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LaGuardia Airport Crash Investigation; TSA Wait Times Increase; Confusion Grows Over Iran War Negotiations. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired March 23, 2026 - 13:00   ET

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

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BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: A collision on the runway.

Look at that, live images from LaGuardia Airport, which remains shut down after this plane slammed into a fire truck, killing at least two people. The runways there could soon reopen. We will take you there in just moments.

Plus, the waiting is the hardest part. The lines at TSA checkpoints in some cities are hitting four hours, even as the White House sends ICE agents to airports across the country.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: And wartime whiplash. As President Trump heralds major points of agreement in discussions with Iran, Tehran says they're not even talking to the Trump administration.

We're following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

SANCHEZ: We're following breaking news in the deadly runway collision at New York's LaGuardia Airport.

Right now, that airport remains closed, as officials are investigating an air Canada plane that struck a fire truck while landing. The pilot and co-pilot were both killed. Dozens more were injured. Footage from the incident shows debris hanging from the front of the plane, the nose and the cockpit heavily damaged.

CNN has learned that one of the flight attendants was actually found alive outside the aircraft still strapped to her seat.

KEILAR: And early flight tracking data shows the plane was traveling at more than 100 miles per hour when it hit the vehicle, which was responding to a separate incident last night.

Here's air traffic control audio from the frantic moments before the collision.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Truck one and company, LaGuardia tower, requesting to cross four at Delta.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Truck one and company, cross four at Delta.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Truck one company four at Delta.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Frontier 4195, just stop there, please.

Stop, stop, stop, stop. Stop truck one. Stop, stop, stop. Stop, truck one. Stop. Stop, truck one. Stop.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

KEILAR: We're also hearing audio between the controller and a Frontier Airlines pilot, that one referenced there who saw the crash.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That wasn't good to watch.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I know. I tried to reach out to them. We were dealing with an emergency earlier. I messed up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, man, you did the best you could.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

KEILAR: CNN's Shimon Prokupecz is with us now.

And, Shimon, what's the latest where you are?

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, SENIOR CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: So the airport here, Brianna, still remains closed. I mean, it's hard to say if it's going to reopen. I mean, the plane, you were showing a live picture.

It's still in the very same position it was when I got here around 3:00 in the morning. The fire truck is still there. They have not moved any of the debris. We have been watching as investigators were walking through the scene, but we have not seen any signs that this airport is going to reopen any time soon.

Much of this is centered around now the NTSB, which is running this investigation. There are a lot of questions. You played all that air traffic control audio. That is going to be the key part of this, the communications, the decision that was made by that air traffic controller, as he allowed the fire truck, the crash truck that was occupied by two Port Authority police officers, to enter the runway.

They asked for permission. They were granted permission. And then, shortly thereafter, you hear those words, "Stop, stop, stop," from the air traffic controller. It was too late, as the plane was coming in at nearly 130 miles an hour.

A passenger, a passenger who was aboard that plane, spoke to us this morning describing those moments.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACK CABOT, PASSENGER: We went down for a regular landing. We came in pretty hard. We immediately hit something, and it was just chaos from there. About five seconds later, we had come to a stop.

But, in that short period, I mean, everybody was hunkered down and everybody was screaming. Pretty quickly -- we didn't have any directions because the pilots cabin had been kind of destroyed. So somebody said, let's get the emergency exit and get the door and let's all jump out. And that's exactly what we did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PROKUPECZ: And one of the things that is so remarkable in all of this is that how these passengers really didn't -- have to take matters into their own hands, right?

[13:05:01]

You had a flight attendant, as you said, who after the crash was thrown in her seat, still strapped to her seat, was thrown from the plane. You had the two pilots who were killed, which left one flight attendant. We don't know much about that flight attendant who was on the plane. There were two flight attendants on this plane.

And the passengers took -- sort of took control here. They figured out how to get off the plane, how to get out. And those are just some remarkable, remarkable stories. Sadly, those two pilots who were killed, we're waiting to learn more information about them.

And the thing is, also I want to just quickly mention, is that I spoke to someone who saw surveillance video, a source who saw the surveillance video of this crash. And they described it as just horrific. And what you see is the plane just barreling into the center, the center of this fire truck, and missing, really, just within inches of hitting those two officers that were sitting in the front of that fire truck.

So this certainly could have been much worse. We wait to hear from the NTSB here later today.

KEILAR: All right, we will be looking for that. Shimon, thank you so much for that report from LaGuardia.

And we're also monitoring just these wait times that we're seeing at airports across the country. They're just nuts right now. And, today, ICE agents are deploying to more than a dozen airports to assist TSA operations amid the partial government shutdown.

SANCHEZ: More than 400 TSA agents have quit since the shutdown began. Many of those who haven't are calling out sick, instead of working without pay.

Earlier, reporters asked President Trump, what exactly ICE will be doing to help.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They love it because they're able to now arrest illegals as they come into the country. That's very fertile territory. But that's not why they're there. They're really there to help.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Let's go live to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport with CNN's Ryan Young, who's now been there tracking the story for several days.

