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Runway Collision at LaGuardia; ICE Agents to Help at Airports; Trump Postpones Strikes; Supreme Court Considers Election Deadline. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired March 23, 2026 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Police say they have video of the crash and they are investigating how and why this happened.

All right, the field of 64 now just 16. And zero perfect brackets remain across the country, thanks in large part to the loss and chaos last night. The reigning national champs, my Florida Gators, well, they just couldn't hold on. Nine seed Iowa took them out. The game came all the way down to the final seconds with the Gators up two points, but with four seconds to go, Iowa forward Alvaro Folgueiras stopped -- he stepped back into the corner and hit the game-winning three pointer to put the Hawkeyes over the top. The Gators are the first number one seed in this year's tournament to be eliminated.

And Saint Johns outlasted the Kansas Jayhawks' comeback bid with a game-winning buzzer beater, cementing their spot in the Sweet 16 for the first time in nearly 30 years.

There is also a winner in this room, that is Erica Hill, who has gotten the best bracket of, I think, the whole company at this point. So, good for you.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, really?

SIDNER: I think so.

HILL: Wow. OK.

SIDNER: Well, we'll find out.

HILL: I'll take it.

SIDNER: A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

HILL: Not going to last.

Breaking this morning, President Trump now backing off his threat to obliterate Iran's oil fields. That's of course after he said the U.S. and Iran had held -- were holding, quote, "productive conversations." Iran, however, says there has been no dialog between Tehran and Washington. Also breaking this morning, New York's LaGuardia Airport closed after

a passenger plane collided with a fire truck on the runway while that plane was landing. Two people are dead, dozens more injured. Officials now looking into how this could have happened.

And the travel chaos stretching into yet another week. Long security lines at airports across the country. And this morning, ICE agents also now at airports to help with the security lines amid this ongoing partial government shutdown.

John and Kate are out today. I'm Erica Hill, along with Sara Sidner. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

SIDNER: Breaking this morning, we're learning the Air Canada passenger plane that crashed into a fire truck on the runway at LaGuardia Airport in New York was apparently trying to slow down right before the collision. The pilot and copilot ended up being killed. Dozens of people on the flight were injured. It happened as the plane was landing at LaGuardia from Montreal. New data just in suggests the plane slowed down to about 104 miles an hour, down from 130 miles per hour. Air traffic control audio captured the moments right before that collision.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOWNER: Frontier 4195, just stop there, please. Stop, stop, stop, stop, truck one, stop, stop, stop! Stop, truck one! Stop! Truck one, stop!

Jazz 646, I see you collided with the vehicle. Just hold position. I know you can't move. Vehicles are responding to you now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: Really tense audio there. Forty-one people were taken to the hospital, including the two firefighters in that truck. LaGuardia Airport will remain closed until at least 2:00 this afternoon. The NTSB is, of course, investigating this incident. The FAA also doing so.

CNN's Shimon Prokupecz is at LaGuardia Airport for us.

Shimon, you've been there all morning into -- in the overnight hours as well just looking at the enormity of this crash. What are you learning?

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Oh, it's just horrific. And when you listen to that audio, it's just so chilling to hear what ultimately is an air traffic controller's worst nightmare is watching something unfold, trying to stop it. You hear the air traffic controller where right now, by all accounts, it appears that this air traffic controller cleared this crash truck, this fire truck to enter the runway, and then seconds later tried to stop it, realizing what could possibly happen. And out here this morning, I want to show you, Sara, we've been

watching emergency officials, some of the airport officials out here on the runway looking over the plane. You could see the front, the nose of that Air Canada jet just smashed. The collision going down the runway, barreling down this runway at over 100 miles an hour. As you said, a passenger that we interviewed said that he could feel the pilots trying to stop, breaking, a sudden break, but still, that couldn't stop that plane, which was going over 100 miles an hour. And it crashed into that fire truck, that yellow crash truck you see on its side. And that's where those two -- they're actually Port Authority police officers that are trained in air disasters and air response.

[09:05:03]

They were in that truck. They were taken to the hospital.

But out here you could see, you could see some of those yellow trucks -- Steve, let's show that to Sara here -- that's what it looks like. That's what was responding. One of those trucks was responding to an emergency that was called by a different flight, a different plane, a United flight that was experiencing some odor in the cockpit. They aborted a takeoff. And so that's what brought the crash truck out. They asked air traffic control. Air traffic control cleared them. And then seconds later, the collision.

The pilot and copilot were tragically killed. But somehow they were still able to push on those brakes and ultimately the plane came to a stop. Nine people remain in the hospital, and we hope to hear -- usually the process here is that we would hear from the NTSB at some point today. So, we're waiting to hear about that.

