Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

U.S. Senate Passes the Bill Funding Most of Homeland Security Department, Partial Shutdown Nears its End; Trump Extends Delayed Strikes on Iran's Energy Sites by 10 Days. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired March 27, 2026 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNKNOWN (voice-over): This is CNN Breaking News.

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: 32 days into the partial U.S. government shutdown, a major update. During a rare overnight session, the Senate moved to fund most of the Department of Homeland Security. Everything but the controversial Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency and parts of Customs and Border Protection.

Now, the U.S. House must still approve the plan. Pressure has been long mounting on lawmakers to end the impasse. Transportation and security workers were poised to miss their second full paycheck this weekend.

Hundreds of unpaid officers have quit, thousands more skipping work. That's resulted in incredibly long lines, missed flights and so much angst at American airports. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are taking more active roles but don't seem to be cutting wait times.

CNN's Karen Kaifa has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAREN KAIFA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After some midweek relief, Thursday brought another frustrating day at some of the nation's biggest airports. And passengers are bracing for another tough weekend.

UNKNOWN: It's frustrating, sure, but it doesn't do any good to be angry at anybody or be hateful to anybody because these people are working without pay.

KAIFA (voice-over): Nearly six weeks since Department of Homeland Security funding lapsed, TSA workers are approaching another missed paycheck on Friday.

JACKSON OLIVERIO, TSA EMPLOYEE: Just now, we're at 4:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and still not getting paid for it. Fun stuff.

KAIFA (voice-over): Lawmakers still at odds are on the cusp of a two- week recess scheduled to begin Friday. On Thursday, President Donald Trump again laid shutdown blame on Democrats.

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: They're punishing the American people, including travelers at airports.

KAIFA (voice-over): Senate Democrats on Wednesday rejected a GOP proposal to withhold money for federal immigration enforcement, but without any policy changes.

UNKNOWN: I think cooler heads need to prevail.

KAIFA (voice-over): Meanwhile, TSA said more than 3000 officers nationwide didn't show up for work on Wednesday. Wait times at Houston's Bush Intercontinental Airport climbed around four hours early Thursday, at New York's LaGuardia, the wait time in one general security line was nearly two hours, and at Atlanta's Hartsfield- Jackson, ICE agents walked along snaking security lines and checked passenger IDs.

TSA agents are among 61,000 DHS employees working without pay, including employees of the Coast Guard, Secret Service, and Federal Emergency Management Agency.

In Washington, I'm Karen Kaifa.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: We'll have more on the Senate vote to end the partial U.S. government shutdown in a moment, but first we want to go to the latest CNN reporting on the war with Iran.

The Pentagon is putting together options for President Trump if he decides peace talks are going nowhere and he chooses a major military escalation. Now sources say all of the options carry significant risks for U.S. forces.

Meanwhile, the President says he's pausing strikes on Iranian energy sites for another 10 days as talks with Tehran are ongoing. Here he is.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

TRUMP (on the phone): They said to me, very nicely, through my people, could we have more time? They asked for seven. You're going to say, oh, Trump's a terrible negotiator.

They asked for seven. And I said, I'm going to give you 10 because they gave me ships.

We talked about the eight ships, you know, the President that I talked about the other day. But they asked for seven and I gave them 10. You got 10 days, and they were very thankful about that.

Now, they may say, oh, we're not speaking. I don't like that because that wasn't true the last time, as you found out. But we are speaking and it's going fairly well.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: A senior adviser to Iran's new supreme leader is warning that any country taking part in military action against Tehran will face a boomerang of repercussions. Iranian state media reports several people were killed in an airstrike in the northwestern part of the country. A video from the Iranian Red Crescent shows rescue crews searching the rubble of a damaged building.

I want to bring in CNN's Paula Hancocks, live from Abu Dhabi. So, Paula, those strikes on Iran, what's the latest?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kim, we've seen continuing strikes from Israel overnight on a number of cities. Israel saying that it was carrying out a wide-scale wave of strikes, saying that it was regime infrastructure that was targeted and military infrastructure. We have been seeing on the ground, though, that, as always, civilians have been impacted and civilians have been killed.

