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Top Republicans Optimistic About DHS Deal After White House Meeting; Israeli Official: Deal To End Iran War No "Tangible Right Now"; Pentagon Imposes New Restrictions On Press Access Despite Judge's Ruling. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired March 24, 2026 - 07:30   ET

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

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[07:30:18]

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR; So the NTSB is on the ground right now at LaGuardia. They're investigating, of course, just what happened in that deadly collision between an Air Canada plane and a fire truck. It's the first deadly incident at LaGuardia in 34 years.

In a review of government documents from CNN this morning, we found that pilots actually had been warning for at least two years before Sunday's collision. Those warnings were about close calls and potential hazards and air traffic missteps at LaGuardia.

So here's also what we know about the situation this morning. So the fire station itself is actually located beside the runway. The emergency fire truck at the center of the crash had to cross over the runway to reach a different plane that had aborted takeoff because of a warning light and odor in the cabin.

You can see here -- you can see the plane coming at the fire truck there. The truck had been cleared by air traffic control to cross the runway. That clearance was given just moments before the inbound Air Canada plane landed. That plane had also been given clearance to land, of course, a couple of minutes prior. So the aircraft did reportedly try to slow down before slamming into that truck at over 100 miles per hour.

CNN transportation analyst Mary Schiavo is with me now. She's the former inspector general at the Department of Transportation.

So Mary, when we look at all of this, I actually want to start with part of what we know here. So the timeline to me is so interesting in terms of the clearance given for the plane, the clearance given for the truck, and then we hear, at least on the audio recording, the air traffic controller try to pull back that truck.

This was so quick, Mary. Does that surprise you at all?

MARY SCHIAVO, CNN TRANSPORTATION ANALYST, FORMER INSPECTOR GENERAL, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION (via Webex by Cisco): Well, it doesn't surprise me how quick it was, but what surprises me, and this will be a huge point for the NTSB investigation, is what frequencies were they using? Did the truck hear the clearance? Did the airplane hear the clearance for the truck? And was it the same controller? It sounds like the same controller. Secretary Duffy would not comment on that yesterday.

But it sounds like tower control, or what they call local control, gave the clearance to both within a couple of minutes of each other. And so they'll want to know who heard what.

And by the way, there's specialized equipment at LaGuardia -- airport surface detection equipment. And you can hear that alarm going off in the -- in the tower but only just a second or two before the crash. And that was put in LaGuardia specifically to help guard against this, along with runway status lights.

So those issues all are big mysteries now. Why did that not all work and was it one person who gave the clearances to both?

HILL: So Mary, to that point, this advanced surface detection equipment that you just mentioned -- this advanced technology on the runway, that is supposed to give controllers real time information about traffic out there on the runway. As you noted, you can hear the alert in the recording there which comes at the time of the collision.

Do we know if this technology has worked properly in the past?

SCHIAVO: Well, it's deployed at many airports -- LaGuardia isn't the only one-- and it's in conjunction with all the other equipment. Now what's interesting about all this is the FAA has been working on the rise of runway incursions. We have between, oh, 1,600 go 1,900 a year. Last year was a slight dip in them. But the FAA has tried a lot of different things to get these runway incursions down and it just hasn't worked -- and this is one of them.

But all the equipment -- the vehicles, the airplanes -- everybody's got to be equipped with these transponders -- with these transmitters so in the tower you will have a real time picture of where everything is on the runway. And I think that'll be one of the focuses of FOCI of the investigation --

HILL: Um-hum.

SCHIAVO: -- because they're going to want to know look, are the algorithms wrong? Did they not give enough warning? What do we need to do with this equipment to help the controllers?

HILL: In terms of this investigation it's going to take a year or more. You know, we have that coupled with the fact that CNN went through two years of reports about concerns about close calls at LaGuardia -- about miscommunication.

So while we wait on this investigation, knowing what pilots have raised concerns about in the past, what changes? What happens in the meantime, Mary? SCHIAVO: Well, I think emergency changes have to be made at LaGuardia in the meantime despite all of the efforts of the FAA. And you know, they haven't worked but I will say they have tried to cut down on these runway incursions. And the increasing numbers of, you know, traffic and planes stuffed into these small, old airports like LaGuardia and like DCA, it's simply it's obvious it cannot handle the volume of traffic.

