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Amazon Cargo Plane Crashes in Miami; Cat Three Hurricane Takes Aim at Hawaii; Fetterman Blasts Ex-Aides. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired September 07, 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]

SAMANTHA DELOUYA, CNN BUSINESS WRITER: I spoke to one woman who said she's paying $900 more per month on her new home for the past four years than she had on her previous home, even though the mortgage payments, the actual mortgage loan amount is the same. She said, you know, she has to work a second job now. She can't save for retirement. She can't put away for her son or even pay towards her student loans that she's had since her Ph.D. program.

So, a lot of Americans are struggling because of these high mortgage rates, and there's no sign of them coming down now any time soon.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, it completely changes the equation for people in the housing market. And as you say, you know, for those who have been waiting for the markets to go down to refinance, just hasn't happened.

Samantha Delouya, thank you so much for your reporting on this.

A brand-new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking this morning, a deadly landing. What caused the Amazon cargo plane to crash at Miami International Airport? New flight delays there this morning during the busy holiday travel weekend as investigators try to figure out why the plane overshot the runway, crashing into cars and bursting into flames.

Also, powerful hurricane taking aim at Hawaii. Officials are urging people to stay home, off the roads, as conditions are getting worse there. Where the worst impacts could be.

And a CNN exclusive, Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman breaking his silence, fighting back at former staffers who say he doesn't want to do the day-to-day work of being a senator.

Kate's out today. I'm Sara Sidner, with John Berman. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

BERMAN: Breaking this morning, flights delayed at Miami International Airport. Investigators try to determine what caused a deadly Amazon cargo plane crash. Five people are dead, five others injured after this happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Holt (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh my (EXPLETIVE DELETED) God.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Holy (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: That is really horrific video. The plane overran the runway at a nearly 130 miles per hour, crossed a busy road, hitting multiple vehicles, ultimately bursting into flames. It appears the pilots never declared a mayday or emergency.

CNN aviation correspondent Pete Muntean, he is live at Miami International Airport.

Pete, it's so great to have you there.

That video, very dramatic. Investigators on the scene. What are we learning?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, we now know that two runways here at Miami International Airport are closed. Runway two six left and runway three zero, which is the runway this flight was trying to land on yesterday afternoon around 2 p.m. That is off in the distance here. You can see Northwest 67th Avenue here. That is the road that the 767 came careening across, then into the parking lot of this Amazon warehouse and logistics center behind me, when it came to rest, burst into flames. A lot of black smoke seen on the right side of the airplane.

Investigators really have their work cut out for them now. And we will hear from the National Transportation Safety Board, which is in charge of this investigation, later today. NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy is representing the NTSB here today, and we will likely hear from them sometime this afternoon.

The preliminary data and the video that is coming in is very telling. The video showing this flight touching down on runway three zero here at Miami International Airport, but still somewhat airborne. The left main landing gear still above the ground as this plane passed down the two thirds point of the runway. That is a point where the airplane would typically be exiting the runway and getting onto a taxiway to taxi to a gate, a large cargo facility here as well, likely where this airplane was going.

Some really key details for investigators to find out from the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder. Does the flight data recorder data square up with the preliminary data that is available on open source sites online? We know from Flightradar24 that this plane, at the halfway point of the runway, was still at 170 knots. That's about 200 miles per hour. Typically, the speed there would be less than half that.

So, this is now telling a story of what is called an unstable approach. This airplane coming in too fast and potentially too high, something that has been a key for investigators to key into and also for training folks, instructors to warn pilots against. They typically tell pilots, if they're coming in unstable to go around, to abort the landing. Why did this flight, why did these pilots not abort this landing if they were coming in too fast?

[09:05:03]

That is what investigators will want to know. But, of course, they need to figure out just exactly what kind of data they have on their hands.