[03:05:01]

In the capital Tehran we see images of the Red Crescent and emergency teams carrying out search and rescue operations. There's one particular building, a high-rise building, that's badly damaged with search and rescue teams trying to reach people who are trapped in the rubble.

Now also in the city of Qom we understand that there were strikes there overnight. A damaged building that six people were killed in, according to the Red Crescent. State media reporting that a number of residential homes had been hit.

And then also in the city of Urmia, with four residential units destroyed, according to state media, a number of people have been killed there as well.

Now what we're hearing from Red Crescent is when it comes to the civilians they have seen tens of thousands of civilian units being destroyed. They have the figure at some 87,000 civilian units and we know from one U.S. human rights group that's monitoring the deaths that some almost 1500 civilians have been killed, they believe, more than 200 of them children, they also have the number of more than 1000 military losing their lives.

So as this military operation is continuing, we are seeing the civilian death toll increasing. Kim?

BRUNHUBER: All right, so as for the efforts to de-escalate, I guess we've been hearing more from President Trump on the negotiations. Take us through where things stand.

HANCOCKS: We're still hearing optimism from the U.S. President. He had a cabinet meeting on Thursday, a fairly lengthy one, where he talked about the possibilities of making a deal. He had said that talks are ongoing, they are going very well, and he did extend that deadline to open the Strait of Hormuz. Otherwise, the U.S. military would target Iran's power plant. So that

is now a deadline of 10 days to give these talks a chance to bear fruit. Let's listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We have very substantial talks going on with respect to Iran with the right people. I mean I read a story today that I'm desperate to make a deal. I'm not -- I don't -- If I was desperate he'd be the first to know me.

Let's get the hell out of there. I'm the opposite of desperate, I don't care. In fact, we have other targets we want to hit and before we leave.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANCOCKS: Now we're hearing from the Iranian side, a number of different officials, through state media, that there is a serious lack of trust when it comes to these negotiations with the U.S., pointing out that twice before they have been in negotiations and twice before there have been wars that started in the midst of the talks.

Now, we did hear also from Tasnim state media a source saying that the Iranian officials have responded to that 15-point plan that the U.S. had put forward and they were awaiting the reply on their response.

We had heard earlier in the week what the response might look like. There were a number of points that would appear to be serious red lines for the United States and also for other countries involved. For example, Iran pushing the fact that they want the sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz to be officially recognized, something which is unlikely to agree to also saying they want reparations and a complete halt to aggression.

So at this point what we are hearing from both sides is very far apart but they are talking. This is being mediated at this point by Pakistan. Sources have said that the White House was hoping for some kind of talks in Pakistan this weekend, it's unclear as to whether that is too soon though for these two sides to agree to sit down, Kim?

BRUNHUBER: I appreciate that, Paula Hancocks, live in Abu Dhabi. Thank you so much.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): This is CNN Breaking News.

BRUNHUBER: And back to our breaking news. The Senate has passed a funding bill 42 days into the partial U.S. government shutdown.

We have this major update. During a rare overnight session, the Senate moved to fund most of the Department of Homeland Security and everything but the controversial Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency and parts of Customs and Border Protection. The U.S. House must still approve the plan.

Pressure has long been mounting on lawmakers to end the impasse, transportation security workers were poised to miss their second full paycheck this week.

CNN's Elex Michelson has been closely following the chaos at American airports and he comes to us now from Los Angeles. Good to see you. So it didn't seem like a deal was imminent. Are you surprised that we got here like this overnight?

[03:10:06]

ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: A little bit. I mean, the political pressure has just been ramping up. You see it at the airports, you also feel the pressure that lawmakers are about to go on a recess for two weeks, and they usually like to do things before their deadline is up. So now they get to go home.

But essentially what's happening here is the Senate agreed with unanimous consent. Basically, nobody objected to this plan, which was put out after 2:00 in the morning, that we're going to fund everything except for ICE and CBP.

Why do we not need to fight ICE and CBP? Because they're already funded. They already were funded before this whole thing started by President Trump's so-called Big, Beautiful Bill. So what Democrats were trying to do was have a fight and use their leverage to try to change ICE tactics after what happened in Minnesota and what happened around the country.

