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CNN This Morning

After Rejecting Senate Deal, House Passes Short-Term DHS Funding Bill; No Kings Protests Expected Across The Country This Weekend; At Least 10 U.S. Troops Wounded In Iranian Attack On Saudi Air Base; Yemen's Houthis Launch Israel Strike, The First Of The Iran war; Tiger Woods Arrested On Suspicion Of DUI After Florida Car Crash. Tiger Woods Arrested on Suspicion of DUI Following Car Crash; Savannah Guthrie Says She will Return to Show Early Next Month; Iran-Backed Hackers Breach FBI Director Patel's Personal E-mails. Aired 6-7a ET

Aired March 28, 2026 - 06:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:00:30]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R) HOUSE SPEAKER: We're not going to split apart two of the most important agencies in the government and leave them hanging like that. We just couldn't do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Well, the air passengers are left hanging. So are the TSA agents. Congress just left town without a deal to pay them. There are long lines already at airports. It's a busy spring travel weekend underway already.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Yes. The war isn't finished. There's no clear exit strategy. This morning, at least 10 more U.S. troops are injured after an Iranian attack. And Iran-backed Houthi rebels just fired their first shot to the war.

Tiger Woods is seen leaving a Florida jail a short time ago. He was arrested after a rollover in his Land Rover. What we're learning about the crash and the charges he'll now face.

It is 6:00 a.m. Saturday, March 28. Welcome to CNN This Morning. I'm Victor Blackwell. Good to have you along. All right, Congress now has left for spring break. There's no shutdown

deal in sight. So as the airport lines get longer, it looks like TSA agents best chance at a paycheck is from President Donald Trump. He's ordering the Department of Homeland Security to pay them. It's not clear though how long that will take.

And I'm sure you understand this. The agents are just fed up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LASHANDA PALMER, TSA OFFICER: I feel angry, I feel used. I feel abused. I feel just like every other officer. This is not a job. This is a career. We took an oath. So to know that we're coming on our third missed paycheck in less than five months is very disheartening.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: And so where do things stand with the shutdown now? All right, we're putting it on the screen for you here. The Senate passed a bipartisan funding deal to fund TSA, but left ICE and Customs and Border Patrol alone for now.

The House GOP immediately shot that down and improved a different plan. Theirs fully funds DHS for eight weeks. Well, now the House GOP is urging the Senate to come back from their recess to approve that plan. Speaker Mike Johnson insists the President is on board with the House GOP plan.

OK, you got that? All right, now let's check in with CNN's Rafael Romo. He's Atlanta's Hartsfield Jackson International Airport. Some of the worst lines we've seen throughout the shutdown have been there. But how's it look now?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Victor, good morning. It was horrible during the week this morning. Big sigh of relief here, because take a look at this. I was showing you last weekend and during the week that this hallway leading to the atrium was full of people, not so this morning. And take a look at the main street checkpoint area, Victor.

This is not even halfway full. This is a normal day here Atlanta's Hartsfield Jackson International Airport. And part of the reason has to do with the fact that you can probably see the green line -- the green lights in the background. Those are lanes that are open, Victor, out of a total of 18, I counted 10 that are open this morning. And that explains the reason why you don't see the long lines here.

About possibly the only long line that we're looking at this morning is TSA precheck. And I say long in quotation marks because the reality is that it's not bad. It's moving really fast. Take a look at the passengers here is moving swiftly.

And I have honestly seen it worse for holidays, for Thanksgiving, when people are waiting in line right here. By comparison, Victor, over last weekend and during the week, this line would go all the way back to the baggage area. It would loop around. At one point, my colleague Ryan Young was showing a line that went

outside the airport. And so what we're hearing -- what we're seeing here this morning is not bad at all. Some of the other airports that we're checking this morning, Bush Intercontinental in Houston, for example, the TSA wait time there is over an hour and a half.

JFK and MCO in Orlando, JFK in New York, MCO in Orlando, about 45 minutes each. So the situation is improving, but the reality is that the passengers and especially TSA screeners are very fed up about the fact that Congress hasn't been able to come to an agreement to bring this situation to an end. Victor, now back to you.

[06:05:07]

All right, some good news to start the day. Let's hope the lines stay where they are. Rafael Romo for us Atlanta's Hartsfield Jackson International Airport.