SIDNER: Yes, a lot of, you know, people want to know exactly how this happened. But the work of those pilots may have really saved some lives, being able to slow that plane down before impact.

Shimon Prokupecz, thank you so much. Do appreciate your reporting out there with you and your crew.

Erica.

HILL: Well, Sara, that deadly collision comes, of course, as airports are already reeling from these massive lines and the wait times we're seeing for security as a partial government shutdown drags on. The Trump administration is now turning to ICE agents for a possible temporary fix. This force telling CNN, ICE is deploying to 13 airports today across the country. Trump officials say those agents will help with the massive wait times and the staffing shortages among TSA officers. They, of course, are working without pay. But it's important to note, it's not clear exactly how these ICE agents are going to be used to actually reduce wait times. More than 400 TSA officers have also quit since the partial shutdown began on February 14th. DHS says more than 11 percent of TSA workers called out on Saturday. That would mark the highest number calling out since this began.

CNN's Ryan Young is live at Atlanta's Hartsfield Jackson International Airport.

So, Ryan, you've seen some of those ICE agents today. You also showed us, at the top of the show, some insane security lines all the way outside. Where do things stand at this hour?

RYAN YOUNG, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, the security lines are still outside, and that's just for precheck as well. We have seen ICE agents here. The ICE agents have been supporting the overall movement of people inside here. They are walking around doing security. They're not checking folks in. So, I'm not sure how they'll help alleviate the traffic here.

But look back this direction, because we've been trying to show you a birds eye view, a perspective of just how many people are here. If you're not here, it's hard to see just the sea of people that are here. And it just stretches on as far as the eye can see. Normally, by this time, the folks who are outside will be back inside. If we come back with our camera as we focus down this direction, as far as the eye can see, there are people standing in line. We've talked to several people who've been waiting in the TSA precheck line over 3.5 hours. And so you understand the emotions that are connected to this as they miss their flights.

Take a listen to two women that we spoke to just an hour ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LYNNE MOYER, PASSENGER WAITING AT ATLANTA AIRPORT: Three hours, yes.

YOUNG: And you're OK with that? Like, you're OK with doing the three hours?

MOYER: Well, I've been watching you. I know about the news. I knew it would be bad. I came prepared.

YOUNG: OK.

MOYER: Now, there's a lady that had a Starbucks, and I thought to myself, what a great idea, you know, make it enjoyable. Then she had to go to the bathroom. You get out of the line. So, that's my one advice, don't drink coffee in this line.

YOUNG: Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG: So, here's the real question here. A lot of folks have either been dealing with trying to check in when you get here. This check-in line now is one of the shortest it's been in quite some time. That's on the Delta side. On the north side with a lot of the other airlines, people are taking up to 45 minutes to check in their bags if they brought those. And then they got to stand in line for over three hours.

So, we've seen, as always, people dealing with missing their flights, trying to rebook. That's been a part of this story. We've been covering this for over a week now. When you add on the impact of this, and you see they do have at least an extra officer on this side, they've added SWAT members and extra police officers throughout the airport to keep people safe and to help move people around. On top of that, those ICE agents are here, but they're not checking people in. I want to make that point clear. So, the airport lines that are open, these are the TSA agents. The ones who've shown up today, those are the ones who are pushing these folks through.

HILL: Wow. By the way, I love that woman's advice. The coffee might be nice, but not if you need a potty break.

Ryan, appreciate it, as always.

CNN's Jason Carroll, by the way, is live on the scene for us. He is at Newark Liberty International Airport. So, last hour we spoke with you, there was a ground stop. Is that still in effect?

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ground stop no longer in effect. What we have seen here is actually just the opposite of what you just saw from Ryan Young. Look at the wait time here at Newark Airport. Less than five minutes. I mean even on a regular day at Newark this would be considered a good day.

[09:10:02]

So, no lines to speak of here.

But what we have seen are those ICE agents. We've seen two groups of them. We got here early this morning, just at around 6:30 or so. Saw a group of ICE agents make their way through Terminal A. And then just a short while ago, we saw a second group of ICE agents making their way through the terminal. Both times the ICE agents were unmasked.

It is unclear what their role specifically will be here at this airport, because once we saw them move through Terminal A, through this area back over here, they went into a secured area. So, again, what their role will be here, still very much of a question mark.

Over the weekend though, we heard from the border czar, Tom Homan, who spoke to CNN's Dana Bash about specifics, specifically about what ICE agents will be doing at various U.S. airports. Here's a bit of what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM HOMAN, BORDER CZAR: This is about going to -- helping TSA do their mission and get the American public through that airport as quickly as they can while adhering to all the security guidelines and the protocols. We're simply there to help TSA do their job in areas that don't need their specialized expertise.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: Now, we've spoken to a number of passengers this morning about not only the wait, most of the people telling us that they've been heeding the warnings and getting here at least three hours before their flight, but also about their feelings about ICE agents being here on the ground. And pretty much getting the same consensus, which is that there seems to be a feeling that it's pretty much unfair. Unfair to the TSA workers who are here working, not getting paid, as opposed to ICE, who are here working, and they are getting paid.

