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Spirit Airlines Halts All Flights, Shuts Down Operation; Iran: Renewed Conflict "Possible" As Trump Rejects Latest Proposal; Trump Speaks After Rejecting Latest Peace Proposal from Iran; U.S. Gas Prices Have Surged To Their Highest Since July 2022; Gas, Oil Prices Soar With Talks To End Iran War At Standstill; America Divided On How They View the Country Right Now; Few Answers 3 Months After Nancy Guthrie Disappeared. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired May 02, 2026 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:51]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Hi, everyone, I'm Jessica Dean in New York and breaking news tonight, Spirit Airlines is shutting down all of its operations, abruptly canceling all upcoming flights and leaving 17,000 people out of a job.

Air traffic controllers and other pilots heard wishing their Spirit colleagues well in what may have been the final flight to Dallas earlier this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMERICAN AIRLINES PILOT: Hey Spirit, from us guys at American, good luck to you all. Sorry to hear what happened.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL: You might be the last one. Well, it was a pleasure working with you guys, and I wish you the best.

SPIRIT AIRLINES PILOT: Hey, thank you very much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Now, this has also left thousands of passengers scrambling to find other flights. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy saying today, despite a "significant effort," an agreement with the government to save Spirit did not come together.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEAN DUFFY, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: The President was like a dog on a bone trying to figure out a way to keep Spirit afloat. He was concerned about the employees of Spirit. I was in the Oval many times hearing him talk about the employees and the customers.

In the end, this was a creditor issue. Again, they have the final say of whether they want to do a deal with the government, but also from the government's perspective, we oftentimes don't have a half a billion dollars laying around in a spare account that we can put into a bailout of an airline.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: CNN's Rafael Romo is joining us now from the Atlanta Airport.

Rafael, it looks empty at Spirit behind you. What have you found today?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Jessica. We haven't seen any passengers show up here at the Spirit Airlines ticket counter in at least the last five hours, because they all probably got the message already that this carrier has gone out of business.

As you can see behind me, the spirit airlines ticket counter is cordoned off. Signs that normally direct passenger traffic have been set up as barriers and screens have a message for passengers, saying the following here, I quote: "We regret to inform you that Spirit Airlines has ceased global operations. All Spirit flights have been cancelled and customer service is no longer available. It has been our honor ..." It says, "... to bring friends and families closer together for 34 years."

And Jessica, this decision will put 17,000 workers out of a job, including 14,000 Spirit employees and thousands of contractors and other people whose jobs depend on Spirit and its operation, operations at airports around the country.

Those who booked directly through the airline with a credit or debit card will be issued refunds and have been instructed to rebook travel on other carriers, including JetBlue, Southwest, Delta and United Airlines, all of which have announced they are offering lower cost rescue fares so that Spirit customers can be booked flights.

Earlier today, I spoke with an Atlanta passenger who was very frustrated after trying for hours to get an answer from Spirit Airlines and finding out the hard way customer service was no longer available by phone or online.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS DELL, ATLANTA PASSENGER: We came here to the airport to try to get another ticket. American Airlines is like $1,300.00 and then I hear from Frontier that they're only helping customers until June 6th.

Well, my flight is all the way into the 18th. I haven't even received my money back to even buy a new ticket. So that means that has got to come out of pocket with more money to purchase another ticket.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: Here is the thing, Jessica, this passenger has already spent a lot of money planning a cruise with her two daughters and all of that is nonrefundable. She is desperate for a solution as you can imagine.

Now, Spirit filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection, let's remember in November 2024, but then emerged from it in March of the following year, only to file again five months later in February, the airline was able to reach a deal with its creditors to move forward, but then you know what happened, fuel prices surged, and ultimately contributed to its demise -- Jessica.

DEAN: We do feel for people like that woman and her kids when it is a nonrefundable situation.

All right, Rafael Romo, thank you so much.

[18:05:10]

And CNN Business editor-at-large, Richard Quest joins us now to talk more about this.

And Richard, it is great to have you here because I think you can talk really big picture about this.

I know we spoke yesterday when it was looking like this might happen over the weekend. So here we are, it has officially happened. Were you surprised by how quickly this unfolded?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST, "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS": No, I wasn't surprised at the coup de grace, the final moment. In a sense, that's always the case with airlines when they cease flying. It just happens overnight and for very good reason.

