Megan Kelly reports on March 23rd, 2026, detailing DHS funding chaos where unpaid TSA agents quit, prompting President Trump to threaten deploying untrained ICE agents to airports despite Hakeem Jeffries' objections and Tom Holman's warnings. The update covers Jose Medina's arrest in Chicago for killing Sheridan Gorman, bypassing sanctuary policies, while Trump issues a 48-hour ultimatum to Iran regarding the Strait of Hormuz amidst missile strikes on Israel and Diego Garcia. With 68% of Americans unsure about war goals and Nancy Guthrie's search continuing, these events highlight deepening domestic instability and escalating international tensions under the current administration. [Automatically generated summary]
It's Monday, March 23rd, 2026, and this is your AM update.
I think you're going to see more TSA agents.
They're going to quit or they're not going to show up.
With the fight over DHS funding dragging on, TSA agents miss paychecks and call out of work as the White House prepares to send in ICE to assist at overwhelmed airports.
An illegal immigrant from Venezuela now in custody after allegedly gunning down a young college student in Chicago.
The president will take whatever steps it takes to achieve those goals.
A new escalation threat from President Trump against Iran amid a deadline tonight as new polling shows Americans growing increasingly uneasy about the war.
And the search for Nancy Guthrie stretches into its seventh week as the Guthrie family delivers a pleading new public message.
All that and more coming up in just a moment on your AM update.
Are you numb to it yet?
This wild ride of life we've lived lately?
AI coming for our jobs, geopolitical changes reshaping alliances, and the market bouncing around like a yo-yo.
It's no wonder so many are hunkering down, saving more, looking for smart ways to protect their families and our futures.
One thing people overlook is life insurance.
And here's the part most people don't realize.
It's often a lot more affordable than you think.
In fact, the younger and healthier you are, the lower your rate.
Wait 10 years and you could be paying double.
That's why I want to tell you about SelectQuote.
They take the guesswork out of finding the right policy.
A licensed agent does the shopping for you, comparing plans from top-rated insurers to match your health, your lifestyle, and your budget.
They work for you for free.
Life insurance is never cheaper than it is today.
Get the right life insurance for you for less and save more than 50% at selectquote.com/slash Megan.
Save more than 50% on term life insurance at selectquote.com/slash Megan today to get started.
Amid a continued impasse on Capitol Hill over DHS funding, a partial shutdown now dramatically impacts airports across the country.
TSA agents are currently not being paid, leading some to call out sick to take other jobs, others outright quitting.
The result chaos at airports during a busy spring break, with several major airports facing hours-long security lines.
Funding for the department lapsing in mid-February thanks to Democrats demanding reforms to ICE and Border Patrol before they will agree to a full funding package.
Ironically, ICE and other immigration enforcement is still being funded thanks to the big beautiful bill signed by President Trump last summer.
But DHS as a whole is not, including other divisions like the TSA.
Democrats pushing to finance some DHS departments like TSA and the Coast Guard until an agreement can be reached on ICE and CBP reforms.
Republicans so far insisting on full funding for the entire department, triggering another failed Senate vote last week.
60 votes are required to advance the legislation requiring at least some Democrat support.
Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, so far the only Dem to cross party lines and vote to fund DHS.
President Trump on Saturday floating a unique potential solution.
Posting to Truth Social quote, if the radical left Democrats don't immediately sign an agreement to let our country, in particular our airports, be free and safe again, I will move our brilliant and patriotic ICE agents to the airports where they will do security like no one has ever seen before.
Borders are Tom Holman yesterday on CNN confirming plans are underway.
Are ICE agents even remotely trained to handle security at airports?
ICE agents receive a high level of training.
And, you know, the ICE agents are assigned at many airports across the country already.
They do a lot of investigation, criminal investigation on smuggling at airports.
But, you know, there's, I mean, there's got TSA agents covering exits.
You know, certainly a highly trained ICE law enforcement officer can cover an exit, makes people don't go through those exits.
Stuff like that relieves that TSA officer to go to screening and to reduce those lines.
So wherever we can provide extra security, I don't see an ICE agent looking at an x-ray machine because they're not trained in that.
There are certain parts of security that TSA is doing that we can move them off those jobs and put them into specialized jobs, help move those lines.
