TSA with the Transportation Secretary & the EU-U.S. Relationship 3/19/26

Summary

Squawk Pod — March 19, 2026: “TSA with the Transportation Secretary & the EU-U.S. Relationship”

Podcast Overview

In this packed episode of Squawk Pod, hosts Joe Kernen, Becky Quick, and Andrew Ross Sorkin dig into the latest developments in the Iran War, skyrocketing energy prices, and the resulting ripple effects on global alliances and markets. The show features on-the-ground reporting from Dan Murphy, key analysis of Federal Reserve actions, and deep discussion on the TSA funding crisis with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. Former EU Commissioner Margrethe Vestager joins to discuss Europe’s shifting relationship with the U.S., challenges for AI competition, and the future world order.

---

Major Themes

• Escalation in the Iran War and Its Global Impact
• Federal Reserve Interest Rate Outlook
• TSA Funding Crisis and Homeland Security Risks
• EU-U.S. Relations, AI Competition, and Global Market Power

---

Detailed Episode Breakdown

1. Iran War: Attacks, Retaliation, and Economic Fallout

[03:40–09:31]

• Dan Murphy Reporting from Dubai

  • New Phase in Conflict: Israel struck Iran’s South Pars gas field, the world’s largest; Iran retaliated with missile and drone attacks on critical facilities in Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait.
  • Market Response: “Oil and gas prices surging again today… With Ras Lafan offline and the Strait of Hormuz still effectively closed, 20% of global oil and gas supply remain offline.” (Dan Murphy, 03:55)
  • Long-term Damage: Repairs to infrastructure may take months, prolonging high prices.
  • Political Fallout: President Trump distances the U.S. from Israel’s strike, but threatens overwhelming response if Iran attacks Qatar again:

    “The United States of America, with or without the help or consent of Israel, will massively blow up the entirety of the South Pars gas field at an amount of strength and power that Iran has never seen or witnessed before.” (Dan Murphy quoting Trump, 05:14)

  • Strained Alliances: Gulf allies angered, uncertainty over the next phase.

• Andrew Ross Sorkin & Joe Kernen Analysis

  • No end in sight; question remains if boots on the ground are required for true control of the Strait.
  • U.S. is more energy self-sufficient than during the onset of the Ukraine war, but China and Europe are highly exposed.
  • Ray Dalio’s view:

    “Whoever controls the Strait of Hormuz long term is either the winner or the loser of the war… Any agreement you make now is ultimately worthless, you’ll be back later.” (Andrew Ross Sorkin, 08:30)

  • Europe’s natural gas up 140% YTD — less dramatic than in 2022 but indicative of continued dependence.

2. Federal Reserve Decision & Market Moves

[09:31–14:18]

• Fed Keeps Rates Unchanged

  • Interest rates steady at 3.25–3.5%; potential for one cut this year and next.
  • GDP projected higher, but inflation forecast for 2027 ticks up to 2.3%.
  • Fed Chair Powell:

    “I have no intention of leaving the board until the investigation is well and truly over with transparency and finality.” (Powell, 10:35)

• Micron Earnings Miss Despite Blowout Results

  • AI-driven revenue nearly triples; stock drops 5.3% on high expectations.
  • Management is excluding tariff or global risk factors from guidance.

• AI Parallels with Electricity

  “AI is like electricity. Not one thing was the same after electricity. And this is going to be the same.” (Andrew Ross Sorkin, 13:19)

  • “Electricity is everywhere, just like AI will be everywhere... There aren’t AI companies — it just exists in every single [business].” (Joe Kernen, 13:32)

---

3. TSA Funding Crisis: Travel Chaos & National Security

[16:55–26:36]

Key Interview: Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy

[16:55–26:36]

• Massive TSA Staff Shortages and Delays

  • 360+ TSA agents have quit during the ongoing DHS funding shutdown.

  • Callouts hit over 10% nationally (up to 50% in some cities), five times normal rates.

  • Duffy:

    “Yes, it’s safe, but lines... in places like Philadelphia, Chicago, Houston... are 2, 3, 4 hours long make travel just grinding.” (Sean Duffy, 17:36)

  • Situation is deteriorating daily as agents miss paychecks. Small airports risk closure; Duffy predicts a near “grid halt” for travel.

    “This is going to look like child’s play, what’s happening right now… air travel is going to almost come to a grid halt.” (Sean Duffy, 18:29)

• National Security Risks

  • Duffy underscores elevated risks amid U.S.–Iran conflict and unvetted immigrants:

    “We don’t know 15 million people who are in the country, we haven’t vetted them, and we’re in a conflict with Iran, there is a heightened risk and can bad things happen if you don’t fund homeland security, they can.” (Sean Duffy, 23:19)

  • Cites past attacks as a warning:

    “[After] an attack on a synagogue... she [Senator Slotkin] decided... maybe I do now want to fund TSA and Homeland Security.” (Sean Duffy, 23:19)

• Political Gridlock and Blame

  • Duffy blames Senate Democrats and the filibuster rule for blocking Homeland Security funding.

    “Every single Republican is voting to fund Homeland Security… every Democrat is voting to keep it shut down and make sure you have mass chaos in your airport.” (Sean Duffy, 21:49)

  • “I think the way this ends is people get hurt. Right. Which is horrible.” (Sean Duffy, 21:49)

  • Discussion over use of shutdowns as political weapons, with bipartisan consensus elusive despite agreement on the need for security.
  • Friction over TSA agent protections; debates on body cams and privacy after past doxxing threats.

