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War Divides Conservatives At Right-Wing CPAC Conference; House GOP Expected To Rebuff Senate-Approved Plan To Fund DHS; House Ethics Panel Finds Dem. Rep. Guilty Of Ethics Violations; Blanche Brags About Firing Prosecutors Involved In Trump Probes; DOJ To Pay Michael Flynn $1M Settlement For Wrongful Prosecution. Aired 12-12:30p ET

Aired March 27, 2026 - 12:30   ET

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

[12:30:00]

DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR: Our colleague Steve Contorno was talking to young people who are attending CPAC. Listen to a couple of those conversations.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHASHANK YALAMANCHI, CPAC ATTENDEE: So, if the President thinks this was a necessary step that we needed to make, then, you know, I support that, but I would like to see the war come to a, come to an end soon, because not only is it wreaking havoc to the, you know, the markets and the world, but really this isn't, you know, what I voted for.

ALEXANDER SELBY, CPAC ATTENDEE: I think they would get destroyed in the midterms. I just -- I get the vibe, a lot of people I knew who just voted for Trump because they thought it was cool, in like high school, or just now, just being like, I can't stand the guy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: I mean, wow.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Without a doubt, I mean, the question is, will those voters who are -- who may not be as motivated, will they vote in the midterms? But that is certainly a sentiment. If you're going to a CPAC event, that shows that you're very political. And just reading Steve's great story this morning on CNN.com also really shh, shows the breadth of that viewpoint.

But I'm struck by something that the President said yesterday when he called into Fox. He said, this isn't going to be like Bush that goes on years and years and years. Well, as we both remember from covering that from the beginning, it didn't start out going years and years and years, but that is what happens sometimes when it goes on.

So the flippancy with which that has been sort of a described or viewed sort of after the fact, I mean, President Bush did not want it to go on for years and years and years, but it just sort of happened. It's hard to find an off ramp to this. So I think one thing is so clear looking at the cabinet meeting from yesterday, some of his cabinet secretaries are still trying to make the justification for why this happened in the first place. And that is still something the American public, as I look at the gas prices, the financial markets are still wondering why.

BASH: Yes. And, and Kristen, you came out after that cabinet meeting yesterday, really explaining why we heard from various players saying the things that they did real quick.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: And I do really fast. I just want to say one thing. I think that it's not just the timing, which of course no one wants anything long and drawn out. The Republicans that I've talked to, and those are the hardcore MAGA people who basically feel like they don't have a choice, but to follow Donald Trump into whatever he does.

If he does decide to put boots on the ground in a real way where we are sending Americans into Iran or into Kharg Island, that is going to be a breaking point for a lot of these Republicans.

BASH: All right. Up next, House Ethics panel finds a Democrat guilty of more than two dozen violations. Will she lose her seat? It could have a big impact. Obviously not just on this ethics challenge here, but also on House Democrats math.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:37:05]

BASH: I want to get back to Capitol Hill, where there are reports that House Republicans aren't going to bring this Senate-passed plan to a vote to reopen most of the Department of Homeland Security. Lauren Fox is back with us. Lauren, what are you hearing?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Dana, as we noted earlier, House leadership was really disappointed with the bill that was passed out of the Senate last night. And instead, what they are planning to offer and bring to the floor is a short-term extension, just a couple of weeks for all of the Department of Homeland Security, including ICE and CBP. Those were notably left out of the bill that the Senate passed last night.

Now, I am told that House Republican leadership is well aware that this is unlikely to get through the United States Senate because, of course, they would need some Democratic votes. And they are not likely to support a plan like this one, because if they are going to fund ICE or CBP at all, they have wanted some of those reforms.

And that has been the sticking point all along. So where does this leave us? Potentially, this could mean that lawmakers who seemed to be on a path just a few hours ago to making sure TSA workers got paid may not be able to get this done here on Capitol Hill. It leaves open the question of what President Donald Trump does if he continues to move forward with a plan to unilaterally pay TSA agents.

And I think that there are some concerns about whether or not he could do that in the long term, right? So this right now just appears to be yet another quagmire on Capitol Hill because Republican leadership was facing such fierce pushback from many of their conservative members about that Senate-passed plan. We do expect to hear perhaps from the speaker in a short amount of time. But, again, Dana, this is leaving things really with a huge question mark right now.

BASH: Yes, still a stalemate. Thank you so much for bringing us that update.

Jeff, you know, we went into this morning wondering if the House was going to actually pass this compromise that the Senate voted on overnight and approved. And the answer right now, according to the House Republican leadership, is no.

ZELENY: Look, that's what it looks like at this hour. But Speaker Johnson also is holding a news conference within the next hour. We'll see what he says. But clearly, he is not inclined without the direction of the President. And as we said earlier, this is going to have to take the direction of the President.

