Return to Transcripts main page

Early Start with Rahel Solomon

Two Dead In Runway Collision At New York's LaGuardia Airport; Iran: Hormuz Will Be "Completely Closed" If Power Plants Hit; Jewish Volunteer Ambulances Set On Fire In London; ICE Agents To Deploy Monday To Assist Understaffed TSA. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired March 23, 2026 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:02:27]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us in the United States and around the world. I'm Becky Anderson, live from our Middle East headquarters here in Abu Dhabi in the UAE.

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Rahel Solomon live this morning in New York. And that's where we begin this hour with breaking news.

A deadly collision at LaGuardia airport. Take a look at these staggering images, which show the aftermath of the collision between an Air Canada plane and a Port Authority fire and rescue vehicle. Law enforcement officials say that the pilot and copilot of that plane have died. Two people in the vehicle have been injured.

Let's get straight to CNN's Gloria Pazmino, who joins us live this morning from New York with the latest.

Gloria, what's the latest that you're hearing?

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right now?

SOLOMON: Gloria, can you hear me?

PAZMINO: Yes, I can, Rahel. Just want to make sure that you guys can hear me as we're trying to get set up here, I think. I think you have me.

SOLOMON: Go ahead and give us the latest. As far as you can tell us, Gloria, we understand that things are obviously fluid and developing as you get in place. What are you hearing?

PAZMINO: Thank you. That's right, Rahel. And there's a massive response here at LaGuardia Airport. For the past few hours, we have been watching as emergency vehicles surround that that airplane that is still on the runway, the video, the photographs that we have been looking at show the front of the plane completely destroyed.

We can now report that both the pilot and the copilot were tragically killed after that airplane collided with another Port Authority vehicle that was on the runway attending to another plane that needed servicing. That's according to law enforcement officials here on the ground. Again, the pilot, the copilot killed as a result of that collision.

Now, we understand this plane was coming in from Montreal. It was set to land around 1130 local time here in New York city. It left Montreal around 10:30 p.m., landed here at around 1130, and the collision happened shortly after that.

This is a small airplane, which usually carries about 74 people. We understand there were about 72 to 74 people, including the crew aboard that plane. Now, we -- we've been told the NTSB has launched an investigation team, and we are expecting to hear directly from officials who will be looking into exactly what happened here in the next few hours.

[04:05:02]

I do want to play for you. We have some audio of the moment that that radio -- radio was trying to tell this Port Authority vehicle to stop. They were trying to prevent the collision and you can hear the moment right before it happened. Take a listen.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

TOWER: Frontier 4195, just stop there, please.

TOWER: Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, Truck One, stop, stop, stop!

TOWER: Stop, Truck One! Stop!

TOWER: 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 AUDIO CLIP)

PAZMINO: Now, Rahel, one thing I should say that shortly after this incident happened early this morning, there was a ground stop here at LaGuardia Airport. The ground stop has now been lifted, but the airport remains closed. And as we head into the early morning hours, that's going to mean a lot of delays and travel difficulties here at the airport.

This is a major airport here in the New York -- in the New York city area. And of course, we have been seeing all the other issues at the nation's airports related to the partial government shutdown. So, we are waiting to hear just how long they're going to keep the airport closed while they investigate this incident.

But again, the pilot, the copilot sadly killed as a result of this collision. NTSB on the ground investigating exactly what led to this collision, what happened. And again, we understand that there were also officials that were injured, the ones that were inside the vehicle that was responding to the incident on the runway -- Rahel.

SOLOMON: Yeah. Gloria, really chilling to hear that message just moments before the collision. Gloria, we're going to check back with you later in the show. That's our Gloria Pazmino live for us there at LaGuardia Airport. I believe we also have Shimon Prokupecz, who is also at the airport. We're going to get to him a little later in the show.

But for now, I want to send it back to my colleague Becky Anderson, who is in the Middle East with the latest on the war with Iran -- Becky.

ANDERSON: Rahel, thank you for that.

Iran now has just a few hours to respond to President Donald Trump's deadline to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Iran's military says it is ready to close that critical waterway indefinitely and attack Israeli and U.S. regional infrastructure if President Trump carries out his ultimatum to hit and obliterate Iran's power plants.

This as the Iranian Red Crescent teams carry out search and rescue operations in residential areas hit by airstrikes today.

The IDF says it has begun a wide scale wave of strikes targeting the Iranian regime's infrastructure.

Meanwhile, just hours ago, at least one Iranian missile carrying a cluster warhead could be seen above -- excuse me -- above Israel, Jerusalem and the West Bank.

CNN's Paula Hancocks joining us live from Dubai this morning with the very latest.

Let's start with what we know about what is going on both in Israel and in Iran. And then take a look at this wider sort of Gulf region.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, what we have seen in Israel over the past few hours is that there has been interceptions, debris falling in northern Israel. And what we saw over the last 24 hours, according to officials, there is more than 150 casualties as a number of missiles did get through, hitting the towns of Arad and Dimona.