And they'll be looking at the controllers. Were the controllers able to handle the volume of traffic and were there enough? Duffy, yesterday, said there was -- Secretary Duffy.

But I think in the interim they will have to have some limitations on the operations at the airport unless and until they can guarantee that all this equipment that was supposed to help with runway incursions actually works and the tower can command it. And this will have to happen at other airports too.

[07:35:10]

HILL: Mary, always so appreciative of your expertise. Thank you -- Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Ahead, deal or no deal as travelers face another day of lines potentially stretching for hours at some U.S. airports. There's word of maybe a breakthrough on Capitol Hill that could start paying TSA workers again. Senate Republicans emerged from a meeting at the White House last night optimistic about a plan to finally end the partial government shutdown after nearly 40 days.

CNN's Kevin Liptak is live at the White House this morning. What do you know about this GOP plan and the big question is, is the president on board?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: That is a big question. Now, this plan that Republicans seem confident on would fund most of DHS -- including, very critically, the TSA -- while leaving out funding for the most contentious issue which is ICE, which is immigration enforcement -- essentially leaving that pot of money for somewhere down the line.

It is really the first glimmer of hope that we have had over the course of this 39-day shutdown that some resolution might be emerging. Republicans seem relatively confident that Democrats can get on board. Remember, the Democrats have been insisting on reforms for these immigration agencies. Certainly this doesn't satisfy all of their demands, but it does seem at this point the most viable path forward to getting DHS reopened.

It will face a number of hurdles. You know, Democrats have not officially signed off yet. Of course, it will also have to pass the House. The razor-thin Republican majority there makes passing nothing particularly easy. And, of course, it will have to be signed by President Trump. You know, the president had rejected a plan very much like this on

Sunday night. He essentially spent all day yesterday insisting that Republicans not agree to a deal that doesn't also include the voter I.D. bill, the Save America Act that he's trying to get through. He said yesterday in Memphis, "Don't make any deal on anything unless you include voter I.D."

But Republican leaders who were here at the White House last night do seem relatively confident that the president could now be on board and those voter I.D. provisions would be included in that additional funding down the line.

And, of course, Sara, a deadline always helps. Many Republicans and Democrat senators looking to get out of town at the end of this week to begin their two-week recess. Many of them perhaps hoping to avoid the hellish TSA lines as they leave town, although we're not sure that this bill, if it immediately funds DHS, would alleviate all of those concerns at airports. More than 400 TSA agents have already resigned. But certainly, a glimmer of optimism.

Now, President Trump, yesterday, addressed this question of whether or not senators would leave town for Easter. He actually insisted that they stay in town and pass all of these bills. He said, "You don't have to take a fast vote. Don't worry about Easter -- going home." In fact, the president said, "Make this one for Jesus."

And so I still think a lot of things to be ironed out and a lot of questions about this plan, but a path forward in a place that we didn't see one previously.

SIDNER: Yeah, and certainly would be just desserts if they ended up in the same lines as their constituents who have been standing in lines for days now.

Thank you so much. I do appreciate it, Kevin Liptak.

All right, breaking overnight in Israel, rescue workers are reporting destruction, smoke, and chaos after Israel says Iran fired waves of missiles across the country. In Tel Aviv, the attacks left buildings damaged and cars burning. You can see the result there of one of the attacks. New drone video shows the extent of the damage to a residential building. Officials say there are at least four impact sites across the city.

And in Iran, the war also impacting where people live. New video showing the moment rescue workers helped a child evacuate after a strike on a residential building in Tehran, according to the Iranian Red Crescent Society.

Also this morning, new questions about discussions to end the war after President Trump says the U.S. is in talks with Iran. An Israeli official tells CNN a deal "does not appear to be tangible right now. The Iranians do not appear to be in any concession mode."

Joining me now are former deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh, and CNN global affairs analyst Karim Sadjadpour. Thank you both for being here.

Serena (sic), to you -- Sabrina, to you first. Iran is flatly denying that there are any negotiations going on while President Trump is insisting that there are some major points of agreement, and he says the talks are going well.

What is happening here? Is this a strategy by Iran to sort of not let its people know that they're talking to the United States or is there something else going on?

