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First of All with Victor Blackwell

It's Spring Break, And Congress Is Broken; TSA Workers Wait For Pay As Brace For Spring Break Crowds; Now: Live Look At Airport Lines As Funding Fight Over DHS Drags On. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired March 28, 2026 - 08:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:00:31]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: First of all, turns out Congress really is just like us when spring break rolls around. I mean, who among us has not waited until the last minute to finish that project that's been on the to do list for a while. Who hasn't said that longer term problem can always be put off until after the break?

But unlike Congress, most of us would not procrastinate on a funding deal to the point thousands of federal workers miss multiple paychecks. Overnight, the House pushed through their own Department of Homeland Security funding bill. It would extend funding for the entire department for weeks. What's different than the Senate compromise that would have reopened DHS but without funds for ICE and Border Patrol? House Republicans, they weren't fans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R) HOUSE SPEAKER: The Republicans are not going to be a party to this. They have taken hostage the funding processes of government so that they can impose their radical agenda on the American people and we can't have any part of it. This gambit that was done last night is a joke. I'm quite convinced that it can't be that every Senate Republican read the language of this bill.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Now DHS says that TSA employees should start getting paid again by Monday after an executive order by President Trump. But if the president could have just signed an executive order and paid these workers from the start, could that have just been a solution from jump? Sounds like it. But until those checks clear, lives stay in limbo, travelers miss flights and spend hours standing in line.

A record number of TSA workers called out from work Thursday, 500 have just quit. And ICE agents are now a more noticeable presence at airports. Ironic though, since the shutdown was supposed to be about reining in ice. Well, now some Democrats are concerned that the presence of now maskless agents at airports is both an image rehab exercise and an experiment in how ICE could be deployed to help secure election sites in November. And that's an idea floated by former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, not exactly being denied by the current administration officials.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE BANNON, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE CHIEF STRATEGIST: I think it's perfect training for the fall of 2026. Look what happened. They'd moved everybody along. People get there quick, they vote quick. Maybe every now and again they pull somebody like hey yo, ID. Got an ID.

TODD BLANCHE, DEPUTY U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: Election integrity should be the most nonpartisan issue we have. Like why is there objection to sending ICE officers to polling places illegals can't vote. It doesn't make any sense.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Hey yo. Then there is the war with Iran and the possibility of American ground troops going in. Constitutionally, Congress should have a say. The White House says that their vote is not needed, but maybe Congress can revisit that after spring break too.

Well, today we'll see a visual representation of how Americans feel about this. No Kings protest will be happening again across the country. Minnesota is a focal point for the organizers this time.

In a few minutes I'm going to talk with Senator Cory Booker about all this. He just wrote a well-timed book about the power of protest called "Stand". What did the Stand Democrats just took over DHS funding accomplish and which Stand Congress should take on how the U.S. is conducting the war in Iran. A lot to get to there.

But I want to start with the visuals. Food pantries, donation drives set up to help TSA agents going without pay as we see unpredictable but persistently long lines at airports across the country. CNN's Rafael Romo's Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

You've been the bright spot of the day. What do you see?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Victor, it's definitely a bright spot here Atlanta's Hartsfield Jackson International Airport. You see it behind me practically no lies here. But we cannot let the good news obscure the reality that the root cause of the problem still hasn't changed. Those TSA workers are still not getting paid. And this situation behind me, as good as it is, can change for the worse any moment. And we have seen it throughout the last few days, throughout the week, that it has been really bad here. And that's something that's in the back of the minds of passengers that we've been talking to here.

Yes, they're happy that there are no lines, but they're worried that those TSA workers are still not getting paid. This is what one of them had to say a few moments ago.

[08:05:07]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ASHLEY BROOKS, TRAVELER: I think it's horrible. You know, so many

people are working very hard. I know the TSA agents are working very hard. So definitely hope they get paid what they're deserved very soon and quickly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: And Victor, we're monitoring other airports across the nation is still a Bush Intercontinental in Houston is has the longest lines with about 110-minute TSA wait there followed by JFK in New York. About 45 minutes in Minneapolis with 25 minutes. So, it's a good story here. But like I said at the beginning that can change very quickly. Now back to you.

