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Trump Announces ICE Agents Deploying To Airports Tomorrow To Help TSA; Flyers Face Unpredictable Wait Times As TSA Officers Go Unpaid; U.S., Iran Trade Threats Over Strait Of Hormuz; Cuba's Power Grid Being Restored After Blackout; Senator Mullin's DHS Nomination Clears Key Hurdle Before Confirmation Vote; CA Officials Sue Over Controversial Coastal Pipeline Order; CBS Poll: Iran War Fuels Economic Concerns Among Americans. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired March 22, 2026 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:00]

ANNOUNCER: CNN Breaking News.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

All right, Monday is shaping up to be a consequential day as Trump issues an ultimatum to Iran over the Strait of Hormuz, and declares ICE will begin bolstering airport security across the U.S.

Let's begin with tomorrow's ICE deployment nationwide. President Trump says he ordered the move to help TSA agents who are short staffed and going unpaid during the partial U.S. government shutdown. That funding standoff over DHS' immigration enforcement tactics is in its sixth week now.

White House border czar Tom Homan is now in charge of the airport deployment, telling CNN ICE agents will free up TSA officers from non- significant roles. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries blasted the plan earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): It's unfortunate that Republicans have decided that they would rather force TSA agents to work without pay, inconvenience millions of Americans all across the country, and now potentially expose them to untrained ICE agents and create chaos at airports throughout the land rather than get ICE agents under control.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: CNN's Julia Benbrook is in Florida, where the president is spending the weekend, and Gloria Pazmino is at Newark Liberty Airport in New Jersey.

Julia, you first. What is the administration saying about this deployment plan?

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the details are still scarce here, but what we know is President Donald Trump, he took to social media, Truth Social, a couple of times yesterday to say that because there's still not an agreement to fund the Department of Homeland Security, that that partial government shutdown is still ongoing, that he is going to deploy Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to U.S. airports to, quote, "do security like no one has seen before."

He then announced that White House border czar Tom Homan would be leading these efforts. Now, Homan spoke with CNN's Dana Bash earlier today. And yes, he did confirm that these agents are going to be deployed on Monday. But he also said that the details are still being worked out, that he is having conversations throughout the day with the leads of the agencies involved. They are working to develop a plan today and then execute that plan tomorrow.

When Trump first announced that this would be happening, there were a lot of questions. Some of those still continuing on now, but about exactly what these agents are going to do as they're not trained in airport security screening. That's a process that sometimes takes months. Homan did say that they would be working in less significant roles, and he said that their main goal here is to ease the workload so that the TSA agents can then do the jobs that they're trained to do.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM HOMAN, WHITE HOUSE BORDER CZAR: This is about going to helping TSA do their mission and get the American public through that airport as quickly as they can, while adhering to all the security guidelines and the protocols. We're simply there to help TSA do their job in areas that don't need their specialized expertise, such as, you know, screening through the x-ray machine.

Not training that, we won't do that, but there are roles we can play to release TSA officers from the non-significant roles, such as guarding an exit so they can get back to the scanning machines and move people quicker.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BENBROOK: And he did acknowledge that there are still a lot of questions here, a lot of things up in the air when it comes to how they will deploy, how many agents will be involved, and exactly where they will be working on the location part of it. He did say that he believes that they should prioritize large airports that have had those really significant wait times. He used three hours in line as an example there.

And of course, this comes as that standoff on Capitol Hill continues. And at the heart of that are questions about immigration and customs reforms. And Democrats are calling for changes there. But it doesn't seem that there are any closer to any real deal. Homan was on Capitol Hill on Friday as he spoke with a bipartisan group hoping to make steps there. But both sides say that the other isn't doing enough.

WHITFIELD: All right, Julia Benbrook, thank you so much.

Let's go to Newark Liberty Airport now and Gloria Pazmino.

All right. How does it look now at this hour?

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fred. You know, as we start to get into the evening rush, we're starting to see the lines build up a little more. We're seeing about a 25 minute wait time right now here on Terminal A at Newark Liberty International. We have seen the wait times just kind of vary throughout the day depending on what time it is.