As Kristen was pointing out in those, I mean, he's not in favor of this, but he also realizes that this is not good politics and the optics of those airports are terrible for the party in control. So I would not -- I think this is one of those things we have to wait and see what is going to happen this afternoon, because we've all been through many, many cases --

BASH: Yes, we have.

ZELENY: -- where it looks like it's not going to go, and then something gets unstuck. But, boy, it is stuck at this moment, and there's not a big incentive for Speaker Johnson to take on the wrath of his conference right now.

[12:40:03]

HOLMES: And I would just say, if Speaker Johnson comes forward and this is what he announces, there is no way he has done this without the support of President Trump.

ZELENY: For sure.

HOLMES: He does not do one single thing without his blessing.

BASH: Such a good point.

All right. Also on Capitol Hill, a bipartisan House Ethics panel found Democratic Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick guilty of violating more than two dozen campaign finance laws and regulations. The major question now is, will the House move to expel her? The three-term Florida lawmaker is accused of stealing millions in federal disaster funds and using it to bolster her 2021 campaign.

And it comes just hours after the first public ethics hearing. In more than 16 years, Cherfilus-McCormick stayed silent, even as her Democratic colleagues condemned her alleged conduct.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MARK DESAULNIER (D), CALIFORNIA: The allegations before us are extremely serious. They not only concern an individual member's conduct, they also implicate the public's confidence in the House's integrity as an institution.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: And my panel is back now. I just want to read a new statement from the Congresswoman. She says, "I look forward to proving my innocence. Until then, my focus remains where it belongs, showing up for the great people of Florida's 20th District, who sent me to Washington to fight for them."

Look, there's been so much going on that this has not maybe gotten the headlines that other questions and investigations into ethics violations have. This is a big deal.

TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA, WHITE HOUSE BUREAU CHIEF, THE WASHINGTON POST: It is a big deal. And we have a precedent with Representative George Santos, who also faced a number of criminal allegations and ethics questions about his term in Congress. And Congress voted to expel him.

From that statement, it does look like the representative does not plan on resigning, at least not at this moment. But you have to imagine that she's going to be under a lot of pressure from her Democratic colleagues, some of whom voted to expel George Santos.

They don't want to have to take another vote. They don't want to have to take a vote against one of their own. But in order to be consistent, they would probably need to vote against her. And so they're probably going to be putting a lot of pressure on her to spare them from that vote and have her resign as opposed to face a potential expulsion from Congress.

BASH: Yes. You mentioned the expulsion of George Santos and the question of consistency. Let's listen to some of what Democrats said back then. This is 2023.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We all know that Representative George Santos is a liar and a fraud and should be expelled from Congress.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He does not get the benefit of the doubt. He has admitted to lying, and he does not belong here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The time has come to expel Mr. Santos.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: His presence here in Congress is an attack on the integrity of our political and legislative process.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Jeff? ZELENY: I mean, we've seen hypocrisy flow both directions over the years on Capitol Hill. One slight difference here, I think, is this congresswoman believes she's innocent. I mean, George Santos admitted to some of these things. So that's one difference at the very outset of this.

But I've never seen a public ethics hearing like this. I think it's only --

BASH: Not since Charlie Rangel.

ZELENY: Exactly. So very, very unusual here.

BASH: 16 years ago.

ZELENY: 16 years ago. Correct.

BASH: Let's also look at another reality, which Mike Johnson faced with allegations against people in his ranks. And now this is a reality for the Democratic leader, which is the very narrow margin in the House of Representatives will put up the balance of power. Like you need reminding Inside Politics viewers.

Republicans, 217, Democrats, 214, one vacancy. That is an effective, all things considered, one vote difference between passing legislation or if you're a Democrat, preventing Republicans from passing legislation.

HOLMES: Well, we've seen how hard it was already. I mean, Republicans do have an advantage here. Yes, it is very small, but even they can't get a lot done. I mean, they have to really work over time. And this is hard for the Democrats. They want this.

Now, that also doesn't take into consideration that coming up very, very shortly, there's going to be a midterm where most people believe that if the polling is right, that Democrats will take the House easily anyway. But, of course, that doesn't answer for the next couple of months.

BASH: Yes. All right. Everybody stand by. Up next, a purge at the Justice Department, a stunning political message by the DOJ on the most political of stages. You're going to want to see this after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:49:03]

BASH: The first value on the DOJ's official mission statement is independence and impartiality. So keep that in mind as you listen to the deputy attorney general, the one who is in charge of a lot of what goes on at the Department of Justice. On one of the most political stages, the annual Republican pep rally, CPAC, talking about the prosecutors and agents involved in the Trump criminal prosecutions during the Biden administration.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TODD BLANCHE, DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL: There is not a single man or woman at the Department of Justice who had anything to do with those prosecutions. Over --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How many have been canned?