BERMAN: Yes. And as you point out, the data certainly indicates coming in too fast. And as you were talking about in the video, I kept on seeing it. That tire was elevated. That left back tire was elevated about halfway down the runway. There it is again. Not good at all. You can see it there in the air. That is not the way it's supposed to be at that point of landing.

Pete Muntean, thank you so much for being there and explaining things so clearly this morning. Appreciate it.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, to continue this conversation with some analysis, joining me now, CNN transportation analyst Mary Schiavo, former inspector general for the U.S. Department of Transportation.

What do you see when you look at this? You heard Pete and John talking about the way in which the wheels landed on the ground. What are the potential dangers? What went wrong here? Was it breaks or tires or landing speeds, or weather? Any of those a factor?

MARY SCHIAVO, CNN TRANSPORTATION ANALYST: Well, all of those are a factor and more. And every accident is usually a combination of factors. But as we can see in that video, there is some ominous storm clouds and dark sky. This plane, according to what I see on the weather radar from that time of day, had just come through some storms. And when you come through storm and you're expecting turbulence, you're told and, you know, you're trained as a pilot to keep your speed up. So, when they broke through and had the runway in sight and were coming in for land, they were going way too fast.

This plane, this landing speed is supposed to be about 130 to 145 knots, 150 miles an hour. And they were, according to the radar, the publicly available radar now, they were at 183 knots, you know, roughly 40, 50 miles an hour too fast. And so, when they were halfway down the runway, they were still way over even the landing speed that they were supposed to be at.

And so, then they get to the airport and there was something key missing. The -- what's called PAPI lights, it's precision approach lights. Now, granted, they were already, you know, flying instruments. They had their glide path, et cetera. But as a pilot, you know, it's one of the first things you learn. You get used to these red and white lights that tell you you're too high or too low. And so, those were out. Then they get on the runway and in those pictures I don't see what's

called spoilers deflected. And in -- as you're coming in to land, you set those. They automatically deploy if you set them coming in. Maybe they didn't have time to do all that, fighting the storm and coming in, as Pete said, what they call high and hot. You're making a fast descent and hot, meaning you're too fast.

And then from then on, things just went terribly wrong. There was no way to slow down. I don't see the thrust reversers there. And they can't, because as Pete said, that plane is still flying. Those wheels are not on the ground.

SIDNER: Yes.

SCHIAVO: So, there are lots of things to look at. And the final fail safe was arrestor beds at the end of the runway. Miami has none. Hundreds of airports all over the U.S. and the world have them. They're a portion at the end of the runway where the plane literally kind of sinks into it and it stops the plane.

SIDNER: Yes, we're looking at a picture of it here.

SCHIAVO: And it is life-saving.

SIDNER: Yes, we're looking at a picture of that. But it is --

SCHIAVO: Yes. But they didn't have any in Miami.

SIDNER: They didn't have any. Yes. So, that is something that is -- certainly they're going to have to start considering when you consider what happened here, where it actually went over a busy road.

I do want to ask you about, when it comes to accidents, is this the most common of accidents upon landing and overshooting a runway?

SCHIAVO: Well, yes. Other than actual runway incursions where there's traffic on the runways and taxiways that run into each other, planes into each other, vehicles, et cetera, you know, that has been on the rise for many years, and that's been a very stubborn problem for the FAA. But other than that, overruns are the most common problem, which is why, you know, years ago, when there were overruns at LaGuardia, for example, in Chicago, the FAA really emphasized these arrestor beds, but they're not required. The regulations don't mandate that you have them. It's just a very good practice and it saves lives. Many lives, in fact.

SIDNER: Yes. This is an example where it may well have, judging for how quickly that plane came in and being unable to stop until it actually smashed into other cars and people.

SCHIAVO: Yes.

SIDNER: Mary Schiavo, it is a pleasure having you to walk us through all this. Do appreciate it.

