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The TSA Crisis Is What Happens when Democrats put Politics Before Public Safety · The Ben Ferguson Podcast

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  Speaker 1: Our powerful military campaign to end the threats posed by
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  Speaker 1: the Iranian regime continued in full force over the past
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  Speaker 1: few days. They have been literally obliterated. The air force
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  Speaker 1: is gone, the navy is gone. Many many ships have
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  Speaker 1: been sunk. Their war fighting ships, but I guess they
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  Speaker 1: didn't know how to use them. And anti aircraft is decimated,
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  Speaker 1: their radar is gone, and their leaders are gone.
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  Speaker 2: Other than that, they're doing quite well.
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  Speaker 3: If you're listening to the forty seven Morning Update with
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  Speaker 3: Ben ferguson.
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  Speaker 4: Good Tuesday morning, it's signs to have you with us
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  Speaker 4: on the forty seven Morning Update. We've got one big
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  Speaker 4: story for you. Airports are getting worse by the day.
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  Speaker 4: TSA agents are quitting and the lines are getting longer.
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  Speaker 4: And now Republicans and the White House are demanding immediate funding,
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  Speaker 4: while the Democrats stall on purpose. So what is their
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  Speaker 4: next move? But before we get to that, I want
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  Speaker 4: to take a moment and ask you to help the
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  Speaker 4: people in Israel. My friends at the IFCJ working right
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  Speaker 4: now on the ground for all those in need. Having
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  Speaker 4: just come back from Israel, I want to paint you
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  Speaker 4: a picture. It's midnight, sirens are blearing, and you have
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  Speaker 4: only seconds to grab your child and run. Now imagine
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  Speaker 4: your elderly. Your legs don't work like they used to.
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  Speaker 4: Getting downstairs feels impossible, and after all of that, you
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  Speaker 4: end up in a bomb shelter for hours, even days,
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  Speaker 4: because you can't make the trek again. This is what's
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  Speaker 4: happening across Israel as Operation Epic Fury continues. Children are
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  Speaker 4: being traumatized, families are just exhausted, and homes have been destroyed.
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  Speaker 4: And that's why the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews
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  Speaker 4: is there on the ground, bringing food, emergency equipment, care
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  Speaker 4: for those children, and help for the elderly, and supplying
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  Speaker 4: the bomb shelters and medical centers for critically needed essentials.
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  Speaker 4: If you've ever wondered what it looks like to stand
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  Speaker 4: for Israel and stand for good against evil, this is
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  Speaker 4: it and that's why I'm asking to now please act.
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  Speaker 4: Give forty five dollars right now to rush life saving
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  Speaker 4: essentials to the vulnerables under fire. You can also call
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  Speaker 4: eight to eight for eight eight IFCJ. That's eight eight
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  Speaker 4: eight for eight eight IFCJ. Join me and give and
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  Speaker 4: make a real difference online at IFCJ dot org.
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  Speaker 2: That's IFCJ dot org.
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  Speaker 4: It's the forty seven Morning Update, and it starts right now.
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  Speaker 2: Story number one.
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  Speaker 4: It is official. Democrats got exactly what they wanted. There
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  Speaker 4: is a growing crisis at airports across the United States
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  Speaker 4: of America today and it's directly tied to a political
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  Speaker 4: battle in Washington over the funding of ICE. That is
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  Speaker 4: holding literally America's airports and you, if you're traveler hostage.
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  Speaker 4: Right now, more than fifty thousand transportations to Security Administration
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  Speaker 4: officers are working without pay after Congress yet again failed
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  Speaker 4: to pass a full funding bill for the Department of
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  Speaker 4: Homeland Security. The shutdown began after lawmakers failed to reach
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  Speaker 4: an agreement over immigration enforcement and broader DHS spinning priorities
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  Speaker 4: and the consequences they're immediate, according to federal officials. Today,
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  Speaker 4: TSA union representatives are also confirming that more than three
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  Speaker 4: hundred TSA officers have already quit since the shutdown began.
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  Speaker 4: Democrats knew that this was going to happen. They designed
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  Speaker 4: this on purpose. About ten percent of TSA officers called
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  Speaker 4: out or failed to report to work during the first
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  Speaker 4: weekend without full pay as well. Normally, absentee rates are
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  Speaker 4: around two to three percent, meaning absentees have quadrupled or
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  Speaker 4: more depending on which airport you are going to. The
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  Speaker 4: major airports have reported more than twenty percent staffing shortages
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  Speaker 4: during peak travel periods. And it's spring break for many Americans,
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  Speaker 4: and remember, TSA officers are considered a central personnel, meaning
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  Speaker 4: they are required to keep working even if they are
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  Speaker 4: not being paid. They will get back pay eventually. Now,
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  Speaker 4: ABC News and others are forced to cover this ongoing crisis,
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  Speaker 4: and as spring break surge, the strain has gotten even worse.