And it doesn't appear like they're going to get that. They're not going to get any of the ICE tactics changed if this continues, if the House does what the Senate just did.

That being said, the Republicans are basically giving in and letting the Democrats get everything else funded, which is what the Democrats have now been saying for several weeks. So if this is what the House ends up doing, essentially, policy isn't going to change for ICE, and TSA is going to get funded. So once again, Washington is going to produce a status quo result.

But what really matters for the American people that are planning on going to an airport tomorrow or this weekend is that this will make it much more likely that TSA will be funded, and that means that hopefully people go back to work that have been calling out sick. We don't know about all the people that have quit but it's a big deal.

And it is somewhat surprising to happen in the middle of the night without a lot of expectation that this was going to happen, Kim.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, absolutely. As you point out, I mean, the real winners here, TSA workers, and of course, all those millions of travelers who've been snarled in all this chaos.

Well, I want to drill down on what you were talking about before, the political implications here. I mean, Democrats got a lot of heat for folding last time there was a shutdown showdown. Any sense of who might be the political winner here?

MICHAELSON: Doesn't seem like anybody's really the political winner here. I think if this is what the House ends up doing, it's basically both sides agreeing, all right, let's fight another day.

I mean, the politics of this whole thing has not been great for either party. The Democrats certainly feel some heat for the TSA shutdown. Obviously, the politics of Minnesota and some of the more aggressive Trump administration immigration tactics has not been great politics for the Republicans.

But the whole idea that the government isn't working and all of these people who work for TSA can't get paid has not been good politics for either party. So essentially, if this is what ends up happening, it's both sides agreeing to fight another day and to get this whole shutdown behind us.

BRUNHUBER: I really appreciate getting your take on this. Elex Michelson, thanks so much for coming on with us.

MICHAELSON: Thanks, Kim.

BRUNHUBER: All right, we'll have more on the shutdown coming up here on CNN. Again, the news, the Senate voting to fund the TSA. We'll have more on that coming up here on "CNN Newsroom." Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN THUNE (R-SD), U.S. SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: The Democrats didn't actually want a solution, they wanted an issue. Politics over policy, self-interest over reform. Pandering to their base over actually solving a problem. It's an appalling commentary on the state of the Democratic Party.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Well, that was the top Senate Republican there blasting Democrats just after the U.S. Senate had unanimously moved to fund most of the Department of Homeland Security in a rare overnight session.

Now, importantly, the agreement doesn't include funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and part of Customs and Border Protection. Now, the deal doesn't yet end the partial government shutdown. The House of Representatives still needs to approve the measure before any DHS agencies can reopen and DHS has been shut down since mid-February.

I want to bring in Natasha Lindstaedt who's a professor of government at the University of Essex and she is with us from Colchester, England. Thanks so much for joining us here at short notice, I really appreciate it. I mean this was a, you know, didn't feel as though a deal was coming anytime soon and then this, a deal in the early morning hours for us here. Are you surprised? NATASHA LINSTAEDT, PROF. OF GOVERNMENT, UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX: I'm a little bit surprised but one of the things that kept coming up in the news again and again was this whole issue of these long lines for air travel. And we're coming closer to Easter, so some similar to what happened last time as we were coming closer to Thanksgiving and the other holidays.

[03:20:04]

There was concern that this was just going to create too much havoc it was going to be too dangerous if you didn't have TSA workers being funded, and there were talks you know that ICE agents were going to be there it wasn't really clear what the ICE agents were doing in these airports and how they were helping. There was footage of them just sort of standing around and not being particularly effective and there was also talks that TSA workers were going to go on strike on Friday.

So this was just going to create too much insecurity, instability, just total chaos at the airports. And that was just going to be too disruptive. And so I think that's why they came to some kind of agreement that probably both sides aren't particularly happy with. And that probably was the final straw, the concern that there could be a nationwide strike.

BRUNHUBER: I want to ask you about the political ramifications in a second, but just procedurally about what happens next. Do you see any stumbling blocks in the House?