If you sort of presage it and people know it is going to happen, the airline will just collapse anyway. So, the actual moment, the final moment, which is always sad, it is always chaotic and it always leaves passengers stranded out of pocket, worried. it is a really messy situation.

But Spirit has been months, if not several years, getting to this position. So, there was plenty of opportunity, in a sense, for the right things to have been done. But of course, the merger with JetBlue never happened and nobody else wanted to invest and once the snowball -- to mix the metaphors -- starts going down, it is over and it happens very fast -- messy, chaotic and sad.

DEAN: Yes, and for people out there, I think there is a quick jump to like, oh, well, it must be the jet fuel prices and Iran and it seems to be that that was like the final blow, the last piece of it. But as you note, they filed for bankruptcy twice, most recently in August of 2025.

This was something that happened over time as well.

QUEST: They did. And, you know, the creditors had even reached an agreement with the airline during this second bankruptcy, but it is still dubious even if they had emerged from a second Chapter 11, that they would have been able to survive because the airline industry is so competitive.

The famous basic fares, the really ultra-low cost fares that Spirit brought in, all the other airlines now have them, all the other airlines sell enough basic fares, basic economy to make it unprofitable for the ultra-low cost carriers and then you throw in this whole business of the war in Iran, there was no way spirit was going to be able to compete.

Now, we are looking at what other consolidation needs to take place, which airlines need to merge to prevent either a Chapter 11 or worse, happening to another carrier. The major -- it is important, Jessica, to understand tonight that the major airlines in the United States are all well-capitalized, they are well-structured, and none of them are in any risk or danger.

DEAN: Yes, that is important.

You also mentioned the potential merger. The Trump administration has blamed the Biden administration for all of this, to remind people the Biden Department of Justice did sue to stop that JetBlue-Spirit merger back in 2024. What do you think of all of that?

QUEST: Many of us were very surprised. We knew that Spirit was on its last legs, that JetBlue was also not in as much trouble by any means, but this merger made sense. And yes, there were certain routes that might have had monopolistic aspects.

But the -- you know, I look back, even at the time, there were those of us who follow the industry when the judge said he wasn't going to allow it, we said, oh, well, fine, don't allow that and just wait and see. Now, he couldn't have known there was going to be a war in Iran, but it was fairly obvious that Spirit was going to have enormous difficulties surviving. And that's why, frankly, no other airline wanted to pick it up.

One thing I will say on a positive note, in a sense, all the Spirit employees would not find it too difficult to get new employment simply because there is a shortage. There is a shortage of pilots, flight attendants, that is small comfort tonight, but at least there is hope for them.

DEAN: Certainly. We certainly hope that for them.

Richard Quest, what a treat to have you on a Saturday night. Thank you so much for making time. We appreciate it.

QUEST: Anytime.

DEAN: Good to see you.

Still to come here, ceasefire talks with Iran now in limbo after President Trump suggests the U.S. may be better off without a deal.

Plus, President Trump says relief is just around the corner as gas prices hit a new high this week. We've got some new polling on how Americans are feeling when it comes to affordability.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:14:25]

DEAN: All right, back now, talking about Iran, a military spokesperson saying renewed conflict with the United States is possible after President Trump rejected the latest peace proposal by Tehran.

On Friday night, the President claimed the U.S. could be, in his words, better off if no deal is reached. That followed earlier remarks stating the options to strike a deal or "finish them off forever."

I do want to bring in CNN's Nic Robertson, who is following this all from Islamabad, Pakistan.

Nic, tell us more.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: As far as we know, diplomacy, despite what President Trump has said, is still in play, that there does remain some optimism here. It does, however, seem, I think, more widely in the region, viewed as it is hard to see how a deal can actually get done, given where both sides are postured, where the language is coming from both sides.

[18:15:16]

But here where the mediators are, there still remains that essence of option. But as we heard from President Trump just yesterday, he wasn't happy with the deal, not satisfied with the deal. He said you can either strike a deal or essentially go back to bombing. So pretty, you know, binary choice there. There is no middle ground.

And you really get the sense because Iran's tactics at negotiations in the past, they really know how to play for time. They really know how to put forward something that is just enough to head off the potential of an escalation back to conflict and this is what President Trump seems to be being pulled into.