4. Europe, U.S., and the Future: Margrethe Vestager Interview

[29:16–39:57]

Interview: Margrethe Vestager, Former EU Competition Commissioner

[29:16–39:57]

• Iran Conflict and the European Perspective

  • Europe and U.S. mostly agree on hostility towards the Iranian regime, but Europe wanted a roadmap to a negotiated outcome.
  • War triggers global energy crisis; not “Europe’s war,” but major indirect effects.

    “We would much have preferred... that there was a road to a negotiated outcome to make sure that the Iranians would never, ever get a bomb.” (Margrethe Vestager, 30:00)

  • Skeptical about feasibility and impact of regime change, emphasizing global repercussions and uncertainty.

• Shifting Transatlantic Relationships

  • Europe’s move toward self-reliance in tech, defense, and competitiveness.

    “The relationship has been changing for a very long time... encourages European leaders to be more and more independent from the U.S.” (Vestager, 32:27)

  • References Mark Carney’s “New World Order” remarks: Trump didn’t create the dysfunction, he accelerated an existing breakdown.

• AI Competition and Market Fragmentation

  • Need for AI diversity to avoid monopolistic outcomes:

    “You need European AI, you need us, you need Chinese, you need Indian AI, you need more sources in order not to be locked in.” (Vestager, 35:04)

  • Europe lags due to lack of market scale and capital, not overregulation.

    “Markets, huge market access and access to capital... this was why we lost the first round of... big tech emerging, that the market was fragmented.” (Vestager, 35:53)

• Complexity of EU–U.S. Dynamic

  • Sorkin challenges Europe’s reliance on U.S. “hard work for global security.”

    “Never has to make any hard decisions themselves, but benefits from everything that the United States does. It sort of comes riding in when everything's finished…” (Sorkin, 37:24)

  • Vestager:

    “There’s an 80 year long friendship between the US and Europe, there’s very, very close connections... There’s a lot of gratitude.” (Vestager, 37:48)
    “It’s beneficial for the entire planet if Europe is more independent, not only from the US but also from Chinese supplies and definitely from Russian energy sources, because that is just, you know, enabling that war on Ukraine, which is basically also a war on Europe.” (Vestager, 38:31)

  • On future independence: Aims for EU to be a more equal partner, not a standalone actor, “recognizing…that when it comes to playing a fuller role within the NATO framework, that will take some time.” (Vestager, 39:35)

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Dan Murphy on War’s Global Stakes:

  “Even if the war stops right now, the damage to these facilities could take months to repair, likely keeping prices higher for longer.” [01:24]

• Andrew Ross Sorkin quoting Ray Dalio:

  “Whoever controls the Strait of Hormuz long term is either the winner or the loser of the war.” [08:30]

• Sean Duffy on Airport Gridlock:

  “You’re going to see small airports, I believe shut down. You’re going to see extensive lines, and air travel is going to almost come to a grid halt.” [14:43]

• Margrethe Vestager on AI Diversity:

  “If we have a future where basically Anthropic, OpenAI become the internet, then competition will be lost.” [35:04]

• Vestager on the EU-U.S. Relationship:

  “This is a way to say, well, in an equal partnership, well, we have strength too. And I think that is the way that Europe will go…” [39:35]

---

Timestamps for Key Segments

| Time | Segment | |------------|----------------------------------------------| | 03:40–09:31 | Iran war escalation, energy prices, politics | | 09:31–14:18 | Federal Reserve outlook and Micron earnings | | 16:55–26:36 | TSA Funding crisis (Sean Duffy interview) | | 29:16–39:57 | EU, U.S., and Global Order (Vestager interview) |

---

Episode Takeaways

• Middle East conflict is rapidly reshaping energy markets and global alliances, with immediate and long-term economic and security risks.
• TSA and Homeland Security funding issues risk grinding American air travel to a halt, with cascading security implications amid global instability.
• Europe is pushing toward greater independence in technology and defense, seeking to become a more balanced transatlantic partner.
• The future of AI is at stake: only by supporting diverse global sources and larger integrated markets can countries avoid monopolistic consolidation.
• Despite political and media noise, both sides stress the importance of prioritizing national and global security over tactical Washington fighting.

---

For those who haven't listened, this episode offers a fast-paced, inside view of how politics, policy, and global markets are colliding in real-time — and how alliances and innovation are being tested like never before.

Transcript

[Schwab Market Update Announcer]

This episode is brought to you by Schwab Market Update, an original podcast from Charles Schwab. Join host Keith Lansford for this information packed daily market Preview delivered in 10 minutes or less, including projected stock updates, monetary policy decisions and key results and statistics that may impact your trading. Download the latest episode and [e-mail] Market Update podcast or find Schwab Market Update wherever you get your podcasts.

[AT&T Business Wireless Advertiser]

Not every sale happens at the register. Before AT&T business Wireless, checking out customers on our mobile POS systems took too long. Basically a staring contest where everyone loses. It's crazy what people will say during an awkward silence. Now transactions are done before the silence takes hold. That means I can focus on the task at hand and make an extra sale or two. Sometimes I do miss the bonding time. Sometimes AT&T business Wireless connecting changes everything.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Bring in show music, please.

[Becky Quick]

This is Squawk Pod and I'm CNBC producer Cameron Costa. On today's episode, a new phase of the Iran war. CNBC's Dan Murphy reports on Israel's strike on the world's largest natural gas field in Iran and Iran's retaliatory strikes at Qatar, the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

[Dan Murphy]

Analysts telling me today that even if the war stops right now, the damage to these facilities could take months to repair, likely keeping prices higher for longer.

[Becky Quick]

The war has brought our ally relationships to the fore. Former EU Commissioner for Competition Margaretta Vesta Year on partnership and respect between the US And Europe.