Coming up, we're going to speak with a TSA agent in Florida. She and her husband, they're both TSOs who are worried about the future of their jobs. And when are they going to get paid? We'll talk with them in a moment.

Well, today more than 3,000 No Kings demonstrations are happening across the country. Big cities like Chicago, Washington, D.C. small towns, also even parts of Alaska and Hawaii. Millions of Americans are expected to show up.

And as you can see on the map, they're not just city protests. A lot of people are planning to show up in the suburbs, places where protests are not common. The flagship rally will happen at the Minnesota state Capitol in St. Paul.

Minneapolis became the center of the largest ICE operations in U.S. history. They sparked weeks of protest after federal agents killed Rene Nicole Good and Alex Pretti. We've got videos from last year's demonstrations. I mean, look at these crowds, nearly 7 million people turned out across the country.

Organizers say that their movement is driven by anger over high prices, immigration crackdowns and the war with Iran.

Yesterday in Washington, actress and activist Jane Fonda kicked off this weekend's protest. She spoke outside the Kennedy Center.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JANE FONDA, ACTRESS AND ACTIVIST: We chose to hold today's action in front of the John F. Kennedy Center. That's right. Because this beloved citadel of the arts has become a symbol of what is happening. 50 more people were fired just today. The Center has been effectively silenced after artists refused to bow to ideological demands and the racist erasure of history.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BLACKWELL: Organizers expect today's protest to remain peaceful. They say the simple point is that people want change and they want their voices heard.

Next hour, I'll be joined by Leah Greenberg. She's co-founder of Indivisible and one of the lead organizers of today's demonstration. She's going to talk about what's driving this movement and what matters right now. So stay with us for that.

Next, the latest on the war with Iran. The Iran backed Houthis have now entered this war. Plus, satellite images show the Iran attack on an air base in Saudi Arabia that hurt U.S. troops.

Plus, golfing legend Tiger woods released from a Florida jail. His arrest on suspicion of DUI is getting the attention of the president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Very close friend of mine. He's an amazing person. Amazing man. But some difficulty.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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[06:12:47]

BLACKWELL: With Congress now on recess, House Republicans say the Senate should return from its break to approve their new plan that will fully fund DHS for eight weeks. Here's Speaker Mike Johnson.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNSON: We're going to send it over there and you can see what they do. If this is not uced and they don't do it. The president has shown leadership. He's going to fund TSA agents. We'll get that covered. But we have the rest of the country to take care of.

We're not asking them to do anything heroic. These aren't partisan games. We're not adding bells and whistles to this. It is a clean continuation of funding to make sure that the most basic responsibility of government is fulfilled.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: CNN's Camila DeChalus joins us now from Washington. Any signs that the Senate would return? What are you hearing from that side?

CAMILA DECHALUS, CNN REPORTER: Well, Victor, we're really hearing at this point in time that both parties are really trying to calculate what their next steps are going to be in the upcoming days. Senate Democrats are very adamant at this point in time that just even after the House passed its own DHS funding bill that they are not going to take it up, largely because it funds immigration enforcement and border patrol. But a lot has really transpired in these last 24 hours, and it feels

like we are a lifetime away from where we first started earlier Friday morning. At that point in time, the Senate passed a bipartisan bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security. And what was really notable about that bill is that it did not include money for immigration enforcement and border patrol.

And that's really now where the divide is because House Democrats at that point, just hours after, they were very clear that they wanted to take up this version of the bill because it was bipartisan and they were very clear that they were not going to put any money towards immigration enforcement or other federal agencies related to that unless it included reforms.

But even at this point in time, really, House Democrats say, you know what -- they didn't really like what has transpired and they still want the House Republicans to take up that version of the bill. Take a listen to what the House Democratic minority leader had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D) HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: We want Republicans to stop holding TSA agents, air travelers hostage to their extreme immigration agenda, bring bipartisan legislation that was unanimously passed by the Senate to the floor so we can end this Trump Republican shutdown today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[06:15:07]

DECHALUS: Now, even though House Democrats really wanted to take up that Senate version of the bill, House Republicans made it very clear that they were very critical of it and wanted to reject that approach entirely. And that is why you saw hours after the Senate passed their bipartisan bill, but then the House Republicans took up and passed their own version of this bill.