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  Speaker 5: The spring break travel crush underway, expected to be the
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  Speaker 5: busiest ever as millions fill airports across the country. Early
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  Speaker 5: this morning, security lines sneaking outside the airport in Austin, Texas,
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  Speaker 5: the travel surge coming as sixty thousand TSA officers are
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  Speaker 5: already feeling the squeeze, receiving their first zero dollar paycheck today.
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  Speaker 5: With funding still halted for the Department of Homeland Security,
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  Speaker 5: with no end in sight, morals low.
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  Speaker 2: Your bills are still going to keep, but you have.
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  Speaker 5: No way to band to ease the burden. Food bantries
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  Speaker 5: opening up from JFK to Seattle, Denver's Airport accepting food
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  Speaker 5: and Gascard donations for its TSA officers.
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  Speaker 3: It hurts the pride you have to go and stand
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  Speaker 3: in the line, you know, to receive food and things,
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  Speaker 3: when the only thing you've done is show up like
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  Speaker 3: you're supposed to.
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  Speaker 5: Nearly a month into the shutdown, more than three hundred
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  Speaker 5: TSA officers have quit callouts, more than doubling.
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  Speaker 4: President Trump demanding that these TSA agents receive their paychecks.
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  Speaker 4: Democrats are saying no, we want them to suffer because
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  Speaker 4: we don't like ice agents that are actually not TSA
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  Speaker 4: agents at the airport.
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  Speaker 2: This is what you call political revenge.
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  Speaker 4: And for many of these agents, by the way, the
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  Speaker 4: financial pressure is immediate. The average frontline TSA officer that
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  Speaker 4: you meet at the airport, their salary is roughly forty
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  Speaker 4: five to sixty thousand per year, meaning missing even one
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  Speaker 4: paycheck can create major financial stress for families trying to
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  Speaker 4: pay rent, mortgages, groceries, as well as childcare. Now, Republicans
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  Speaker 4: and President Trump had been leading the push to fund
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  Speaker 4: the TSA. Republicans in Congress say the crisis is entirely avoidable.
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  Speaker 4: They have introduced legislation that would fully fund just the
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  Speaker 4: TSA operations and the rest of the Department of Homelanned Security.
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  Speaker 4: But Democrats, holding America hostage during spring break, have refused
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  Speaker 4: to advance the funding bill. They say, unless immigration enforcement
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  Speaker 4: provisions are stripped out, this is all about political revenge.
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  Speaker 4: President Trump has repeatedly urged Congress to fund TSA and
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  Speaker 4: border security immediately. Trump said in a statement about the shutdown, quote,
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  Speaker 4: our TSA officers and border agents protect America every single day.
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  Speaker 4: They should never be forced to work without pay because
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  Speaker 4: of politics in Washington. In another statement on the DHS
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  Speaker 4: funding fight, Trump said today this quote, we must fund
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  Speaker 4: Home land security, fully, fund TSA and secure our borders.
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  Speaker 4: Republicans are ready to do that right now. Republican leaders
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  Speaker 4: argue that air travel securities should not become a political
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  Speaker 4: bargaining chip, especially during periods of heightened global tension, and
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  Speaker 4: multiple terrorist attacks have taken place in the United States
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  Speaker 4: of America over the last ten days. At the same time, however,
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  Speaker 4: several prominent Democrats have previously called for dramatically reducing or
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  Speaker 4: even eliminating the TSA.
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  Speaker 2: Do you really want to fly on planes?
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  Speaker 4: Is the question all Americans should ask without going through security.
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  Speaker 4: Who are the Democrats behind this idea. Example number one
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  Speaker 4: Alexandra Cortes, known as AOC. She's previously supported proposals to restrict, structure,
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  Speaker 4: or eliminate TSA as part of broader federal policing reforms.
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  Speaker 4: Alamo mar another radical of the left, has also expressed
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  Speaker 4: support for reducing federal security agencies and redirecting resources towards
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  Speaker 4: what she described as other priorities, meaning you could get
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  Speaker 4: on a plane and not go through security. In twenty
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  Speaker 4: twenty and twenty twenty one, there were multiple Progressive Democrats
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  Speaker 4: that supported policy platforms that proposed abolishing or privatizing airport
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  Speaker 4: security systems, arguing that the TSA was ineffective or overly intrusive,
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  Speaker 4: so therefore you should just be able to take anything
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  Speaker 4: you want on an airplane. It's like, you know, the
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  Speaker 4: honor system, until a terrorist decides to blow up a plane.
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  Speaker 4: Those proposals are now reservicing again this week during the
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  Speaker 4: current funding fight, with some progressive lawmakers arguing that DHS
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  Speaker 4: agencies should it'd be fundamentally restructured rather than simply funded.
