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More Troops Deploy to Middle East; Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-WA) is Interviewed about DHS Funding. Aired 6:30-7a ET
Aired March 25, 2026 - 06:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[06:30:00]
AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: To runway four as that Air Canada jet was landing. Does it -- how significant is it not having one of these transponders in terms of understanding where everybody was that night?
HARVEY SCOLNICK, RETIRED FAA CONTROLLER: So, the controller, who is in charge of this situation, whether or not the ASD (ph) was working, or the transponder, or whether he had one or not, the controller knew the exact position of the -- of the trucks because the truck told him. So, whether he was just short of the runway behind the hold line, or at the runway edge, the controller knew the position of the aircraft and the trucks. So, the ASD (ph) had already done its job.
CORNISH: So, that's the equipment.
SCOLNICK: So, I don't think it was critical.
CORNISH: Yes. Well, then let's talk about personnel. Just to remind people, we have a little bit of sound, some audio, shortly after the crash where you hear the voice it's believed as -- from one of these air traffic controllers where he's talking about whether or not he messed up or not. Here's that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FRONTIER PILOT: Yes, we got stuff in process for that, man. That was -- that wasn't good to watch
AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL: Yes, I know I was here. I tried to reach out to my staff. And we were dealing with an emergency earlier. I messed up.
FRONTIER PILOT: No, man, you did the best you could.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: I wanted to play that again because he points out the fact that he was also dealing with an earlier emergency that night. Can you talk about the workload at midnight, the staffing at midnight? Because you had the NTSB imply that they've had concerns about these midnight shifts.
SCOLNICK: So, LaGuardia goes down to a two-person -- two-person shift at midnight. Two people in the tower. FAA requirement that in every work area you have to have two fully certified controllers. So, it's not unusual to combine positions, local and ground control. That seems to be what was happening here.
My question would be, while all this stuff is going on, on the other side of the airport with the United that had aborted its takeoff and was looking for a gate and was having an issue with an odor in the back of the airplane, what was the other controller doing to help out? Because I hear the same controller talking to -- talking to the Port Authority, look -- trying to call ram (ph) control. Why wasn't the other controller doing that? Or at least keeping an eye on this person, make sure he wasn't going down?
CORNISH: What I hear from you and what I hear from the NTSB is that there are many factors that could have contributed to this. Are there other open questions you have? You mentioned the where is the other controller. What are the other things you think they may be looking at?
SCOLNICK: Well, first of all, I'm not sure if this -- he was beginning his shift on the midnight shift or ending his shift on the -- on the evening shift. I'm not -- I don't know that yet. I'm not sure that there's other factors. I mean the controller, for some unknown reason, cleared that trucks -- cleared those trucks to cross the runway when an airplane that he was also controlling was flaring out and wheels were ready to touch the ground.
And, Audie, if I -- Audie, if I could say one thing about this controller, after this happened, this devastating thing happened, his heart is somewhere below his stomach at this point, but he kept working. He kept clearing airplanes to go around, moving airplanes around the airport that he had to move around. He kept working, knowing that he had done something that probably caused loss of life. I think the controller deserves some kudos for that.
CORNISH: OK, that's Harvey Skolnick.
Harvey, thank you.
Straight ahead on CNN THIS MORNING, President Trump is optimistic about talks with Iran. So, why are a thousand paratroopers getting ready to deploy to the Middle East.
Plus, a reckoning for Meta. The lawsuit it just lost was about social media risks for children.
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[06:38:57]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is no talks or negotiations between Iran and the United States.
No one can trust the United States diplomacy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: So, the Iran -- the Iranian foreign minister saying they're not in negotiations to end the war with the U.S. President Trump does not see it that way. He's claiming that a deal is almost done.
Good morning, everybody. I'm Audie Cornish. Thank you for joining me on CNN THIS MORNING.
It's half past the hour. And here's what's happening right now.
We are currently tracking wait times at security checkpoints across the country. To get through TSA in George Bush Airport in Houston, that's running a three hour wait. Its 40 minutes in Minneapolis. That's pretty good. And it's just dropped to 17 in Miami. Now, you can monitor those at the bottom of your screen, but please do check out the CNN app as well.
And CNN projects Democrat Emily Gregory, a business owner and military spouse, has won a special state house election in the deep red Palm Beach district that includes President Trump's Mar-a-Lago home.
[06:40:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EMILY GREGORY (D), REP.-ELECT, FLORIDA HOUSE DISTRICT 87: Everyone thought we were crazy for saying we could win this seat. Everyone said it was out of reach.
I think it's a real reaction to the current policies at the national and state level, and I think that is a clear indication from voters it's the wrong track.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Now, Gregory defeated Republican John Maples, a former council member who received Trump's complete and total endorsement. Democrats have now flipped more than 20 legislative seats since Donald Trump's second term began.