I want to show you the line here is moving, but you could see that, you know, there are a lot of people here, as I said, who, as we get into the evening rush.

[16:05:02]

Less than 25 minute wait time. A lot of these passengers we've been speaking to today have told me that they came prepared. I've heard four hours, five hours, six hours early. Some of them told me they got here significantly ahead of time, knowing that there was a possibility they would be in line for hours. That's not the case here today, but it is the case that many of the other airports around the nation.

We're seeing significant wait times at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas. We're seeing some long wait times in other area airports here in the New York Tri-State area. J.F. Kennedy, LaGuardia also reported some significant wait times. And passengers here also torn about this plan from President Trump, saying he plans to deploy ICE officers into airports to do the jobs of TSA officers who are not coming into work right now because they're not getting paid.

Some passengers told me if it's going to make things move quicker, they are in support of it. Others told me that they do not want to see ICE officers in their airports. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOB YOUKER, TRAVELING TO ORLANDO: Whatever it takes, so that people don't have to wait in line, I guess. For a band-aid temporary to do that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Staffing shortage.

ESTELLE FARIAS, TRAVELING TO TAMPA: I don't it's great. I think it's going to cause more chaos and stress for people who are afraid to even travel internationally.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAZMINO: I spoke to a woman who specifically told me that she worries that having ICE officers at the airports will make some people afraid. People who may be traveling internationally, people whose immigration status may not be entirely resolved, maybe they're green card holders, but not citizens. And she worries that having those optics at the airports will only create more problems. Now, as Julia was saying, we're still waiting to get some real

specific details about what these plans will look like, but we are expecting potentially to see officers at the country's airports starting on Monday. For now, TSA officers not getting paid, many of them calling out. More than 400 have already resigned from the force and the absentee rate still hovering around 9 percent.

WHITFIELD: All right. Gloria Pazmino in Newark, thanks so much.

All right, for more perspective now I'm joined by John Sandweg, the former acting director at ICE under President Obama and the former acting general counsel for DHS.

Great to see you. So, given your experience with ICE and being trained for ICE duties, how do you see these agents, ICE agents, transitioning tomorrow to do work in the nation's airports?

JOHN SANDWEG, FORMER ACTING DIRECTOR, IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT UNDER PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, Fredricka, it all depends on how they plan to use them. Right? Unfortunately, I think there's little operational value in deploying ICE. The skills that the TSA agents have are so specific and unique, and that without that training, you just can't put an ICE agent, for instance, at the x-ray and you certainly can't have an ICE agent doing those pat-downs that sometimes happen when you trigger, YOU KNOW, the x-ray device, or the, you know, the various inspection devices that TSA utilizes.

So if we're talking about ICE agents just manning those exits, OK, yes, they're more than qualified to do that. They're law enforcement officers. But again, that is a very limited function. It doesn't provide a lot of value. So from an operational, you know, it's just -- I don't see the point of this. And it's really hard, Fredricka, to look at this and see it as anything other than a political effort to put more pressure on some of those Democratic congressmen to come to the table and make a deal.

WHITFIELD: Oh, interesting. OK. You don't see the point in that. And of course, you just underscored, you know, border czar Homan says, you know, these would be non-significant roles that he would hope ICE agents would play. And he used an example like guarding an exit. And by doing so, does it alleviate or free up a TSA agent or two to now be able to screen luggage? If that TSA agent was assigned to an exit area, is it presumed that they are trained to also do screening?

SANDWEG: Yes. Yes, Fredricka, it would.

WHITFIELD: Go ahead.

SANDWEG: It would. They certainly can't do the screening. The ICE agents just cannot do the screening. They can't do the pat-downs. They can't do the searches. There's a lot of, you know, there are a lot of sensitivities, a lot of civil liberties issues and privacy issues with TSA. That just makes the way ICE does their operations that are perfectly appropriate, you know, for when you're making an arrest. Inappropriate in the TSA environment. So they could replace those officers who man those exits. But that's

just a very limited number of TSA officers. But of course, the deployment of ICE is really newsworthy, right? Especially given the way ICE has been utilized in Minneapolis and Los Angeles and Chicago. So I think you just -- it's hard to look at this and say the operational value of freeing up two or three per airport, TSA officers, is that worth all of the attention and controversy that will be caused by deploying ICE agents?