Now, the key difference here is that the House version of the bill is only funds the Department of Homeland Security for eight weeks and it includes money for border patrol and immigration enforcement. And really now where it stands is even now the House minor -- the House Speaker, Mike Johnson, is saying that President Trump is really on board with this plan, but it doesn't address what is happening at this point in time.

And that is the fact that both sides are really dug in right now and they're very adamant that both sides are not going to take up each version of the bill. You now have both the House and the Senate side going on a two-week recess.

And this is now officially become now the longest government shutdown to ever happen in U.S. history. So it's very unclear what we're going to see in the days ahead while all of this has unfolded.

BLACKWELL: Camila DeChalus for us in Washington, thank you. Coming up at 8:00 a.m. on First of All, I'll be joined by Democratic Senator Cory Booker. We'll talk about the funding fight over DHS, the war with Iran and more.

Let's turn now to the war with Iran because there are new developments this morning. We are getting a look at the satellite images of that Saudi air base where at least 10 U.S. troops were injured after an Iranian strike. So far more than 300American troops have been wounded since the start of the war.

Now a source is also telling CNN that the George H.W. Bush aircraft carrier is expected to be deploying to the region. It's unclear if the carrier will replace or join either of the two U.S. aircrafts already participating in the military operations there.

The Iranian-backed proxy group, the Houthi rebels, they're now entering the war. The Houthis in Yemen are claiming responsibility for launching ballistic missiles toward Israel. In the meantime, President Trump is touting U.S. military might, saying that talks are ongoing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: They are being decimated. They are talking. We are talking now. They want to make a deal. Very simply, our military is the greatest in the world by far. Iran is being decimated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: All right, let's get straight now to CNN's Eleni Giokos. Good morning to you, Eleni. What do you know?

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: OK, so there's quite a few things happening here. And we've got, you know, we're a month in and it feels on this Saturday, we've woken up to what is sort of like an escalation around the region. We have seen multiple strikes against Gulf countries.

But importantly, I want to focus on that attack on the air base in Saudi Arabia, Prince Sultan Air Base. Ten U.S. service members were injured. Two are being treated for shrapnel injuries that are not life threatening. But we also don't know the extent of the other injuries to the other service members.

You mentioned around 300 service members have been injured since the start of the war. And from what we know, since March 25, there are 13 service members that have been killed. So those are the numbers right now as President Trump asserts that they're winning this war and importantly opening up a 10-day diplomatic window and holding off on striking Iranian power plants.

So that's quite important to take note of as we're seeing sort of potentially some kind of talk exchanging of messaging mediated by Pakistan.

You also mentioned the Houthis, and this is really a fascinating turn of events. This was perhaps the wild card that everyone was sort of anticipating because the Houthis have been very vocal in terms of supporting Iran in this war, but very quiet militarily. It's an Iranian-backed proxy group. They have caused havoc in the Red Sea and importantly in the Bab Al Mandeb Straits, which is the other huge maritime choke points.

Specifically after October 7th, we know that they can really divert a lot of traffic down the Cape of Good Hope. We're already seeing the Strait of Hormuz that is completely being choked off, causing, you know, incredible crises on the oil front around the world.

And now with this front opening up where they say they launched a barrage of missiles towards Israel, this is clearly an escalation that we're seeing as we're hoping on the sidelines, you know, that President Trump and even the Iranians might be looking for a diplomatic off ramp.

What is very certain right now that Iran has strategic hold over the Strait of Hormuz, something the Gulf countries won't accept. And of course, President Trump is trying to get a coalition of countries to try and open that strait up as we still see strikes across the region. Victor.

BLACKWELL: Eleni Giokos setting the table with reporting for us this morning. Thank you. Let's talk about it now with retired Lt. Gen. William Caldwell. He was former commander of the NATO training mission in Afghanistan.

[06:20:05]

Welcome back, General. Let me start here with the Houthis launching this first missile strike, these missiles toward Israel, announcing their entrance into the war at the start of the second month. How much could they influence or accelerate this war?

LT. GEN. WILLIAM CALDWELL (RET.) FORMER COMMANDING GENERAL OF NATO TRAINING MISSION, AFGHANISTAN: Well, it's very interesting. You know, up to now they have remained out of the war because they recognize that if they do just what they did, Israel is probably going to strike back at them now in Yemen itself.

In the past, they were a real threat. As you recall, they really did put a choke point on that. You know, there's the Strait of Hormuz and then as we just talked about, there's the other strait that goes into the Red Sea there. And so those two choke points can really influence the entire flow of economic goods and oil across the world.

