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Speaker 1: All right, back with Eddy and Jason Williams and for

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Speaker 1: Rocky Today and Jace. You know, there is other news

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Speaker 1: going on besides what's happening here in Cincinnati. And I'm

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Speaker 1: sure our guest right now, Alex Stone from ABC has

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Speaker 1: heard about that, but we digress. Yes, Alex Stone, the

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Speaker 1: other big story is the long security lines at the airports.

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Speaker 1: And it looks like now you tell us, first off,

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Speaker 1: welcome back to the program, gentlemen. Always a pleasure. So

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Speaker 1: what do we know about? So there was an agreement,

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Speaker 1: the Senate had passed an agreement. Now the House laughed

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Speaker 1: it off, but they're going to start paying the TSA guys.

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Speaker 1: What's going on?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, So the Department of Homeland Security is saying by Monday,

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Speaker 2: the TSA officers should be getting their paychecks again. And

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Speaker 2: it comes after the President ordered really it's going to

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Speaker 2: be moving money around until there is a deal done

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Speaker 2: when there's actual funding. But he's ordering the government to

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Speaker 2: pay the TSA officers to get money moving. And then

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Speaker 2: House figure Mike Johnson, he's the one who announced it.

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Speaker 2: Here's what he said just a few minutes ago.

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Speaker 3: Other than Trump has already ordered by executive order that

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Speaker 3: TSA agents will be paid and those that machinery is

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Speaker 3: in process right now. The offesome Menagement budget is working

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Speaker 3: through that to make sure that that happens, and we

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Speaker 3: will reduce the lines and the waves that the airlines

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Speaker 3: will make sure that those who are protecting us are paid.

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Speaker 2: So today they again the TSA officers got their second

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Speaker 2: zero dollar paycheck and the third paycheck the first one,

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Speaker 2: but three paychecks ago that was only like ten percent

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Speaker 2: of their paycheck because of the pay period. So really

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Speaker 2: they've gone three paychecks now without getting much, if any money.

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Speaker 2: So this could all change very quickly based on paychecks

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Speaker 2: flowing again if they are really going to begin getting

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Speaker 2: paid on Monday, but on the actual funding of it. Yet,

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Speaker 2: the Senates and the House a funding bill that left

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Speaker 2: out immigration enforcement just to get money going again to

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Speaker 2: the TSA, FEMA and the Coast Guard, and the Senate

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Speaker 2: House today rejected that they are now coming up with

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Speaker 2: their own bill that would include immigration enforcement, which is

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Speaker 2: what Democrats have been saying that they won't okay, and

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Speaker 2: they're going to send it back to the Senate, but

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Speaker 2: it's probably going to get held up in the Senate

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Speaker 2: because it's got immigration enforcement in it and doesn't do

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Speaker 2: what the Democrats have been holding out for, wanting to

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Speaker 2: change the rules of ICE and CVP and whatnot. So

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Speaker 2: who knows what's going to go on there, But either way,

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Speaker 2: with the President's executive order, it appears that TSA officers

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Speaker 2: very quickly are going to get paid and that should

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Speaker 2: put an end to these crazy long wait times. At

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Speaker 2: George Bush in her Continental Airport yesterday it was around

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Speaker 2: five hours to get through security, getting worse every day.

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Speaker 2: This one was trying to fly out, it was five hours.

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Speaker 2: She could have driven a lot quicker.

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Speaker 3: Traveling from Houston to Goton Rouge. So I should have

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Speaker 3: just driven it right the five hours hilarious next to.

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Speaker 2: This, Yeah, so we just got to we got to

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Speaker 2: see it. At least a text that's going to all

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Speaker 2: TSA officers saying that they will at their back pay

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Speaker 2: beginning on Monday and effective tomorrow, all employees must return

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Speaker 2: to work. Now, the expectation has been through all of

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Speaker 2: this that they were going to work, but the reality

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Speaker 2: is that come into play of not being able to

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Speaker 2: pay for gas or childcare or you know, a lot

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Speaker 2: of them have just quit and gone to other jobs.

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Speaker 2: So they're down in numbers as well. But yesterday in Houston,

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Speaker 2: forty four percent of TSA officers called out sick. Forty

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Speaker 2: four almost half were gone, forty percent in Atlanta, thirty

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Speaker 2: seven percent in Baltimore, thirty four percent at JFK Airport

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Speaker 2: in New York, thirty one percent in New Orleans, twenty

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Speaker 2: four percent in Phoenix. So this has been a big hit,

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Speaker 2: and a lot of these airports where they had multiple checkpoints,

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Speaker 2: they had to go down to one or two checkpoints,

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Speaker 2: really slowing everything down. But again, with the funding maybe

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Speaker 2: being approved in the next couple of days, they try

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Speaker 2: to come to a deal. But really with the order

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Speaker 2: for the Department of Homeland Security and the government, the

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Speaker 2: budget off has to come up with the money, they

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Speaker 2: should get paid beginning on Monday.

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Speaker 4: I think Alex you kind of answered the question, but

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Speaker 4: my question was Monday is when they're getting paid. But

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Speaker 4: in the interim it is peak spring break travel season

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Speaker 4: coming and going, and my family, my own family right

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Speaker 4: now is they're flying out of Savannah back to Cincinnati tomorrow.