BLANCHE: Over 200. Over 200 either left before we came in because they knew it was coming, or were fired, or took early retirement. They are no longer employed by this department.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Just a reminder of what Todd Blanche's job was during those prosecutions. He was Donald Trump's personal lawyer.

[12:50:04]

And when he was a criminal, that happened when he was a criminal defendant facing in assortment of felony charges. Blanche represented others charged in those investigations too.

Our smart reporters are back now. Toluse, I just want to underscore this. You know, we kind of have gotten used to the new normal. This is not normal. This is so remarkable that you have the DAG, the deputy attorney general, on stage, appealing to the Republican base by reminding them of all of the political purging that he has done at the Department of Justice.

Because that includes the people who he said, the 200 or so people who have gone, don't just include political appointees, which even that would be, you know, a big question or discussion, at least. They're civil servants. They're people who were prosecutors assigned to cases and did their jobs.

OLORUNNIPA: Yes, exactly. A lot of these people, 200 or so lawyers at a department that is actually looking for more lawyers and sort of short on the number of people that are --

BASH: That's right.

OLORUNNIPA: -- willing to work for this administration, they were assigned these cases. They did not go after the President. They did not sign up specifically to try to do lawfare against the President. They were assigned these cases. They did their due diligence. They showed up in court.

Judges signed off on warrants, and they followed the normal processes that you would follow in a normal running Department of Justice. What we have now is definitely not a normal running Department of Justice, as evidenced by the fact that the deputy attorney general is on stage at CPAC in the first place.

And so we do have a situation where the President has employed a number of his close allies to go after his enemies, to protect his friends, and to do so blatantly and to brag about it in public. And so it is not normal. It is the new normal that this President has tried to countenance, but it's not what we have long expected from our independent Department of Justice for decades and decades.

HOLMES: And I will say, I mean, it does seem that everything that Trump wanted during the campaign, he has officially accomplished in terms of what we reported at the time was his number one priority, which was making sure that the Department of Justice fell under the executive branch, which technically it does, but it has always acted as an independent agency in modern history. And to take away that independence and make sure it was filled with loyalists. And he has not only done that, but now, as you said, have these loyalists out there touting what they're doing.

BASH: And one other thing that happened this week that might have gone under the radar, but it's very much related to this, Michael Flynn, who was the President's national security adviser for a few days in the first term and then pleaded guilty in 2017 to lying about Russian contacts, lobbying in Turkey. He then, when he was being sentenced, reversed that plea. This past week, he was awarded $1 million by the taxpayers.

The DOJ gave him $1 million settlement. He said it was wrongful prosecution. And, you know, we talked about the President filing a suit for wrongful prosecution for millions and millions of dollars. That's still kind of up in the air. But this happened. Michael Flynn is going to get $1 million in taxpayer money for what the DOJ agreed to was wrongful prosecution.

ZELENY: There are many Republicans from a different area who would not call this fiscal conservatism. I mean, the idea of this DOJ settling this with him. And you raise the point of the President having his own case before his own Justice Department. I mean, it's an extraordinary decision to use taxpayer funds like this.

But, look, this wouldn't have happened under Jeff Sessions' Department of Justice as attorney general. And that is the whole point, because that is still the biggest regret of President Trump's life or his time as President, who he appointed as his first attorney general. And this Department of Justice is entirely different.

OLORUNNIPA: And it's also very clear that this Department of Justice is going to try to protect the President's friends. They're going to try to award the President's friends. They're going to use the power of government to reward the people that stuck close to the President.

Michael Flynn is not someone who has, you know, said that I learned during the first term that I can't stay with the President. There are many people who are in the President's cabinet who are no longer aligned with him. But Michael Flynn is one of those people who has continued to support the President. He's continued to push a number of conspiracy theories over the election and other things. And he's receiving his reward in the form of taxpayer dollars.

BASH: And there's one other thing I believe we have it that I want to get to, which we also talked a lot about this week, which is the question of whether or not the administration is thinking about sending ICE to the polls when the elections happen in November. Todd Blanche talked about that at CPAC as well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[12:55:07]

BLANCHE: Election integrity should be the most nonpartisan issue we have. Like, why is there objection to sending ICE officers to polling places? Illegals can't vote.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: I mean, the thing to keep in mind here is that the White House pushed back so heavily on this idea and saying that Steve Bannon was not because he was the one who originally floated it. And he did not speak for the administration. He did not speak for the White House. And you have Todd Blanche there not calling it a crazy idea at all, just saying that it's really important for election integrity. So something to definitely keep an eye on.

BASH: Yes. I think the answer to his question is that people, a lot of people see ICE and they get intimidated. And even if they are completely legal and are eligible to vote, and therefore the opponents to that say, this is voter intimidation. So this is definitely not the end of this conversation.

Thank you all. Thank you so much for joining Inside Politics. CNN News Central starts after a quick break.

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