Travelers facing mounting delays at airports across the country here reporting from Atlanta News First, Fox 26 in Houston, and PICS 11 in New York City.
This is another morning of very long lines for travelers trying to get through security at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
Yesterday at this exact same time, the security checkpoint was snaking through baggage claim 4.
Right now, it is all the way through baggage claim 9 from one side of the airport to the other.
Your TSA wait lines at Terminal E at Bush Airport still say over three hours this morning.
Here at LaGuardia, we saw the line stretching through the parking lot just yesterday.
Right now, about 50,000 TSA agents are still working without their paychecks.
Democrats criticizing the move.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries yesterday on CNN.
The last thing that the American people need are for untrained ICE agents to be deployed at airports all across the country, potentially to brutalize or in some instances, kill them.
We've already seen how ICE conducts itself.
These are untrained individuals when it comes to doing the current job that they have for the most part, let alone deploying them in close exposure and highly sensitive situations at airports across the country.
Back on the Hill, Homan this past Friday meeting with lawmakers discussing the nature of those talks yesterday on CNN.
I'm invited there just to explain operations and how we conduct business within ICE and CBP.
I mean we have the same policies in place we had during Obama and Biden and Clinton and Bush 1 and Bush 2.
So the policies really hasn't changed.
It's the execution of those policies that we're talking about.
We certainly can't surrender ICE's authorities and their congressionally mandated jobs.
So we're having those discussions.
Well, but as you know, they want it to be codified.
Things like agents wearing masks, the ability or the requirement to say who they are and things of that nature.
So you're saying that the White House is not open to changing any of that?
No, no, I'm saying a majority of it is about policy I choose.
We're talking about identification, you know, badge number, name, either or, because no borbit has a name on their uniform.
ICE doesn't have a name on uniforms.
We're talking about clear identification.
We're talking about, you know, access to detention and things like that.
Meanwhile, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warning yesterday on ABC the situation could get much worse.
So I think as we look forward to Friday, that's when the next paycheck should come.
And if this Homeland Security funding isn't resolved, I think you're going to see more TSA agents.
They're going to quit or they're not going to show up.
It's hard for these individuals already to make their ends meet, but without getting paychecks, it's even that much more challenging.
And so they're going to take other jobs to put food on the table and pay the rent.
So I do think it's going to get much worse.
More than 400 agents so far quitting since the shutdown began.
Elon Musk on Saturday posting to X, quote, I would like to offer to pay the salaries of TSA personnel during this funding impasse that is negatively affecting the lives of so many Americans at airports throughout the country.
It is unclear if the White House has responded to the extraordinary offer.
A 25-year-old man identified by Fox News as an illegal immigrant from Venezuela, arrested in connection with the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Sheridan Gorman in Chicago.
Gorman, a first-year student from New York, walking with friends near Loyola Beach around 1 a.m. Thursday.
That's about eight miles north of the famous Oak Street Beach near Chicago's Michigan Mile in a much quieter, more residential area, when a masked gunman approached the group, firing a single shot, striking her in the back for no apparent reason.
Gorman, a first-year business student at Loyola University Chicago, pronounced dead at the scene.
Her family releasing a statement calling her the heart of the family, writing in part, quote, what happened to Sheridan cannot be reduced to the idea of someone being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
This is not an abstraction.
This is the loss of a daughter, the loss of a sister.
The family urging anyone with information to come forward.
Fellow classmates of Gorman's speaking out to ABC 7.
She was really sweet.
It just makes me really sad because with everything that's going on, it does make you wonder, like, how safe can you be at night?
She had a lot of friends.
She was always smiling.
It just reflects a lot about that person specifically.
So knowing that, this is horrible.
You come here for an education.
Gun violence should not be something that you should be worried about or if you should not be worried about walking to the beach and not expect to just get killed like that.
DHS identifying the suspect as Jose Medina Medina.
Fox News reporting he was caught and released at the border in May of 2023 under the Biden administration.
Police arresting Medina Friday night while executing a search warrant at an apartment just blocks away from the beach, according to CWB Chicago.
Investigators reportedly recovering a firearm inside the apartment, now undergoing ballistics testing to determine whether it was used in the shooting.