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Speaker 4: But what you're saying is this this should now by

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Speaker 4: today's announcement, though they're only not getting paid till Monday,

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Speaker 4: this weekend and even maybe even tonight. Right, things should

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Speaker 4: be getting back to normal or back to normal.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, that's the order, is that they've got

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Speaker 2: to come back now. Granted again that there have been

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Speaker 2: hundreds who have just quit, and there's a reason for

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Speaker 2: that in that TSA officers don't make much money, and

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Speaker 2: that there are some areas of the country where they

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Speaker 2: can make more going and working at an Amazon warehouse

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Speaker 2: or working at a fast food restaurant, and so some

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Speaker 2: of them have said, you know what, enough of this

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Speaker 2: after several government shutdowns, this one going on for a

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Speaker 2: long time, that they're done, that they're out, and that

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Speaker 2: they're not going to deal with any longer. But those

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Speaker 2: who have not quit, they are being told no more

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Speaker 2: are calling out sick, that effective immediately get back in

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Speaker 2: and work those security checkpoints now, assuming that they follow

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Speaker 2: that order and that they don't say, well, I want

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Speaker 2: to see a paycheck first, or you know, even now

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Speaker 2: they may say I don't have any money for gas,

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Speaker 2: so I'll be there once you start paying me again.

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Speaker 2: But they should get back pay, and they are being

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Speaker 2: ordered back, but at least by early next week, assuming

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Speaker 2: that the President's executive order that it flies through and

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Speaker 2: that paychecks really do begin flowing and there's not some

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Speaker 2: lawsuit that holds it up or something else, then yeah,

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Speaker 2: early next week things should be back to normal for

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Speaker 2: the most part, except for the ranks that they've got

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Speaker 2: a fill again. For those who have just quit and walked.

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Speaker 4: Away, right well, God, God, God bless those folks who

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Speaker 4: have gotten up every day without knowing when their next

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Speaker 4: paycheck's coming and still going to work. And do those

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Speaker 4: folks who have still come to work it are they

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Speaker 4: going to get anything extra? I know they're going to

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Speaker 4: start getting their their pay and their back pay. Are

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Speaker 4: they going to get anything on top of that?

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Speaker 1: As like.

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Speaker 2: They got a kind of a reward for working in

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Speaker 2: the one last year, but we haven't heard of anything

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Speaker 2: this year so far that they haven't gotten that far.

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Speaker 2: But I gotta tell you, I was a lax a

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Speaker 2: couple of times this week covering everything going on, and

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Speaker 2: the TSA officers who are working had smiles on their faces.

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Speaker 2: They were relaxed. They were, you know, saying, Hey, this

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Speaker 2: is just kind of what we do. And they were

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Speaker 2: getting fed by the airport. The airport was giving them

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Speaker 2: lunch and they were all kind of walking, you know,

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Speaker 2: around on their brakes with the They were in really

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Speaker 2: good moods. I would be really grumpy if I didn't

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Speaker 2: get paid for a month and was being told I

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Speaker 2: had to show up to work. They were handling it

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Speaker 2: very very well.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, And I saw because I just flew back from

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Speaker 1: Tampa just a couple of weeks ago, and I saw

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Speaker 1: the same thing Alex. The people who were there on

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Speaker 1: the line, but this was right before all of this

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Speaker 1: stuff happened. I mean, I was lucky, but the people

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Speaker 1: who are working were couldn't have been nicer. And to

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Speaker 1: everybody's credit, going through the line, I don't believe I

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Speaker 1: didn't hear one person say some kind of statement of

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Speaker 1: great attitude towards them, being a thank you for being here.

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Speaker 2: Great.

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Speaker 1: Everybody was being super nice about it, and that was

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Speaker 1: good to see.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. And I mean, this isn't their fault at all,

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Speaker 2: and it's not even their fight because the Democrats have

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Speaker 2: been holding out over Immigration enforcement and ICE agents have

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Speaker 2: been paid through this whole thing because they're considered law enforcement.

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Speaker 2: TSA is not law enforcement, but during government shutdowns, law

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Speaker 2: enforcement continues to get paid and that's an argument that

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Speaker 2: needs to have some resolution during these things of how

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Speaker 2: do we get TSA paid and air traffic controllers paid?

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Speaker 2: They weren't included in this one, but during the last

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Speaker 2: government shutdown, because FBI agents continue to get paid, of

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Speaker 2: federal agents in general, their law enforcement, even during a shutdown,

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Speaker 2: they get paid, but the others do not. But so

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Speaker 2: this wasn't the TSA's fight. This was over immigration enforcement.

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Speaker 2: But those who were being that they were fighting over

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Speaker 2: were continuing to get paid and the TSA officers were

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Speaker 2: not and are not right now, but hopefully well in

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Speaker 2: the next couple of days. So. Yeah, and it hasn't

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Speaker 2: been everywhere, by the way, there's been no rate.

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Speaker 1: That's what I'm going to ask.

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Speaker 2: You could walk right through security. It hasn't been anything

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Speaker 2: like some of these other cities. So it really depends

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Speaker 2: on the city.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, because my experience here in Cincinnati hasn't been bad.

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Speaker 1: But when I traveled, I was traveling kind of the

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Speaker 1: off time in the afternoon and stuff, so it wasn't bad.

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Speaker 1: But some of the morning pictures I've seen are truly horrendous.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean Atlanta, Houston, Phoenix, Baltimore, some of them

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Speaker 2: have been really, really bad, you.

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Speaker 1: Pointed out Houston five hour wait new Thanks Alex Stone,

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Speaker 1: always a pleasure, buddy, Thanks so much.

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Speaker 2: You got it big. Guys have a great weekend.

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Speaker 1: Thanks Alex Stone for ABC News's