And it does have a lot to do with the Strait of Hormuz, because the Iranians control it and think that gives them good leverage. But, you know, the President frames his options here as maybe even better off not having any deal. This is how he explained it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Frankly, maybe we are better off not making a deal at all. Do you want to know the truth? Because we can't let this thing go on.

Iran wants to make a deal because they have no military left, essentially, and they want to make a deal, but I am not satisfied.

They have made strides, but I am not sure if they ever get there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: So irrespective of where their military is, their Navy is, their Air Force, the Iranians do believe that the Strait of Hormuz is their number one negotiating card in this. Their legal system today just passed a law or is in the process of passing a law that allows Iran to have a management in their own law structure over the Strait of Hormuz. This is not something they are going to give up, and this is very hard with the blockades currently in place for either side to dislodge.

Very difficult for President Trump because the Iranians clearly appear intended to play long and how do you dislodge them from the Strait of Hormuz to regain the upper hand there and open it up, absent because the blockade, the Iranians are very clearly saying that's not going to work. How do you do that?

So these are very stark choices for the President as the Iranians try to draw him in to this very drawn out, a negotiating tactic practice that they have formulated and to a point of expertise over the years.

DEAN: All right, Nic Robertson with the latest from Pakistan. Thank you so much for that.

And for more now, let's bring in CNN national security analyst, Beth Sanner. She is also former Deputy Director of National Intelligence.

Beth, it is great to see you.

The President has made it quite clear, he is not happy with this latest proposal by Iran. He said that maybe we don't need a deal after all. What is your reaction to where we sit tonight?

BETH SANNER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Nic gave us a great set up there, didn't he? I think that it is a matter of, there is no silver bullet here, and that is the frustrating thing. Right?

So you have a choice of going long here, potentially very long and very painful for us and certainly for the rest of the world if we keep this negotiation with the blockade going, or you go back to bombing, which the President said, you know, I don't really want to do that and I think, probably he is being told, because that doesn't necessarily increase the chances that they are going to come to the table.

In fact, it might actually delay them coming to the table, as they say, that they're not going to be forced to capitulate. So I think that that's really bad.

But this idea of not having any deal at all is really hard to get your heads around. Like, well, what would that look like? Well, what it would look like is a long term U.S. military force in the region indefinitely because as Nic was laying out the Iranians absolutely are going to be intent on keeping control of that Strait and using their fast boats and what little military they have left, they have thousands of drones and missiles left. So it is not exactly like you can walk away.

DEAN Yes, and what you're describing sounds a bit to me like a forever war or a very, very, very long, prolonged situation, which is something that the President had said he didn't want to do. I do want to ask you about the fact that the Trump administration just fast tracked these billions of dollars in arms sales to Israel, Qatar, the UAE and Kuwait and what you think the significance is of that move?

SANNER: Yes, so if you -- this is really interesting. I think sometimes if you watch actions, you can kind of discern maybe we are going to do a little tea leaves reading here. Maybe I am wrong, but when you look at that package, it included, it was like, I think $18.5 billion of this fast tracked aid, about $4 billion of that were for interceptors, for missiles.

[18:20:14]

Those can go out pretty quickly, like weeks. Out of our stockpiles, we would send them these Patriot missiles and other kinds of defenses. The coyote interceptors for drones. That's in that package. That means they are doing this quickly in order to get that material in place, okay. So that's kind of a signal that this military option is on the table because they are preparing for an Iranian retaliation.

But a bigger part of that is systems that are for these long range radar systems. They are -- these are long term investments in being able to detect and to have the infrastructure to respond to Iranian threats. So that tells you that they believe that the threat from Iran has not been eliminated and that they are going to invest $12 billion with the Gulf States in long term -- dealing with this long-term Iranian threat.

So I think it gives you a picture that, you know, this isn't over and we could be back at war even if we end this chapter, you know, a year or two down the road, because Iran will try to rearm and they still have a lot in their arsenal.

DEAN: That this could go on. You're talking about paying attention to actions. I also wanted to note that U.S. Central Command, the chief of CENTCOM visited troops aboard a ship in the Arabian Sea. Again, they put photos out.

They were very obvious about we are here, we are poised. You know, these troops are here. That's also something I would think that is worth paying attention to, especially as you put all of these other things together, that they are in these negotiations that appear to be kind of at a stalemate.