[AT&T Business Wireless Advertiser]

I think the relationship has been changing for a very long time and it sort of encourages European leaders to be more and more independent from the U.S.

[Becky Quick]

plus, the federal Reserve leaves interest rates unchanged. And Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy addresses the funding shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security. TSA agents across the country are quitting as airports strain, but the secretary is also concerned about national security.

[Sean Duffy]

We're in a conflict with Iran. There is a heightened risk and can bad things happen if you don't fund homeland Security, they can.

[Becky Quick]

It's Thursday, March 19, 2026, and Squawkpod begins right now.

[Sean Duffy]

Stand Becky by in three, two, one.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Cue it, please.

[Joe Kernan]

Good morning, everyone. Welcome to Squawk Box right here on cnbc. I'm Becky Quick, along with Joe Kernan and Andrew Ross Sorkin. Andrew Andrew is at Bruin Capital's Nexus event in South Florida. He's going to be bringing us a up of guests throughout the show. And Andrew, good morning. It's good to see you. Joe, welcome back.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Thank you. Thank you. Looking cash, Andrew. It's good. Look for you, I think I like the pocket square. The pocket square. Yeah.

That's why, you know, when in Boca, as they say. By, by the way, guys, I don't

know what kind of shoe, what kind of shoes does Boca. Yeah. What kind of shoes does that mean? Just normal ones or you could go

[Joe Kernan]

with guessing no socks.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

No socks.

Oh, I'm wearing socks. I'm doing my, I don't know. What am I, what are these shoes? You know, the, I got the fancy ones, the Zenya sneakers. Fancy sneakers.

The Zenya sneakers. Oh, my God. Yeah, we talked about those. Those are pricey. Pricey. Andrew, was I reading this or you were reading this?

[Joe Kernan]

No, I am actually.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

We digress once again.

[Joe Kernan]

We do.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

We're all trying to figure out what's happening in the Middle East. Want to get an update right now on the strikes around the Middle east that are, are driving energy prices higher on this 20th day now of the Iran war. CNBC's Dan Murphy joins us now from Dubai. Good morning to you, Andrew.

[Dan Murphy]

Good morning. Well, the primary focus today is the new strikes on energy infrastructure. And the markets are reacting to that. We are seeing oil and gas prices surging again today as the war enters what's being called a new phase. It was Israel that struck first, hitting Iran's south Pole Pas gas field, the world's largest natural gas field. And Iran's retaliation was really swift as well. Qatar's Raslafan facility, which is one of the world's largest LNG export hubs, sustained extensive damage after an Iranian missile strike. Qatar Energy said emergency teams were deployed to contain the resulting fires. And here in the uae, the Habshan gas facility and the Bab oil field also had to suspend operations after a series of missile attacks. Iran also firing missiles and launching drones on Saudi Arabia and a refinery in Kuwait as well that was hit by a drone attack, too. And with Ras Lafan offline and the Strait of Hormuz still effectively closed, 20% of global oil and gas supply remain offline. Analysts telling me today that even if the war stops right now, the damage to these facilities could take months to repair, likely keeping prices higher for longer than at the same time as well, President Donald Trump seeking to distance the United States from Israel's strike and also warning that if Iran attacks Qatar again, and I quote here, the United States of America, with or without the help or consent of Israel, will massively blow up the entirety of the South Pas gas field at an amount of strength and power that Iran has never seen or witnessed before. So it is now, day 20 of these war, of this war, the strikes really angering America's Gulf allies as well. And of course, a big question mark over exactly where this goes next.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Andrew, this is a conversation, guys. Joe, we've been talking about this obviously ongoing here, right here at this event. Tony Blair was here last evening and we spoke with him about where this could all go and, and what could happen. And I think there's, there's no sense, unfortunately, that this is going to end, I think as soon as, as I think a lot of people would hope

and we'll just, nobody knows. And if you have an insight into how President Trump thinks or how things are going to play out, then maybe you can come up with it. And you've got the, there's a lot of pressure from one group that says finish this job. You know, I've seen the Journal write pieces on that urging of states that don't want to be left finish this job. And others saying if you don't, you're going to, you know, you know how much Trump hates the Taco acronym, whatever it is. And I've seen it spelled out in the last couple of days. People will say if it, if he were to say, oh, look at what's happening with the stock market or look at what's happening with whatever, whatever pressure is brought to bear based on, you know, near term concerns, do not, do not do the Taco, do not fold too early. So that could mean it may be

one of those situations where once you're in this, once you're in it, you're in it and you have to be in it to the end. The question is, how do you get it?

What does that mean?

I assume the end is, does that

mean boots on the ground to get, to get to the rain, boots on the ground to get to the uranium? I mean, I don't know.

[Joe Kernan]

The Iranians have threatened that the Strait of Hormuz, they are not okay with going back to business as usual, assuming that that's going to be safe passage. And that's obviously not something that the rest of the globe can live with. So that complicates the matter completely.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Also seen that the rest of the world, some are paying $150. We luckily are in a different position than we were when Ukraine started in 2022. And we've got a lot more for ourselves that we can. You know, we're self sufficient in a lot of ways. We still import obviously, but we do, we're much more self sufficient in the rest of the World as I mean China's got a lot more to lose if the strait stays closed too.