And Meta has been found liable for failing to protect children on its platforms. A New Mexico jury ruled against Meta on all counts Tuesday, accusing the company of engaging in unfair and deceptive trade practices. Meta is being ordered to pay $375 million in damages. The company says it will appeal.
And sources telling CNN that Iran has informed the Trump administration they would prefer to negotiate with Vice President J.D. Vance and not Special Envoy Steve Witkoff or the president's son-in- law, Jared Kushner. Iran has even suggested further discussions involving Witkoff and Kushner would not yield results because of a lack of trust. Vance has been vocal in the past about staying out of Middle East conflicts.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our interests, I think, very much is in not going to war with Iran, right?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.
VANCE: It would be a huge distraction of resources. It would be massively expensive to our country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Want to talk about this now with Gordon Sondland. He's the former U.S. ambassador to the European Union, and Becca Wasser, defense lead at Bloomberg Economics.
Now, when people talk about trust, when Iran talks about trust, one of the things that gets brought up is they come to a table and after a certain point strikes follow as the negotiations drag on. And I have to ask, with this buildup of the U.S. military heading to the region, are there real talks or is the White House just buying time until troops get there?
GORDON SONDLAND, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO E.U.: This is tailor made for the Will Rogers expression, diplomacy is the art of saying "nice doggy" until you can find a stick. And what Trump is doing is he's saying nice doggy, he's bringing in the stick, which are the Marines, then he says, nice doggy, and he brings in another stick, which is another carrier group. And he's nudging the negotiations towards a conclusion that really is going to satisfy our objectives.
CORNISH: Your objectives? Israels objectives? Before I turn to Becca.
SONDLAND: The world -- the world's objectives.
CORNISH: All right, we'll talk about that in a moment.
Can you talk about the stick? Since you have done work with the Pentagon and understand what the capabilities are. Talk to me about what the ambassador is saying.
BECCA WASSER, DEFENSE LEAD, BLOOMBERG ECONOMICS: So, right now there's a Marine Expeditionary Unit that is en route to the Middle East. It should arrive roughly around the Friday deadline that President Trump put forth after he moved that deadline earlier this week. And so that's roughly, you know, 2,000 or so Marines with various capabilities. There's a lot of different scenarios that they could potentially be used toward. They could be used towards supporting escort missions. They could be used toward trying to reduce the missile and drone threat to the Strait of Hormuz, which is critically important for the world's oil.
CORNISH: Yes. And then CNN is reporting the possibility of paratroopers. What's the scenario there?
WASSER: There -- so, there's also the 82nd Airborne, which is reportedly on somewhat of prepare to deploy orders. They may be coming to the region, but that could be anywhere from a few days to probably closer to a week. And the question there is, will they essentially be boots on Iranian soil, whether that is trying to hold coastline to reduce some of the threats, or will they be used to do something broader, perhaps maybe a seizure of Kharg Island.
CORNISH: Do you think -- why do you think Iran would even float the name of J.D. Vance?
SONDLAND: Well, I think if the speaker of the parliament is going to leave the country for a negotiation, I think protocol demands that it be one of the top elected officials of the United States with whom that person is dealing.
CORNISH: Yes.
SONDLAND: Jared and Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff have a tremendous amount of confidence from the president. But they're informal advisors and --
CORNISH: Yes. Which we forget given how many conflicts the president has deployed people, who are informal, in issues around the world.
SONDLAND: But, by the way, Audie, they're very effective. The problem is, this guy is taking a huge risk in leaving to deal with someone. And, you know, he can only lose here.
CORNISH: Yes.
SONDLAND: There's very little he's going to win. So --
CORNISH: But that's a good point because Israel is still ramping up. And from your point of view, do you look at sort of how Israel is operating in the theater and think, they are on board with the White House's approach, offering even the option of this off ramp to this particular person who many see as hard lining.
[06:45:08]
SONDLAND: Completely. Completely. But just understand, while they're listening and watching and talking, Israel is continuing to bomb, every day, every minute.
CORNISH: Yes. OK, so, Becca, help me jump -- jump in with that.
WASSER: Yes. So, as the ambassador said, they are continuing to strike. And they're going to continue to strike unless they hear the word that is, they should stop. But even then, I think there's a great deal of skepticism about this potential plan because this reported 15- point plan pretty much mirrors a lot of the demands, if not more, that the White House had put forward to Iran before when negotiations failed.
And part of the reason why negotiations failed is, those metrics and what they were coming to the table for, Iran wasn't going to stop. And one of them was Iran's missile program. And for Israel, that is a big deal. And that shouldn't be off the table. So, until there's a reduction in that, Israel most certainly is not going to stop.