But, you know, Fredricka, this will be a nonevent operationally if those ICE agents are just deployed in those exit areas. Right?

[16:10:02]

I don't think the public, the traveling public will notice necessarily the presence of ICE. The big question is, what are they going to do on immigration enforcement? And if they are then using those TSA checkpoints as a way to screen potential individuals to question and/or arrest based on immigration violations, you have a high potential for chaos, then that's going to cause a lot of impacts where you have people are traveling, maybe without a U.S. passport or people who have, you know, maybe, or out of status.

But when you start seeing arrests at the immigration checkpoint or U.S. citizens being detained, that's when the potential for chaos kicks in.

WHITFIELD: What do you envision or even anticipate at some of America's airports tomorrow with the introduction of some ICE agents?

SANDWEG: I'm encouraged by the fact that Tom Homan has been in charge of this. Tom took a very restrained approach to Minneapolis. And I think, I think Tom has, you know, recognizes that the way in which these more aggressive kind of efforts that ICE has been conducting under Kristi Noem really backfired against the agency. And Tom has a lot of, you know, he's a longtime ICE official. I worked with Tom. He has a lot of respect for the agency and the agents.

I am optimistic that Tom will deploy the ICE agents in a way that is really just as minimal, minimally intrusive as possible, covering those exits. Maybe just behind the scenes where they're not visible to the public, providing an additional layer of security.

But again, Fredricka, this is the big question. How are they going to deploy them? But if we start seeing ICE agents checking I.D.'s, when people are walking up to the checkpoints, we start seeing ICE agents making immigration arrests of individuals as they try to, you know, board their airplane. We're going to have a lot of chaos. There's going to be a lot of attention on this. And again, like I said, I think the idea potentially at least is if that happens, it's to put a lot of pressure on Democrat members of Congress to come to the table.

WHITFIELD: I wonder, quickly, are there, you know, some elements of ICE training that you see as potentially transferable to the kind of training that TSA agents get? SANDWEG: Not really. That's the problem here. Listen, you know, and

your audience knows how sensitive the public has been to those pat- downs, right? So TSA agents get extensive training on how to do those pat-downs. They use sophisticated, complex equipment now. You can't just -- listen, ICE agents have a lot of law enforcement training, and there are certain law enforcement functions like guarding those exits that that's not a problem.

But when it comes to those TSA functions, those really are unique skill sets with unique training experiences. And you can't just take anyone, you know, no matter how much law enforcement experience they have and plug them into those jobs without that specialized training. And so that's why when you look at this, you say, is there an operational need here that deploying ICE is a problem that that's solving?

And other than, as you highlighted, putting a couple, you know, replacing a couple people in an exit, you know, that frees up a couple of bodies. That's not -- that's really not operationally significant. So no, it's hard to look at this and say this was driven by operations. And unfortunately, probably driven more by politics.

WHITFIELD: All right. John Sandweg, very enlightening. Thank you so much. Former acting director at ICE under the President Obama administration.

SANDWEG: Thank you so much.

WHITFIELD: Thank you.

All right. And now to the U.S. and Iran trading new threats over the Strait of Hormuz after Trump issued an ultimatum. In a social media post, President Trump warned Iran if it does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours, the U.S. will hit and obliterate its power plants. Iran's armed forces responded, saying Hormuz will be completely closed if Trump strikes its power plants. It also vowed to retaliate by attacking infrastructure and energy sites in the Gulf region.

Meantime, dozens of people were injured in missile strikes in southern Israel. Overnight, Iranian missiles struck the Israeli cities of Dimona, near a key nuclear site, and Arad, which resulted in the highest number of people injured in a single attack in Israel since the start of the war.

CNN's Matthew Chance joins us now from Doha, Qatar.