BLACKWELL: Yes, the Bab el-Mandeb straight there as we see just west of Yemen there. Let me ask you about the progress of the war because we heard from the President last night at a Saudi investment forum in which he talks about the work that's been accomplished and what is still left to do. Let's play that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: It's not finished yet. I'm not saying it's sort of finished, but it's not finished. It's got to be finished. And we have another 3,554 targets left. And that'll be done pretty quickly. And then, you know, at some point we're going to have to determine what we do. But they have -- they've never seen anything like it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: 3,554 Targets left. The accuracy of that number aside, is that the right lens through which to look at this conflict, a count of targets in reaching whether or not the U.S. will reach its goal?

CALDWELL: Well, I think as we all look at this, what's going on, what we're trying to do is drive them to the negotiating table to cut a deal. As the leadership keeps saying to the United States. We want to bring them to the point where they're willing to talk.

Look at that 15-point plan again that was presented to them, you know, through the Pakistani government so that they have the opportunity to agree to or make concessions so that they won't have a nuclear program again, that they won't have proxies across the Middle East, you know, from Hezbollah to Hamas and the Houthis.

And so this negotiation, the pressure that is continuing to be put on them will be brought by hitting more and more of those targets. I mean, just yesterday, Israel hit, you know, the two nuclear associated targets there in Iran, along with steel plants which the IRGC, their army uses as a pseudo monetary means of income. That's -- those kind of things will start having more of an impact and influence what's going to be taking place in the days ahead.

BLACKWELL: Let me ask you about the USS George H.W. Bush aircraft carrier. Sources say that it could be deployed into the region. Now, we don't know if it's going to be added to the Lincoln and the Ford carrier strike groups or it's going to replace one of them. But do you know enough at this point how to fit that piece into the puzzle?

CALDWELL: Well, when you look at, we've been at this now for four weeks going into our fifth week. And at this point, the crews on those ships, those task forces have just got to be exhausted. They're going 24 by 7. They're creating so many sorties every day that are flying over Iran. The planning, the preparation, the support, all the members on those vessels that are then reconstituting the aircraft and getting them set to go again, it's just got to be exhausting.

So, there's a high probability what they're going to do is rotate one carrier group in and another one out to give it some relief so that they can continue the intensity of the operations.

BLACKWELL: All right, Lieutenant General William Caldwell, thanks so much.

Tiger Woods walked out of a Florida jail last night. He was arrested on suspicion of DUI. Next, we're digging more into the legal battle ahead for him.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:28:57]

BLACKWELL: This morning, Tiger Woods is facing a suspicion of DUI charge after a dramatic rollover crash. This was in Martin County, Florida yesterday. Police arrested him after his Land Rover clipped a trailer at high speed and then flipped onto its side. He wasn't injured in this crash.

Authorities say that Woods was cooperative when tested for a DUI, but said he was also not trying to incriminate himself.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF JOHN BUDENSIEK, MARTIN COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE: Mr. Woods did a breathalyzer test, blew triple zeros, but when it came time for us to ask for a urinalysis test, he refused. And so he's been charged with DUI, with property damage and refusal to submit to a lawful test.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Woods was released from the Martin County Jail late last night. He left the facility just before midnight. With me now, CNN legal analyst Joey Jackson. Joey, good to have you on this.

So maybe I am being too particular about the details here and lead me in a different direction if I am. But he's facing a charge of suspicion of dui, not a DUI charge.

[06:30:02]

Is that a significant difference here?

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: So, it's not. Victor, good morning to you. The issue is, as you're under the suspicion because there's no indication that he's yet guilty of it. And I think it's important in having this discussion is to, right, remind everyone that he was arrested.

And arrests take place every day. And certainly, police do their job as they should. And they noted, based upon their past experience, that he could have been impaired. And because of that, he is suspected of driving while under the influence.

And he'll go to court where determination, Victor, will be made, whether that is in fact true. Presumption of innocence is always an important component of any arrest.

BLACKWELL: Martin County says that he blew triple zeros on the breathalyzer, but then refused the urinalysis. Now, purely as a legal conversation here, was that the smart move in his own defense?

JACKSON: So, what happens is that, everyone has to make their own determination as to whether they're going to cooperate or not. In Florida, what happens is that the refusal to have the urinalysis is a separate criminal charge, and its problematic for a couple of reasons.