CORNISH: I think one of the things, as we've all wrestled with understanding the ultimate objective, is the ultimate objective a nuclear program that cannot be revived? Is the ultimate objective a nuclear program that can't be revived, and also the end to long range missiles and also terror and then regime change, which by all accounts is nowhere near the option, even though it is one of the things the president said the first night of strikes. So, what is the metric for success in the next couple of days?
SONDLAND: Well, to Becca's point, you can have the same discussion that you had a month ago or two months ago --
CORNISH: Yes, different circumstance.
SONDLAND: But 8,000 , strikes later, it's a very different conversation. And the amount of degradation that's transpired is mind boggling, even though they're probably left with 10,000, 12,000 missiles.
The boots on the ground are there for very important reasons. We are going to need to cart that thousand pounds, 400 kilograms, whatever it is, of 60 percent enriched uranium out of the country. And --
CORNISH: Wait, are we close to that?
WASSER: Not close to that. And that would require very specialized special operations forces.
CORNISH: Is that what you see headed in the direction?
SONDLAND: And that's what's on the way. That's what's on the way.
WASSER: That's not quite what I see coming the way, but that is --
CORNISH: What do you see? I need help.
WASSER: I see -- so, I see Marines, which right now are a threat to bring Iran to the negotiating table. I see the 82nd Airborne, which is the immediate response forces that the U.S. Army has.
CORNISH: Yes, rapid reaction.
WASSER: Exactly. And they're going to be there. Along with them could be special operations forces that could be used for a variety of missions, including the one that the ambassador has mentioned. But that is a highly, highly risky operation and a risky scenario. Boots on Iranian soil in any situation is risky and politically risky for President Trump as well given some of the forever wars that, frankly, he campaigned against.
SONDLAND: Well, listen, that risk is going to be undertaken by President Trump because he knows that once he started this, and with a quick decapitation the regime didn't collapse. And I don't believe that he expected it would. There's always a chance --
CORNISH: Yes.
SONDLAND: But I think in his heart of hearts he knew this would be a very tough fight. Look, the Iranians, when they have no cards to play, they always
double down, number one.
CORNISH: Yes.
SONDLAND: And whatever comes out of their mouth, they're generally full of shit.
CORNISH: Well, in the meantime, I think it is a real question about whether Israel is going to be interested in something that this current regime has to say, whether they can trust it, whether they feel they've made the military gains to move forward.
SONDLAND: Don't in any way be dissuaded by the fact that Israel and the United States are in lockstep, like no two countries have ever been on this.
CORNISH: OK. You will be back, Ambassador Sondland. So will you, Becca. Thank you so much for being here. Becca Wasser at Bloomberg.
Next on CNN THIS MORNING, you've got fliers who are frustrated. You've got TSA workers who aren't getting paid. So, what's the deal with Congress? I'm going to ask Democratic Congresswoman Suzan DeBene, next.
Plus, this.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It says $3.59. I'm scratching my eyes. I'm like, oh, that's a mistake.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Could the average price of gas soon be $4? GasBuddy joins later on CNN to discuss.
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[06:53:32]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We'll never recover from this abuse. We just -- we'll never catch up on our bills. We already live paycheck to paycheck.
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CORNISH: OK, TSA workers, they're nearing a breaking point, now working 40 days without pay. More than 450 TSA officers have quit since the shutdown began. Airports are seeing officers call out for the day at rates of 30 to 40 percent, which means your wait times are now spiraling if you're standing in line in one of the major hubs across the country. Air travelers are now pointing their frustrations at Congress. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's a shame, but, you know, I wish every senator, every congressman could stand in this line, not get on a plane like they normally do. I think they need to be down here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: All right, joining the group chat, Congresswoman Suzan DelBene, Democrat from Washington.
Thank you so much for being here.
REP. SUZAN DELBENE (D-WA): Absolutely. Thank you.
CORNISH: So, I want to talk about what we're hearing on the Senate side, which is that they want to basically pass a DHS funding bill that would cover most of the department, that would exclude the money tied to ICE enforcement. Can you talk about why you guys haven't answered this yet? Like what are Democrats in general thinking about this offer?
DELBENE: Well, first of all, I think there's a very simple solution. Let's -- and Rosa DeLauro, in the House, offered a bill to do just this, fund the rest of the Department of Homeland Security and let's continue to negotiate on ICE.
[06:55:10]
That's a simple solution. It gets TSA --
CORNISH: And that's the discharge petition.
DELBENE: And that's also a discharge petition in the House.
CORNISH: All right.
DELBENE: It's simple, straightforward, gets funding right away to TSA workers. Make sure we also cover Coast Guard.
CORNISH: But you have to have Republicans sign on to that one --
DELBENE: Well, the --
CORNISH: To override the Republican leadership of the House and Senate. Do you have that?
