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Israeli Strikes on Iran Expanding?; Georgia Election Ballots Dispute; Will Republicans Pass DHS Funding Bill?. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired March 27, 2026 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:00]

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ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: We have breaking news on the shutdown fight that is fueling all of this traveling turmoil with TSA.

CNN is learning that House Speaker Mike Johnson does not have the Republican votes right now to pass a bill to fund most of the Department of Homeland Security. Any moment, we are expecting to hear from the speaker.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: CNN congressional correspondent Lauren Fox is live on Capitol Hill, and she joins us by phone because she's currently waiting for Johnson to speak.

Lauren, it sounds like the speaker here is opting to instead put a 60- day C.R. on the floor of the House, as opposed to going with what the Senate hammered out in the very early morning hours.

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Exactly.

I mean, there was such frustration from Republican leadership with the Senate-passed plan. And so Johnson under pressure from his conservatives trying this alternative route, essentially just a short- term spending measure that would fund all of the Department of Homeland Security.

There's a huge problem, though. I am told that there is really very little, if any appetite in the United States Senate to pass that version of this legislation. The issue the entire time has been that, if Democrats were going to support any funding for ICE or CBP, they wanted to have significant reforms.

Those negotiations went nowhere. And the fact that they are not getting any reforms in this proposal from the House speaker makes it very unlikely, if not impossible, that this would pass out of the Senate.

That obviously leaves them in a lurch, with TSA workers potentially missing another paycheck in just the next couple of days. And, obviously,this means that the president's plan potentially to pay TSA workers unilaterally may be the only path forward, given the fact that this is just going nowhere in the United States.

KEILAR: Yes. To what end are they doing this?

Lauren, if you could stand by for us as we are awaiting the speaker here, let's bring in CNN chief national affairs correspondent Jeff Zeleny.

The House jamming the Senate, but why? It doesn't appear that it's going to work?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: It doesn't because, A, the Senate's not here, I mean, as Lauren has pointed out.

And, B, what this clearly shows is that Speaker Johnson, I mean, we have said it a million times, but he does not operate under the latitude of having a lot of votes here. So he is controlled by a small part of his conference.

But what I'm waiting to look at is what the president is going to do. He has yet to weigh in on this. With literally one phone call, he could resolve this. He's meeting now at the White House with a group of farmers on the South Lawn of the White House. We will see if he talks about this.

But, clearly, the idea of paying the TSA workers is a Band-Aid, at best. We're not sure if it's legal, whatnot. That could have been done a long time ago. But it clearly just shows the winners and losers, as we talk about this shutdown fight. Clearly, the losers are the American people and passengers.

And Congress is again not doing anything to resolve that, but a very interesting few hours ahead, because we have also seen many cases over the years where things look like they're not being resolved and then finally something happens. So I think that something could be the president, but he wants the SAVE Act.

And, of course, that is not in this.

SANCHEZ: To a degree, though, his fingerprints are on this because these Freedom Caucus members...

ZELENY: Yes.

SANCHEZ: ... are pushing for an addendum to the Senate plan that includes things like voter I.D. So, in a strange way, the continuation of the shutdown is directly tied to the president's demands.

ZELENY: For sure, his previous demands, but we will see if he changes that, because yesterday there was the indication that we're going to find a way to pay them. We have not really heard him say that.

But, look, he's very visual, sees what is happening at airports across the country. The losers are many in this. But, again, the American people here are outraged by what their Congress isn't doing.

KEILAR: Let's go now to CNN's Ed Lavandera, who is live at Houston's Bush Airport. He's in the unenviable position of telling travelers there about what has happened here in Washington and asking them how they feel about how it's going to affect them.

They're not going to be thrilled, Ed.

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ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, could you imagine if I were to walk up to somebody right now and say, hey, by the way, you have been in line now for several hours, and it's probably going to continue?