I think this actually will go through the House. Reportedly this would happen tomorrow. There is momentum coming from the Senate that they were just able to get this through.

And also it's important to mention that ICE and Customs, you know, they can survive on $140 billion. I mean, that's a huge amount that they had gotten last year, that's $28 billion more than they had received before.

So there's ample funding for these two agencies. And I think that there is a push to try to find some kind of resolution, even though the Democrats aren't particularly happy that there aren't any reforms that are coming with this, that they had hoped that there would be, you know, things like removing body masks, that they need to have warrants, that they need to have some sort of body cameras.

These reforms haven't come through. But they didn't want to agree to some kind of huge spending hike for ice in light of the fact that it is really unpopular. I mean, we had talked about this in the past that the polls were revealing that, you know, somewhere around two-thirds of Americans felt that ICE had been going too far, and it wasn't a particularly popular agency, and that this was becoming a huge liability for Republicans.

BRUNHUBER: I want to drill into that a bit more. I want to read some words from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. He said, "Democrats held firm in our opposition that Donald Trump's rogue and deadly militia should not get more funding without serious reforms, and we will continue to fight for those reforms."

So, as you know, they didn't get what they wanted in terms of a change in the way ICE will operate going forward. So did they blink here?

LINDSTAEDT: I mean, to me, it's like both sides caved a little bit just because of the issue with the airport's safety and chaos going on. Both sides had to come up with some kind of compromise. I think for those that really felt that the Democrats needed to dig their heels in and fight for the reforms, they're going to be disappointed.

But there will be those on the Republican side that wanted more funding for ICE that will also be disappointed. So in some ways, they're just sort of kicking the can down the road. Maybe they'll be able to get some further reforms at another point.

But there's real concerns about what's going to happen with airport safety if all TSA workers go on strike and with the security lines, I should say.

BRUNHUBER: Presumably, President Trump will see this as a victory if it goes through. Do you think it will be interpreted that way by voters?

LINDSTAEDT: I mean, I think it is important to say that Trump is definitely going to see this as a victory, and he's trying to find victories at a moment when much of the public is confused as to what the U.S. is doing in Iran and how this is going, how the conflict is going.

I think one of the major headlines we keep seeing, again, that is not good, that has not been great for Trump, are the gas prices going up by a dollar a gallon in some cases, over $5 a gallon, and that airport lines are incredibly long.

So at least this will solve or resolve one of those two issues where there's, you know, visual footage of how high gas prices are, visual footage of how long these lines have gotten, and it just presents the U.S. as if things are just not going particularly well while he's at the helm. He's had one of his lowest approval ratings come out at somewhere around 36 percent, that's low even by his standards. So he's looking for a win wherever he can get it, and I think he's going to try to sell it as that.

BRUNHUBER: Thanks so much for coming on with us to cover this breaking news here, the Senate voting to fund most of DHS. Natasha Lindstaedt, thank you so much. I appreciate it.

LINDSTAEDT: Thanks for having me.

[03:25:00]

BRUNHUBER: The world is one who's driving up gas and oil prices around the world, and the Trump administration is now faced with what to do about the energy crisis. We'll have a live report from the Middle East coming up after the break. Please stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY), U.S. SENATE MINORITY LEADER: This could have been accomplished weeks ago if Republicans hadn't stood in the way. Democrats held firm in our opposition that Donald Trump's rogue and deadly militia should not get more funding without serious reforms, and we will continue to fight for those reforms.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Well a top Senate Democrat there after, the U.S. Senate unanimously moved to fund most of the Department of Homeland Security in a rare overnight session.

[03:30:06]

The agreement doesn't include funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and part of Customs and Border Protection. The deal doesn't yet end the partial government shutdown. The House of Representatives still needs to approve the measure before any DHS agencies can reopen, DHS has been shut down since mid-February.

The war with Iran is driving up gas and oil prices worldwide. Asia and Europe are seeing some of the biggest impacts at the pump. U.S. President Donald Trump spoke about the oil markets during his Cabinet meeting on Thursday, here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Frankly, I thought the oil prices would go up more and I thought the stock market would go down more. I said we're going to take a little bit of a hit, a short-term hit. It's going to end up going much higher.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: I want to bring in CNN's Eleni Giokos standing by for us in Dubai. So Eleni, you're monitoring the wider context here in terms of the effects on the transit and the prices of oil. What's the latest?