Now, the IDF says at this point that they're looking to see how these rockets were not intercepted. But we certainly have seen some significant damage in some of those areas. Dimona, of course, home to Israel's nuclear facility. Now, we have also been seeing overnight significant strikes from Israel. They have said, targeting a number of locations in Iran as well. So, there is no let up at this point when it comes to the attacks going either way. And it comes as we are hearing this escalation, at least in rhetoric, after the U.S. president said that they would hit and obliterate Iran's power plants if they don't open the Strait of Hormuz.

There was a fairly swift response from Tehran, which everyone is looking to now, saying that they would reciprocate in the region. We heard from Iran's parliament speaker saying that critical infrastructure, energy facilities would be, quote, irreversibly destroyed, saying that if the U.S. goes ahead with those threatened strikes, then they would become legitimate targets.

We've also seen from Iran's semiofficial Mehr News that they have published a map showing the power plants in the region, pointing out that some 70 to 80 percent are along the Persian Gulf, within Iran's range. That is, according to Iranian state media, saying that the entire region will be plunged into darkness.

[04:10:11]

Now, of course, this is an escalation in rhetoric at this point, it's important to say. It's unclear whether that will be followed with actions. But of course, the Strait of Hormuz is still very much the focus and the inability to be able to pass crucial oil tankers and cargo ships through that chokehold.

Now, we have heard that there are more countries signing on to this alliance of countries that is trying to put together some kind of plan to be able to ease the restrictions in the Strait of Hormuz. We heard from Mark Rutte, the NATO secretary general, saying that he is, quote, absolutely convinced that this alliance will be able to open the Strait of Hormuz.

Worth pointing out, though, that that is a Coalition of the Willing, if you like. At this point, there's no actual plans that we know of or have been publicly talked about in place. There was also, we understand, a late night call between the U.S. president and the U.K. prime minister talking about this -- Becky.

ANDERSON: Paula Hancocks is in Dubai for you this morning. Thank you. Paula.

The gulf region then certainly on high alert this morning.

Joining me now live from Tel Aviv, Israel, is Ronen Bergman, staff writer with "The New York Times" magazine. He's also the author of the book "Rise and Kill First: The Secret History of Israel's Targeted Assassinations".

It's good to have you with us this morning, sir. Thank you.

RONEN BERGMAN, STAFF WRITER, NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE: Good to be here.

ANDERSON: The IDF says it is preparing for and I quote them here. Weeks of fighting against Iran and the Iran backed Hezbollah in Lebanon as it prepares to expand its operations in that country.

I wonder whether you can just give us your assessment of what that would look like, both for Lebanon and Iran. And is it any clearer what these sort of strategic objectives are at this point?

BERGMAN: Good -- good morning. Good to be with you. I think that it's not just that -- it's not clear to me, but I'm not sure to how many Israeli and American officials, including the top officials, could answer your questions in a clear way with the candid answer, because this war was not supposed to take so long. The initial plan for the eight stages was about five days, and then it got extended and extended.

And now we see basically that the war plans are deriving from developments that happened during the war, not just targets that were set before. And many of these developments, including full scale war with Hezbollah, happened in a way that not all military and intelligence analysts expected.

So, I think that the next few days are crucial because they will dictate the next stage, whether for some kind of a closure, which I believe maybe also hope I'm living, just by Tel Aviv. And we have missiles here every day. And I think that either to a closure or to a much-accelerated pace of war, that might include American boots on the ground and Israeli much more extensive, incursion into -- into Lebanon.

ANDERSON: It's nearly quarter past 10:00 where you are. It is quarter past 12:00 here in Abu Dhabi. Certainly, there is a heightened sense of alert here today. As we sort of approach that deadline that Donald Trump -- sort of self-imposed deadline that he put in place some 40 hours ago or so.

You also report that Benjamin Netanyahu, quote, vented that Mr. Trump might decide to end the war any day, and that Mossad's operations had yet to bear fruit. In a recent press conference, the Israeli prime minister described Donald Trump as the leader, while Israel was the ally.

Talk to me about this relationship between the two leaders, Ronen. You recently co-wrote an article which said, quote, the belief that Israel and the United States could help instigate widespread revolt was a foundational flaw. For example, just talk to us about how you read this relationship, at this point

BERGMAN: So, I think that, Benjamin Netanyahu had a share in the moves and preparations and decision-making process that led Trump to take the decision and go to this war.

[04:15:03]

I don't think that he -- he was the only thing I think that the war would not be starting without the protest. And the way that Trump positioned himself vis-a-vis the demonstrators.

But I think that Benjamin Netanyahu had a lot about the preparation. And also, you just quoted part, from the this morning or yesterday evening story where Benjamin Netanyahu basically bought the idea that Mossad gave him that there is a chance that if they start with the killing of the supreme leader and killing of many other Iranian officials with help, that Mossad was thought it able to instigate, riots and protesters, et cetera, this could potentially bring the end of the regime.

So, something very short that could be even sort of remake of what happened in Venezuela. And that according to, some American officials that, that played very well to Trump. He sees Venezuela as a success. And if you can do this one again, but of course, Iran is not Venezuela. And I think that if someone thought that this regime would fall, would just collapse because they killed the supreme leader, as important as he was, I think this was a fatal mistake.