SANNER: Exactly. So there are two sides to that coin, though. One can be signaling, right, that we are telling the Iranians, we are threatening the Iranians and President Trump is excellent at this.

He uses this -- the prospect of military force in order to pressure adversaries into taking, you know, into capitulating, into coming to the table. He is trying to speed it up.

I just think that the Iranians aren't necessarily going to take that signal in the same way as some other adversaries, just because their mindset is so different. And so -- but I think that they are signaling to the Iranians, but there is also kind of the practical thing, you know, we go out there, the CENTCOM commanders thanks the troops, but we have a whole new carrier in place and that carrier comes in with fully loaded arsenal of munitions.

You know, the Ford Carrier Group is going to be coming home. They need to be -- you can't put munitions back on these ships when they are at sea. They have to come back.

And so that's fine, but we are, again, as the President would say, locked and loaded for a military option and we are saying that out loud.

DEAN: Yes, yes. All right, Beth Sanner, always good to have you. Thank you so much. Appreciate it.

SANNER: Thank you.

DEAN: Still ahead, we've got new polling on how Americans are feeling as this war stretches on and as gas prices continue to climb. Frank Luntz joins us after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEAN: We want to go down to Florida where President Trump is speaking.

TRUMP: Because their leader is gone. Their leader that -- their former leader, Khamenei. But we will see.

Any questions real fast?

REPORTER: (INCOMPREHENSIBLE)

TRUMP: Which?

REPORTER: Have you (INAUDIBLE) proposal to Iran --

TRUMP: No, I haven't. I haven't. I am looking at it up here.

REPORTER: You're looking at it, sir?

TRUMP: Yes. I will let you know about it later. But --

REPORTER: Mr. President, last night, you said we might be better off not making a deal with Iran.

TRUMP: Well, I wouldn't have to. I didn't say that, I said that if we left right now, it would take them 20 years to rebuild, but we are not leaving right now. We are going to do it. So nobody has to go back in two years or five years.

REPORTER: Mr. President, you also said last night that --

TRUMP: They told me about the concept of the deal. They're going to give me the exact wording now.

Yes. REPORTER: Mr. President, last night you also said that only like 85 percent of Iran's missile making capabilities has been eliminated.

TRUMP: Correct.

REPORTER: Is that other 15 percent important? Does the United States needs to eliminate that --

TRUMP: Well, I'd like to eliminate it. Yes. I'd like to. It would be a start for them to build up again. And yes, I would like to eliminate it.

REPORTER: Sir, Mr. President, under what circumstances would you restart military strikes on targets?

TRUMP: Well, I don't want to say that. I mean, I can't tell that to a reporter. If they misbehave, if they do something bad. But right now, we will see. But, you know, it is a possibility that could happen certainly.

REPORTER: Mr. President, in your letter to Congress, you said the hostilities in Iran that started have been terminated. How can you say that given that the naval blockade is still being militarily enforced?

TRUMP: Well, it is a very friendly blockade. Nobody is even challenging it. Nobody at all is challenging it.

Just so you understand, many presidents have been involved in things at are very big. They never had to go through anything with respect to Congress. They considered it to be totally unconstitutional and the Democrats in Congress had pushed this and probably a couple of Republicans. They are hurting our negotiating ability, which is infinite right now and they shouldn't be doing it.

It has never happened before. No other president has done it and I am not going to be the first.

Thank you very much.

(CROSSTALK)

[18:30:12]

TRUMP: Go ahead.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, Mr. President. Do you envision a future where American energy companies are operating inside of Iran, much like Venezuela?

TRUMP: Could be. It could be. I'll tell you what, we have a lot of ships coming up to Texas and Louisiana. It's a line of ships. You saw it in the satellite. We have a line of ships, big ones, 2 -- 2 million barrels, and they're coming up. I mean, literally hundreds of ships are in line to go to -- I mean, they're already started, but we're selling a lot of -- a lot of oil. A lot of oil.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why is (INAUDIBLE) why is the U.S. removing troops from Germany?

TRUMP: We're going to cut way down, and we're cutting a lot further than 5,000. Thank you very much.

(CROSSTALK)

DEAN: All right, that was President Trump as he boards Air Force One. He is in Florida, and he was just talking there as we were getting news that he wanted to cut down on troops, U.S. troops in Germany. He said, we're going to cut way down beyond that, so it looks like there could be further cuts as he continues in his back-and-forth with NATO.