[07:40:00]

SABRINA SINGH, CNN POLITICAL AND GLOBAL AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR, FORMER DEPUTY PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: I think it's both sides are sort of posturing right now and we don't really know what to parse out. I think there are a third -- there is a third party that could be Pakistan, could be Egypt, could be Turkey, that is likely trying to bring both sides together in order to find some type of off-ramp.

But, you know, I think the president, yesterday, when he bought himself more time on that five-day deadline of not striking Iran's energy infrastructure targets -- he realized that he had really boxed himself in with that 48-hour deadline that expired on Monday. And so he's buying himself more time maybe to conduct negotiations with Iran, possibly to get some type of off-ramp potentially in place.

But he also could be using it to buy time to get our Marines and, you know, those -- there are allegedly two units being dispatched towards Iran -- to get them in place to allow him to have more flexibility and capability in the region.

But we really don't know how -- if these talks do kick off how they're going to go and if they potentially could lead to some type of de- escalation in the region.

SIDNER: Yeah, that is a big question.

Karim, look, Iran doesn't seem capable of winning militarily with so much of their military might muted by U.S. and Israeli strikes. So what is Iran's goal here?

KARIM SADJADPOUR, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST, SENIOR FELLOW, CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL PEACE, IRAN EXPERT: Really, Sara, Iran doesn't need to win, they just need to survive. And at the moment I think Iran feels that it has put President Trump in a bind.

What the Iranians says they need to end the war -- number one, they want reassurances that the United States and Israel is never going to attack them again. And number two, they want reparations for the tens of billions of dollars they've incurred now. Neither of those are going to happen, Sara, so long as this regime's official ideology is death to America and death to Israel. The United States is not going to pay reparations or -- nor are they going to get reassurances.

But so long as they're controlling the Strait of Hormuz, President Trump can't afford to abruptly just simply declare victory and end the war.

SIDNER: Sabrina, the president set that 48-hour deadline. Now it has moved to a five-day pause, as you mentioned. If nothing is resolved and the president strikes Iran's electrical capabilities -- its power plants -- what does that -- what would that mean for this war?

SINGH: If the president does allow for strikes to be conducted against Iran's energy infrastructure that would have catastrophic consequences not just for the region but global markets. I mean, you're talking about millions of innocent people that depend on those power lines. I mean, think about the hospitals that wouldn't have access to that power. Think about, you know, the potential famine crisis that you could ignite within Iran. So that would actually spiral, I think, the region into further -- out of control.

And so what the president did, I think, was trying to buy himself more time so that, you know, potentially there is an off-ramp here. But the fact that, you know, the United States is lifting sanctions on Iranian and Russian oil, we are essentially funding the war against ourselves. I mean, we know that Russia is helping Iran in some way with intelligence sharing and we know, of course, we are in an armed conflict with Iran.

And so the fact that the United States has had to lift these oil sanctions shows how much that Strait of Hormuz that's now closed has an impact on global markets and oil prices that Americans are feeling here at home. We know that oil is likely to hit about $4.00 a gallon possibly within the next 24 hours, so that's having a real impact here in the United States.

SIDNER: It is. And we're looking at the price of crude right now, which is just over 90 bucks a gallon. And we're seeing the prices on the gas pump rise every single day for the past 24 days since the war began.

Karim, I do want to ask you, you know, as this war kind of goes on what is Iran looking at to gauge what it does?

SADJADPOUR: Well, as Sabrina alluded to, there -- Iran has to be thinking about the potential mobilization of U.S. forces to try to rest up the Strait of Hormuz and potentially an attempt to take Kharg Island, Iran's main port island where they export their oil.

But at the moment it's a regime which feels confident that its consolidated power internally doesn't face a major internal threat. And I think it's just trying to extract major concessions from the president, which we'll see whether they're able to do. I think they feel that the president was the -- President Trump was the first one to blink. He is trying to get out of this conflict, and I think they're not ready to yet end it.

SIDNER: Yeah. I think ultimately, at the very beginning of this we heard both the president and Prime Minister Netanyahu hoping that the people of Iran would sort of rise up in all this but during this war that just hasn't happened.

[07:45:00]

And so we are in this situation now where we're not sure how this is going to end but we will all be waiting and watching and talking to you all as we go through it. Thank you so much for your time this morning.

All right. Ahead, a new case against Meta now heads to a jury. The decision that could have huge impact on how children are able to use social media.

And the investigation into what sparked a massive fire that gutted a historic 19th century courthouse.

