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CNN News Central

Savannah Guthrie's New Plea for Help Finding Missing Mom; LaGuardia to Reopen After Deadly Collision on Runway; ICE Agents Seen Among Long Lines at Several U.S. Airports; Trump Says Really Good Discussions With Iran Began After Threats to Bomb Power Plants; Dow Soars After Trump Postpones Strikes on Iran. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired March 23, 2026 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": The search for the 84-year-old is now in its eighth week. The family is offering $1 million reward for information leading to her recovery.

A new hour of "CNN News Central" starts right now.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": Just minutes from now, LaGuardia Airport is expected to reopen after that deadly collision that killed two people. And next hour, we're expecting a news conference with Transportation Secretary, Sean Duffy.

And ICE agents at America's airports, but it's not clear what they're doing to help passengers facing wait times of over three hours in some places.

SANCHEZ: And 50 years after he co-founded Apple with Steve Jobs and designed the company's first computer, Steve Wozniak joins us on what he sees for the next 50.

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

KEILAR: The FAA says that New York's LaGuardia Airport is planning to reopen a single runway here any moment. The airport has remained closed since late last night when an Air Canada plane collided with a fire truck while landing. Video from the scene shows the nose of the plane, you see it there, and the cockpit heavily damaged. The pilot and the co-pilot were killed. Dozens aboard were injured.

SANCHEZ: Transportation Secretary, Sean Duffy, and other officials are expected to hold a briefing from LaGuardia next hour. Here is air traffic control audio from just before the deadly collision.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FIRE TRUCK: Truck one and company. LaGuardia Tower. Requesting to cross four at Delta.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL: Truck one and company, cross four at Delta.

Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop truck one. Stop. Stop. Stop.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: We're also hearing audio between the controller and a Frontier Airlines pilot who witnessed the incident.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRONTIER PILOT: That, that wasn't good to watch.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL: Yeah, I know. I tried to reach out to them. We were dealing with an emergency earlier. I messed up.

FRONTIER PILOT: Nah man, you did the best you could

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: CNN's Shimon Prokupecz is near the scene at LaGuardia. Shimon, what is the latest you're learning?

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Boris. So we moved inside for this hour. We're behind here, the podium -- in front of the podium. Behind me is where the Secretary Sean Duffy and other officials we expect to hear from New York City Mayor as well and other government officials who will be here in about an hour.

The airport has reopened, as you said, so we're waiting to see if any of the flights will be taking off. I could tell you, people, certainly since this morning, more people have started to stream into the airport, checking in, heading towards their gates. Everyone is just waiting to see if they could take off.

The plane itself, the plane, that Air Canada jet, that's still on the runway. That's on runway four. The fire truck, that crash truck, that is still there as well, and it could be some time before officials move everything. Of course, all of this is happening as the NTSB is now here on the ground.

They are going over the evidence. There is surveillance video that they now have in their hands. They also have that audio that you just played, the traffic control, which is going to be a key part of this investigation.

Questions as to why both, it seems, both the Air Canada jet as well as that fire truck, why they were both cleared to come in and that fire truck coming across the runway and then being hit by this jet that was going over 100 miles an hour. We have some new sound from another passenger who was on the plane describing what it was like. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REBECCA LIQUORI, PASSENGER, AIR CANADA FLIGHT 8646: It was a rough landing. Like, when we landed, everyone felt it. It just like, the plane, like, jolted. And you heard the pilot try to brake like he was trying to prevent the collision that occurred. And as you heard the brake, you just, a couple seconds later, it was just a very loud boom. And everybody just jolted out of their seats. People hit their heads. People were bleeding.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PROKUPECZ: And video that's been described to me by a source, which was captured what happened here, there was video from LaGuardia Airport. You could see the plane coming down the runway and then it T- boned the fire truck, hitting it almost in the middle, in the middle of that truck, preventing more serious injuries for those two officers that were inside.

I mean, had it been any earlier, those two officers probably would have been killed as well. The two pilots that were killed, we don't have any information on them yet. We're waiting to hear more from the NTSB. So we're going to hear from a lot of officials today. We're going to have a three o'clock press conference here. And then later, sometime after 4 p.m., we expect to hear from the NTSB.

[14:05:00]

KEILAR: All right, Shimon, thank you so much for that. Now to a cryptic new message from Iran today, a source telling the semi- official Fars News Agency, that the country has special plans tonight for Tel Aviv and some regional allies of the U.S. and Israel in the hopes of derailing any negotiations. And this comes just hours after President Trump announced talks have begun after his threat to strike Iran's energy facilities.

Iran has denied any talks are taking place, but President Trump says there are talks and they're productive.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We are now having really good discussions. They started last night, a little bit the night before that. And I think they're, you know, I think they're very good. They want to -- they want peace. They've agreed they will not have a nuclear weapon, you know, et cetera, et cetera. But we'll see. You have to get it done.