Ryan, how have you seen these agents helping there in Atlanta?

RYAN YOUNG, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

Well, Boris, we are continuing to track what's going on here at the airport. The reason why we're walking is because we have got a group of ICE agents who are walking through and doing some patrolling. So we wanted to show you the functions of the duties that they have been doing today.

They have been doing this general walk-around nonstop since they arrived here earlier. So you will see those agents walking through. On top of that, there's plenty of Atlanta police officers as well. If you look above, you can see some of the other agents who are just this way as well.

So if you look up there on the second floor, you can see more agents on that second floor. So, really, the process of all this has really shown more of a stance, more of a police force that has been actively walking through this area. That's something that we have seen all day long.

People have been asking us whether or not these agents were going to be involved in helping clear people with their boarding passes. That has not happened. We have been watching that as well. The Atlanta Police Department has also added extra officers to this down area as well to make sure everything remains safe.

Now, the other question, though, is, and the one that everyone's been asking as we kind of negotiate our way through here, is how these checkpoints have been doing. I mean, it's been pretty busy all day long. In fact, at one point, the line stretched outside the building.

This turnaround point right here, this is where TSA PreCheck gets wrapped back around. So you can hear the man say, come on down. And so this wraps around all the luggage and goes way down that distance. The average wait time, we believe, is two hours.

Something everyone will notice from last week, we had these signs that used to show how long it was going to take for you to wait in line. Those have been out since this weekend. And I can tell you Sunday was crushed here because they had so many people arrive here at the airport, some people waiting four hours to get through security.

Today's been a lot better. I can tell you, the last hour-and-a-half, we have seen those lines decrease tremendously. In fact, we believe the main checkpoint appears to be under an hour right now. But that big question right now is, how are these ICE agents going to work within this infrastructure to help move people through?

What we have seen them do is security, not in terms of pushing people through with the TSA,and, by the way, a lot of callouts today, Boris, and we're waiting for those final numbers. But, today, we have been told those TSA agents have been hit pretty hard with no show-ups.

KEILAR: All right, something to watch. Ryan, thank you very much for the latest there from Atlanta.

And still to come: President Trump saying major points of agreement have been reached between the U.S. and Iran, but Iran is denying that talks have happened at all. We're live with the latest from the White House.

SANCHEZ: Plus, the family of an American schoolteacher held in Cuba for nine years fears that she is running out of time. I sat down with her son, who's begging for her release, and we also heard from the State Department regarding her case.

That and much more coming up on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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KEILAR: President Trump is rolling back a major threat against Iran's energy sites. He's postponing U.S. attacks for five days after what he calls productive talks with a top person in Iran.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Based on preliminary conversations between the United States and Iran over the past two days, I have directed the Department of War to temporarily postpone planned strikes against major energy and electricity targets in Iran, but to determine whether a broader agreement can be reached.

We have had very good discussions, very, very good discussions. And you have to understand, I know my whole life has been a negotiation, but with Iran we have been negotiating for a long time. And, this time, they mean business.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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SANCHEZ: Who that top person is remains unclear. Iran is actually denying that any such talks have taken place. Iranian state media reports that the Foreign Ministry dismissed Trump's claim as an attempt to lower energy prices and buy time for the U.S. war effort. At the same time, Israel's military is not letting up. The IDF says it

conducted new strikes today in the heart of Tehran.

CNN's Alayna Treene is standing by in Memphis, where the president is holding that roundtable on safety.

Alayna, what more are you learning?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes.

Look, and I do want to say, actually, this is, as you mentioned, a roundtable on safety, but the president did open his remarks here about -- spent about 10 minutes or so talking about this potential negotiation that is happening with Iran and this hope that he has to potentially strike a deal and hopefully do so, of course, before his new five-day deadline for strikes on different facilities in Iran and their energy sites were to actually go into effect.

But, look, I think what we heard from the president this morning as well and talking with reporters on the tarmac before heading here was so notable, because it's almost a complete reversal from what we actually heard from the president just Friday when he was departing for Florida for the weekend, where he was saying that he was not interested in a deal and that it was the Iranians who were interested in trying to make a deal, but he didn't want to.

Now he's saying he believes that they are actually in a place where substantial negotiations can happen. As you mentioned, Boris, the Iranians say there are no talks here. We have reporting, though, that the Turkish and the Egyptians are helping in passing messages back and forth between the U.S. and the Iranians.

But it's interesting as well for the exact specific things that the president said he's looking for in these negotiations, because many of them were things we know that the Iranians have always said was a hard-line rejection, this idea of a commitment to not enriching any uranium, to promising to never, ever in the future create a nuclear weapon, things that the Iranians have said are hard lines from in the past.

So I think you have to take what we're hearing from the president in this quick reversal, this very optimistic picture of what these negotiations can look like with a grain of salt, with a little skepticism, because there's still so much, I think, that needs to be worked out as we look ahead to finding a real off-ramp to this war.

KEILAR: And, Alayna, there's so much firepower there in front of the president, it's even partially obstructing the presidential seal. What is this roundtable about that he's going to be taking part in?