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[07:50:00]

HILL: Secretary of State Marco Rubio will be inside a courtroom today. He's there to testify against his one-time friend, former Florida Congressman David Rivera. Now, Rivera is suspected of secretly lobbying for the Venezuelan government and Nicolas Maduro during President Trump's first term in the White House. As for Rubio's testimony today, it actually marks the first time in more than 40 years that a sitting cabinet member has testified in a criminal trial.

CNN's Rafael Romo is in Miami. So Rafael, the two men -- they've known each other since the '90s. What are we expected to hear from Secretary Rubio when he testifies today?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Secretary Rubio, Erica, is listed as a witness for the prosecution but he can also be called by the defense, so this can go in a number of different ways. And the trial began yesterday here at the Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. U.S. Courthouse in Miami.

This trial, Erica, involves former Florida Congressman David Rivera, a close friend and political ally of Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Prosecutors allege that between 2017 and 2018 Rivera and his former business partner Esther Nuhfer lobbied U.S. officials, including Rubio, with the goal of reestablishing diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Venezuela on behalf of former President Nicolas Maduro's government.

Rivera and Nuhfer face charges including failure to register as foreign agents and laundering funds to conceal and promote their alleged criminal conduct, according to the eight-count indictment. Attorneys for Rivera and Nuhfer declined to comment on the charges.

Rubio is scheduled to testify later today in the trial of the man who was his roommate, close friend, and political ally when they both served in the Florida legislature and owned a house together in Tallahassee. Rubio is not named in the indictment and has not been accused of any wrongdoing.

Prosecutors say Rivera signed a contract for $50 million with a U.S. subsidiary, a Venezuelan state-run oil company, to lobby American politicians for improved relations between the two nations and prevent "the United States from imposing additional economic sanctions against Venezuela's government."

According to the indictment, Erica, Rivera met twice with the U.S. senator in 2017 to lobby for Venezuela's cause as an unregistered foreign agent. Rubio's office confirmed to CNN in 2022 that he met with Rivera in 2017 and then subsequently met with a close associate of Maduro. A spokesperson for Rubio at the time pointed to the fact that the indictment noted that the group never said to Rubio that they were lobbying on behalf of Venezuela.

Now, in a 2022 interview with CNN affiliate WFOR, Rubio said that, and here I quote, "He's someone I've known for a very long time. We've worked closely but not on this. In the end, it's nothing to do with me" he said.

In addition to Rubio, other high-profile political figures and former government officials are also listed to testify, including Texas Rep. Pete Sessions, former White House adviser to President Donald Trump, Kellyanne Conway, and former United States assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Otto Reich.

Erica, now back to you.

HILL: Wow.

All right, Rafael Romo in Miami for us this morning. Thank you.

A -- Sara, over to you.

SIDNER: All right, thank you.

On our radar this morning a quadruple amputee is facing murder charges. Maryland police accuse Dayton James Weber of shooting and killing a passenger in his car Sunday night during an argument and then dumping the body. Two other people in the vehicle fled after Weber allegedly asked them to help pull the victim's body off his car. Police arrested Weber at a nearby hospital later that night.

In a twist, Weber's also a professional cornhole player who uses what is left of his arms to participate in that sport.

All right. This morning at least 64 people are dead and many more injured after a Colombian military transport plane crashed on takeoff. This video difficult to watch for sure. It shows first responders at the site where the plane crashed yesterday. Nearly all the passengers were either members of the Colombian Army with the exception of two police officers and crew members. Investigators are still trying to figure out what exactly caused the plane to crash.

And employees had to race to safety when flames ripped through a historic courthouse built in 1892 in Rome, Georgia. Fire crews worked for hours yesterday trying to save that historical building, but authorities say it's a complete loss. The cause of the fire under investigation. The landmark building was undergoing renovations -- Erica.

HILL: All right.

Well, this morning there is a deepening standoff at the Pentagon. The Defense Department moving to further restrict the Pentagon press corps, shuttering the historic correspondents' corridor inside the building. The Pentagon announcing those changes just three days after a federal judge ruled that previous press restrictions violated the First Amendment.