[Joe Kernan]

China, Japan, you can run through the list of nations, European nations by the way, if you look at that European natural gas, huge run up like we mentioned, 140% since the beginning of the year. That's actually, believe it or not, not as big of a run up as they dealt with at the beginning of the Ukrainian invasion by Russia, but again, just shows you how reliant they are on other places for their energy needs. And yes, you're right, we're very lucky to be in a position where we are not as reliant, where we are self sufficient.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

You know, Becky, I was just going to say, you know Ray, which I think we talked about earlier in the week, maybe Ray Dalio has made this point that whoever controls the Strait of Hormuz long term is either the winner or the loser of the war. That, that that is how we will ultimately judge what's ultimately happened here. And the question is, can you control that strait without boots on the ground and what does it look like to, to literally control that? And that's a very hard thing to think about, controlling it for a very long time. He also made the point that any agreement that might be made is ultimately worthless. Meaning that if you were to make an agreement so that you could, you could say you're stepping away and stepping away in success, that you know you'll be back later on. Interestingly you made the point about China though. The good news is China's oil, those boats I think are making it through the strait right now. So maybe they have less of an incentive to jump into this, which is probably a good thing given all things considered.

[Joe Kernan]

Right, to control the Strait means that you're just going to kind of terrorize anybody else who comes through while allowing your own ships passage, which is what they've done to this point. Fighting terrorism is pretty difficult. Yeah, controlling the strait is difficult to get your arms around that I suppose. The Fed holding interest rates steady in a range of three and a half to three and a quarter percent. That was as expected. The latest so called dot plot of Fed members rate projections indicating that the central bank could cut rates once this year and once next year by 25 basis points each time. Officials see a slightly faster pace of GDP growth this year than they previously did. But they also see higher inflation growth in 2027 projected a 2.3%. That's higher than the previous 2% forecast. Fed Chair Jay Powell saying that it's too soon to know how the war in Iran will impact the US economy On on the question of his future at the Fed and the criminal investigation initiated by the Trump administration, here's what Chairman Powell had to say.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

I have no intention of leaving the

[Sean Duffy]

board until the investigation is well and

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

truly over with transparency and finality.

[Sean Duffy]

On the question of whether I will then continue to serve as a governor

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

after my term ends and after the

[Sean Duffy]

investigation is over, I have not made that decision yet.

[Joe Kernan]

Powell saying that if his successor is not confirmed by the end of his term, he would serve as chair pro tem until someone is confirmed. Shares of computer memory maker Micron falling despite much better than expected results powered by AI related demand Revenue for the company nearly tripling from a year ago. Third quarter revenue guidance of 33 and a half billion dollars was close to 40% above what the street was expecting. Earnings per share guidance was even better. It came in close to 60% above the street's expectations. But. But the stock is off by about 5.3%. That speaks to the expectations surrounding companies that are critical to the AI buildout. Very strong numbers but really the whisper number on the street always kind of getting to those points too and very high expectations. Look at the stock over the last three years it's up 672%. It tripled last year and it was up more than 60% this year before last night's earnings. In addition, Micron is planning a big ramp up in Capex management, also explicitly excluding any tariff or geopolitical impacts from the company's guidance. So maybe that factors into the streets or the Street's reaction to all of

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

this too is one of those things where like when Bezos said it's going to be horizontal everything it's going to be like electricity.

[Joe Kernan]

Yeah.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Told Andrew that it's going to be like electricity. This was some silly not silly but it was a boring DRAM commodity memory chip maker and we used to watch it boom and bust. Boom and bust. Talk about the Lord of the fries and JR Simplot and everything else. And I everything changed the way that memory is used and became much more. I mean I look at it, it's mind boggling. 500, $500 billion, half a trillion dollar company.

[Joe Kernan]

Remember it used to be that with AMD too.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

It was always, always yeah they were

[Joe Kernan]

always like intel to the chips going to happen. But you're right the commoditized businesses that now can put in if you are a ready to go no longer a commodity or at least a very expensive

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

one Andrew, do you remember that conversation you had with Bezos? Because I watched it again and I do. Did you. When you were listening to him, your eyes did not gloss over completely, did they? But he's very smart, is very, very

one of the smartest.

And I'm still trying to get my arms around. Exactly. I mean, AI is like electricity. Think about how electricity, not one thing was the same after electricity. And this is going to be the same.

[Joe Kernan]

And you didn't have just electric companies. You have utilities. But electricity is everywhere, just like I will be everywhere. There aren't AI companies. There won't be technology companies. It just exists in every single.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Andrew. And you told me about Waymo. I didn't believe you, though.

[Becky Quick]

It was.

[Joe Kernan]

It's awesome. Did you like it?

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Did you. Did you take away. It's everywhere.

I didn't take one, but it's everywhere. And I can't. I still can't get used to the driving by with no one sitting there. I said, and pulling up to somebody

with nobody in the car. It's amazing.

And as it was driving by beyond it on the sidewalk, I saw a little thing bringing coffee to someone. I mean, it messed up.

Yep.

Messed up for a guy.

[Joe Kernan]

The west coast is pretty cool.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Messed up for a guy like me. Yeah. No, that Waymo.

[Joe Kernan]

You don't see any of that stuff here. The Waymo stuff. The Waymo is great.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

It's coming soon. It's coming soon to a street near you.

[IXL and AT&T Business Wireless Advertiser]

T's will be next.

[Becky Quick]

Coming up on squawk pod regional airports face closures as the funding shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security weighs on TSA agents nationwide. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on the gridlock that could worsen heading into next week.

[Sean Duffy]

You're going to see small airports, I believe shut down. You're going to see extensive lines, and air travel is going to almost come to a grid halt. Stop.