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, really interesting to hear President Trump that he thought the prices of oil would far exceed what we're seeing right now. In fact, Brent crude has been extremely volatile and since the start of the war, Brent crude prices have increased by around 50 percent.

And the truth is that President Trump and the overall administration try and talk down the impact of this war. But this isn't just a conflict, Kim. This extends far beyond that, it's turning out to be a global energy crisis, it's an absolute energy shock.

I just want to talk about the Philippines for a moment. We heard from the Philippines' Foreign Affairs Secretary and she was saying that the country has 40 to 45 days left of petroleum supply in the country. You can see these images of people taking to the streets, protesting.

They've called this a national emergency and this just shows the chain reaction of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the impact that it's having on non-oil producing countries, specifically in Asia, that relies so heavily on those 20 million barrels of oil per day that pass through the strait.

So a cascading effect across the world. And it's also on those downstream products, which is super important. It's having an impact across the world.

The OECD says that this is changing the inflation outlook for the entire global economy, specifically for G20 countries, where they say that inflation could hit around 4 percent. President Trump's still downplaying the effect and the importance of the Strait of Hormuz. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Frankly, I thought the oil prices would go up more and I thought the stock market would go down more. I said, we're going to take a little bit of a hit, a short term hit. It's going to end up going much higher.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: So there was also something else that he said, that the Strait of Hormuz is not really important for the United States. But one thing you've got to really focus on here, that global markets are interconnected and you've got gas prices that are rising in the United States.

So we've got this 10-day diplomatic window that has now been extended until the 6th of April. What kind of talks, what kind of discussions, what kind of engagement with the Iranians and what kind of progress would that yield in the 10-day period remains to be seen. The Strait of Hormuz is still de-facto controlled by Iran.

They're charging a toll fee for vessels to pass through. They're saying that any vessel that wants to pass through the Strait needs to coordinate with Iran so that they can get safe passage.

In the meantime, what we're seeing here in the Gulf and even the leadership here, the CEO of ADNOC, the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, says that the closure of the Strait of Hormuz is holding the whole world at ransom.

And really strong messaging here as we wait to see, is there going to be some kind of international coalition to assist to try and open up the Strait? You know, where to from here? So many unanswered questions, Kim, as we head into the weekend.

BRUNHUBER: Absolutely, I appreciate you giving us that. Eleni Giokos, thanks so much.

All right, we have more breaking news coming up. The Israeli military's chief of staff reportedly raising the alarm

that his forces are being stretched too thin. An Israeli source told CNN he warned cabinet ministers on Wednesday that the military is facing manpower shortages while fighting on multiple fronts. He said if something isn't done, the military could collapse into itself.

Meanwhile, Israeli forces are now being sent to the occupied West Bank to address a rise in settler attacks. With much of the world's attention focused on Iran and the Middle East, violence and fear are reshaping life in the West Bank for Palestinians. Witnesses and activist groups say Israeli settlers launched widespread attacks on several Palestinian communities in the territory in the past week, injuring at least 11 people.

Settlers have at times blocked roads, set homes and vehicles on fire, and beat Palestinian residents. And new CNN reporting outlines an alarming new tactic meant to threaten and intimidate Palestinians.

[03:35:06]

Most recently, CNN's Jeremy Diamond spoke to a Palestinian man who said he was sexually abused by Israeli settlers. And activists and family members corroborate his claim. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An Israeli settler attack unlike any other.

I was standing here, the settlers came. They attacked me, they dragged me in here, he says. These are the zip ties they used to bind my hands, they cut my trousers and belts.

And here are my boxers, they took them off me.

Abu al-Khabash says the masked and armed settlers then sexually assaulted him.

They zip tied my genitals and squeezed tight on them while continuing to beat me, they dragged me from there and then poured water over me and then dirt, they were dragging me while I was undressed with my hands and legs bound, my genitals bound all the way up the hill.