So, Matthew, walk us through how Iran is responding to this threat deadline.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, that threat deadline, Fredricka, was 48 hours. And so it's meant to run out on Monday night, Eastern Time. That would be Tuesday morning here in the Persian Gulf region. And of course, the Iranians are reacting negatively to it. They're basically rejecting those threats and going further than that, saying that if indeed President Trump carries out his threat to strike Iranian power plants, which are, of course, essential for sort of everyday life in Iran, as you can imagine, electricity generation and things like that, then they will retaliate, not just by closing the Strait of Hormuz, which is a very important, very narrow, very strategic strip of water in the Persian Gulf, which is the essential artery through which something like 20 percent of the world's energy supplies usually travel on any given day.

[16:15:08]

But Iran has a stranglehold over that chokepoint and is only letting a very few vessels to its -- to friendly countries sort of trickle through. And so, you know, this ultimatum by President Trump was an attempt to get Iran to stand back. But it doesn't look like that Iran is going to comply with that demand. And it said it will not just completely close the Strait of Hormuz, but it will also strike at infrastructure targets, energy infrastructure in its neighbors in the Persian Gulf area.

So we're talking about Saudi Arabia. We're talking about the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, here in Qatar, Kuwait, potentially Oman as well. We don't know. But, you know, these are places that all have, for example, a heavy dependence on energy production and export for their economic welfare. They also all have kind of U.S. military installations of some form or another, a greater and lesser degrees of strength.

And they're all potentially targets and they've been targeted, in fact, over the past couple of weeks since the Iran war began, with missiles and drones. Just last week, to give you an example of the consequences of attacks on regional infrastructure by Iran can have, there was a huge gas production facility, the biggest in the world, owned by Qatar, that was hit by two Iranian missiles.

I mean, it was, you know, it sent shockwaves through the international energy markets. Already elevated gas and oil prices went through the roof. And, you know, it forced President Trump even to sort of castigate the Israelis for carrying out the strike. You remember, he claimed that he had no idea that the Iranians were going to do that. The -- sorry, the Israelis were going to do that. The Israelis later contradicted that and said that they worked in lockstep with the Americans.

But anyway, it was chaotic. Imagine if that type of attack is sort of multiplied across various assets across the region could be absolute chaos. And that's what the big concern is here at the moment, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Matthew Chance, thank you so much in Doha.

All right. Still to come, lights out in Cuba. Yet another breakdown in the island's power grid leave millions in darkness. And later, another big boom in the sky. We'll show you the second meteor that shook some people up in the past week.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [16:22:19]

WHITFIELD: Officials say Cuba has begun restoring power across the island after the country's entire power grid went down yesterday.

CNN's Patrick Oppmann reported from the darkened Havana night.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL 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 this island has experienced 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, a 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)

WHITFIELD: That was CNN's Patrick Oppmann in last night's blackout in Havana, Cuba.

At the Vatican this morning, Pope Leo condemned the war in the Middle East and called for an immediate end to hostilities.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POPE LEO XIV, CATHOLIC CHURCH LEADER (through translator): I continue to follow with dismay the situation in the Middle East, as well as in any other regions of the world torn apart by war and violence. We cannot remain silent in the face of the suffering of so many people who are innocent victims of these conflicts. What wounds them wounds the whole humanity. The death and suffering caused by these wars are a scandal for the entire human family and a cry before God.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The Pope asked those who had gathered with him to pray for peace. All right, straight ahead, U.S. lawmakers just advanced Markwayne

Mullin's nomination to be secretary of Homeland Security. We'll break down a possible vote tomorrow.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:29:17]

WHITFIELD: New today, Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin is one step closer to becoming the next secretary of Homeland Security. President Trump's pick to replace the agency's current head, Kristi Noem, just cleared a key hurdle before his confirmation vote.

I want to go straight to Camila DeChalus on Capitol Hill.

So, Camila, what more can you tell us?

CAMILA DECHALUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, that's right. On the Senate side, they just advanced the nomination of the Republican Senator Mullin in order to put him in this position or just really to get them in the final stage where the Senate can finally schedule a vote to confirm him in this top position.