John. BERMAN: All right, happening now, Hawaii under a state of emergency,

bracing for Hurricane Lowell, which is now a category three storm. There are concerns on flooding and landslides, mudslides, I should say. Several roads in Oahu were already inundated.

Let's get right to CNN's Derek Van Dam, who has been tracking this storm for us.

What is the latest we are seeing? Where is it moving?

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, new this morning, John, hurricane warnings have now been hoisted for all of Kauai County. And the reason being is that this storm has an easterly trajectory associated with it.

[09:10:04]

So, it's taking that northerly turn. But in the last few satellite images, you can start to see that kind of an easterly shift. So, it's putting some of this eastern portion of the storm more into the western islands of Hawaii. So, this is why they've hoisted this warning.

And this is a concern because it's really changed dramatically over the past 24 to 36 hours. Let me show you why. This is the forecast track now from the National Hurricane Center. Go back in time and you can see how it was forecast to actually be on previous model runs further west. Well, this subtle difference -- this is a game of miles, we all know it when it comes down to hurricane forecasting -- puts that eastern portion of this storm closer to the Hawaiian Islands. And that is why we have these warnings.

Right now it is a weakening storm. But what happens when a storm weakens as it goes northward, poleward, it expands its wind field in size. So, this is the concern. We can actually pause this and show you, right about there, midday or rather overnight tonight into early Tuesday morning, tropical storm force conditions. They extend 165 miles out from the center of the storm. They will cover much of the western Hawaiian Islands, including Kauai. And that means the potential here for hurricane force gusts, especially in those higher elevations.

But most doubt, most certainly the most significant impact from this will be rainfall totals that will exceed 14 inches in some locations. That will lead to localized catastrophic flash flooding and the potential for mudslides. Remember, mountainous terrain, that much rainfall in a short period of time can cause some significant concerns, especially for the communities that live at the base of these mountains. That's why we have flood watches and advisories in places for the entire Hawaiian Islands, including the big island, which, if you recall a few weeks ago, got hammered by significant flash flooding and mudslides from a previous hurricane. So, this is the third hurricane impact storm so far this season for the Hawaiian Islands. Significant.

John. BERMAN: A lot of water coming. We will keep our eye on this storm track over the next 12 hours.

VAN DAM: Yes.

BERMAN: Derek Van Dam, great to see you this morning. Thank you very much.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, thank you, John.

All right, a frightening incident in Ohio. A man arrested after he allegedly charged at a Democratic gubernatorial nominee, Amy Acton. It happened at a fair in Canfield as Acton was speaking to a crowd there on Sunday. She wasn't hurt. Two elderly bystanders, however, were knocked down and they were injured. Acting security detail immediately confronted the suspect, 38-year-old Patrick Havas. She -- he was then taken into custody and law enforcement found he had two firearms and a pair of brass knuckles on him. He now faces multiple charges.

John.

BERMAN: All right, Senator John Fetterman fires back after a scathing report questioned his commitment to his job in Washington.

New polling shows President Trump with signs of weakness in his own base.

And no drivers needed. F1 racing hits the track with A.I. behind the wheel.

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[09:17:39]

BERMAN: All right, this morning, the Trump administration has renewed its appeal to the Supreme Court to allow new Post Office rules for mail-in voting. The midterms now really just two months away. North Carolina has already begun sending out mail-in ballots, and more states will follow suit in the coming days. Voting by mail is popular. It's tripled over the last 20 years in federal general elections.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, thank you, John.

This morning, a CNN exclusive. Democratic Senator John Fetterman is slamming some of his former aides, calling them disgruntled staffers who are trying to ruin his reputation. This is after "The Wall Street Journal" reported on a series of text messages from Fetterman's ex- staffers, accusing him of often skipping meetings with constituents and showing indifference towards the job of a senator. Last September, Fetterman asked his staff why he had to keep meeting with officials from the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, known as CHOP. The aide texted back, "because they're worried about vaccines and Medicaid cuts." Fetterman responded, "well, I'm not."