BLACKWELL: We know that Rafael Romo at the airport for us. Thank you so much.

Let's get some personal perspective now. Yolanda Keaton is with. She is a TSA officer and union steward and at the Atlanta airport. Thank you for coming in. Good news Atlanta airport. But as Rafael said, not the case everywhere.

I want to talk about the pay and the promise from the President. He said that TSA workers should be paid immediately. Immediately and immediately.

YOLANDA KEATON, TSA OFFICER AND UNION STEWARD AT ATLANTA AIRPORT: Right.

BLACKWELL: What do you know about when that money's coming?

KEATON: Allegedly the money is supposed to come on Monday. We're supposed to get the three pays that we missed, three pay periods that we missed. So, we're supposed to get that deposit into our accounts on Monday.

BLACKWELL: Now from the last shutdown, the 43 day shutdown in October, November, it took as I heard earlier today, months for some people to get the back pay.

KEATON: That's correct.

BLACKWELL: Yes, it did. And so, what are you expecting as this shutdown drags on and the promise is out there pay. Do you think you're going to get it?

KEATON: Not everyone will get it. I don't think it'll be -- I don't think everyone would get it on Monday. I think it's going to be just like it was the last one where it's going to come over a period of time. I don't think everyone will see their pay at the same date and time.

BLACKWELL: What has this shutdown meant for the people you represented at the airport?

KEATON: It said there are a lot of people who are struggling from the last shutdown. The one in October, that was a big one. That was, that took a lot from people. People are still recovering. They're still feeling the residual effects from that. We've had people that are living in U-haul trucks, people that have gone back home to their families because they've been evicted. We have homes that have been foreclosed on.

We have one gentleman who told me he washes his clothes with bar soap because he can't afford laundry detergent. I've had several females, especially one in particular who was, you know, contemplating suicide because she couldn't care for her young child. Also had a woman yesterday who told me she just borrowed money to get her lights and her water back because she's been with lights and waters for three weeks now.

BLACKWELL: Is awful that federal employees who show up every day to do the job are considering hurting themselves because they're not being paid by this government.

KEATON: Yes.

BLACKWELL: I wonder what did you think over the last 24 hours where it looked like Friday morning this was going to be done, then by noon, 1:00 o'clock not so much.

KEATON: Yes, I was at work yesterday. So yesterday it was. Everything by midday was heightened that were going to get our pay. Everyone was worse when gossip was going around there were that they were going to approve the funding bill, things were coming over people's phones. They were, you know, everything was going to get passed. But by the end of the day, by the time I got home, there was a different story.

And I got home after 2:00 o'clock it was a different story where it didn't pass. So, everybody was depressed again like that balloon was deflated. So, all kinds of messages were going out, getting phone calls at the union steward about what's going on with the pay. And then we get this from our -- about President. The president now is going to fund us Monday.

BLACKWELL: So let me ask you this. The assumption is that once the president said pay them and the money's coming Monday that the lines are going to be back to normal. Is that your expectation?

KEATON: That's what they think. But no.

BLACKWELL: Why not?

KEATON: Because officers still aren't going, they still don't have the money to get to work just because you're going to pay us on Monday. The people that have been suffering these last 40 something days, they still have the money to get to work. So having us come back to work today is not going to solve the problem of people finances. So, there are some people still didn't go to work today because they can't get, they don't get that they don't have the money. They can't get the money and they're not going to have the money either.

BLACKWELL: 500 People have just left the job, right? KEATON: Correct.

BLACKWELL: What's the residual impact of that? Because you can't just hire people Monday, they're on the line on Friday.

KEATON: Right. Still going to be the same because you have to replace those people. And like you said, it's not going to be a fast process to replace those people. So, lines are still going to be long. Like I said, we got things coming up. We have -- we have March Madness going on now. We have the masters coming up. FIFA's coming up in June.

So, it's we're still going to be short staffed very much where it was.