Now, the really big question here is what the switch up in leadership, if he is confirmed into this position, will that change the dynamics on Capitol Hill right now when it comes to ending this partial government shutdown? And what I'm hearing from Democratic senators at this point in time, they're telling me, hey, look, listen, even if there is a new leadership in the Department of Homeland Security, that doesn't change our position that we want these reforms around several federal agencies under the Department of Homeland Security to be implemented and signed into law before we even support passing a bill that would fund the Department of Homeland Security.

[16:30:29]

Now, there's things that have been floated to try to end this partial government shutdown. And we're hearing that the Republican senator, that even all of them, both Democrats and Republicans, are really trying to push this through. But, really, there is a big question of how much this is going to change the leadership within the Department of Homeland Security, just given the fact that now the Senate is now moving forward with trying to process him and process his confirmation into this new role here at the Department of Homeland Security, and just given how he's so closely with his other Republican counterparts here, and just the tumultuousness that this Department of Homeland Security has just faced, with both Democratic and Republican senators really just questioning what the role of this department is going to be, and just the fact that they've been under intense scrutiny in the last few months, given the recent incidents that took place in Minneapolis, it really is just a show sign further how the Senate is trying to progress him further, Mullin, into this position, because they're really hoping that this change in leadership is going to be a step in the right direction.

WHITFIELD: And, Camila, negotiations continue to be underway between Capitol Hill and the White House to reopen DHS. That agency has been shut down now for weeks, as Democrats demand more reforms on how ICE operates. So, how are those talks progressing?

DECHALUS: That's right, Fred. We're hearing that, you know, both lawmakers, both senators, Democratic and Republican senators are meeting, talking about potential reforms that they can implement to agencies like CBP and ICE under the Department of Homeland Security. But we're still being told that they're a long way away from trying to end this partial government shutdown.

There still seems to still be a lot of conversations had about which kind of reforms to implement. But Democrats, again, are really adamant that they are not going to move forward in supporting any funding for the Department of Homeland Security unless these reforms are implemented. And they're saying that conversations are not enough.

They want to see these reforms written into law, to be signed. And that's the only way they're going to progress. Further, even with the recent announcement of President Trump saying that, you know, if this partial government shutdown continues and no deal is made, then he's going to send ICE agents to airports.

They're saying they're still holding firm, that they want to see these reforms being made. And that's the only way to end this partial government shutdown that has now lasted for more than 30 days. And even though there's some progress being made here on Capitol Hill, when I talk to federal employees that are being very much impacted by this, they're saying this progress is still not enough.

We're being faced with just the emotional and financial toll that this partial government shutdown has taken. And so we're being told just even on a local level of this impact that they want to see more to be done.

WHITFIELD: All right. Camila DeChalus in Washington on Capitol Hill, thanks so much.

[16:33:08]

All right. Straight ahead, as the war with Iran causes gas prices to climb, the Trump administration makes a controversial move in California. Why officials there are fighting back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, the spring travel season is here, and as the weather warms up, more drivers are hitting the road. According to AAA, the current average price of a gallon of regular gas, $3.94, compared to $2.93 a month ago and $3.12 a year ago. It's no surprise that since Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation to U.S.-Israeli strikes, drivers here have seen a sharp spike in gas prices at the pump.

California officials have taken legal action now after the President issued an executive order to reopen a controversial oil pipeline here in the states. Energy Secretary Chris Wright says "Trump invoked the Defense Production Act to, in his words, strengthen America's oil supply and restore a pipeline system vital to our national security and defense."

The Santa Ynez unit has been shut down since 2015 after a massive rupture spilled nearly 150,000 gallons of oil along Santa Barbara's coast, making it one of the worst in California's history. Oil has not flowed through the pipeline until just a few days ago, and now the state of California is trying to stop it.

For more on this, I'm joined by David Valentine. He is a distinguished professor of earth science and biology at U.C. Santa Barbara. He has studied major ecological disasters, including the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill, and is helping bridge the gap between environmental research and policy. Professor, great to see you.

DAVID VALENTINE, PROFESSOR, EARTH SCIENCE, U.C. SANTA BARBARA: Great to see you, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: So what went through your mind when you first heard about the reopening of this pipeline?