He also said that he had infinite negotiating, he believes, in the war with Iran and that he does not need to go to Congress for authorization. Again, the law being 60 days. The President and his administration have made the argument that because there is a pause in fighting, that they have not reached the 60 days and do not need to get authorization, although some Republicans in Congress have pushed back about that.

Again, we're going to continue to follow the President. He is in Florida this weekend, as he has rejected the latest deal from Iran. We wait to see if there are further discussions with that or, as he has said, the potential to return to fighting in Iran. We will see how that develops.

In the meantime, that war is pushing U.S. gas prices to their highest level in nearly four years. And according to AAA, the national average for a gallon is now $4.43. That means it's up $0.35 in just the last week, $1.45 higher since the beginning of this war. And CNN's Harry Enten runs those numbers for us.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Hey there, Jessica. Happy Saturday to you.

Look, I don't know if you have been to the gas pump in the last 24 to 48 hours, but I dare say the gas prices, they are up, up, and away, or as a play on words, straight up. I do enjoy a good play on words. Look, and you know what? This is happening to a historic degree. The gas -- the price increase of gasoline over the last two-month period since the Iran war started. What are we talking about here? Well, I looked back. I looked back at the highest two-month increases in gas prices in the 21st century, and guess what? It is happening right now. It's right now.

We're talking about a 48 percent increase in gas prices in just the last two months. My goodness gracious. I mean, talk about bad news in a country in which the cost of living has consistently been the number one issue for Americans, in which they feel like they've really had to tighten their spending belt. And guess who is getting the blame in this situation?

It shouldn't be too much of a surprise, it's the President of the United States, Donald John Trump. But here is where it may be a little bit surprising, it is happening to a historic degree, because just take a look here. Take a look, blame for increase in gas prices. I looked at all the presidents that I could find this century in which a similar question was asked, essentially, who do you blame for the increase in gas prices. And guess who number one is? It is Donald Trump.

As I said, to a historic degree, 77 percent of Americans do, in fact, blame Donald Trump for the increase in gas prices. That's more than blame Joe Biden back in 2022, when, of course, there was that increase in gas prices. More than blame Barack Obama back in 2012, when we're talking about another increase in gas prices during that period of time, 64 percent. And then, even higher than George W. Bush back in 2005, when it was 71 percent.

So, Donald Trump taking the cake, the highest on a list that you do not want to be the highest on, Jessica. But this 77 percent is one thing. But what's so interesting is who is making up that 77 percent. And let's take a look here, because this, to me, is really eye- opening. It is eye-opening. Blame Trump for rising gas prices. Not so much of a surprise, 95 percent of Democrats. They don't basically like anything Donald Trump does. Eighty-two percent of Independents. That is a huge number.

[18:35:00]

We have spoken about numerous times how Independents have been running away from the President of the United States. So, perhaps, not so surprising that we see here 82 percent -- the highest level ever for Independents who blame the President of the United States for those up, up and away gas prices.

But this, to me, is the real nugget here, Jessica. Look at this. The majority of Republicans -- Republicans -- 55 percent blame Trump for rising gas prices. And to me, this is so interesting, because this is a Republican base that is stuck with Donald Trump through thick and thin, basically everything he does, they agree with. But even in this case, the majority of them blame Donald Trump for the rise in gas prices. And I will note, going back through all the other presidents, this is the highest percentage of a president's own party who blames him for the increase in gas prices.

So, Jessica, we're seeing a historic increase in gas prices, and the buck stops at 1,600 Pennsylvania Avenue, according to the voters, including a majority of Republicans. Again, it's history Donald Trump's making, but in this case, not the type of history you want to make if you're the President of the United States. Happy Saturday, Jessica. Back to you.

DEAN: Happy Saturday, indeed, Harry. Thank you so much. We'll talk more about gas and affordability as we get closer to the midterms, about six months now. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:40:57]

DEAN: We're now six months until the midterms. President Trump trying to sell Americans on the state of the U.S. economy. This is what he said last night during an event in Florida.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: It's going to come tumbling down. There is so much oil out there. It's pent up. It's locked up in the Strait of Hormuz. When all of that stuff comes out, you're going to see prices dropping on gasoline like you've never seen. And -- and all of that, electricity, gasoline, anything having to do with energy, grocery prices are way down. Used car prices are way down. Look at eggs. Eggs are down by four, even five times.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: We're joined now by pollster and communication strategist Frank Luntz.