BLACKWELL: A week ago when the president announced that he was going to send ICE agents to airports to help out. And we've got some video of what they've been doing Atlanta's Hartsfield Jackson Ryan Young just yesterday recorded some video of them on the line checking IDs. How helpful has the ICE deployment been, if at all?

KEATON: Not very helpful. They're still doing the same thing that we're doing. It's a mass number of them. They're walking the hallways, drinking coffee, having conversations. They put a few on the checkpoints. And what they're doing now, what they have done is they're taking officers out of certain positions to help them check IDs. But you're still taking away from our personnel because those are jobs that we could be doing. And it's not a happy place to have the ICE agents there, especially during our jobs getting paid. And we're not.

[08:10:25]

BLACKWELL: Yolanda Keaton, thank you so much.

KEATON: You're welcome.

BLACKWELL: Hopefully that money comes soon.

KEATON: Thank you very much.

BLACKWELL: Appreciate your time.

KEATON: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: DHS, as we said, still shut down because the House and Senate could not agree on a deal before leaving Washington. Senator Cory Booker will be with me here live in studio to weigh in on this legislative mess.

Plus, the president says the war with Iran is not finished, but sort of finished, but not really. We're learning also of nearly a dozen U.S. troops hurt in a new attack. We'll get into the war with Iran next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:15:35] BLACKWELL: If you're waking up and you want to know where the war with Iran stands now, the president isn't really clear on that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: It's not finished yet. I'm not saying it's sort of finished, but it's not finished. It's got to be finished.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Remember, President Trump has been saying that the U.S. already won this war, which he also says is not a war. New this morning, Houthi rebels in Yemen backed by Iran have entered the war with missiles fired at Israel. And we just learned overnight that at least 10 U.S. service members are hurt after an Iranian attack on Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia.

Here for the conversation, Mayor Michael Owens of Mableton, Georgia, an Atlanta suburb. He's a U.S. marine Corps veteran, plus cybersecurity and counterterrorism expert. Also with us, retired Brigadier General Jonathan McColumn, a U.S. Army Reserve veteran and Republican Senate candidate here in Georgia.

Gentlemen, welcome to you both. And let me start there with you, General. And the president says of the war, "It's not finished yet. I'm not saying, well, it's sort of finished, but not finished. It's got to be finished."

What does that mean especially and not just to be snarky, but there have been serious questions about the goals of the war.

BRIG. GEN. JONATHAN MCCOLUMN (RET.), (R) U.S. SENATE CANDIDATE IN GEORGIA: Sure. Sure. I believe it's very difficult work, war or the or operations. Operations can be really difficult in trying to understand where they are, the complexities associated with the war. I believe the presidents in a position where he's where there was an intent with the mission. The mission was to threefold was to destroy the capabilities of ballistic missiles, prevent the buildup of nuclear weapons, and to allow for the free flow of transportation in the Persian Gulf, with particular emphasis on the Strait of Hormuz.

BLACKWELL: Well, the Strait of Hormuz wasn't a concern before the war started.

MCCOLUMN: Well, that's the one thing I think that's not communicated often. But I would tell you that if you're conducting war in my time serving in Army Central Command, I would tell you that one of the major emphases on those things that we don't haven't heard about, don't think about. Maybe perhaps they're under the -- they're under the operations of something that has a clearance that's not discussed. But I would believe that anybody is operating, working during operations would know that the port, that Strait of Hormuz is a very important piece. We would call it a center of gravity.

BLACKWELL: Yes, Mr. Mayor. MAYOR MICHAEL OWENS, (D) MABLETON, GA; CYBERSECURITY AND COUNTER- TERRORISM EXPERT: You know, I'd love to think that may be true, but the bottom line is we've continued to see how the goalpost has shifted. And it's important, and I agree with you from a strategic. But the American people, to get behind this incursion or war, whatever you want to call it, have to understand what the mission is. When they understand what the mission is and know what the outcome and the goal is.

You know, we just finished a year of 18 years of war, you know, in Afghanistan. The last thing I think the American people want to see is us going back into something like that. So, I think having an understanding of whether it is regime change or whether it is to push back on their nuclear armament that Iran has. We have to have clear mission objectives.