VALENTINE: Well, I mean, it's been a saga here in the Santa Barbara area. And I think really to understand what was going through my mind, you have to go back a little bit in history. And being a professor here at U.C. Santa Barbara, I've taken some time to understand the relationship between oil production and our local community here.

[16:40:08]

And really it dates back to the 1800s. We had the first offshore oil production in the world here in Santa Barbara. And when those wells were abandoned in the 1940s, there was no technology really that was used for that. So today what we have, you know, is a situation where those particular areas are still leaking oil from, you know, dating back over 100 years ago.

It's like an oil spill whack-a-mole, if you will. And then, you know, that's the backdrop. But then in 1969, there was the major platform a blowout, which was a major technological failure in drilling and regulation that was one of the spills that really underlied the change in U.S. regulations associated with oil spills and oil spill response.

And then in 2015, we had the Refugio spill. I was there the day that happened, that evening, and saw the devastation of the beaches, the oiling. And then even in the aftermath of that, there was a case where one of the platforms, the owners just gave up the platform and let the state take ownership to then deal with the decommissioning.

And so we've really been a testbed for failed technologies in this area. So it's a very sensitive topic. And that's what's on my mind.

WHITFIELD: So it sounds like for many, many years, not just, you know, going back to 2015, but you're underscoring for many, many years, oil spills or managing has been a big problem. That means it's jeopardized marine life, oil -- I mean, fisheries, and the entire coastline, it sounds like. So then if that's the case, is this area ready for new oil production now?

VALENTINE: Yes, you know, this is an area that has a lot of sensitive ecology. We've got marine mammals, you've got fisheries, you've got kelp forests. You've got beach communities, the ecological communities of beaches, in addition to the people. And when oil spills happen, all of these different areas are affected.

And we see it in the images that you're putting up now. You know, you have these massive impacts. And the 69 spill, I think, was a good example where there was massive mortality of marine mammals. Marine birds are especially susceptible to oil spills, you know. And so these other environments, kelp forests, but also the human toll. And, you know, you have people that make a living off of the ocean, whether they're fishing or they're, you know, teaching surf classes or, you know, working at a coastal establishment or restaurants or tourism.

All of those are massively affected when you have oil spills like we've had here in Santa Barbara. And so I think, you know, because of that, we have to be very careful in thinking about the, you know, the onset of renewed production and flow through these pipelines.

WHITFIELD: Professor David Valentine, so glad you'll be with us for these continued concerns there on the California coast. Appreciate it.

VALENTINE: All right. Thank you, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. New evidence that Americans are feeling economic fallout from the U.S. war in Iran. According to new polling from "CBS," an overwhelming majority, 85 percent, say gas prices have gone up where they live. Nearly two-thirds say the war will make the economy weaker in the short term. And about a third say they expect the economy to be in a recession next year.

Let's discuss now with Washington Post political reporter Kadia Goba, who found the most beautiful spot there near the Washington Mall with the cherry blossoms and bloom and everything to talk about this. Kadia, great to see you.

KADIA GOBA, POLITICS REPORTER, THE WASHINGTON POST: Good to see you as well.

WHITFIELD: All right. So very little is being said right now on Capitol Hill about affordability. I mean, what are lawmakers prepared to do about it when so many Americans are saying they're feeling the pinch, you know, with their gas bills or energy bills? It's all going up.

GOBA: Yes, I would say in particular the Republican Party is sort of in a quagmire here. They spent, well, both parties have spent a large portion of the past year championing affordability, whether it's through legislation or any kind of messaging to really tap into the working class so that, you know, they're prepared or have someone on their side for the 2026 midterms. That kind of blew up when the President entered into this war with Iran.

[16:45:03] The problem is, you know, for Republicans who have been, you know, talking about energy and talking about, you know, affordability. Gas prices are not where they need to be. And frankly, a lot of Americans are frustrated about it because they see it as a direct result of Trump entering the war.

WHITFIELD: And, you know, more Republican lawmakers, as of late, are expressing frustration over this war, especially after the defense secretary and the President said that they wanted to request some 200 billion -- $200 billion in additional funding for the war. I mean, listen to what some of the House's more conservative members told our Manu Raju.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. LAUREN BOEBERT (R-CO): I will not vote for a war supplemental. No. I am a no.