Fetterman now tells CNN, quote, "I made a dumb joke, and for that I sincerely apologize." He then pointed to a tweet with a photo showing he did meet with CHOP officials. He has denied all of "The Journal's" reporting.

CNN senior reporter Annie Grayer is with me now from Washington.

This is -- isn't just playing out in "The Wall Street Journal." This is playing out on X, where the -- several of his former staffers are threatening more texts to come out.

ANNIE GRAYER, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Those staffers say that there is more to come, and they are defiant in their position here. But Fetterman, in his exclusive statement to CNN, is denouncing the staffers and their reports. And he's pushing back, arguing that these are all statements taken out of context, that they are from anonymous sources and that he is committed to doing the job.

So, that was one example that you laid out in the introduction there of -- and so let's just read this now. He says, quote, "per usual, lies, half-truths, innuendo, smears and anonymous. No matter how many smears or stories, I'm proud to continue to deliver for Pennsylvania." That was part of the exclusive statement to CNN. And so, when you introduced, you showed one example of Fetterman pushing back to that "Wall Street Journal" story.

And in his statement to CNN, Fetterman pushed back on two other examples. There was an instance where Fetterman staffers were sharing that about a funeral in his state for three killed police officers, and Fetterman pushed back, saying that he didn't want to go, apparently, because of the length of the funeral.

[09:20:09]

But in a statement to CNN, Fetterman laid out that he met with those families. He delivered flowers to those families. And that he was there for those families in other ways.

In another example in "The Wall Street Journal" story, there were paralyzed veterans waiting for Fetterman to meet in his office. Fetterman told his staffers that he wasn't able to meet with those individuals, and that his staff ended up conducting the meeting, only for Fetterman to appear later in the day and then appear on a Fox News interview. But Fetterman, in his exclusive statement to CNN, said that he was throwing up at the time of the interview and that he felt better later in the day to resume his schedule, and that is why he then went on to appear on Fox News.

So, Fetterman is very defiant here in pushing back. But this is not the first time that he has faced criticism from his staffers, and he has become a very divisive figure in the Democratic Party, particularly for his views on Israel. He has said that if the party takes an anti-Israel Democratic position, that that would be his red line where he would eventually leave the Democratic Party. So, there is a lot swirling around Fetterman right now. But we, from

what these former staffers are saying on social media, believe that there could be more information to come out. But Fetterman, in his statement to CNN, really pushing back here, Sara, and showing that he does not take any of these statements as truthful, and he has his own -- he has his own version of accounts for each example that these staffers gave "The Wall Street Journal."

SIDNER: We will wait and see as this saga continues.

Annie Grayer, thank you for your reporting there from D.C.

John.

BERMAN: All right, with us now, Washington bureau chief for "The Atlanta Journal-Constitution," Tia Mitchell, and White House correspondent for "USA Today," Francesca Chambers.

And, Francesca, let me just start with you, because what's interesting about the original "Wall Street Journal" article is this isn't about partisan politics. I mean there are Republican representatives and Democratic representatives in Washington in almost all elected officials handle constituent services, really in a -- in a mostly non- partisan way. They meet with their constituents. They hold all kinds of meetings. They go to hospitals, that kind of like. And the implication here in the article is that John Fetterman, senator from Pennsylvania, simply is not doing that.

So, again, you know, how do you think this plays with voters? He's not up for election -- re-election right now, but how do you think this plays with voters outside that partisan sphere?

FRANCESCA CHAMBERS, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, "USA TODAY": Well, the key thing you said was, right now. He will be in 2028. And you already see Rep. Chris Deluzio indicating that he could primary him in 2028, you know, and try to run against him. And as was just discussed about the status of Fetterman and the Democratic Party, particularly in Pennsylvania, it's no secret that he has bad blood with Josh Shapiro, the Democratic governor of Pennsylvania, who's expected to win re- election this year and is a potential 2028 presidential candidate. And so, there are very interesting dynamics at play here as we look towards this next election cycle and what Fetterman could face if he decides to run for re-election in 2028.