Even right now, Secretary Rubio is saying one thing, and President Trump is saying something completely different. So, I think if the American people support this and get behind it, and even if Congress is to get behind it, and just as importantly, if our allies are going to get behind this and support us, we have to make sure we have clear understanding of why we're getting into this war and more clearly how we're going to get out.

MCCOLUMN: Okay. Now, I think that. I think that overall, I think the Secretary of War and the. And the President himself have communicated that there were those three ends. So those objectives have been communicated consistently, I believe. I think what's difficult is what happens when these. When the objectives are not realized as fast or as quickly as you desire.

So, I believe that we're at the point where the Strait of Hormuz moves is a major issue. But I believe that we're moving from the big military. We know that we use four tools of influence, diplomacy, information, military, and economic policy.

When we're kind of taking a step away from military and going back to diplomacy, we know that Iran needs the island called (inaudible). I believe that's where the distribution of oil takes place. And Iran knows that we need the Strait of Hormuz.

So, I believe that a diplomatic solution is probably where we're headed. Now the three objectives are work in progress. That's probably what the President was stating. I'm not in his mind But I believe that he's stating we've deteriorated. I mean, we've taken a nice chunk out of their nuclear capabilities, out of their ballistic capabilities and destroyed their navy.

[08:20:06]

Now we've got to work on the last major issue. We've got to open the Strait of Hormuz. We cannot, you know, take the flow of traffic.

BLACKWELL: General, let me ask you suggest that the administration is stepping away from the military aspect. When the president last night said that they've got 3,554 more targets to hit and he's deploying the USS George H.W. Bush, the aircraft carrier strike group, sending more troops there. What of the pieces on the board and the pieces being added suggest to you that they're going to wind down on the military aspect?

MCCOLUMN: Okay, when I say that, I mean a pause. There's a pause from, and he's even indicated, I believe he said let's take five or six days to give Iran the opportunity or whoever's in charge right now, I don't know that we really know who's in charge in Iran.

So, I believe that his intent is to step back, allow them to release or minimize that or open the Strait of Hormuz. That is the real problem right now.

BLACKWELL: Mr. Mayor, let me ask you, there was this new element that was added. Iran affiliated hackers got into the personal email of the FBI director, Kash Patel.

OWENS: Yes.

BLACKWELL: Nothing salacious, nothing explicit released. But what do you think that suggests it signifies what's the message here?

OWENS: So, I think there's a broader context in this. When we talk about military, one aspect of military today in the modern format is cyber warfare. So, we've seen that at the onset of this war where there was cyber-attacks that were launched. We're also seeing this from a cyber espionage perspective. So, a lot of that, what you're specifically talking about with Kash Patel was really related to what information gathering that may not be used now. It may be some strategic nature to find out what maybe some of those strategic areas are, but also to be able to expand this and expand this.

What I'm concerned with is to the American people and to our American businesses and what can happen here at home. You know, modern warfare is completely different when you add cybersecurity because there are no geo boundaries that are there. So a war may be in fought with boots on the ground in Iran, but attacks can very much happen here in our governments and with our businesses.

BLACKWELL: Yes, last thing here, as you mentioned at the top, disagreement at least or inconsistency between what we're hearing from the President and the Secretary of State. The President obviously has not taken ground Troops off the table.

We heard from Secretary Rubio yesterday that the goals can be accomplished without ground troops. Do you believe that's possible if one of them is to take custody of the nuclear material?

OWENS: It's not simply because depending on what that act outcome is, when the president says complete surrender, what does that mean? That means something completely different than what Marco Rubio has been suggesting. So as long as the President continues to expand, I would call it mission creep. But I would also say the creep in what does success look like. It's going to be very hard to plant some flag in and say that we've won or we've been successful. We know Iran continues to fight back. We know that we're in a situation now where we have economic issues here at home where gas and oil is above $100 a barrel.

We talked about the Strait of Hormuz. But that is a symptom. That is not the actual problem itself.