Frank, it's always good to see you. I know you're, as always, talking to voters and -- and seeing what they're saying. The President there is trying to make the case that the economy is working for people. What have voters told you about affordability?

FRANK LUNTZ, POLLSTER AND COMMUNICATION STRATEGIST: They tell me that it is affordability, that you've got the correct word. It's not the economy in general. Others are not concerned about jobs. They're not concerned about economic development, economic growth. It's affordability, affordability, affordability.

And in fact, we did some polling within the last 10 days and they named the affordability of everyday items as being the highest priority. The affordability of health care, good health care, as the second highest priority. And it's affordability of housing. It's affordability of gas prices, as the president mentioned.

Every aspect, the public is struggling right now. Half of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. That's more than it was five years ago. And that's also a concern because there's no leeway. If you lose your job or if something bad happens, some calamity, your car doesn't work, your refrigerator breaks down, you have no savings. You've no ability to cover it. And that's why affordability is so important.

DEAN: Yes, there's -- there's -- there's no cushion there at all. I know you've also been talking to voters about how they feel about the country right now. And you found a big party split with Republicans saying, this is the best of times, and the majority of independents saying it was the worst. So, what does that tell you?

LUNTZ: It tells me there's going to be a challenge for the GOP in the midterms. Because that middle group, which makes the majority in so many districts, vote for Donald Trump in 2024 by significant numbers, are now looking. They're not voting Democrat yet, but they've abandoned the GOP. And that tells me that the Democrats have the advantage right now in the House. And that it is even possible that Democrats could get a majority in the Senate, that the people in the center of the country that are least partisan, least political, and frankly, following the election least closely, that they've moved away from the GOP, but they have not made up their minds whether they're going to make a change or not.

DEAN: And so therein, when you say that, there's the opportunity for the Democrats, obviously, and -- and the challenge for Republicans. What -- how would you advise each of them? Like, what is the message that's going to resonate with people?

LUNTZ: Well, I know that Democrats are looking at raising taxes. And I've heard the discussion about creating a wealth tax, for example. What we found is, and this is by four to one, that the public would rather cut wasteful spending, waste, fraud, abuse, corruption. They would rather see the government tighten its belt than ask more from hardworking taxpayers at any level, whether middle class, wealthy, struggling.

And that I'm not sure if Washington is paying attention. The way that it was articulated when Donald Trump came into office with the chainsaw on Elon Musk was not the right way. You do so out of respect and reverence for hardworking taxpayers, for working families. You do so because you don't want to ask people to pay more when they can't afford it.

[18:45:02]

So, my message to both political parties is the same. Don't ask the voters to give something they cannot afford. Ask the voters or tell the voters that you're going to cut the waste, cut the abuse, cut the corruption in Washington so that they can live their lives in the 50 states.

DEAN: Fascinating, four to one. You know, it's not often you see something that strong. All right, Frank, always good to see you. Thanks so much. We really appreciate it.

LUNTZ: Thank you.

DEAN: And still to come, the search for Nancy Guthrie now enters a third month and there are still no answers on where the 84-year-old mother and grandmother is. A look at where things stand after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:50:03]

DEAN: Still no answers, three months in the -- into the search for Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of "Today's" show host, Savannah Guthrie, reported missing on February 1st after a suspected abduction from her Tucson home. And despite the vast amount of media attention and a million-dollar reward, there have still been no major breakthroughs from law enforcement. So, where does the search for Nancy Guthrie go from here? I do want to bring in criminologist and behavior analyst, Casey Jordan.

Casey, thank you so much for being here with us.

This case is still open. Is it considered a cold case at this point? What's going on inside this investigation?

CASEY JORDAN, CRIMINOLOGIST & BEHAVIORAL ANALYST: Well, it may be open for a very, very long time. But let's agree, after three months, it's not necessarily cold. We usually reserve that term for cases that go unsolved for at least a year, up to three years. And just because we're not getting daily updates, like we did at the very beginning, doesn't mean that the police, the investigators aren't working really hard behind the scenes. I know they are.