Back to you.

HILL: Yes. Jason, Ryan, appreciate it. Thank you both.

Sara.

SIDNER: It's really a tale of two airports. We're seeing long lines in some and almost nothing in others.

All right, breaking this morning, conflicting accounts between President Trump and Iran. President Trump, this morning, said the U.S. has had productive talks with Tehran, and that he had postponed military strikes on Iran's power plants. But shortly after, Iranian state TV cited the country's foreign ministry saying there is no dialog.

CNN's Kevin Liptak is at the White House.

Kevin, there is a big discrepancy here. The president saying one thing, the Iranians saying another. What are you learning?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, and I think this may be how exactly you define having a conversation. Certainly, there are no direct talks that we know of between the U.S. and Iran. Although, as I understand it, according to people familiar with the matter, that there have been messages passed back and forth between countries like Turkey, like Egypt, trying to sort of get the read of either side.

And, of course, this is now significant. It's the first time that the president has actually said publicly that there are conversations. Up until now he has not sounded all that open to any kind of negotiation that would end this conflict. And so, that in itself, I think, is meaningful, as is the president's decision to postpone any attack on Iranian power plants.

And this is part of what these messages that were passed back and forth over the weekend were about were warning of the major sort of escalation and retaliation that that would prompt from the Iranians.

You know, the -- Tehran had warned that it would strike energy facilities in the gulf, even potentially desalination facilities in those countries that really rely on them for all of their fresh water. And so, this is a significant step that the president has decided to open the window for some potential discussions to continue.

But at this point, it is still entirely unclear about who exactly these conversations are with. Remember, the president had said in the past that all of the Iranian officials that he thought would be worthwhile talking to had been killed as part of this conflict. We also don't know exactly what the president means when he says he's

looking for a complete and total resolution to the conflict. Does that mean, for example, that Iran would be able to keep the highly enriched uranium that remains buried underground at one of its nuclear facilities? Does it allow Iran to maintain the ability to close the Strait of Hormuz in the future? A lot of unanswered questions about what exactly these conversations and these negotiations actually consist of. But it does seem clear that the president is looking for a way to find some sort of negotiated settlement to this conflict as we now enter week four.

SIDNER: Yes, I mean, that is one of the things that's clear here that maybe people didn't realize, there were some back-channel talks happening while the war is still ongoing.

Kevin Liptak, thank you so much for your reporting there from the White House.

Erica.

HILL: Joining us now, CNN political and national security analyst David Sanger, and CNN global affairs analyst Kim Dozier.

Good to have both of you with us.

So, you know, as Kevin was just laying out, this, I think, came as a surprise to a lot of people when that Truth Social post came out earlier this morning.

[09:15:06]

The fact that there may even be talks. Iran, of course, pushing back on that, David, saying, hey, this isn't happening at all. What could this potentially mean though in terms of a possible diplomatic off ramp?

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, the good news, Erica, is that the president now sees the importance of trying to come to some deal, some kind of way out. It was only three days ago that in one of his Truth Socials he said he didn't want to deal, that Iran was being obliterated and that he was going to continue in that regard.

He also built himself a little bit of a box here by setting this 48- hour deadline, which would have run out tonight in which he said he was going to attack these energy plants, which would, among other things, be a violation of the Geneva Conventions and raise the question of whether he included in those attacks the Bushehr nuclear power plant. He said the largest, but he didn't specify which one.

So, he needed some time. And this five days, whether it's truly from an agreement or not, gives him some time. It also gives him time to get those Marines in place in case he needs to force open the strait.

HILL: It also, in many ways, Kim gives him time to keep talking, right, to allies. There have been significant responses, specifically from NATO allies. And I would point to, I think, Germany and the Netherlands, as we try to figure out what kind of support there could be moving forward as there is this push to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. I mean how much do you think this messaging from leaders is, in fact, having an impact on President Trump?

KIM DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, I think what is having the most impact is the fact that the Iranians were still able to fire missiles over the weekend that reached, for instance, southern Israel, causing a number of injuries, but also coming near to one of Israel's nuclear installations. And you don't make that kind of threat to an enemy that can still strike back and follow through with its threats. Because, of course, Iran said, if you hit our energy infrastructure, we're basically going to, you know, no holds barred hit infrastructure across the gulf. And they could leave much of the energy infrastructure with decades to rebuild if they follow through with that threat.