[Square Advertiser]

Support for today's episode comes from Square. If you've ever tapped a pay and thought, whoa, that was fast, it was probably Square. Square is the platform behind the scenes of so many businesses you already love. Whether someone's selling smoothies, cutting hair, fixing bikes, or running a boutique, Square gives them one connected system to take payments, manage inventory, run payroll, send invoices, and track it all from one place. This isn't just a point of sale. Square includes hardware that works in person and on the go, software for managing staff, marketing and customer insights, and banking tools like Square checking to get paid instantly. Square is smart, transparent, and built for the way people actually run their businesses. No contracts, no hidden fees. Right now you can get up to $200 off Square hardware at square.com Go Squawk. That's S Q U-A-R-E.com Go Squawk. Run your business smarter with Square. Get started today.

[Schwab Market Update Announcer]

This episode is brought to you by Schwab Market Update, an original podcast from Charles Schwab. Join host Keith Lansford for this information packed daily market Preview delivered in 10 minutes or less, including stock updates, monetary policy decisions and key results and statistics that may impact your trading. Download the latest episode and [e-mail] MarketUpdatePodcast or find Schwab Market Update wherever you get your podcasts.

[IXL and AT&T Business Wireless Advertiser]

Before we had ATT Business Wireless coverage, our delivery GPS wasn't the most reliable. Once our driver had to do a 14 point turn to get back on route, a 14 point turn and influencer even livestream the whole thing. Not good for business. Now with AT&T business Wireless, routes are updating on the fly and deliveries are on time. And the influencer did get us 53 new followers though.

[AT&T Business Wireless Advertiser]

AT&T business Wireless connecting changes everything.

[Becky Quick]

Welcome back to squawk pod from CNBC. Here's Becky Quick.

[Joe Kernan]

Over 360 TSA agents have quit their jobs in the midst of the continued partial government shutdown. The airport security shortages are causing massive delays and are a potential threat to smaller airports potentially being closed completely. That's according to the tsa. Joining us right now is Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. And Secretary Duffy, thank you for being with us today. You know, there are so many questions about what's happening, but as this drags out, I think the number one question is are people who are flying today safe or have we reached a point where there's actually a security threat?

[Sean Duffy]

Well, the reasons why we have such long, long lines is when we have, you know, more TSA agents that call out than previous, you know, it takes longer to get through tsa. So what that means is they're doing their job right there. They're screening all the necessary people, but it's just taking a longer period of time. So yes, it's safe, but when you're going to travel by yourself is one thing, but if you're traveling with kids, it just becomes very laborious. I mean, in places like Philadelphia, Chicago, Houston, you know, lines that are 2, 3, 4 hours long make travel just grinding.

[Joe Kernan]

Yeah, I heard that over the weekend we hit call outs north of 10%, maybe 10.9% or something. The highest we've seen. That's on the national level, some places like Houston saw call outs of over 50%. Is that the latest update you have or you have? Do you have anything else you can fill us in on that front?

[Sean Duffy]

Yes, right now, on average we're rolling about 10%, which is five times the normal call out rate. But last weekend, on average, it was only double the average call out rate. So what I'm seeing is it's getting worse day by day. And we have to think about the TSA worker. But these are not highly paid individuals. They start off at about 45 to $55,000. But living in D.C. and Atlanta, in New York, they live in very expensive communities. So it's really challenging for them. And so I saw this with the FAA and our air traffic controllers. The TSA agents missed a partial payment last Friday. They missed a full payment as we get into next week, Becky, and they're about to miss another payment. This is going to look like child's play, what's happening right now. You're going to see small airports, I believe shut down. You're going to see extensive lines and air travel is going to almost come to a grid halt. Stop. And so listen, the point is, we don't have to live this. Let's not use the American people as a political tool to get your will. We had a race in the last election about Joe BIDEN Letting in 10, 12, 15 million people. Donald Trump ran and said we're going to get those bad hombres out of the country. Democrats lost on that. Donald Trump's doing it. And Democrats are trying to redo the election and use the same policies that they lost on. Listen, let's actually get the bad out. Let's Homeland Security. If there's a time to actually have Homeland Security up and operational, it would be a time like now when we're in a conflict with Iran. We've let again the 15 million people into the country that weren't vetted by Joe Biden. And it's an incredible, it can be an incredible risk because we don't know who's here. We need Homeland Security now more than ever. Democrats should fund it and then say, hey, we want to have some modifications. By the way, the White House, Donald Trump has been willing to work with Democrats but just not give them everything they're asking for. But the president will make some concessions. He's a negotiator and he's had that conversation. It just seems like they're in a place where they don't want to get to. Yes, because their Base, their radical base doesn't want to fund Homeland Security, doesn't want to fund ice. They want to keep all these individuals in the country.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

But we know it's already funded until 20. And I don't know where the messaging is being lost for Republicans. The messaging is being lost somehow because it's very clear this isn't that different than the last government shutdown. You know, when you lose an election, when you have some type of leverage. Even if the Democrats would pillory the Republicans if they tried to pull the same thing if, when they were on the Outskade pillar. I just don't understand how it isn't clear that this is fully in the Democrats lap right now. These lines, TSA people not getting paid, everything else, it should be very, very clear. I don't know why it's not hitting home where they're not saying, okay, you're right, uncle, we cannot let this happen to the TSA and to all these travelers will work on the DHS in the way that it's supposed to be done at some, at some future point. But this is unacceptable. And why can't Republicans just spell that out?