Obviously, the first reason it's problematic is because in Florida, that is a separate criminal charge. You can be, in fact, charged with a crime, as he was, for refusing to actually consent. Why? Because you as a privilege of having a license impliedly

consented, the extent that you don't, not only is it used against you criminally to the extent that you're charged, it's a misdemeanor punishable by up to 60 days.

But it could also, Victor, be used as consciousness of guilt. What does that mean? It means that you refuse because you knew you were guilty. That, of course, is going to be the prosecutions narrative. I think what he is going to say is that he refused because of his privacy.

He was cooperative in all respects as it relates to what the police were asking him to do. The roadside field sobriety test, he blew into the tube, and I think his attorneys are going to say, hey, if he wasn't Tiger Woods, maybe he would have taken the test.

You know, any other defendant takes a test and the results are known in court. Tiger Woods takes the test, and his results are known throughout the country and in other countries as well. And so, I think for his privacy interest, with respect to his physical impairments and conditions from his injuries, he may not have wanted everyone to know the medications that he's on.

That will be the defense. However, refusing is indeed a separate charge from the other charge he's charged with, which is DUI property damage, a misdemeanor. Also, Victor, punishable by up to one year if convicted.

BLACKWELL: Does the 2017 DUI charge influence what happens in this case?

JACKSON: So, what happens is, every case stands alone on its own merit. However, that being said, to the extent that in the other case, he was offered what's called a reckless driving. It's regular. It's a sort of standard course and fare that when you go to court, there are reductions, there are negotiations.

The fact that he was arrested before doesn't result in anything to the merits of this case. But it could, in fact, have to do a lot with how the prosecutors handle it, whether they offer him a plea. But it's important to note that because officers said he was impaired, there could be other reasons associated with that impairment.

Certainly, after a crash of the magnitude where you see the car flipped over as it was on its side, you would under normal circumstances, certainly have some impairment as it relates to your confusion, as it relates to your ability, you know, to otherwise engage with officers in a way that would be a normal conversation.

There was just an accident. So, the impairment with the argument from the defense could be equally consistent with an accident, as it would be having any type of medications in his system.

BLACKWELL: All right, Joey Jackson, thanks so much. "Today Show" --

JACKSON: Bye -- BLACKWELL: Co-host Savannah Guthrie says that she will return to the

program early next month. Guthrie's 84-year-old mother, Nancy, was abducted from her home in January. The investigation is continuing, few leads, no suspects here.

Guthrie sat down for an emotional interview with co-host Hoda Kotb. She talked about her family's anguish and pleaded for help in the search for her mother. She will return to the "Today Show" on April 6th. She said, I will not let them take my joy.

Hackers linked to the Iranian government have breached the personal e- mail of FBI Director Kash Patel. The e-mails appear to date from 2011 to 2022. The hackers also published photos of Patel from before his appointment to the FBI.

The bureau says no government information was compromised. Authorities are offering a $10 million reward for information leading to the identification of those hackers.

[06:35:00]

Top seeded Duke has advanced to the elite eight, but not without a scare. The Blue Devils held off number five seed Saint John 80-75 on Friday night. Duke will face UCONN tomorrow night for a spot in the final four.

Andy Scholes will have more March Madness highlights ahead in the next hour. Well, we are a nation divided in many ways, but in this context, by degrees, in the west, record heat is in the forecast across several states.

In the east, a big cool-down is coming. Chicago could see temperatures plunge by 33 degrees, with the cold air spreading to the east. CNN's Allison Chinchar has more on what to expect.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, I mean, March has really kind of been a roller coaster. It gets hot --

BLACKWELL: It usually is --

CHINCHAR: Then it gets cold --

BLACKWELL: But --

CHINCHAR: It is. But this has been to extreme levels where you're --

BLACKWELL: Sure --

CHINCHAR: Jumping 30-degree differences in just a short period of time. So, yes, take a look at the map. We'll compare yesterday to today, just to kind of put it into perspective here. Look at some of these numbers, OK.

Charlotte, for example, Friday is high mid-80s, they'll be lucky to top out at 61 today for that high. Atlanta and both Shreveport ended up in the mid-80s yesterday, likely only to get to about the mid to upper 60s today for those highs.