DELBENE: But Republicans don't really have a plan. This has to be a bipartisan solution for it to go forward. But it's simple, straightforward, and gets TSA funded right away. This isn't a hard one. And Republicans aren't coming to the table. They wait to -- for Donald Trump to tell them what to do. Donald Trump doesn't give them any guidance on what the heck he wants to do. But they're members of Congress. They should be able to stand up and vote. Let's get this done. It should be done right away, and then we can continue to talk about the reforms that the American people want to see on ICE. CORNISH: So, they do have a plan in that if they get through this
first step, they have a second step. They have a follow-up. And that follow-up is to try and tie this and voter I.D. and all of these other things into the budget process where they would have the advantage. So, are Democrats putting themselves on the backfoot, basically by going with a process where you're just going to have to deal with this later and where you're in a weaker position to prevent it?
DELBENE: Well, I think, first of all, we should make sure that we are paying TSA workers. We should make sure we get the rest of the Department of Homeland Security funded. But there is absolutely an ongoing conversation about making sure (AUDIO GAP) that is important (AUDIO GAP) to the American people. That's not what Republicans are trying to do. This has nothing to do with the --
CORNISH: But are you afraid of a reconciliation process that would force other issues, like voter I.D.? I hear Chuck scribbling because he does campaigns. So, you must have a question about whether or not there's a situation where all of a sudden Democrats are faced with a legislation that is much harder to fight.
DELBENE: First of all, I'm not even sure how they get something like that in budget reconciliation. It's not a budget issue. So, there's a lot of talk on the Republican side. And again, the process they're looking at is a budgetary process. That -- what they're looking at on their -- their laws that are trying to disenfranchise voters, that's not a budget issue. So, I'm not even sure how they go about that.
CORNISH: Here's Democrat Josh Gottheimer. He's congressman who says, look, we should fund DHS now and deal with those ICE reforms later. I just want to play that for you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JOSH GOTTHEIMER (D-NJ): But listen, if we have to take some of the comprehensive reform package, other reforms, and put those aside as part of a funding ICE enforcement package later, that's, you know, that's something that I'm open to. I think we got to stay at the table, though. And for right now, the key to me is, let's fund DHS. Let's get TSA funded and other parts of DHS, which are essential to protecting our homeland.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Can you respond to that, putting the bigger issues later?
DELBENE: We've got a discharge petition right now to fund the rest of the Department of Homeland Security. Make sure that we address the desperate need of TSA workers. They are, you know, the Republicans have no empathy for what folks are going through. We -- this is a -- should be a top priority for them too. And absolutely we need reforms. We need reforms (INAUDIBLE) the American people are demanding it from (ph) what they've seen on the streets of Minneapolis, but all across the country.
CORNISH: Yes. DELBENE: We need to make sure there are reforms and laws are -- strict
laws are put in place.
CHUCK ROCHA, FORMER SENIOR ADVISER TO BERNIE SANDERS' 2016 AND 2020 CAMPAIGNS: There's a --
CORNISH: Now, I should say, you guys work together. So, I don't want to mislead the audience. But you have a question.
ROCHA: Congresswoman, Donald Trump wakes up this morning with a special election that happened in his backyard, where a Democrat flipped a seat R plus 12. The point of the matter of what we're talking about here is there's an anxiety and a frustration, and you're seeing this over performance with Democrats across the board, because I think Republicans, I'm not putting the congresswoman on this, because Republicans are getting blamed because they're in charge and there's an anxiety in what we see here just builds on it. They're not blaming Democrats for this. They're blaming Republicans. And the numbers don't lie in what we're seeing in the elections.
CORNISH: I think at a certain point when you're standing in the airport line you see -- you start to look at everyone as the problem and you don't look at Democrats and think, you're not a part of this, you guys are fine. You also start to get mad at Democrats.
ROCHA: We ain't in charge.
CORNISH: Well, let me let her answer this, OK.
ROCHA: OK. Sorry.
CORNISH: Because you are going to be out there campaigning, saying this is the president's fault, this is Republicans' fault.
DELBENE: And we have been out regularly talking about providing solutions to address issues, making sure that we have a solution to fund TSA, just like we are talking about. We could do that right now. We have the discharge petition is out there. But Republicans could put that bill on the floor and we would be able to move forward right away. That's a solution.
We've been out talking to people on the ground about the issues that families are facing across the country, and folks are struggling with affordability, the high cost of housing, food, health care, child care, energy costs all going up because of actions of Trump and this -- and Republicans in Congress.
[07:00:10]
CORNISH: Yes.
DELBENE: People want folks who are going to focus on the issues that matter. That's absolutely why we are running ahead across the country, why Democrats are overperforming, because we are talking about the issues that matter.
CORNISH: Well --
DELBENE: We have great candidates who are running all across the country.
CORNISH: I hope you are back to talk more about them and about some of the updates to ICE and others where they now have new leadership at DHS.
Congresswoman, thank you so much for being here. Appreciate it.
I'm Audie Cornish. Headlines are next.