If we're going to get out of this war while we have Marines on their way to the Middle East right now to fight another war, we're going to be very smart about how we go about that. And I think the administration as a whole has to be clear about what these objectives are.

BLACKWELL: All right, Mayor Michael Owens and retired Brigadier General Jonathan McColumn, thank you both for the conversation.

OWENS: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: From the war with Iran to the fight to get TSA officers paid, I got a lot to talk about with Senator Booker. He's here to discuss that plus his new book. He's live in studio. Next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:28:14]

BLACKWELL: Happening across the country today, no kings protests they're aimed at President Trump. But there is a lot of anger with Congress right now, too, as DHS employees miss another paycheck and the war with Iran continues.

Democratic Senator Cory Booker is in studio with me. He is out with a new book, "Stand", and we will certainly talk about that in a moment. Senator, thanks for coming in.

SEN. CORY BOOKER (D) NEW JERSEY: It's great to be back with you.

BLACKWELL: All right, so let's start here with this disagreement between the Senate and the House on moving forward on DHS. Here is what we heard from Speaker Johnson yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNSON: It is unconscionable to me that the Democrats would force some sort of negotiation at 3:00 o'clock in the morning and try to hoist this among upon the American people and then get on their jets and go home for their holiday and pretend and think that we're going to go along with that. So, we're going to do something different. We're going to do the responsible thing. Republicans are going to continue to govern and do the right thing morally, lectically.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: And what do you say to that?

BOOKER: The full outrage is rich. Understand that the Senate's controlled by Republicans. This was Thune's deal that was agreed on by everybody from Ted Cruz to Bernie Sanders unanimous in the Senate. Pay TSA and do not let this out of control. ICE agency have another dollar. And that was the and it came over to them and they rejected it.

So, this whole crisis was caused by a president who used his secret police called ICE, mass people jumping out of unmarked cars, slamming Americans to the ground, detaining Americans, unfortunately killing some as well, and simply saying we are not going to fund that agency. And him saying, hey, if you're not going to fund that agency, I'm going to cause a lot of pain and a lot of chaos with an entirely different agency, TSA. That's where we are.

And we finally got it across to them. We are not going to compromise when it comes to the rights of Americans. Pay TSA.

[08:30:06]

Finally, we agreed unanimously in the Senate. And now Mike Johnson wants to try to blame it on us when this chaos was called, caused by a president and Republican enablers in Congress.

BLACKWELL: And so the continuing resolution to fund DHS fully for eight weeks goes nowhere in the Senate.

BOOKER: Again, we are at an impasse right now. Thune passed this by unanimous consent, sent it over there. And now the question is how is Donald Trump going to work with his congressional Republicans to solve this problem that they created in the first.

BLACKWELL: But you're a no on that.

BOOKER: I'm a no on another dollar going to TSA. I'm a yes on another dollar going to ICE. Excuse me, I'm a yes on paying these TSA agents.

BLACKWELL: OK, so let me ask you this. This started 40 plus days ago with demands from Democrats that there would be some ICE enforcement reforms, judicial warrants for searches. Get rid of the masks, identify yourselves. We're going to put the list up on the screen.

The deal you voted for in the Senate didn't accomplish any of these. Right? And so is this a loss for the party? Is this a loss for the people who supported Democrats holding out for those changes?

BOOKER: Well, most Americans think what ICE is doing. Republicans and Democrats think ICE is out of control and reckless. They're seeing things on TV, they're that violate our most basic values and decency. ICE needs to reform. It's Republicans that are saying no reforms and that's the impasse.

So, yes, this is not a loss for a political party. This is loss for America that we still have out of control, reckless secret police running around our communities, churches running around a mosque, running around schools and the like.

BLACKWELL: But if the holdout was to get those changes and at the end of the day, on Thursday or overnight Thursday and a Friday, Democrats agreed. All right, we'll move forward, we'll fund TSA, but we won't get any of the things we demanded for this holdout. Did you lose this round? BOOKER: No. In fact, this is exactly the thing we offered weeks ago.