We were planning tomorrow on shooting down some of their power plants and we're not going to -- we're going to hold that up. Hopefully, we won't have to do it and hopefully, we can make a deal that's good for all of us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: We're joined now by CNN Military Analyst, retired Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton. And while Iran is saying that there are no talks, Trump is saying that there are. And he said there's 15 points of agreement with Iran, including that Tehran commits to not having a nuclear weapon and also, this idea of enriched uranium that the U.S. would take possession of. So talk to us about that. Where is most of that held and what are the challenges in securing that? COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yeah. So there are a lot of challenges to that, Brianna. And where most of it is held is basically in several places here. We have Natanz, which is one of the enrichment facilities, you have Fordow, another enrichment facility. And then the rest of them here, Tehran, Arak, Isfahan, those are all research facilities.

So the theory is, is that a lot of that enriched uranium that we have is probably held in Isfahan. However, there is the distinct possibility that among those 970 or so pounds of enriched uranium that they have been dispersed, that those scuba tank size containers of the enriched uranium have been dispersed throughout at least some of these areas and perhaps in other areas throughout Iran. So that is a very difficult problem.

KEILAR: And the president over the weekend had threatened that he was going to start hitting Iran's energy sites, right? And then today, he says, actually, five-day moratorium while we're having these talks.

But talk to us about these big sites and what the big targets would be.

LEIGHTON: So among the big targets that we see in this particular case are the Damavand Combined Cycle Power Plant, which produces about 2.8 -- well, 2,868 megawatts of power. That's the biggest plant in Iran itself.

Another one is the Shahid Salimi Plant, 2,215 megawatts. And then the third one would be the Shahid Rajaee Plant with about a little over 2,000 megawatts. So this is basically the group of plants that produce a large proportion of Iran's power.

However, there are a lot of power plants out there and these big three are not responsible for everything. There are about 50 or so plants that are major electrical producers. And then we can't forget about this thing right here.

This is the Bushehr Nuclear Plant, which is right in this area right here. So that would be another place that if that were attacked, that would be a very dangerous thing for the rest of the Gulf and certainly for Iran itself.

KEILAR: And you can see this cycle happening if this starts to go, right? Because the IRGC has threatened that they would retaliate, specifically when it comes to Israel and also other regional countries and sites where the U.S. has a stake. Talk to us about that.

LEIGHTON: Yeah. So this is what we've seen so far. So when you look at this, and this is a mix of strikes against Iran, as well as Iran strikes against Israel and the Gulf countries. So this is quite numerous. The concentration of strikes has so far been in the Western part of Iran, the Southern part of Iran, and of course around the capital, Tehran, right here.

So what would have to happen in a case like this is, you would have to see a whole bunch of other strikes, potentially in this area right here around the Strait of Hormuz, because in this particular case, that is, of course, what is of greatest interest from an economic perspective. With 20 percent of the oil flowing through this area, this is the area that would get a lot of attention if we were to re- strike things.

Plus, you have the command and control elements in all of these areas, but the real key to all of this is not only what they can do in terms of getting commerce through, but also in terms of getting rid of the missiles, getting rid of the missile launch sites, and a lot of those are right in this particular area right here.

KEILAR: Cedric, thank you so much for taking us through that. We appreciate it.

LEIGHTON: You bet, Brianna.

KEILAR: And still to come, as President Trump says the Strait of Hormuz will open very soon, gas prices are now rising for a 23rd day in a row. We'll look at what has to happen to reverse that trend.

[14:10:00]

And ICE agents are now inside multiple U.S. airports as TSA wait lines grow. What we're learning about the latest move by the White House.

And then later, a flash flood disaster in Hawaii. Hundreds of people rescued as families are forced out of their homes and there's more rain on the way. We'll have that and much more coming up on "CNN News Central."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:15:00]

SANCHEZ: Today, ICE agents are at 14 airports as TSA staffing issues lead to long wait times. It's not clear if those agents are helping the situation. Houston's Bush Intercontinental Airport is warning passengers to prepare for wait times of three hours or longer.

We're joined now by Cameron Cochems. He's the lead TSA Officer at Boise Airport in Idaho, also the Vice President of a union that represents more than 4,000 TSA employees. Cameron, thank you so much for being with us.

How are your members reacting to seeing these ICE agents at airports? Do they think it's helping?

CAMERON COCHEMS, TSA LEAD TRANSPORTATION SECURITY OFFICER: You know, I don't think our officers think that it's helping and some people think it's going to be hurting. But at the end of the day, you know, all our officers care about is getting paid. You know, having ICE agents, officers at our airports, they're going to be sitting at exit. They're going to be doing things that they can't be trained to do. The best thing they can do for us is if they do come to the airports is to buy us food and lunches.