TREENE: So, this is all about -- and you mentioned some of the props they have. There's a bunch of boxes actually labeled DEA, but they have different signs as well showing crime statistics in the city, things that the administration has done to lower crime here, the firearms that National Guard and other law enforcement have seized since the president actually surged thousands of troops to Memphis back in September.

This is all about kind of shifting back from this -- a lot of talk of foreign wars, what's happening abroad, to trying to focus back on his domestic agenda. And his safety crackdown in a number of cities, but particularly here in Memphis, is something he wants to be focusing on, particularly ahead of the midterm elections.

And I think choosing Memphis is actually an interesting point to make, because the local leaders in Tennessee, or at least the governor of Tennessee, has welcomed the National Guard to the city. And it's quite a contrast with what we have seen, of course, in other cities, places like Minneapolis, which I think no question were a disaster for the administration earlier this year.

And so this is really, I think, a return to trying to tout a policy and a broad agenda item that the administration believes could help Republicans come November.

SANCHEZ: Alayna Treene live for us in Memphis, thank you so much for keeping an eye on that event for us.

We are still following the latest out of LaGuardia Airport. We're anticipating a briefing on exactly what happened during this deadly runway collision just about a few hours from now, as we look at these live images.

We will be right back. Stay with CNN.

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[13:23:35]

SANCHEZ: Breaking news to CNN.

LaGuardia Airport remains closed after this, the result of an airplane colliding with a fire truck on the runway. We have learned at least two people have been killed, the pilot and co-pilot of this Air Canada flight.

KEILAR: Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy will be holding a briefing at 3:15 p.m.

Former NTSB managing director Peter Goelz is with us now to talk about this.

Peter, just horrific what we have seen there at LaGuardia. What's your reaction to what we know about this crash so far?

PETER GOELZ, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Well, it is terribly, terribly disturbing, Brianna and Boris.

And there are so many eerily similar aspects to it to the accident in DCA in Washington, D.C., just over a year ago. And I think the investigation is going to zero in on the control tower again. And LaGuardia has got about 30-plus controllers. They are budgeted for 60. It's understaffed. They have mandatory overtime. It is a tough control tower to work at.

And part of it has to do with the cost of living in New York City. If you're going to be a controller there, if you're making $150,000, you're commuting a long time to get to your job.

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Secondly, you have got a world's busiest airspace, five airports within 25 miles of LaGuardia. And it was night. The visibility was tough. And if you listen to the tower tape, the zeroing in is going to be on the controller's instructions to the emergency vehicle.

SANCHEZ: Peter, we just learned from the FAA confirming that LaGuardia is set to reopen in just about a half-an-hour or so at 2:00 p.m.

One runway is going to be open for air traffic. How difficult is it to balance the need, the desire of passengers and the airlines to have a capacity at LaGuardia with the fact that there is an ongoing investigation, an active site of investigation at that airport?

GOELZ: Well, there's two parts to that question, Boris.

The first is, is, LaGuardia, like Ronald Reagan National, is a slot- controlled airport. And they have expanded the number of flights taking off and landing there over the years, where many people believe it is too crowded.

So, to open up just one runway, which is understandable, to keep the system in play is the only strategy that they could do to have any kind of activity at the airport. I doubt if they're going to open the second runway for another week or more, because that wreckage needs to be examined, it needs to be documented, and then it's got to be carefully removed.

I think LaGuardia is in for a long haul before they're back to normal.

KEILAR: And, Peter, we're learning that a flight attendant actually survived this crash, was found outside of the aircraft still strapped into receipt. What does that tell you?

GOELZ: It's really quite extraordinary.

And, I mean, but one thing it says is, is that the FAA mandated some years ago that the seats of -- in commercial aircraft, what they call 16G sustainable seats. These seats can sustain a terrific impact and protect the person sitting in it.

Now, we will take a look at this seat and see if that played a role. But the aircraft are surprisingly strong, and they can withstand a terrible crunch.

SANCHEZ: Peter, I wonder what you make of the FAA deploying a team to support the NTSB's investigation and also hearing that Canadian officials are going to be working alongside them as well? How do all these agencies and entities come together to manage this kind of investigation?

GOELZ: Well, the NTSB always works with foreign investigative bodies after any accident such as this that involves a foreign carrier. We have -- the agency has had close relations with the Canadian Safety Board for decades. They're quite competent. They're very good.

We worked with them carefully after the Swiss Air 111 accident in Nova Scotia. And this is something that is done virtually on every investigation. So I don't think there will be any challenges there.

Now, the FAA -- it's a little unusual to have the secretary holding a press conference in the first hours of an accident. But he understands the role of the NTSB and he understands the role of DOT. So I think it's unusual, but it's the state of play today.

SANCHEZ: And that press conference is set to begin at 3:15 p.m. Eastern. We will, of course, bring it to you live.

Peter Goelz, thanks so much for your expertise.

GOELZ: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: So we have seen waits in some places, some airports, of as many as four hours for a relatively short two-hour flight -- ahead, the latest on a crisis for passengers, as the White House sends ICE agents to 14 airports across the country.

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