Remember, we came to the Senate floor over seven times saying, just pay ICE. We're going to continue this shutdown on TSA. We're not giving an inch until there's reform.

So right now, you're creating chaos at our airports. Pay them. So this is what we've been asking for weeks. We finally got it. And now we're seeing the House say, no, we want to continue this shutdown, not a dollar for ICE until you agree to reforms. In the meantime, stop causing chaos in the rest of America.

BLACKWELL: Let me ask you about Iran. The President has extended the deadline for strikes on the power infrastructure. First was 48 hours, that is five days. Now it's 10 days. Diplomacy over military use. But what do you think about what the President is, how he's approaching this now?

BOOKER: I mean, he brought us into a war that's caused chaos in our country and around the world. Remember, we're in the biggest oil shock ever in the country. Fuel prices spiking, Americans who are already beleaguered by Donald Trump, cutting their health insurance, driving up their energy costs, making lives really difficult.

Now he's adding on top of that, another oil shock, more high prices at the gas pump. And frankly, when fuel prices are high, transportating good -- transporting goods, farm equipment, fertilizer, this is a real crisis for our economy. All on a war. That was his war. He didn't come before Congress.

Now we've not only lost so much money, 25 billion of American taxpayer dollars, so much rising costs, but we're also, as you saw just overnight, more American soldiers being injured, 13 are dead.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

BOOKER: And so this is outrageous what the President's doing, the harm he's causing. Me and a bunch of Senate Democrats are saying enough is enough. The Senate needs to do its job. That's why I'm leading these World War power resolutions. Do your job, hold them to account, bring them in for oversight, checks and balances. There should be open hearings to try to stop what Donald Trump is doing that's so destructive.

BLACKWELL: Let's talk about this book, "Stand."

BOOKER: Yes.

BLACKWELL: The COVID art, I assume this is the Marshall Home, Washington.

BOOKER: Yes.

BLACKWELL: OK.

BOOKER: But it could be today. It could be the milking ground. BLACKWEL: And that's the point. I mean, you wrote this. 10 virtues

that you explain have historically led to success, survival, redemption and renewal. How does what you learned in this book inform what we're going to see across the country today with these protests?

BOOKER: So we have faced dark times before. Every generation has had extraordinary challenges, but it's always been Americans who chose virtue. The best of who we are in the worst of times, not as nice things to have, but as strategy. It's how we win.

So this book is inspiration and instruction. It is people asking me, what can I do? And I said, here is examples from our history and our present of everyday Americans who achieved extraordinary things when our country was at the brink.

[08:35:00]

It's the book I want to speak to these times and give people a lot of help about how we go forward.

BLACKWELL: What'd you learn?

BOOKER: Look, the beautiful thing about writing a book is you get deep up in your history. And I was moved. I still remember doing the audible recording and having the engineer crying and the director crying because we've seen how it does not take a senator or a president to change history.

The power of the people in a democracy is greater than the people in power. And so what I've learned is actually it renewed my faith in our country's ability to cure what's wrong and create a new possibility for our future. And the big thing I want people to understand is we are not powerless. We have agency in this moment. We need every American to stand.

Democracy is not a spectator sport. This country desperately needs you to do more, especially in a moral moment like this.

BLACKWELL: Senator Cory Booker, thanks for coming in.

BOOKER: Thank you, man. Good to see you.

BLACKWELL: Appreciate it. Likewise. The new book is "Stand" available now.

All right. From Capitol Hill to no Kings protest nationwide, the debate over trans rights. It's front and center right now.

Coming up, my conversation with entertainer and activist T.S. Madison about the threats she's facing and what she's doing to protect her community.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:41:01] BLACKWELL: When the Olympics come to Los Angeles in 2028, trans women will not be allowed to compete in women's events. The White House is applauding this week's announcement, which lines up with administration policy. Also, anti-trans legislation is being pushed by the White House in the Save America Act and the No Kings protest today. They all set up the International Transgender Day of Visibility that's coming up on Tuesday. Happens every year on March 31.

To talk about all that from a personal perspective, I invited Emmy Award winning entertainer and podcaster Ts Madison to join us. Ts Madison is in studio. Madison, thank you for coming in.