[07:55:00]

CNN's chief media analyst Brian Stelter joins us now with more on this. So Brian, in terms of this ruling and these new restrictions what does it do to journalists' ability to, you know, do their job? Roam the halls if you will.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: This will really reduce day- to-day access to the Pentagon. And ultimately this is about the American people knowing what the military is doing and how taxpayer dollars are being spent, and these cutbacks will ultimately erode the public's understanding about the military. But journalists are vowing to push back. In fact, The New York Times is already saying it's going to go back to court over these new restrictions.

And let's take this back about a year. Ever since Pete Hegseth was named defense secretary he has been trying to crack down on press access at the Pentagon. He's done it through a number of different mechanisms -- stopping holding briefings and booting some journalists from workspaces. But these are by far the most serious restrictions yet and they come after journalists turned in their press passes in protest of his restrictions last fall.

That led to a court battle. That led to a judge siding with The New York Times last Friday saying you have to give the Times its press passes back. CNN and other news outlets lined up yesterday trying to get those credentials reinstated but then came a new statement from the defense department saying OK, we're going to find a new way to punish the press corps -- a new way to get around the judge's ruling.

And here is part of the statement from Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell. You'll see he's wrapping this in language of transparency. He says, "The department remains committed to transparency and to working with credentialed journalists who cover the military. The department is equally committed to the security of the Pentagon and the protection of the men and women who work there. The revised policy reflects both commitments."

Critics say this transparency talk is a smokescreen for a real attempt to attack the messenger and to push reporters out of the Pentagon. So with these new rules journalists will be put in a faraway annex far from the action where it's harder to actually speak with military officials.

And the ultimate question becomes what are they so afraid of? What is Hegseth so afraid of? All past defense secretaries welcomed having the press inside the Pentagon so that military officials could talk to reporters. Those relationships benefited both sides.

So overnight we heard from the Pentagon Press Association and here's the key quote from the statement. It says, "At such a critical time, at war time, we ask why is the Pentagon choosing to restrict vital press freedoms that help inform all Americans?"

So that's the question on the mind of Pentagon correspondents this morning. They're meeting with their lawyers and figuring out what's next. And as I said, the Times says it's going to go back to court because it believes these new rules violate the ruling from last Friday.

HILL: Yeah, absolutely. And you raise such an important point, Brian, which is what are they so afraid of? This is certainly not transparency. It also will not stop the dogged reporters who are part of the Pentagon press corps, as we know. Appreciate it -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right.

Happening today a landmark child safety trial against Meta is now in the hands of the jury. New Mexico prosecutors accuse the tech giant of misleading users about how safe its platforms are and creating a "breeding ground" for child predators on Facebook and Instagram. Meta said it has methods in place to protect children and teenagers.

CNN tech reporter Clare Duffy is joining me now. This case could kind of redefine how social media companies are held accountable for the safety of children. Give us some sense of where we are in this trial and what's happening with the jury because ultimately, their decision is going to have -- could have -- make big waves.

CLARE DUFFY, CNN TECH REPORTER: That's exactly right, Sara. So we've been talking a lot about this child safety, child addiction trial in Los Angeles.

This is a separate case that was filed by the New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez back in 2023 essentially accusing Meta of enabling child sex predators by making it possible for adults to contact children they don't know on the platform, failing to stop people from creating new accounts after they've already been banned, and for failing to warn parents and teens about these risks.

Throughout this trial we have heard from Meta executives, former Meta employees-turned-whistleblowers, and also experts in child sexual exploitation and child mental health.

In one really striking moment we heard from Meta whistleblower Arturo Bejar who talked about the fact that the same algorithms on Facebook and Instagram that are so good at showing you ads or content that you're interested in can also benefit child predators. He said, "If your interest is little girls, it will be very good at connecting you with little girls."

We also heard details throughout this trial from the New Mexico attorney general's investigation into Meta where they created fake accounts purporting to be teenagers or children on the platform, and that actually resulted in the arrest of three men who thought that they were making plans to meet up with a 12-year-old.

Now, Meta has argued that it has been honest with parents and users about the risks on its platforms. The fact that its safety filters sometimes miss bad actors or bad content. They've also raised questions about the legitimacy of that investigation.

And I'll read you a statement from a Meta spokesperson about this case as it goes to the jury for deliberation. A spokesperson tells me, "While the New Mexico attorney general makes sensationalist, irrelevant and distracting arguments by cherry picking select documents we are focused on demonstrating our longstanding commitment to supporting young people."