DIAMOND: What was going through your mind when that was happening?

DIAMOND (voice-over): I thought they were going to kill me, beat me to death.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: An Israeli human rights group says there's been an average of 10 settler attacks per day on Palestinians in the West Bank since the beginning of the month. The Israeli Defense Force officials condemned settler violence during a visit to the area last week. Humanitarian groups warn that Palestinians in the West Bank are facing not just settler violence but also major crackdowns by Israeli forces and the Israeli government seizes more land for settlements.

I bring in Antony Loewenstein, he's an independent journalist and filmmaker and author of the book "Palestine Laboratory" and he joins me live this hour from Sydney, Australia. Thank you so much for being here with us, I appreciate it.

You've been covering this conflict for a long time now, so when you see what's happening right now in the West Bank with these attacks, I mean how does it compare to what we've seen in the past?

ANTONY LOEWENSTEIN, INDEPENDENT JOURNALIST, FILMMAKER, AND AUTHOR, "THE PALESTINE LABORATORY": In short, far worse. As you say, there's been occupation of the West Bank and Gaza for that matter for close to 60 years.

It started in 1967, but the pace of the violence, the extremism of the settlers, people often talk about the idea that there's extreme settlers and so-called normal settlers. The fact is that every settler who lives in the West Bank is there illegally under international law and yes, there's been an increase in pogroms.

The idea that you would have literally every day in the West Bank pogroms against Palestinians, the forcible removal, ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from their ancestral homelands. And what people need to understand here is this is not just simply rogue settlers, crazy people doing awful things, it is that often, but it's backed by the state.

The Israeli government supports it, the IDF, the Israeli military supports it. There is countless reports over years of IDF soldiers either watching when this violence is happening or participating themselves. This is state-backed.

It's a state program and what is happening, particularly in the last year since October 7, is an attempt to really push Palestinians literally from their land, either kick them out entirely, push them to some other country, or to separate them in some kind of particular areas and remove them from the more remote parts of the West Bank.

The ultimate goal from the Israeli government perspective is not hidden, they openly say they literally want to ethnically cleanse Palestinians from the territory or make life so miserable that they simply live there as slaves, basically. This is the sad reality which, as you say, doesn't get nearly enough attention in the international press.

BRUNHUBER: You talk about the role of the state. The IDF's chief of staff has publicly condemned the settler violence and called on authorities to stop it before it's too late, but at the same time we're seeing almost no arrests and according to some human rights groups only about 3 percent of cases ever lead to convictions. What does that say to you?

LOEWENSTEIN: It's essentially a state of impunity. This is the Israeli state par excellence. This is how the Israeli state operates. The chief of staff, yes, talks about his concern about settler

violence. Every chief of staff has said that for 60 years, it's meaningless.

The facts on the ground speak for themselves. Just this week the U.N. released a new report on extensive torture in Israeli prisons, the West Bank and Gaza. So extensive, sexual violence, sexual torture on a profoundly major scale.

Not a few cases, extensive. This is what the Israeli state is.

It's what it stands for and I think increasingly a lot of people around the world are realizing this. Ultimately, as we see in the U.S. and elsewhere, public opinion against Israel has plummeted since October 7.

Now, you still see massive support. Donald Trump and the U.S. and other officials are generally supporting Israel. But the fact is, this is what racial supremacy is.

Jewish supremacy means, which is what Israel is, that Jews are treated differently. I mean, I am a Jew. So the idea that someone like myself is treated differently and better in Israel because I am Jewish as opposed to a Palestinian or a Christian is outrageous.

[03:40:08]

And that's sadly the state of play here. So it's getting worse and worse to the point where many of us fear that the ultimate goal here, as I said, is to remove Palestinians entirely.

To make it not just a Jewish majority state, but to make it impossible for Palestinians to live, to thrive. I mean, every day for the last years there are people, Palestinians, who are forcibly kicked off their land with the support of the state. Netanyahu's government is key there.

And if anyone thinks, by the way, that if Netanyahu falls as Prime Minister, someone else is going to be better, the likely successors think exactly the same. This is state policy and state ideology.