So, he's bought himself some time, as David was saying, and he's also basically given a chance for negotiators who are trying to reach out from Qatar, from Oman, from Turkey, from Egypt, to get some sort of talks going that could lead to a settlement. But at this point, tempers are really still very high on both sides.

HILL: Tempers are high. There's also -- I mean there is sort of ongoing confusion. And, David, you had some expert analysis about this over the weekend about the president's continuously shifting goals. Not only shifting, but sometimes they drop off the list altogether. That had quite a reaction from the president over the weekend, which clearly you may have struck a nerve, but it's important to point out, right, as people are trying to figure out how long this war is going to last and what the end game is to, you know, to Kevin Liptak's point, there are still a lot of questions about what the president's words mean when he says them.

How much does that add, David, to the challenges when it comes to finding some sort of a resolution?

SANGER: Well, Erica, I think he's got two problems here. The first is, he owns this entire set of negotiations, the war, the decision to attack. You heard his aides from Secretary of Defense Hegseth, to Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, say the president and the president alone will decide when his goals have been met.

And as I said over the weekend or pointed out in that article, gone from his list in recent times has been any support for the protesters. Initially, he had said that they should rise up and take over the government. He hasn't mentioned that in two weeks. His discussion of the nuclear program seemed to change on Saturday night. He did not mention, as a demand, that all the nuclear fuel be shipped out of the country. Instead, he simply said we had to be able to monitor and make sure they couldn't build a weapon.

Now, of course, it was the Iranian refusal to move the fuel out of the country and to stop all enrichment that was used as the reason for the attack to begin with. So, the president's shifts here are significant. [09:20:02]

And the question is, can he simply just, you know, define down what victory looks like?

HILL: We'll be watching. David Kim -- David and Kim, pardon me, always appreciate your analysis. Thank you both.

Sara.

HILL: All right, ahead next, President Trump's efforts to curb mail-in voting now in the hands of the Supreme Court. What those arguments are all about.

And video shows explosions and flames outside a Jewish center in London. Several ambulances on fire in a suspected anti-Semitic attack.

And a rare sighting in Texas straight from outer space.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Whoa, did y'all see that?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:25:01]

HILL: Happening today, a mail-in ballot showdown at the Supreme Court. President Trump and his allies have long tried to stop the counting of ballots that arrive after Election Day. Well, now the justices are going to hear arguments on whether states can continue to count those mail-in ballots as long as they're postmarked by election day, but arrive after the day. At the center of the dispute is a Mississippi law. So, that law states that ballots postmarked by Election Day will be counted.

Joining us now is Paula Reid.

So, this is huge, right?

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

HILL: We know the president doesn't like mail-in balloting, but this could have a massive reach beyond just the state of Mississippi.

REID: Yes, that's exactly right, Erica. This is one of the biggest cases that they're hearing this term with potentially enormous consequences for U.S. elections. And this comes as we're having this larger discussion about the role of the federal government in administering elections. We know President Trump is trying to use the influence, the power of the federal government to have more control over how elections are administered. But historically, the Constitution has let that -- mostly left that to the states. Now, today, they're looking at this specific issue, as you noted, of

mail-in ballots and the practice in some states of counting mail-in ballots, even if they arrive at an election office after election day. Now, the Trump Justice Department has already convinced at least one state to back off this practice by threatening a lawsuit. Some other GOP led states have also changed their practices proactively.

But today, President Trump's top Supreme Court lawyer is going to argue in support of a challenge to Mississippi's deadlines. And the gist of their argument is that the statute that sets out when we vote says that elections happen the Tuesday after the first Monday in November. And that is when you have to vote.

Now, Erica, if you follow that to its end result, that could also potentially if they win, jeopardize early in-person voting too.

But on the other side they're arguing that, no, the statute doesn't say that you can't count ballots that were sent before election day that arrive after, that the states do actually have a lot of flexibility here.

Now, in terms of what is at stake, a lot. We are talking about more than a dozen states that have these rules. We have a map for you here. You can see the yellow states, they do not accept ballots that come in after Election Day. But those blue states, those are some big states. You're looking at states like California. Illinois, states that could potentially decide the results of some of the big upcoming elections that we have over the next few years.

So, today, it's just arguments. They're going to hear from both sides. We will likely not get a decision, though, until June.

HILL: All right. Well, we will be watching it and I know you'll be listening in to keep us posted. Paula, thank you.

The breaking news, President Trump ordering the postponement of all military strikes against Iran's power plants, postponing -- sorry, he posted that update on Truth Social just a short time ago. This as he prepares to head to Memphis today where he's set to highlight its criminal task force.

Plus, Trump's announcement on Iran sending stocks surging, oil prices tumbling. We are just minutes away, of course, from the opening bell.

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