Because what we have heard over and over from people is just people just calling me over is, like, just tell them to do their job, to get the TSA agents paid. That's just happened to be over and over this week. So there's just a great deal of frustration as the lines continue to stack up, and they have been this way all week, no signs of it getting any better.

And, obviously, as the word starts trickling out that this deal appears to be falling apart on this Friday afternoon, this is coming at a time where airport officials are also telling us that today's a heavy travel day. Sunday and Monday -- Saturday is a little bit lower, but come Sunday and Monday, all of this coming back, you can see once again the lines of people underneath where -- like, this is normally a -- the baggage claim area where people are leaving the airport.

And this is what they're having to do here at this airport, these makeshift lines, to be able to handle the thousands of people that are coming through this airport. And this is an airport that is, at its best, airport officials have told us, are able to get about -- if they can get 50 percent of the TSA security lines up and running, they feel pretty good.

But it hasn't always been that way, so they are stretched thin. We have seen some federal agents starting to do some of the I.D. checks at the security line. But, despite all of that, the ICE agents, they have had 32 additional TSA employees brought in to this airport, the lines continue to remain the same. And that is not welcome news.

You can hear a little bit from the travelers that we have talked about the lengths that they're going to just to make sure that they don't miss their flights.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Flight ain't until 2:00, so we came early in. And...

LAVANDERA: Oh, wow, you came six hours early.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

LAVANDERA: You weren't messing around.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We expected that. I'd rather sit in here and have a drink and some lunch. And so...

LAVANDERA: Yes.

Who do you blame for all this?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Government, for sure.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: And not only are people coming seven, eight hours early before their flights. You're also hearing from people who tried to get on a flight yesterday. They missed the flight. They're trying again today. We have heard that over and over again.

It's just a constant headache, and people are exhausted.

KEILAR: All right, Ed.

And our Jeff Zeleny actually ad-libbed there when you said, who do you blame for all of this, and he said obviously that gentleman would blame Iowa, as he was wearing that Nebraska polo shirt.

(LAUGHTER)

KEILAR: Ed, it is just -- what a nightmare where you are. Thank you so much for that report.

CNN's Alayna Treene is with us now from the White House.

Alayna, did the president get behind the Senate version of the bill? What has his outreach been to the House side?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, look, obviously,he's speaking behind me right now, Brianna and Boris, at this farmers event.

But I'm sure, as soon as he is off -- out of here, he will be getting on the phone with House Speaker Mike Johnson to talk through all this. I will say, though, he was not very enthusiastic about this Senate proposal and really what they ultimately passed in the early hours of today to try and fund DHS.

Of course, everyone in this White House wants DHS to be funded. The problem, of course, was he was not very happy with them stripping funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and for Custom and Borders Protection. He was reluctantly on board with this, we were told, after they called him, the Senate GOP leaders, last night saying that they were likely to have a deal and they were going to -- expected to pass it on the Senate floor.

So I'm waiting to see what his reaction will be. But I will say, from my conversations with people in that building behind me, Brianna and Boris, they recognized and they -- the president was not at all happy with exactly where this ended up. And also, of course, they stripped one of his most high-priority pieces of legislation from that bill as well, the SAVE America Act, which, of course, includes voter I.D., among other things.

And so we will have to see where this kind of plays out. I also think, though, I think the other part to all of this is, part of the reason House Republicans are doing this is because the president never actually got behind that Senate deal, that proposed framework that they had put forward and ultimately passed.

He did not publicly -- endorsement. And this morning, in the hours after it did pass the Senate, the president didn't even put out a statement saying congratulations or even acknowledging that it had passed in the Senate chamber, and so all of that I think also contributing in to how some of these hard-line conservatives now are taking a stand on this issue.

And also just to add here as well, I would remind you that immigration, of course, is a fight Democrats clearly believe is worth having right now. But it's also an issue that many Republicans -- and I know the president believed this -- still hope could be a winning issue in November.