TS MADISON, ENTERTAINER AND ACTIVIST: Thank you for having me, Victor.

BLACKWELL: You are one of the most visible trans Americans in movies, on television, podcasting. What is the value of a day of trans visibility in this moment?

MADISON: People need to understand that your visibility is your activism. Your presence is your advocacy. Because we're living in a climate right now where the erasure of trans people is, it seems, as it's been priority number one in this administration.

And so what I enjoy about being T.S. Madison is that not only do I advocate for visibility and my activism is rooted in you seeing me. I encourage others to not be afraid and to be, you know, exactly who you are and live out loud. How long do we know life is?

BLACKWELL: Yes. Yes.

MADISON: And it's no reason for us to be living in the shadows.

BLACKWELL: It's been 12 years since your friend Laverne Cox was Cover Time magazine.

MADISON: Yes. That's my girl.

BLACKWELL: Yes. That cover the transgender tipping point. And that was obviously a different climate in 2014.

MADISON: It was.

BLACKWELL: You talked about the erasure. Talk about some of the things that I've heard from your team impacting you in this climate.

MADISON: Currently right now, you know, I'm going through a lot of situations in my own personal life and I'm doing my best now to fight back against that. I plan on trying to communicate around a bill that helps people like myself in stalking situations and harassment and cyberbullying and doxxing.

And so, what I've learned through this situation that's going on in my personal life right now is that the judicial system still works and that the protections for people in general, just human beings, it still works because what is -- what I've noticed in the social climate of the situation is I've been dehumanized because I'm trans. And a large percentage of us are. Well, majority of trans people are being dehumanized.

And so because of that, people think that the law is not there to protect us because of what's going on in politics.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

MADISON: But the law still works for human beings. And so my goal is to push for new sanctions and bills for the protection of trans people.

BLACKWELL: Talking about protection and specifically on trans people of color, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, they published their latest numbers. This was on Trans Day of Remembrance end of last year. Tracking violence against the trans community. Since 2013, 70 percent of transgender and gender non-conforming victims of violence were people of color. 82 percent Transgender women, nearly 60 percent were black trans women, 71 percent of them shot to death.

We don't talk enough, I think about the physical threat to not only trans people, but people of color. What do we need to know behind those numbers?

MADISON: We need to know that behind those numbers is that people are always trying to find some way to justify it. And the reason why it's not talked about enough is because what I'm noticing from the social climate is everyone is always trying to blame the victim or find fault within the victim instead of listening to the people -- to the victim say, I'm a victim.

[08:45:10]

BLACKWELL: At the center of the political conversation right now is the Save America Act. President Trump initially wanted this to be about voting and requiring passport or citizenship to register to vote, but then added trans legislation prohibiting transgender athletes from playing on sports teams aligned with their gender identity, banning already rare surgical procedures for trans youth.

What do you make of that making its way to the center of the political conversation and to a voting bill?

MADISON: Well, you have to understand that votes count and you need people to vote. And so the way that you garner votes is you fear monger, especially from this regime. Do you know how much I've watched people say, I don't agree with this, what the President is doing, and I don't agree with the policies of this, but that trans stuff, I can get with that.

Like, I want to protect my kids. How can we protect my kids from trans? No, you need to be protecting your kids from the people that are making these laws.

BLACKWELL: Let me ask you one more thing here. On last year's day of Trans Day of Visibility, you launched the Starter House.

MADISON: Ts Master Starter House. BLACKWELL: Yes.

MADISON: Yes.

BLACKWELL: Yes. Tell me about that.

MADISON: The Ts Master Starter House is an initiative that I and myself and my friend Dominique Morgan, we came up with this idea because she is a system impacted girl. I'm from -- I'm a former in sex work that, you know, my career catapulted into mainstream media and I wanted to open a safe space and create a space for trans women who are trying to find their way, especially with the way that the government has rolled back any help on any grants or --

BLACKWELL: Any support.