REP. WARREN DAVIDSON (R-OH): I've got the same questions that I've had on all these kinds of fundings. Define the mission. And then I'll know how I feel about $200 billion.

REP. ERIC BURLISON (R-MO): It'll give me comfort if they pass an audit. And then I'll know that at least they're keeping track of the dollars.

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Uh-huh. So if they don't do that, could you support something like that?

BURLISON: Probably not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Is this the start of more Republican lawmakers standing up to Trump, potentially?

GOBA: Yes, I think so, Fred. We saw the beginning signs of this when Marjorie Taylor Greene sort of pushed back and said that the President wasn't prioritizing the America First agenda. That is a similar camp that you see right there saying the same thing because it doesn't give them something to run on going into the 2026.

How do you measure talking about affordability when, you know, right around the corner or potentially people driving to the polls see skyrocketing gas prices? I talked to some members a couple of, you know, within the past couple of weeks. And some of them are kind of counting on Trump's promise to rein in the war at a fast, rapid pace. And they, I guess their point is that voters don't really remember anything six months before an election. But if the prices are that high come September and October, they agree that there's going to be a real problem.

WHITFIELD: Right. Because right now, overall energy costs with oil prices up 75 percent since the beginning of this year. And it seems like that is going to put a lot of pressure on lawmakers, you know, to be mindful of that because they're going to be getting an earful if this continues, right, from voters ahead of those midterms just, you know, a few months away. So a lot can change this summer, right?

GOBA: Yes, a lot can change. But again, some of the frustration is stemming from all the work that the Republican Party has done for the past year convincing people or voters that they are the party, the working class party or the party of affordability.

So this seems like an abrupt turn for them. And it kind of help -- it kind of forces them to, I guess, like push back against the President in real time. But we know that that typically hasn't been the case. So it'll be interesting to see what happens in the coming weeks if the prices don't lower.

WHITFIELD: Right. OK. Kadia Goba, thank you so much. Thanks for making it happen for us right there on the beautiful landscape of the Washington, D.C. mall area. Thanks so much.

GOBA: Thanks for having me.

[16:48:40]

WHITFIELD: All right. Straight ahead, it has been meteor mania across the country. We'll show you where yet another falling star streaked across the sky.

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WHITFIELD: Hundreds of people have been rescued after severe flooding hit Hawaii's Oahu Island. Video released by the U.S. Coast Guard shows helicopters flying over inundated neighborhoods that were cut off by high water. Governor Josh Green says some people had to be plucked directly from rooftops. People living in the island's North Shore communities have been ordered to evacuate. Officials fear a dam there is at risk of collapsing. Several powerful storms caused what Governor Green called the worst flooding in more than 20 years.

And then six people are on the mend tonight after the floor collapsed at a wedding venue in New Hampshire. Fire officials say all the injuries were non-life threatening. The wedding ceremony had just started when the floor gave way sending about 70 people down about 8- feet into a basement below. According to the fire marshal overcrowding is likely a factor in the collapse. More than 140 people were inside that venue at the time.

And in the skies over Texas, residents spotted a meteor on Saturday afternoon. You can see it there. It was circled there for you. This taking place in the Houston area. According to NASA the meteor became visible at 49 miles above Stagecoach, Texas northwest of Houston. And as you can see the rare event was captured on video by multiple people. NASA says the meteor also created a sonic boom heard by some across the region. The Texas sighting comes just a few days after a meteor was spotted by several residents in Pennsylvania and Ohio. Remember that one? That rare fireball was bright enough to be seen during broad daylight and also triggered a sonic boom in parts of the eastern U.S. last week.

[16:55:16] All right, tonight on The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper, Pamela Brown explores the rise of Christian nationalism and its growing political influence in this view of one nation under God, is liberty truly for all? The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper tonight, 8:00 p.m. Eastern and the next day on the CNN app.

Thanks so much for joining me today. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. The CNN Newsroom continues with Jessica Dean in just a moment.

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