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Obviously, that message got a little bit muddied with everything that happened in Minnesota earlier this year, but that's part of what's coming into this as well, and so the politics of this also playing a major factor, with everyone knowing that the midterms are just months away.

And they want to make sure they can still win on an issue, even if it's just with the base, while a lot of people across the country are still struggling with this shutdown affecting airports, TSA, as Ed Lavandera just pointed out.

SANCHEZ: Alayna live for us at the White House, where President Trump is still making remarks.

We imagine that Speaker Johnson is going to take over that podium you see on the Capitol as the president wraps up, the DHS funding bill that the Senate spent all night putting together blown up over a lack of votes.

We're going to keep an eye on what the president is saying, and we will bring you Speaker Johnson's remarks as they happen.

Stay with CNN. We will be right back.

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SANCHEZ: As we await news on Capitol Hill over that DHS funding bill, Iranian state-run media says that Tehran has launched a new wave of strikes today on Israel. At the same time, Israel is trying to pummel Tehran into submission.

The Iranian Red Crescent says that nearly 2,000 people have been killed and 20,000 injured since the war started. Today, Israel's defense minister threatened to escalate and expand its operations in response to Iranian aggression.

That's despite President Trump's promise to delay attacks on Iran's energy sites for another 10 days, allowing for talks between the U.S. and Tehran, which he says are -- quote -- "going very well."

Let's go to CNN military analyst Colonel Cedric Leighton, who joins us now at the Magic Wall.

Colonel Leighton, we understand, according to sources, that there are deployments of several thousand U.S. troops that are headed for the region, including the 82nd Airborne. If you had to predict where they were going to be headed on this map, whether in the Persian Gulf, closer to the Strait of Hormuz, or in the mainland of Iran, where do you imagine them going?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes, Boris, those are great questions.

So, what I would say right now is probably the best place for them to be is somewhere in this area. We have Larak Island. we have Abu Musa, the Strait of Hormuz. These would be areas where it would be likely for the U.S. to go first.

Another possibility probably after this would be Kharg Island, just because it's up in the north and it's a lot harder to get there. But it is possible theoretically for them to transit, the Marines especially, to transit from the Arabian Sea, which is down off here, all the way up there and do that first.

But I would suggest that they would probably want to open up the Strait of Hormuz and then do that. But who knows what could actually happen at this point.

SANCHEZ: How do you go about opening the Strait of Hormuz when that 21-mile stretch between that shoreline and Iran is full of mines and targets potentially for the Iranian military?

LEIGHTON: Yes, absolutely.

So, this is actually one of the key questions right here. This is the normal shipping lane right here, very narrow. This is 21 miles or so from this little piece of Oman to the Iranian coast. This is only two- miles-wide. That's the normal shipping lane. This is closed.

This is where the few ships that have actually made it through have actually gone. This is the deviation route, and that is totally within Iranian territorial waters. It's just to the north of Larak island, between Larak and Qeshm Island.

And so this is where they would go. Right now, that is the most secure area that we know of. But those mines that you talk about, we believe they have only deployed a few of them, but, regardless, it only takes one mind to make a big difference on a big tanker.

SANCHEZ: Right.

LEIGHTON: And that could actually stop everything and potentially clog up the Strait of Hormuz very easily.

SANCHEZ: Yes, so this is one area of focus.

Another is just north of Israel, that border with Lebanon. Israel has talked about potentially expanding strikes there. Where do you see Israel going next?

LEIGHTON: So, as far as Israel is concerned, Boris, this is just absolutely full of action here, both Iranian strikes against Israel, plus Israeli strikes against Lebanon.

And so what we're seeing is, Israel is going to, in essence, take a piece of Southern Lebanon, basically the area south of the Litani River. That area south of the Litani River is going to be, in essence, their buffer zone between Northern Israel and that part of Lebanon which has Hezbollah forces in it.

And that is something they have done in the past, in the '80s and later, and now they're going to do it again, based on statements by the Israeli defense minister. So I would look for the Israelis to do that particular thing right now.