[Sean Duffy]

Well, I think. Well, I think there's a lot of, a lot of mouthpieces in the media that will tell a different story. Right. And it's hard to push back against that narrative. But if we're honest, what's really happening, Republicans control the House, the Senate and the White House. But Democrats in the Senate have the ability to shut down Republican movements because of the filibuster rule. Right. You need 60 votes to pass a bill. And because Democrats don't get to, yes, that bill won't pass. Right. If we get into the weeds of how politics works, but then Democrats sit back and go, listen, we're not in the majority, we can't do anything about this. It's Republicans fault. Well then that begs the question, do we get rid of the filibuster rule so we can pass good legislation? Because to your point, Joe, every single Republican is voting to fund homeland security, make sure these TSA lines go away and every Democrat is voting to keep it shut down and make sure you have mass chaos in your airport. So it's very simple. And how anyone in the media could say something different about what's happening. I think it's frustrating, but Republicans have to be better. And I think continue to message why this is happening and that Democrats are using the American people, inflicting pain on the American people for what they think is a political benefit. And I think the way this ends is people get hurt. Right. Which is horrible. You don't want.

[Joe Kernan]

Your job is to protect the American people. You're talking about the TSA agents who

[Sean Duffy]

are not TSA agents.

[Joe Kernan]

Or you mean you think that there's going to be a security accident threat risk that takes place as a result.

[Sean Duffy]

So Senator Slotkin in Michigan was voting to not fund Homeland Security until there was an attack on a synagogue. And little children almost lost their lives because a radical wanted to come in and shoot them because they were Jewish. And after that happened, she decided, oh, maybe I do now want to fund TSA and Homeland Security. So that's what I mean. When we don't know 15 million people who are in the country, we haven't vetted them, and we're in a conflict with Iran, there is a heightened risk and can bad things happen if you don't fund Homeland Security? They can. I think every single American would say, let's make sure the American people are safe. That's more important than your political fight in Washington, whether it's Senator Slotkin in Michigan or any other Democrat across the country. So I'm not saying TSA or air travel. I'm saying radical elements that have been let into this country by Joe Biden that Donald Trump wants to get out. That is my concern right now.

[Joe Kernan]

Just cutting through the politics here. We had Jeh Johnson on with us last week. He was the in charge of the Department of Homeland Security under President Obama. He came on to talk about how neither side should be allowed to hijack this. Same concern, same issues, worries about security. Is there a bipartisan solution that gets to the heart of this not being the tool that the Democrats right now are using, that the Republicans have used in the past when they were the minority party? Is there a way to say, we're not going to play that game? This is not going to be a tool that anybody can use when they throw a political temper tantrum.

[Sean Duffy]

Yeah, that's. I mean, Congress likes using whatever tools they have in the toolkit to get leverage. But, you know, Jeh Johnson should recognize the importance of homeland security and the fact that we should not take that away from the American people. And I thought he's important. Yeah. And, but, but then he should also then go the next step to even say, well, Democrats should then fund it. Right, let's.

[Joe Kernan]

He did, Becky. He basically came out and said that this should never happen, no matter who's in charge and no matter who's in the minority party. That's what I mean is There a way to say that we should not be. This is what, the third time that TSA agents have been asked to go without pay in the last year?

[Sean Duffy]

That's right. Well, I think the real issue. Ridiculous that was. But, but, but Democrats, what they really want is they want TSA agents to take their masks off, Right? TSA agents don't want to wear masks. And by the way, Democrats spent a couple of years during COVID mandating that we all wear masks. Now they want TSA agents to take them off. Well, why is that? They want them to take their masks off so they can dox the TSA agents and not just go after the agent, but go after their spouses, go after their kids and put political pressure protest outside their homes. And that's untenable for an a law enforcement agent who's just trying to do the good work of the American people, getting folks who broke our laws out of the country enforcing our laws. And so. But Democrats have suggested body cams. I think President Trump has said he's okay negotiating body cams and some other requirements that Democrats have asked for the agents. The president who is a negotiator is willing to compromise with them. But there's some things that go too far where we don't want to risk the lives of agents because radical Democrats, Democrats want to attack them. And I think that's the fundamental point in disagreement right now between the Republicans and Democrats in the Congress.

[Joe Kernan]

All right, Secretary Duffy, thank you. I hope we can find some conclusion very rapidly for the sake of safety, for the sake of TSA agents. We appreciate it.

[Becky Quick]

Coming up on Squawkpod, former EU Commissioner for Competition Margaretta Vestier on maintaining a global market for artificial intelligence.

[AT&T Business Wireless Advertiser]

You need to have many more sources than the very few that we have right now. You need European AI, you need us, you need Chinese, you need Indian AI, you need more sources in order not to be locked in. Because if we have a future where basically anthropic OpenAI they become the Internet, then competition will be lost.

[Becky Quick]

Plus how she views Europe's relationship with

[AT&T Business Wireless Advertiser]

the U.S. there's an 80 year long friendship between the U.S. and Europe. There's very, very close connections. I'm in the US right now because I believe in this. We're in an equal partnership. Well, we have strength too.

[Becky Quick]

All that right after this break.

[Schwab Market Update Announcer]

This episode is brought to you by Schwab Market Update, an original podcast from Charles Schwab. Join host Keith Lansford for this information packed daily market Preview delivered in 10 minutes or less, including projected stock updates, monetary policy decisions, and key results and statistics that may impact your trading. Download the latest episode and [e-mail] MarketUpdatePodcast or find Schwab Market Update wherever you get your podcasts before we had ATT

[IXL and AT&T Business Wireless Advertiser]

Business Wireless coverage, our delivery GPS wasn't the most reliable. Once our driver had to do a 14 point turn to get back on route. A 14 point turn. An influencer even livestream the whole thing. Not good for business. Now with AT&T business Wireless routes are updating on the fly and deliveries are on time. And the influencer did get us 53 new followers though.

[AT&T Business Wireless Advertiser]

AT&T business Wireless connecting changes everything.