(LAUGH)

SANCHEZ: A former TSA administrator previously expressed concern that terrorists may see these enormous lines, these soft targets essentially, as a vulnerability that they could exploit. Do you think having these ICE agents walking around on patrol as they are in Atlanta and other places -- I believe, this is footage from Newark -- does that decrease the likelihood of an attack?

COCHEMS: I can't imagine so. I mean, all the stuff going on right now with TSA and ICE, you know, ICE, they're already really a group that people are looking at, so I can't imagine it lowering the tensions down anywhere. But also, you know, you have to be pretty dumb to think that the stuff going on isn't hurting security.

You know, anyone on -- anyone with a brain right now knows that TSA officers aren't getting paid, that there's long lines at airports, and so if there's a time for an attack, it would be now when we are at our weakest.

SANCHEZ: Do you think that $10,000 bonus that Trump has floated for workers who keep showing up to work is a good idea? Do you think it would provide incentive to reduce the number of call-outs?

COCHEMS: You know, I don't think so. Just speaking from my experience, I didn't get the incentive last time, and I didn't call out once. There are officers who have to call out because they can't afford childcare. There was an officer today at my airport, she had to leave to go apply for federal funds for her daughter because she can't afford for childcare or food for her own daughter. And so those are the people that would not be getting the bonuses because they didn't get the bonuses the last time.

And so, if the president is going to do any sort of bonus, it should be across the board for everybody because we're all affected by this, and the people that are calling off are the ones that are being affected the most.

SANCHEZ: What do you think lawmakers should take from this situation? What's your message to them?

COCHEMS: My message to lawmakers is, you know, do your job. You know, we're doing our jobs every day, and you guys can't even pass a funding bill, so what's going on? Like, get this going. Also, maybe have guaranteed protections for these people who are calling out because, right now, when this shutdown's over, the TSA is most likely going to try to give them reprimands and stuff like that, all because they couldn't afford childcare or they couldn't afford gas to come to work. And so that's going to just lead to more and more people losing their jobs with the TSA.

SANCHEZ: Cameron Cochems, thanks so much for joining us and sharing your story.

COCHEMS: Solidarity forever.

SANCHEZ: Still to come, President Trump's comments on Iran this morning causing a surge in stock prices. We're tracking the reaction on Wall Street right now, plus the Mac, the iPod, the iPhone, so much more. We're talking about Apple's worldwide impact with a person who co-founded the company 50 years ago. Steve Wozniak is coming up after a short break. That and much more coming your way next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:23:33]

SANCHEZ: Today, oil prices are dropping on the news that President Trump held, what he calls, productive talks with Iran, talks that Iran is denying are actually happening.

KEILAR: Yeah, but with the average price of a gallon of gas at $3.96, there is serious pressure to open the Strait of Hormuz. We have CNN Business Senior Reporter, David Goldman following this. All right, David, where do things stand now?

DAVID GOLDMAN, CNN BUSINESS SENIOR REPORTER: Well, we just saw that the president, this morning, had that reversal. So we know now that there's going to be a five-day pause on U.S. attacks on energy infrastructure, on Iranian energy infrastructure and that is really, really good news for the market. So stocks are taking off. We've seen crude fall very, very sharply and I think that what everyone wants to know is, what does this mean for your gas prices, which are at $3.96 a gallon and we're approaching $4.

The sad news is that it just doesn't mean that they're going to start falling. In fact, it could continue to rise over the next few days and maybe even weeks and that's because oil doesn't just come on and off like a switch. There's a huge process.

It's kind of like a minor, you know, manufacturing marvel in a way that you know, they have these big oil facilities that turn gas into, you know, they pump it out into pipelines.

[14:25:00]

Those refineries turn it into gas. It's a huge undertaking and it's not something that you can just switch on and off.

SANCHEZ: So while investors seem reassured by the president's recent comments, David, how long do you think that will last before there actually have to be some results, some diplomatic result?

GOLDMAN: Well, that's the most important thing. So Iran has to agree to all this. And right now, we're not seeing any consistency coming out of Iran that they've even started negotiations with the United States. And so, first and foremost, Iran needs to play ball here.

But then even beyond that, the entire market needs to come back online, which could take weeks and months potentially. And then even after that, even if the Strait of Hormuz is completely open, all of the gas that is going to be bought at these lower prices needs to work its way through the system. It needs to go from refineries to tankers to your gas station. So, I mean, we could be stuck with near $4, even higher than $4 gas for many, many months here.

KEILAR: All right. That's not great news. David Goldman, thank you so much.

Still to come, we'll have more on that deadly collision at LaGuardia Airport. These are live pictures that you are looking at. That plane still on the runway. What we are hearing from the control tower, from witnesses and passengers who survived the tragedy.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)