BRUNHUBER: We'll have to leave it there, but I appreciate getting your unique perspective on this, Antony Loewenstein. I appreciate your time.

LOEWENSTEIN: Thank you.

BRUNHUBER: All right, I'm Kim Brunhuber, in Atlanta. "World Sport" is next for our international viewers, for those of you watching us here in the U.S. and Canada, we'll have more on our breaking news coverage ahead. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all of you watching us here in the United States and Canada, I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is "CNN Newsroom." Let's check some of today's top stories.

The U.S. Senate has unanimously moved to fund most of the Department of Homeland Security. The House of Representatives still needs to approve the measure before any DHS agencies can reopen. DHS has been shut down since mid-February.

New York's LaGuardia Airport has reopened the runway where a passenger jet plowed into a firetruck on Sunday, that's after investigators allowed the Air Canada Express plane to be moved to a hangar. The incident left two pilots dead and dozens of others injured. The investigation could take more than a year.

President Trump says he's extending his pause on strikes against Iranian energy sites for another 10 days. Meanwhile, sources tell CNN the Pentagon is preparing plans for a major military escalation by the U.S. in case diplomatic efforts fail.

While the war with Iran has left thousands of seafarers stranded at sea in the Middle East, amid the confusion and chaos, at least seven seafarers have been killed since the start of the conflict, as Kristie Lu Stout explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Twenty thousand seafarers are stranded in the Middle East, caught in the crossfire of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. And the captain of this oil tanker was one of them.

CAPT. SAMANTH BAKTAVATSALAM, SHIP MASTER: It was quite intense. We could actually see projectiles and naval and air force services in action.

LU STOUT: Wow. How did your crew respond to that?

BAKTAVATSALAM: Initially, the crew were in a state of shock because there was something tangible then when we could see something actually flying over.

LU STOUT (voice-over): After three weeks, Captain Samantha Baktavatsalam is now on safe passage out of the region. Iran's selective blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has impacted thousands of vessels.

All exposed to mines and explosive drones. Their vulnerability laid bare when this Thai cargo ship was hit. Rescued crew members returned to Thailand, three remain missing.

Since the start of the conflict, there have been at least seven seafarer deaths and more than a dozen vessels attacked near Iran. Angad Banga is the CEO of Hong Kong-based the Caravel Group. Under his charge, the world's second largest ship management company, looking after dozens of stranded vessels in the Gulf with over 600 seafarers on board.

ANGAD BANGA, CEO, THE CARAVEL GROUP: There's definitely shortages of food, medical supplies, water. Things need to be rationed.

Everyone in the industry is trying to see how best to reprovision vessels when launch boats aren't available and getting access to the ports is not possible. Luckily for us at the moment, we're okay, but it's something that we monitor every single day.

LU STOUT (voice-over): Seafarers have been caught in crisis before. Stranded at sea during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the Russian invasion of Ukraine and under Houthi attack in the Red Sea. But the war in the Middle East is unprecedented.

JAKOB LARSEN, BIMCO HEAD OF MARITIME SAFETY AND SECURITY: It's an extremely difficult scenario to navigate for everyone. I think the situation and the level of complexity makes it very difficult to identify one single way ahead in this scenario.

LU STOUT (voice-over): The U.N.'s shipping agency is calling for a safe corridor to protect and evacuate seafarers from the Gulf. Iran now says what it calls non-hostile ships may transit the Strait of Hormuz on its terms, more vessels are crossing, but the future is uncertain.

LU STOUT: Can vessels even cross safely when the entire region is a war zone?

BAKTAVATSALAM: One particular party may say it will allow safe passage, but conditions of safe passage depend on various factors and parties involved are too many.

LU STOUT (voice-over): The shipping industry transports 90 percent of all manufactured goods, making seafarers vital to global trade.

LU STOUT: And you're the son of a seafarer.

BANGA: I am.

LU STOUT: So does it take a moment like this for us to realize and to appreciate the essential nature of these workers?

BANGA: I wish it didn't. I wish that we all understood the essential nature of seafarers, given the importance that they have to global trade.