SANCHEZ: And yet another zone of interest for regional partners and for the United States is Yemen, because the Houthis are there. So far, that's been the dog that hasn't barked in this fight, right? They're an Iranian proxy. There are concerns that they may try to block access to the Red Sea.

LEIGHTON: Right.

So this is Yemen right down here, a little bit off our map, but the basic point is that, right in this area right here, this is the Bab- el-Mandeb. If they cut this off, if the Houthis cut this off again like they did before, that would effectively stop all commerce in the Red Sea.

And what has happened so far is that the Saudis have taken their products that they have been exporting such as their oil and moved it from the east coast all the way to the west coast to the port of Yanbu and other ports on the west coast.

Notice there's already a strike right here. That would intensify. This map will get a lot redder if that happens and if they do that, if the Houthis do that, then there's going to be a real problem not only for commerce globally, but for Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Gulf states as well.

SANCHEZ: Colonel Cedric Leighton, I appreciate the analysis. Thank you so much.

LEIGHTON: You bet, Boris. SANCHEZ: So, the Justice Department's 2020 election investigation

faces its first public court test. We're following a major hearing, as Georgia attorneys fight to get back hundreds of boxes of seized ballots.

And farmers facing a double whammy, as the Iran war sends diesel and fertilizer prices soaring. You're going to hear directly from a farmer about the impact it's having on his business.

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Stay with us.

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SANCHEZ: Lawyers for Fulton County, Georgia, are in federal court fighting to get back 2020 election ballots seized by the Justice Department.

It's a case that's going to test DOJ's efforts to investigate President Trump's election defeat.

KEILAR: Fulton County actually filed suit after the FBI raided a county election office back in January, federal officials confiscating hundreds of boxes of records during that time as part of its investigation.

Let's get more now from CNN chief legal affairs correspondent Paula Reid.

What's the latest here, Paula?

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're watching this very closely, because this is the first time that the Trump Justice Department's unprecedented search of that election office and seizure of those over 600 boxes of materials, first time this has really been tested in court.

[13:25:09]

And so far today, the officials from Fulton County, they have tried to convince the judge that those materials should be returned. And their lawyer, Abbe Lowell, is emphasizing the ramifications of this kind of activity, especially in an election year.

Now, the Justice Department has been a little bit dismissive of that argument, saying -- quote -- "Even though the county doesn't like the vibe doesn't mean that these materials need to be returned." So it translates to say is, they don't believe that these officials have a constitutional argument.

Now, they're before a Trump-appointed federal judge. This judge has already shown some deference to the Justice Department, saying, look, this is a federal investigation. It should be granted broad latitude. But he has also agreed to have this hearing over objections from the Justice Department. So we're watching this so closely, because we really want to see, is

this going to give us any indication of just how far the courts are going to let President Trump and the Trump administration wade into our elections? Here, we're talking about a past election, but the president has also signaled he may want to federalize elections in the future.

SANCHEZ: Right.

REID: So that's why this is so significant.

SANCHEZ: When can we expect a decision?

REID: So it's unlikely that we're going to get a decision today, but we will be looking for this in the coming weeks and months.

But whatever this judge decides, this is going to be incredibly significant, because there are so many questions about what happened in January during this search. I have asked my sources at the Justice Department, is there something new that prompted you to do this? You looked into this back in the first Trump administration. Bill Barr didn't see enough there.

So far, they're just leaning on the fact that a judge signed off on a search warrant, so it should all be good. But these Fulton County officials have said that you omitted key pieces of information. So we're really watching this. It's really the first test of the Trump administration's efforts to get themselves more involved in elections.

KEILAR: Paula Reid, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

It's been a month-and-a-half since TSA workers received a full paycheck. We're going to talk to one as we're waiting to see whether lawmakers will pass a funding bill before leaving for a two-week recess, although that is looking highly unlikely at this point.

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