I mean, the number one thing they're doing right now, Jessica, is reevaluating all of the evidence that they have on hand. And they're going to be leaning a lot on -- on DNA technology and looking at different ways to process technology. And some of that technology might actually surface in the near future with A.I. Perhaps they can reprocess some video using better facial recognition or gait assessment technology.

But the number one thing I think they're waiting for and -- and hoping for is a hit on the DNA that was found inside of Nancy's residence that doesn't currently match any DNA in CODIS, but could match DNA that's entered into the data bank in the future. Likewise, they're probably using that and running it through family tree DNA genealogy, using public source like 23andMe. So, they're working. It's just a matter of waiting for that magical moment where they get a hit.

DEAN: Yes, and -- and what about that doorbell video, which I -- you know, we all saw that masked man at the door. How likely is it that law enforcement will ultimately be able to uncover who this is, identify this person, or make any progress with that video?

JORDAN: Well, Jessica, it's not impossible. But as time goes on, it becomes less probable. I mean, we need to -- it really depends, Jessica, on whether that man on the porch was acting alone or whether he was one of several people, maybe other people who are in the house or off camera. Was this a group effort or was this the work of one person?

If it's just one person, it's less likely that we're going to ever figure out who he is. But if he was perhaps a disciple of a mastermind for that abduction, then, you know, your chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Then it's possible that the co-conspirators might turn on each other sometime in the future.

But we have to consider, we don't even know if the man on the porch is still in the United States. Maybe he fled the country. Jessica, we don't even know if he's still alive. If he was a liability for co- conspirators, they may have dispatched him. So as time goes on, less likely we'll figure out who he is. But we never give up hope. As technology and DNA continues to process, it remains very possible we will eventually find out his identity.

DEAN: Yes, and -- and what kind of --; as law enforcement continues to work, obviously, they -- they may withhold some information from the public, so they can continue working on it. What kind of evidence might that be? JORDAN: The holdbacks are really important. I mean, we have to not

lose faith, because they have all kinds of things we don't even know about. And the bottom line is that they are -- they -- it's entirely possible they have DNA that we don't know about. I'd say the number one things that they're working on are identifying everyone on the huge laundry list of people who may -- have been in this house over the last decade, maybe even the last 20 years. Service providers, the roofers, the pool guy, the landscaping guy, housekeepers, their friends and family. And figuring out who may have been in that house, who would be familiar with it.

And the other thing they're going to be looking at, the holdbacks, are they're going through every communication that's been sent to Savannah Guthrie that may have been angry, conspiratorial, accusatory. And there could be thousands of communications to Savannah that could be suspicious, which will take years to go through. But again, there's a lot going on behind the scenes we don't know about. And at any point, we could get a break in the case.

DEAN: Well, and we certainly hope they do get that break in the case. Casey Jordan, thank you so much. Good to see you.

JORDAN: Great to be here.

DEAN: Still ahead on CNN NEWSROOM, thousands of travelers suddenly left stranded as Spirit Airlines shut down -- shuts down and cancels all its flights. We're going to look at what that could mean for airline passengers.

And tomorrow night, journey across France with Eva Longoria, as she discovers some of the secrets behind the big taste for many small winemakers in Burgundy. Here's a preview of that.

[18:55:06]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EVA LONGORIA, CNN HOST, "EVA LONGORIA: SEARCHING FOR FRANCE": Land in Burgundy is so expensive that most small winemakers buy in surplus grapes from bigger producers.

Oh, yes, it's a cellar celler.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right this way.

LONGORIA: Louis (ph) supplies a handful of local restaurants. But this bijou operation is about pleasure over profit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's tiny, but there's enough space to make a little bit of wine.

LONGORIA: And what -- what do you make?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's two grapes in Burgundy. There is Pinot Noir ...

LONGORIA: Uh-huh.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... and there is Chardonnay. These two come from here.

We're starting with a Pinot Noir.

LONGORIA: Oh, yes, that's so easy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fresh, easy.

LONGORIA: I've never had such a fresh Pinot Noir.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, this is the Chardonnay.

LONGORIA: Okay.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There you go.

LONGORIA: That is so nice. Sometimes Chardonnays can be very perfumey.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pure, fresh, elegance.

LONGORIA: It really rivals the Pinot Noir. If they were arm wrestling, it'd be a tie.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: And you can catch two new episodes tomorrow night at 9 P.M. Eastern, only here on CNN.

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