[IXL and AT&T Business Wireless Advertiser]

If you're a parent and want to help set up your child for success, then IXL is right for your family as an effective and affordable online learning program. IXL covers math, language arts, science and social studies using interactive practice problems for kids from Pre K to 12th grade. Listeners can get an exclusive 20% off IXL membership when they sign up today at ixl.com 20 Visit ixl.com 20 to get the most effective learning program out there at the best price.

[Becky Quick]

This is Squawk Pod.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

You're watching Squawk Box right here on cnbc. I'm Andrew Ossorkin along with Joe Kernan and Becky Quick. We got a lot going on this morning. Our next guest served as Europe's top antitrust cop who took on Big Tech and won. Joining us right now to talk AI plus the Iran war and the new World Order, Margaret Vestaire, who served as European Commissioner for Competition and his Executive Vice President, President of the European Commission. Good morning to you.

[AT&T Business Wireless Advertiser]

Morning. It's a pleasure to be here.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

It's great to see you having me. Before we get into the AI and tech world, I actually just want to get your sense of the situation in Iran and what seems to be a divide between so much of Europe, frankly, and the United States right now. What do you think?

[AT&T Business Wireless Advertiser]

Well, I think we view the Iranian regime absolutely the same way. There's no love lost there, full stop. The consequences of the war, they are felt all over the planet. You know, they have an energy crisis in Asia. We see the prices by the pump in Europe going up and up and up. This is not Europe's war. We would much have preferred what seems to be the case that there was actually a road to a negotiated outcome to make sure that the Iranians would never, ever get a bomb.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Do you believe that there could be a negotiated outcome? Come at this point. We were talking earlier, Ray Dalio, the hedge fund investor, has made this point that he believes any kind of agreement at this point is going to be worthless. And so ultimately you effectively have to own the Strait of Hormuz somehow.

[AT&T Business Wireless Advertiser]

Well, that that may be, but the road to get to that is really, really troublesome because Iran, Iran may not have the same assets, obviously not, but they, they sit on something absolutely crucial for the entire world. And the end game of this is essential because the sooner this will end, the better for the entire world economy

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

that's actually people's jobs. That's a big question about the idea of the sooner the better. Is it the sooner the better under almost any condition, or is it the sooner the better with regime change or something where there's a genuine meaningful outcome or concern? Do you think that right now you could say it's won and it's over?

[AT&T Business Wireless Advertiser]

I think it very much depends what you want to achieve because I don't know how regime change looks in Iran. I don't know how the end game will actually be. I don't know how a new relationship with Iran and the rest of the world will become. And all that uncertainty is bad not only for the us, it's bad for Europe, it's bad for Asia, even more so because of the energy crisis they have. There is, it's a global thing and I think everybody is looking at the US and waiting to see what is the plan, where, how to end this and what.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Here's the other piece of it though. Europe doesn't want to necessarily, it appears, be part of the plan, per say, meaning the President, President Trump has said, look, we want your help. And a number of European countries have said we're not participating in this. And so how do you think that impacts the relationship long term and do you think that changes?

[AT&T Business Wireless Advertiser]

I think the relationship has been changing for a very long time and it sort of encourages European leaders to be more and more independent from the US always in a relationship because this is the world we live in and this is what we want. But a Europe that is more self confident, that provides more solutions by itself in technology, in defence equipment, in competitiveness. And I think that is, this is one of the situation that actually pushes that development even further.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

You think this is that part of that? This is part of the sort of Mark Carney view of the world that he gave that famous speech?

[AT&T Business Wireless Advertiser]

I think so, yes.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

And you think that's where this is headed? Let me read something that you wrote and I thought it was interesting. You said the uncomfortable truth is that The World Order was already broken before Trump's first presidency. He didn't create the dysfunction. He just poured gasoline on the fire and accelerated the decline. Is there any way to fix that?

[AT&T Business Wireless Advertiser]

Well, this should be what we were doing right now, because before the first Trump presidency, you know, there were some legitimate criticism of the Western World Order by what we call the Global South. The double BTO didn't really work. The UN was not the peace promoter that it should have been. So of course we needed a New World Order. But right now, we're not approaching a New World Order. There is a war that affects everybody. Look at artificial intelligence. We were on a road led by the Japanese and the G7 context to have an ambitious common approach to the most, you know, wild risks of AI in order to use it constructively. All of that doesn't happen right now. And that could be the building stone of a New World Order, because this is something that we ought to all agree on.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Let me ask you about competition in AI, because one of the things that's clearly happening is to be successful in AI, you need a lot of capital and a lot of money to be able to build these data centers. And as a result, you have, for the most part, either these big incumbents, the hyperscalers, if you will, and then you have the open eyes and anthropics who effectively have massive or at their stakes, meaning ownership stakes, from all the other big players because they need the money long term. Do you think that there's going to be extraordinary competition in this space or do you say to yourself, the is by default has to be a concentrated business because it's like a utility in the end. And we were talking about Jeff Bezos had a line where he said AI is going to be like fire, it's that important, but it also is going to be sort of built into everything.

[AT&T Business Wireless Advertiser]

Yeah, I agree. That is that important. And because it's that important, you need to have many more sources than the very few that we have right now. You need European, you need US AI, you need Chinese, you need Indian AI, you need more sources in order not to be locked in. Because if, if we have a future where basically anthropic OpenAI they become the Internet, then competition will be lost.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

But here's a question. You, you're, you're regulator in Europe. Why has Europe not succeeded in creating a massive new player in this space? Mistral is probably the closest access to that in the tech space. You could say Spotify, but there are not a laundry list of them. And Part of the question is, is that a function of overregulation in Europe?