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  Speaker 4: Now the airlines are now getting into the game. They're
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  Speaker 4: warning of security risks. Major airlines are now warning that
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  Speaker 4: the situation could spiral if the shutdown continues. And then
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  Speaker 4: there's the travelers themselves. They're furious over the lines. Just
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  Speaker 4: take a listen to NBC's local DC affiliate and how
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  Speaker 4: they are now talking about the real story of what
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  Speaker 4: has happened at the airports all because of the Democrats.
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  Speaker 6: Yeah, you know, so much concern about TSA checkpoint lines
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  Speaker 6: all across the country. Right now. We can show you
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  Speaker 6: what it looks like at Reagan National Airport. Pretty good
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  Speaker 6: for the moment. Everything moving pretty smoothly right now. But
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  Speaker 6: it's what's happening behind the scenes here that's really starting
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  Speaker 6: to cause concern.
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  Speaker 1: Well.
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  Speaker 6: TSA workers are about to miss their second paycheck of
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  Speaker 6: this ongoing partial government shutdown. And that's on top of
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  Speaker 6: what these workers went through during the long this government
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  Speaker 6: shut down ever in the fall, where many missed multiple
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  Speaker 6: paychecks as well, Adam.
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  Speaker 7: And that's the stress part is what's really not being reported.
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  Speaker 6: I think Joe Schucker is with the union that represents
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  Speaker 6: TSA employees in the mid Atlantic. Now, TSA sources are
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  Speaker 6: telling News for that it's gotten so bad that some
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  Speaker 6: workers are sleeping in their cars outside of airports. Including
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  Speaker 6: Dallas International, because those workers can't pay rent or afford
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  Speaker 6: gas to drive around.
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  Speaker 7: I know that's a fact, no doubt. It's a stressful
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  Speaker 7: enough job as it is. You're looking for bombs, you're
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  Speaker 7: looking for weapons. Right now you have the out of
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  Speaker 7: stress of how am I going to feed my family tomorrow?
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  Speaker 7: How am I going to put gas in my car?
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  Speaker 6: A senior TSA official confirms and internal report to NBC
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  Speaker 6: News that around three hundred officers have now quit and
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  Speaker 6: many many more are calling out sick. That's part of
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  Speaker 6: the issue that's been causing long lines at some TSA
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  Speaker 6: checkpoints across the country.
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  Speaker 7: At some point, officers going to hit a breaking point,
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  Speaker 7: and like I said, it's going to be a perfect storm.
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  Speaker 7: We're heading in the spring break and the officers haven't
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  Speaker 7: got paid in two months.
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  Speaker 6: When I asked him the solution, he said, simply, they have.
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  Speaker 2: To pay us.
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  Speaker 4: Now you add all this in with what the airlines
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  Speaker 4: are saying. Executives from American Delta Southwest have now urged
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  Speaker 4: Congress directly to resolve the crisis quickly. They warned that
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  Speaker 4: the continued staffing shorges could increase security weight times, force
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  Speaker 4: checkpoint closures altogether and caused major airport delays nationwide. During
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  Speaker 4: previous shutdowns, wait times at some airport stretched to over
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  Speaker 4: two hours. As TSA staffing shorges grew. The numbers behind
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  Speaker 4: the crisis are truly incredible. Fifty plus thousand TSA officers
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  Speaker 4: are now working officially without.
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  Speaker 2: Any pay at all.
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  Speaker 4: Eighty five thousand Department Home and Security employees are also affected.
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  Speaker 4: One hundred plus TSA agents have already quit, and the
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  Speaker 4: absence rate from work is jumping day after day from
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  Speaker 4: two all the way up to about ten percent. Many
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  Speaker 4: airports are also seeing major shortages this morning as well,
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  Speaker 4: as I mentioned earlier, depending on how organized the workers become.
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  Speaker 4: Some airports are reporting twenty percent staffing shortages TSA officers.
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  Speaker 4: They're not getting rich the average salaries I mentioned earlier
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  Speaker 4: forty five to sixty thousand annually, and that's exactly why
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  Speaker 4: many of them are sleeping in their cars at the airport.
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  Speaker 4: So this is the bottom line for President Trump. Airport
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  Speaker 4: securities should not be political. Airport security in the United
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  Speaker 4: States is now caught in the middle of a political
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  Speaker 4: fight only because of the Democrats. Republicans say they are
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  Speaker 4: ready to pass the bill that would fully fund TSA immediately,
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  Speaker 4: and Democrats are saying no, they want open borders, they
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  Speaker 4: want broader immigration concessions meaning more legal immigrants in America
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  Speaker 4: before they agree to give you homeland security funding. President
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  Speaker 4: Trump has also made it clear in another issue, it's
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  Speaker 4: time for you to call your congressman and your senator
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  Speaker 4: and demand that our airports are taken off the political
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  Speaker 4: shopping block.
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  Speaker 3: Thank you for listening to the forty seven Morning Update
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  Speaker 3: with Ben Ferguson. Please make sure you hit subscribe wherever
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  Speaker 3: and we will see you back here tomorrow