BERMAN: So, Tia, you and I spoke about this a couple hours ago. And in the intervening time, I spoke to "The Wall Street Journal" reporter, Siobhan Hughes, who says that some of the same staffers who kind of spoke on background on "The Wall Street Journal" article say that there could be more text messages like the ones that they released already coming out in the next week.

What's the impact? If there's more of a drip, drip, drip or just a flood of this type of reporting, how do you think that would impact Fetterman?

TIA MITCHELL, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, "ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION": Well, I think what is happening is the drip continues to kind of paint a picture for voters in Pennsylvania that John Fetterman, certain parts of the job, he's just not as interested in. He does things on his own terms, even if politically they're not what most people would expect from a senator. I think that, to me, is what really is driven home by the text message exchange about the funeral, because I think a lot of people can identify with, like, you know, a three-hour funeral could be a heavy lift if you're a busy person, but you decide, is it important enough to push through? And on this issue, he indicated in the text message he did not feel like it rose to the level for him to attend these law enforcement officers, fallen officers funeral, because he thought it would take up too much of his day.

The consistency around the messaging that he does not want to do the job or that he kind of is one foot in and one foot out at times, I think, could really create a negative perception for voters in Pennsylvania.

BERMAN: There's some new polling out from NBC News and SurveyMonkey showing the president's approval rating at 36 percent, disapproval of 64 percent.

[09:25:02]

This is some of the worst polling they've had on the NBC/SurveyMonkey poll.

And, Francesca, this comes when the president, this week, is going to do something we've never seen before. There is a midterm convention on Wednesday and Thursday in Texas. By the way, on nights where there happen to be two NFL games. So, good luck getting eyeballs with the opening of the NFL season. But with a record low approval rating, the president is saying, hey, look at me more. I mean, how much do you think Republicans want that to be the messaging heading into the midterms?

CHAMBERS: Well, national Republicans still think that this is the best way to move forward here with the president, putting him front and center both nights as they try to get the base excited to come out and vote in this election. That's their concern, is that the base itself will not turn out to vote in the midterm elections with President Trump off the ballot. They see him still as the best messenger for the Republican Party.

And Republicans are hoping that as people start to tune in to politics again after the summer, heading out of Labor Day weekend, that this will provide an opportunity for them to, you know, provide this message of the president, the president himself expected to hit the trail hard in a midterm blitz. The White House signaling he could be on the trail as much as almost every single day in October. I mean we'll see -- we'll see how many states and races he actually makes it into, but they're going in hard on the Trump strategy.

BERMAN: Tia, how do you excite the base without alienating those independent voters right now who don't seem too enthused about the president? MITCHELL: That's kind of a central predicament that Republicans have under President Trump, because he's not very popular outside of the base, but they feel like they need the base to show up because when their base doesn't show up, they lose general elections. So, they're trying to do both. It will be interesting, therefore, to see which candidates go to Dallas, which do not. What the candidates who are on the ballot in competitive races say during their speeches in Dallas. How do they package their message? You know, they're talking about hearing from everyday Americans who support Trump's agenda. How do they do that? Are they able to change some minds or at least open some hearts? Because right now, it's not just that Trump isn't polling well among the people who just haven't supported him. Even his supporters, there's starting to be some questions about his agenda and how that's playing out, how that's affecting their everyday lives.

BERMAN: All right, Tia Mitchell, Francesca Chambers, thank you so much for being here on this Labor Day. You are both working people all stars. We appreciate it.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, thank you so much.

Ahead, a mother charged in the death of her toddler. The eerie connection this case has to the Lindsay Clancy case.

And the aftermath of a deadly fireworks explosion at a religious festival. That is the aftermath there. Terrifying. At least ten people killed in these explosions.

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