[AT&T Business Wireless Advertiser]

Actually it's a function of not providing a market. It's sort of the old capitalistic ingredients in success. Markets, huge market access and access to capital. And you know, this is the thrive in Europe to make this happen. Because this was why we lost the first round of, you know, big tech emerging, that the market was fragmented and capital couldn't see all these startups, all these amazing entrepreneurs. You just have very recently a European startup being sold to a US company and that traffic, you know, need to be stopped, but only if Europe can provide one market.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Joe's got a question back in the studio. Joe?

I did, just listening as a. I just don't know whether I'm hearing it in a certain way because of where I sit and where I stand. Commissioner, but is there any sense in Europe that this is almost a continuation of Europe being able to benefit from all the hard work the United States does for global security? And I'm thinking about Naito, I'm thinking about energy, I'm thinking about everything else, drug development. It seems like Europe is able to benefit from all these things that the United States does. Never has to make any hard decisions themselves, but benefits from everything that the United States does. It sort of comes riding in when everything's finished and it is in a much better position. Could that happen again here with no help whatsoever from Europe?

[AT&T Business Wireless Advertiser]

I don't see it that way.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Because us Yeah, I heard you. I think a lot of us see it that way. And you know, you have a much bigger social safety net. I mean, I don't know what Germany did with energy and everything else. You get in this horrible position, many times you're bailed out by the US and it just doesn't seem like there's a lot of gratitude.

[AT&T Business Wireless Advertiser]

Well, there's a lot of gratitude. I'd say that US because there's an 80 year long friendship between the US and Europe, there's very, very close connections. I'm in the US right now because I believe in this. There's a lot of gratitude. And the thing is that when you look at how that relationship has developed, there's also been a wish of keeping Europe down. That was never ever an idea that Europe should be a strong power. So I think that combination of sort of being slipped into dependencies and at the same time being a very important market and a very important partner, I think that relationship is much more complex than just saying you all benefited because Europe delivered as well. You know, When NATO delivered Danish soldiers, they were killed. And I think that is really important and in order not to say this can just be seen one way, because there are many more ways. And I think it's beneficial for the entire planet if Europe is more independent, not only from the US but also from Chinese supplies and definitely from Russian energy sources, because that is just, you know, enabling that war on Ukraine, which is basically also a war on Europe.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

But can you, before we go, do you think that Europe ultimately can be more independent? And I ask because I think as Joe was reflecting so much of the security, frankly, that the US has provided subsidies for drugs, I mean, all sorts of things. If you were to take some of those things away, it becomes much more complicated, much more quickly. And then the question is not so much can you be independent, but whether you end up partnering, frankly, with the China, which is something that Mark Carney suggested in Davos US I think the

[AT&T Business Wireless Advertiser]

point is what you say to be more independent because this is not an idea that Europe should do everything by itself. This is a way to say, well, in an equal partnership, well, we have strength too. And I think that is the way that Europe will go, recognizing obviously that when it comes to playing a fuller role within the NATO framework, that will take some time.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Commissioner, thank you for joining us.

[AT&T Business Wireless Advertiser]

It was a pleasure.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

It was great to see you.

[AT&T Business Wireless Advertiser]

Appreciate it.

[Becky Quick]

That's Squawk Pod for today. Thank you for listening. Squawkbox is hosted by Joe Kernan, Becky Quick and Andrew Rossworkin. You can tune in weekday mornings on cnbc starting at 6am Eastern to catch all three live. And we have a programming note for you. Please tune in to CNBC Cure's documentary Defying rare Disease that airs tonight this Thursday at 7 7pm Eastern. Our Becky Quick takes viewers inside the fight against rare disease and tells her own family's very personal story. Podcast listeners will have heard previews of this in the Path, the series of special conversations we've been publishing right here in the Squawk Pod feed. Please search the path and tune in tonight for much more. We'll meet you right back here tomorrow.

[IXL and AT&T Business Wireless Advertiser]

We we are clear.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Thanks guys.

[Zepbound Advertiser]

Snoring, Gasping during sleep? Feeling fatigued? Wake up to Zepbound Tirzepatide, the first and only FDA approved prescription medicine for moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea in adults with obesity. Zepbound is an injectable prescription medicine that may help adults with moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea, OSA and obesity to improve their osa. Zebbound should be used with a reduced calorie diet and increased physical activity. Zeb Bound is Approved as a 2.5, 5, 7.5, 10, 12.5 or 15mg injection. Zepbound contains Tirzepatide and should not be used with other tirzepatide containing products or any GLP1 receptor agonist medicines. It is not known if Zepbound is safe and effective for use in children. Do not share needles or pins or reuse needles. Don't take Zeb Bound if allergic to it or if you or someone in your family had medullary thyroid cancer or multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2. Tell your doctor if you get a lump or swelling in your neck. Stop Zepbound and call your doctor if you have severe stomach pain or a serious allergic reaction. Severe side effects may include inflamed pancreas or gallbladder problems. Tell your doctor if you experience vision changes, depression or suicidal thoughts before scheduled procedures with anesthesia. If you're nursing pregnant, plan to be or taking birth control pills. Taking Zepbound with a sulfonylurea or insulin may cause low blood sugar. Side effects include nausea, diarrhea and vomiting, which can cause dehydration and worsen kidney problems. Talk to your doctor, call 1-800-545-5979 or visit zepbound lily.

[IXL and AT&T Business Wireless Advertiser]

Com.

[Zepbound Advertiser]

Zepbound and its delivery device base and Quickpin are registered trademarks owned or licensed by Eli Lilly and company. Its subsidiaries or affiliates.