According to the Chicago Tribune, surveillance footage tracking Medina from the scene to the building, police identifying him in part due to what they describe as a distinct limp.
DHS revealing he was arrested just one month after entering this country illegally for alleged shoplifting and released on his own recognizance.
He later failed to appear in court, leading to an arrest warrant, but was never rearrested.
Did they even try?
DHS yesterday lodging a detainer request for Medina requesting that Chicago officials not release him.
The Sanctuary City bars cooperation with federal immigration enforcement, specifically barring officials from honoring ICE detainers without a court order.
As of now, authorities have not confirmed any motive here, and the investigation remains ongoing.
Coming up, President Trump threatening a major escalation in Iran and the search for Nancy Guthrie now entering its seventh week as the Guthrie family speaks out in a new statement.
Iran Escalation and Nancy Guthrie Search00:06:03
Relief Factor loves hearing from pain-free customers and hopes they can help you next.
One user of Relief Actor named Kim wrote to them to say, quote, before trying Relief Actor, I struggled just to make it through my workdays.
I'd collapse on the couch at night, aching everywhere.
Within a few weeks of starting Relief Actor, the daily pain began to fade.
Now I'm keeping up at work and I still have energy left from my family.
There are many stories just like Kim's of parents having more love to give but less stress, less strength to share.
Relief Factor does not just ease your pain.
It can restore your evenings and your laughter and the simple joy of being present and being a good parent.
If you want to feel the difference like Kim with back pain, knee issues, or stiffness that is slowing you down, Relief Factor could give you your mobility back.
Relief Actor is 100% drug-free and it targets the inflammation that causes pain in order to move better, feel better, and actually enjoy life again.
Try the three-week quick start for just 1995.
Go to relieffactor.com or call 8004RELIF.
Let's see if you could be next in getting out of pain.
As Operation Epic Fury enters its fourth week, President Trump over the weekend saying the U.S. is, quote, very close to meeting its objectives, including degrading Iran's missile capabilities, destroying its defense industrial base, eliminating its Navy and Air Force, preventing any path to a nuclear weapon, and protecting key U.S. allies in the region.
The following day, however, President Trump issuing a stark ultimatum on Truth Social, warning that if Iran does not fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours, the U.S. will, quote, hit and obliterate their various power plants, starting with the biggest one first.
That deadline set to expire at 7.44 p.m. tonight.
The threat marking a notable shift.
The president previously emphasizing that the U.S. was avoiding strikes on civilian infrastructure like power plants and oil facilities.
Treasury Secretary Scott Besson yesterday on NBC pressed on the apparent change in strategy.
This seems to be an escalation, a threat of escalation, and it seems to run counter to his statement that he in fact wants to wind out the war.
Again, Kristen, the president's been very clear from the beginning that the goals are destroy the Iranian Air Force and the Navy to completely demolish their missile capabilities, demolish their ability to replenish those capabilities, make sure the Iranians cannot have a nuclear weapon, and stop their ability to project power internationally.
And the president will take whatever steps it takes to achieve those goals.
Secretary Besson asked whether the administration would consider boots on the ground to seize Karg Island, the hub for roughly 90% of Iran's oil exports, which the U.S. has already attacked and which President Trump says he will hit harder if Iran continues to block shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
Secretary Besant responding on ground troops that, quote, all options are on the table.
Iran responding with threats of its own.
A spokesman for Iran's Supreme Military Command headquarters warning, quote, if Iran's fuel and energy infrastructure is attacked, then fuel, energy, information technology systems, and desalination infrastructure used by America and the regime in the region will be struck.
Desalination facilities are essential in the Middle East.
Al Jazeera reporting the six Gulf states, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, among the most water-scarce countries in the world, relying heavily on desalination to meet the needs of their people.
About 80% of Israel's drinking water coming through five desalination plants along the Mediterranean, according to Ben-Gurion University.
In Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, and Abu Dhabi, some 90% of the drinking water depends on desalination plants.
Iran continues to drop missiles in the fight.
On Saturday, a pair of Iranian ballistic missiles striking southern Israel, injuring at least 115 people.
The Israeli Defense Force reportedly investigating how the Iron Dome failed to intercept them.