Now, the heat has really just been kind of focused this weekend over the west. It's going to start to spread back to the eastern portion of the country. Once we get to say Tuesday, Wednesday of next week. But it's the northern tier.

They still kind of tend to stay on the cooler side even through the rest of the upcoming week. So, for today, you do still have some records, but they are all out into the west. We've got the much cooler air in the eastern portion of the country.

Even as we transition into Sunday, you'll start to see more of those records spread out, but just still kind of focusing in the western half of the country. And keep in mind, a lot of the west, they've already had a very large number of records over the last month or so.

Here's a look out west, though. Again, looking at Phoenix, the normal this time of year would be about 82 degrees. They're going to be in the 90s. Every single one of the next several days, even Las Vegas looking at temperatures 10, 15, even 20 degrees above normal.

BLACKWELL: All right, Allison, thank you. President Trump has ordered that TSA workers be paid. But when will that first paycheck arrive? Many have turned to government assistance while going unpaid. We'll hear from a TSA worker next.

And if you're heading out, remember, you can always stream our show from anywhere in the U.S. right from the CNN app. Also, check out cnn.com/watch.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:40:00]

BLACKWELL: Today, more than 3,000 no kings' protests are planned across all 50 states. Most major cities are reporting planned events. A flagship protest will be in St. Paul, in the St. Paul, Minneapolis, where the epicenter of operation metro surge.

You'll remember the largest immigration enforcement operation in U.S. history. Nearly 7 million people attended similar events last Fall. They were protesting President Trump's policies. At least, ten U.S. service members were injured in an Iranian attack on an air base in Saudi Arabia.

According to a U.S. official, two of the injured had shrapnel wounds that are considered non-life threatening. A refueler tanker aircraft was also damaged in the attack. And Congress is now out on recess after it failed to agree on a way to end the partial government shutdown.

Now, the Senate passed a measure funding TSA while leaving other DHS funding for later. But the House immediately turned that down. Their agreement funds the entirety of DHS for eight weeks.

And House Speaker Mike Johnson says that the President is on board with the House GOP plan. President Trump has ordered the Department of Homeland Security to pay TSA workers as the partial government shutdown continues.

It's not clear how soon anyone will get that money. You know, a lot of people are struggling since this is now the second loss of paychecks, they've dealt with in six months, from maxed-out credit cards and unpaid bills. Agents are not sure what will happen next.

And one of those agents is Oksana Kelly. She and her husband are both TSOs in Orlando. Oksana, thank you for being with me. Let me -- let me start here. What have you been told about when you will be paid?

OKSANA KELLY, TSA AGENT: Just like you said, there is uncertainty for sure at when we will get paid. What we're being told is we expected to start seeing paychecks this following Monday. But just like last time, it took some people a couple of months to finally get their time card corrected and get finally paid.

BLACKWELL: OK, so -- from -- you're talking the October-November shutdown, the longest one in history. It took months to get the back pay from that shutdown for some.

KELLY: Yes, some people most definitely got their paycheck fairly fast. So, I can definitely say our payroll departments are working extremely hard. But there was some people that were waiting up to a couple of months. Yes, definitely.

BLACKWELL: I wonder what you think. And of the last 24 hours where you woke up Friday and thought, all right, this is going to be over. We're out of this. But by noon, it was clear that the shutdown was not over.

[06:45:00]

KELLY: Honestly, I think it was the most mentally exhausting day ever, and it was my birthday too. So, at this point, I was just like, listen, I'm going to let it slide. I'm going to see what's going to happen. Because at this point, I feel like, you know, politicians are just playing us.

And you know, even though we will be getting paid, we are still in a shutdown. And what's going to happen in the next two weeks when they come back, are we going to miss another paycheck?

BLACKWELL: Well, happy belated birthday, now that we know that yesterday was your birthday --

KELLY: Thank you --

BLACKWELL: But tell me this. I mentioned that both you and your husband work for TSA. So, both of those paychecks have stopped. What have these last 40-plus days now been like for your household?

KELLY: I have -- my husband had to start doing delivery for delivery because he said there's got to be a way for him to be able to bring more money. But at this point, anything more than zero. And, you know, instead of spending his days off home with kids, he had to get on the road and go deliver food for people because we needed, you know, some funds to even pay bills to get to work, like we needed gas money.

BLACKWELL: Are you reconsidering both of you working for the TSA or at this point, both working for the federal government considering the shutdown frequencies?