MADISON: -- any support or funding, you know.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

MADISON: So we decided that let the community, let community help community. We don't need your help. We've never needed your help. We can raise enough money and put girls in and out of the home and, you know, reintroduce them to life and so that they can find their way.

Like, if I was able to overcome from being system impacted, you can too. And what other guide would you have besides Ts Madison?

BLACKWELL: Ts Madison, thank you so much for coming in. As we look ahead to this day of trans visibility, I appreciate the conversation.

MADISON: Victor, thank you so much for having me. And you're always welcome to come out to one of my live shows.

BLACKWELL: I have seen it. I have been there at the city winery here in Atlanta, and it is a good time.

MADISON: It's a hoot, ain't it?

BLACKWELL: It is indeed.

MADISON: A Hoot and a hog.

BLACKWELL: Ts Madison. Thank you.

MADISON: Thank you, love.

BLACKWELL: Thank you.

MADISON: Thank you for having me.

BLACKWELL: Sure.

MADISON: Yes.

BLACKWELL: Coming up, a visual love letter to black women. For Art is Life this week, a look at the special project helping women find their power, purpose and beauty. Next.

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08:52:20]

BLACKWELL: Women's History Month is wrapping up and I didn't want March to go out without sharing the story of a photographer here in Atlanta who is using the occasion to celebrate Black women who live on their own terms. "Our Kind of Women" is a photography project that honors Black women over 40 and for Art is Life this week I spoke to the project's creator and an actress lending her star power to support her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BESSIE AKUBA WINN, PHOTOGRAPHER AND VISUAL STORYTELLER: Hi, my name is Bessie Akuba Winn. I am a photographer and creative director and the creator of "Our Kind of Women." I'm located in Atlanta, Georgia.

TERRI J VAUGHN, ACTOR, DIRECTOR AND PHILANTHROPIST: Hi, I am Terri J. Vaughn. I am an actress, a producer, a director and I am based here in Atlanta, Georgia.

WINN: So this project came about because I had entered a season in my life at 40 where I was, you know, in transition. I felt that it was too late for me. I felt that the world was crumbling around me, and creatively, I was at a halt. So I wanted to use my photography as a way to capture the essence of black women like me, my kind of women who are also in the same pivotal spot at 40 or beyond.

VAUGHN: Once a woman reaches a certain age, then the job offers kind of dwindle, and you kind of become overlooked. But that never sits well with us, who are lively and full of life and still have stories and things to do. And, you know, I still have a lot of goals to accomplish.

Though I am 56, I still have so much I want to do and so much I haven't accomplished yet. And so when I was introduced to this project and I went through the experience, because it is an experience when you step into the Photoshop.

WINN: Before we start the photography aspect of it, there are several questions that they can pick from. So, for example, if a participant comes in and she pulls a question that resonates with her, and that question happens to be, do you feel more visible or invisible in this season of life? Once they answer the question, we go ahead and start photographing.

But while they're photographing, we're still talking. When all of us were younger, were always talking that you need to be still. Stop moving around so much. You're doing too much. But I am encouraging all of that, and I capture all those images, all those action shots while they're talking.

VAUGHN: I just felt so comforted. I felt seen, I felt recognized, honored. Appreciated. WINN: For us by us being captured and having a story documented by another black woman has a different feel and a different power with it.

VAUGHN: It spoke to me on so many levels.

WINN: I have photographed mothers who home and work from home.

[08:55:00]

I have photographed executives, nonprofit leaders, actors, extremely visible people that a lot of people will recognize and those that many people will probably not recognize.

VAUGHN: The age range is 40 to 76. I love that it's called "Our Kind of Women" because there is a particular woman that is very hell bent on supporting, uplifting, loving, cheerleading other women. And I am really blessed to be surrounded by those kind of women.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: And the photos from "Our Kind of Women" are available as a coffee table book which you can buy now. Check out ourkindofwomen.com for more.

And remember to tune in for an all new episode of Have I Got News For You. That's tonight at 9:00 p.m. on CNN and next day on CNN app.

Thanks for joining me today. I'll see you back here next Saturday at 8:00 a.m. Eastern. Smerconish is up after a short break.

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