Meantime, Iran reportedly firing two intermediate-range ballistic missiles at Diego Garcia, an island located 2,500 miles away, housing a joint U.S.-UK military base.
One missile reportedly failing mid-flight, another targeted by a U.S. interceptor, though officials say it's unclear if our interceptor was successful, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The attempted strike suggesting Iran's missile range may extend far beyond what it has publicly acknowledged, potentially expanding the threat well outside of the Middle East, possibly potentially putting European targets within the Iranian regime's range.
With neither missile hitting the base, however, it's unclear if they were capable of reaching their intended target.
Al Jazeera reports that the Iranians deny that Iran was behind this particular launch.
Here at home, the national gas average rising to $394 per gallon, according to AAA, up from $293 one month ago.
Diesel is averaging just over $5 a gallon.
One month ago, it was between $3.65 and $3.81.
And new polling from CBS showing growing pessimism about the economy.
32% of Americans now expect a recession within the next year.
That's up from 26% before the start of Operation Epic Fury.
In terms of the war, 57% say the conflict is going very or somewhat badly.
43% say it's going well, as confidence in the administration's messaging appears to be slipping.
68% now say the administration has not clearly explained its goals.
That's up from 62% earlier this month.
Overall, approval of the conflict also slipping.
On March 4th, 44% supporting military action against Iran, that number now down to 40.
66% of respondents agree this is a war of choice.
Recession Fears Rise as War Slips00:03:55
34% say it's a war of necessity.
Breaking down approval by party, 84% of Republicans approve of the war, 16% disapprove, 8% of Dems in favor, 92% oppose.
Just 31% of independents support the war compared to 69% who oppose it.
The search for missing 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie, mother of today's show host Savannah Guthrie, now entering its seventh week, with investigators still without a suspect or clear answers.
News Nation correspondent Brian Enton, who has been closely following the investigation, reporting the FBI is intensifying its focus inside Guthrie's Tucson, Arizona neighborhood, including on one home which was vacant at the time of her disappearance.
Here from Brian Enton Investigates last week.
I have confirmed through sources that the FBI has been back in Nancy Guthrie's neighborhood over the last 24 hours or so, going back to neighbors' houses and asking more questions.
Some of the things that I know that they're talking about is there's one neighbor that moved out before Nancy disappeared, and they have been asking more questions about that situation.
Not to say that that has anything to do with what happened, but that is something that the FBI agents are asking about.
And then also, and this I found to be particularly interesting, they are asking about, there's several houses that are under construction in the neighborhood, and they are asking specifically for names of contractors and workers who were working in the neighborhood on those houses on those construction projects.
And I'm talking about like specifics, like they want the names of all the contractors and workers who are working on those houses.
Retired Pima County SWAT commander Bob Krieger telling Parade Magazine that vacant houses can serve as staging locations for bad actors needing to scout an area, allowing them to blend into neighborhoods.
In a separate report, Pima County homicide detective Kurt Dabb telling Parade Magazine he believes there may be as many as four accomplices in this case, aiding the masked figure captured on security footage outside of Guthrie's door on the night of the abduction.
Meanwhile, the Guthrie family issuing a renewed plea to the community Saturday night as part of a Bring Her Home special airing on local station, KVOA.
The statement reading in part, quote, someone knows something.
It's possible a member of this community has information that they do not even realize is significant.
We hope people search their memories, especially around the key timelines of January 31st and the early morning hours of February 1st, as well as the late evening of January 11th.
January 11th being a possible date of one of those images of the perpetrator on Nancy Guthrie's porch, and also a date on which neighbors spotted a mysterious white van in the neighborhood.
The statement urging community members to check everything from camera footage to journal entries and text messages.
From the statement, quote, no detail is too small.
Yesterday, Savannah sharing an image on Instagram featuring Jesus with two angels and the caption, quote, I believe, I believe.
And that'll do it for your AM Update.
I'm Megan Kelly.
Join me back here for the MK Show live on SiriusXM's The Megan Kelly Channel 111 at New East on youtube.com/slash MeganKelly and on all podcast platforms.
And before we go, a huge thanks to all of the AM Update fill-in anchors who did the pinch hitting while we were sort of on spring break doing the Megan Kelly show for most of it.
But taking a break from AM Update, we were well served by all of the great men and women who pitched in.