on. I mean, it is seismic.

COMEY: Numbness, confusion, because I really not expected to be fired.

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: It was a great honor for me to fire, I will tell you this, a great honor to fire James Comey.

COMEY: I often joke I'm the relationship that Trump can't get over.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To understand the FBI and really to understand the 20th Century. American democracy, you have to understand J. Edgar Hoover.

ED HELMS, AMERICAN ACTOR: Hoover started keeping tabs on anyone he didn't like, and he didn't like a lot of people.

ANDREW MCCABE, FMR. FBI DEPUTY DIRECTOR: He was cunning, right? Tactical, terrorizing, vindictive, secretive, closed off. Yes, he was a tough customer. I'm glad I didn't have to work for him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Louis Freeh had the guidepost of faith and family, and Bill Clinton had the guidepost of position and power.

LOUIS FREEH, FMR. FBI DIRECTOR: We're conducting a criminal investigation of the President of the United States. I haven't even unpacked my materials yet.

RIGUEUR: Bill Clinton comes to hate his director of the FBI, and the feeling is mutual.

JAN BESZYNSKI, POLISH LEGAL EXPERT: Outside of current issues involving national security concerns, the President of the United States should have little or nothing to do with the FBI. MCCABE: The FBI has a lot of power, and put to the wrong ends, those capabilities can be devastating.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Be sure to watch the back-to-back premiere episodes of the CNN original series, "Standoff: The FBI, Power and Paranoia" airs tonight at 9:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

Still to come, millions of people across the country will be experiencing massive storms today. We have the latest on the severe weather next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:53:11]

BLACKWELL: Let's get you caught up on top stories this morning. President Trump is threatening to send ICE agents to airports if lawmakers do not reach a deal to fund the Homeland Security Department this weekend. Hundreds of TSA agents have quit or called out sick in recent days. Leads to long lines that you see here at airports. It's unclear what role ICE agents would play because they're not trained to work airport security. In the war with Iran, President Trump is threatening to hit and

obliterate Iran's power plants if Tehran doesn't reopen the Strait of Hormuz. In response, Iranian media reported that Tehran will strike U.S. infrastructure in the region if its plants are hit.

And we have our first major upset in the NCAA March Madness tournament. Number 11 ranked Texas upset number three Gonzaga, 7468 to advance in Sweet 16 that makes Texas the first double-digit seed to make it into the second weekend of the tournament.

Close to 50 million people from Illinois to New Jersey are under the threat of severe storms today. CNN's Allison Chinchar is tracking this from the Weather Center. Rough start to the week.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: See it is the key thing to note is that a lot of this is really going to be in the very back end of the day today. So for a lot of these areas it will be nice this morning, which can be a little bit dece. It's a beautiful day out there. And then it's going to change once we get to around dinner time tonight. So, here's where we have some of those rain showers ongoing.

You can see the bulk of it is really kind of up here across the upper Midwest, sliding across the Great Lakes and into the Northeast. But this is not the severe aspect. This is just more nuisance showers and that includes rain and also snow showers. It's later tonight. That shift is going to happen right around dinner time tonight and continue through the evening.

All of these areas here, basically from Illinois all the way over to New Jersey. This is where you have the greatest threat for those severe thunderstorms. The main threat here is going to be damaging winds, 60, 70 mile per hour, straight-line winds. [06:55:10]

We could also see some hail about golf balls, perhaps even slightly larger. We also can't rule out an isolated tornado. So, any of these areas, you're talking Philly, D.C., Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, over through Indianapolis. So now let's kind of take a look at the timeline.

We go through the morning that first wave that we saw on the radar kind of moves through. You start to see a few of these little what we call discrete cells beginning to pop up right around dinner time tonight. Then the entire line starts to backfill once we get to 8:00, 9:00, 10:00 o' clock this evening. It continues all the way through the evening hours.

Even into very early Monday morning, which could cause some issues for the morning commute. Places like Boston and New York.

BLACKWELL: Okay, be careful out there, Allison. Thank you.

Coming up next hour, the Bachelorette season has been shelved. This is unprecedented for this franchise. I'll discuss with my panel how a video of reality star Taylor Frankie Paul resulted in the cancellation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

>