LU STOUT (voice-over): Thousands of these essential workers now stranded at sea and praying to avoid the next direct hit.

Kristie Lu Stout, CNN, Hong Kong.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Authorities in Mexico are still trying to find the cause of an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

[03:50:02]

The head of the Mexican Navy says that any one of 13 petroleum tankers could have caused the spill and that two spots of natural submarine oil seepage have also contributed to the spill. The oil has affected marine life and stained beaches in Mexico's southern states.

The winter's buildup of Arctic sea ice is alarmingly low. Scientists found roughly half a million square miles of ice missing compared to the average, that's an amount twice the size of Texas. Now, this is the lowest peak observed since satellite monitoring began in 1979.

Arctic ice, of course, plays a vital role in reflecting sunlight that would otherwise be overheating the planet. Scientists say the record low is tied to heat-trapping gases released in the atmosphere by the burning of fossil fuels.

Have a look here. Rescue crews in Germany are working to save a stranded humpback whale. The marine mammal was found Monday stuck in shallow waters off the coast of the Baltic Sea.

Now initial efforts to move the whale toward open water haven't worked so far. Authorities are now using heavy machinery to try to dig a channel to help the animal reach a point where it can swim away. Officials believe the stranded whale may be the same humpback repeatedly sighted in recent weeks.

The Baltic Sea isn't a natural habitat for humpbacks. Experts warn even if the whale is freed, it may struggle to navigate its way out.

Samantha Guthrie sat down for her first interview since her mother, Nancy, was suspectedly abducted. She spoke to her "Today Show" colleague Thursday in an emotional interview. She says her mother may have been targeted because of her fame.

Brian Stelter has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAMANTHA GUTHRIE, "TODAY SHOW" HOST: We are in agony. It is unbearable.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST (voice-over): In her first interview since her mother went missing nearly eight weeks ago, Savannah Guthrie describes the pain she has felt, replaying the apparent kidnapping in her mind.

GUTHRIE: I wake up every night in the middle of the night, every night, and in the darkness. I imagine her terror.

STELTER (voice-over): Guthrie telling her friend and colleague Hoda Kotb about the guilt she has endured, believing her 84-year-old mother, Nancy, was probably targeted because of her fame.

GUTHRIE: He said, I think she's been kidnapped for ransom. And I said, what?

I didn't want to believe it. I just said, do you think because of me?

And he said, I'm sorry, sweetie, but yes, maybe.

We don't know, but yes, that's probably, which is too much to bear, to think that I brought this to her bedside, that it's because of me. And I just say, I'm so sorry, mommy. I'm so sorry.

STELTER (voice-over): Guthrie sharing new details about the condition of her mom's house on February 1st, specifically the back door.

GUTHRIE: The doors were popped open, and there was blood on the front doorstep, and the ring camera had been yanked off. And so we were saying, this is not okay.

STELTER (voice-over): The next day, Nancy's disappearance became national news, and Guthrie says the family began receiving numerous ransom demands.

GUTHRIE: I believe the two notes that we received, that we responded to, I tend to believe those are real.

STELTER (voice-over): When investigators discovered footage of a suspect at the front door--

GUTHRIE: It's just totally terrifying. And I can't imagine that that is who she saw standing over her bed. I can't.

STELTER (voice-over): And Guthrie says she is leaning on her faith.

GUTHRIE: One of the very few times in my life I did hear God speak to me. As I said to myself, I can handle anything, God. I can handle anything, I just can't handle not knowing.

And I heard a voice, and it said, you do know where she is. She's with me. She's with me.

STELTER: Really difficult to hear some of those comments from Savannah. But this is an important step for her. She has talked about wanting to return to work at the "Today Show."

She's going to talk in more detail about those plans in Friday's part two of the interview. I know the cast, the crew, they would love to have her back, but they want her to do it on her own terms only when she is ready. So I think we're going to hear more about that on Friday morning.

Elex, back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[03:55:10]

BRUNHUBER: All right. Thanks so much for joining us here at CNN Newsroom, I'm Kim Brunhuber in Atlanta. Becky Anderson and Rahel Solomon take over our breaking news coverage.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)