KELLY: Honestly, the thoughts definitely crossed in both of our minds because there's got to be something more stable. You know, when we first started federal jobs ten years ago, it was, you know -- it was one of those things like, hey, you got a federal job, you made it in life.

And right now, it's -- oh, wow, I'm sorry you guys are having a federal job. So, it's extremely discouraging. And while we -- you know, come to work and serve our country every day, and we love our job, but it's just -- it's just so hard at this point. Every time we wake up, and we're like, what's going to happen next?

BLACKWELL: Yes, and the traveling public have those same questions. You, as I said, work in Orlando. This is -- I think we're coming to maybe the back half of Spring break for most of the country. The families are headed to the parks or they're leaving the parks.

What do you expect over this next week as it relates to the lines and the call-outs as people are still waiting for that money to come in?

KELLY: I think that Orlando lines are moving fairly fast. So, we're probably going to expect to see the regular Spring break crowds. But honestly, you know, if people still didn't get paid, just like they were not able to come before, they still not able to come.

So, I don't think we're going to have any increased call-outs or anything like this, because officers still continue to showing up. Officers are still finding ways to get the gas money. So, I think it's going to be consistently the same.

BLACKWELL: Oksana Kelly, thank you for the work that you do and thank you for your time this morning.

KELLY: Thanks for having me.

BLACKWELL: Next, President Trump, his name will be added to America's currency soon. We'll explain how this will look, and when it will go into circulation.

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[06:50:00]

BLACKWELL: Tomorrow night. Go inside the relationship between the late Robert Mueller and President George W. Bush after the 9/11 attacks. Here's a look at the new CNN original series, "STANDOFF: THE FBI, POWER AND PARANOIA".

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GARRETT GRAFF, AUTHOR: At 8:00 a.m., Tuesday, September the 11th,

Robert Mueller is sitting in his first briefing on Al-Qaeda. It's interrupted by someone who comes in and says a plane has crashed into the World Trade Center.

DOUGLAS BRINKLEY, PROFESSOR OF HISTORY, RICE UNIVERSITY: And George W. Bush was in Florida at a school reading a book to children.

GEORGE WALKER BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you all so very much for showing me your reading skills.

GRAFF: Andy Card; the White House Chief of Staff, steps forward and informs him of the second attack on the World Trade Center. Bush finishes reading the book. He doesn't want to cause a panic in that moment.

And one of his first telephone calls is to Robert Mueller at the Hoover Building in Washington. Bush basically says, buckle up, this is what we pay you for.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: You can watch two new episodes of "STANDOFF: THE FBI, POWER AND PARANOIA" tomorrow night at 9:00 and 10:00 p.m. Eastern here on CNN, and then on Monday on the CNN app. President Trump is doing something no sitting U.S. President has ever done.

He is adding his signature to the U.S. currency. CNN's Tom Foreman explains how the plan is moving forward and why critics say it fits a familiar pattern.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Victor, this is a first no sitting President has ever had his signature on the currency of the United States. But apparently, it is a real thing. The Secretary of the Treasury, Scott Bessent, in fact, is thrilled over it, saying he can think of no better tribute to the 250th anniversary of this country's founding.

It is also in keeping with what Trump has done since coming back into office, having his name put on the Kennedy Center and on the Institute of Peace and on Trump RX cards, drug cards out there, and on a new commemorative coin that will be coming out that will bear his likeness and his name on it.

[06:55:00]

There are so many other ways in which Trump has tried to put his name on a new line of battleships out there. There's just a tremendous amount. His face on some of the passes to national parks. This is in keeping also with what Trump did in his private life.

He always said that he thought his name was one of the biggest assets. So, not only was it on Trump Towers, but on Trump Water and Trump Steaks and Trump University, all that sort of thing. Will this last? No, I don't know. Because so much of this is being done by fiat, a future Democratic

president might be able to just undo it equally fast. And it's worth noting that some Democrats are already taking shots at this. Governor of California, Gavin Newsom posting online -- "yes, now, when people look at their high rent and high gas costs and high food costs and high health care costs, they can look at their money and know who to blame." Victor.

BLACKWELL: Tom Foreman, thank you. Ahead of the next hour, well, the fight over funding DHS, members of Congress are already on Spring break without a deal to end the shutdown. But there's an order now to pay TSA workers. We've got team coverage next.

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