There's no case in history where a regime was toppled from afar. And I think that this all happened in the first days of the preparations. While ever since then, the whole lead of this campaign is at the U.S.

And when you speak with Israeli officials and you say, and you ask them, when will it end, how do you know that you succeed? What are the main goals? They always say or relieve themselves with basically saying, well, it's not up to us to decide. And they don't mean Prime Minister Netanyahu. They're waiting for orders from the White House.

And this, you know, this is the first time of such intimate cooperation between the two militaries and the intelligence services. It never happened before. Very intimate based on trust, but also it never happened before that Israel was so much subordinate, directly subordinate to what they say in Pennsylvania Avenue in D.C.

SOLOMON: Ronen, it's good to have you this morning. Your analysis has been really important, and we will continue to check in with you.

Thank you very much indeed for joining us. Ron Bergman is in Tel Aviv this morning.

Look, there have been attacks there. There have been alerts here overnight. Let's get you to London, where police say they are investigating an apparent arson attack in the city's Golders Green neighborhood as an antisemitic hate crime.

This security camera footage shared with CNN shows three masked individuals approaching an ambulance belonging to a Jewish volunteer rescue group, then setting it on fire. Now, the neighborhood is home to a large Jewish population.

CNN's Clare Sebastian is in London for us with the very latest -- Clare.

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. Good morning, Becky. This is a community, Golders Green in North London, the heart of London's Jewish community that is waking up extremely shocked and in some cases, angry. This was a terrifying night for some people who live in the vicinity of this area.

Behind me, you can see where these four ambulances were parked. Just make out. I don't think you can see it, but I can see over my right shoulder. The edge of one of the ambulances that was burnt out. These were ambulances belonging to a volunteer Jewish rescue organization, much loved in the local community.

And they say that these ambulances, basically, that people set fire to them overnight. And they were these loud explosions that the London fire brigade are saying because of gas canisters essentially blowing up on those ambulances. So, a lot of shock and anger in this community and beyond. We've now heard from the British prime minister, Keir Starmer, who

called this a deeply shocking antisemitic arson attack. He said my thoughts are with the Jewish community, who are waking up this morning to this horrific news.

The local MP here telling CNN in a statement that this was a cowardly and despicable act. She said striking at the heart of the Jewish community before Passover. But of course, there are about ten days out now from the start of Passover.

Police say they have not made any arrests as of yet. They are searching for three suspects and as you say, they are treating this as an antisemitic hate crime. But it has very much impacted this area. One local councilor telling me this morning that it is even more scary, he said, because of it being predictable, people were very nervous before this because of a rise in antisemitic crimes.

And of course, this is just six months since we saw that attack on the synagogue in Manchester, which killed two people.

[04:20:01]

So, a very heightened mood here in north London here this morning, Becky.

ANDERSON: Good to have you, Clare. Thank you very much indeed for joining us. And we will keep you bang up to date on what is going on there in London as the hours pass.

Still to come, the White House plans deploying ICE agents to help the TSA amid massive callouts. We're going to get the very latest for you on how the partial U.S. government shutdown is affecting waiting times at U.S. airports.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SOLOMON: Welcome back.

We continue to follow that breaking news out of LaGuardia Airport, where two people have been killed in a runway collision between an Air Canada plane and a Port Authority fire and rescue vehicle.

[04:25:00]

Law enforcement officials say that both the pilot and the copilot of the plane have died, and two people in the ground vehicle were also injured in the collision, but reported no major injuries among the plane's passengers. The vehicle reportedly attempted to cross the runway while responding to a separate incident at the airport.

Live recording of the air traffic control audio from the time of the collision. Take a listen

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

TOWER: Frontier 4195, just stop there, please. TOWER: Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, Truck One, stop, stop, stop!

TOWER: Stop, Truck One! Stop!

TOWER: 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 AUDIO CLIP)

SOLOMON: We do have crews on the scene there at LaGuardia Airport. We will give you the latest updates on this story as we get them here into our newsroom.

Now to the latest on airports in the U.S., TSA callouts are rising as the country enters the sixth week of the partial government shutdown and some of the busiest airports in the country are really feeling the pinch as lines get longer and travelers' patience runs short. The Department of Homeland Security says that more than one third of agents called out for multiple airports on Saturday. That includes major hubs like New York's JFK and Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson.

Overall, more than 11 percent of TSA staff called out from work on Saturday. That is the highest percentage nationwide since the partial shutdown began, and President Trump says that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will be deployed to assist the understaffed TSA. It comes amid a stalemate in Washington, as lawmakers still haven't agreed on how to fund the Homeland Security Department.

ICE agents will be deployed on Monday today to airports across the country. Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens says that the Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport is expecting agents to assist with crowd management.

President Trump has put Border Czar Tom Homan in charge of the operation. Homan says that ICE will continue conducting immigration operations, and agents will only help in areas that do not require specialized expertise.

Here's what he told CNN's Dana Bash on Sunday.

(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 it can. Well, while adhering to all the security guidelines and the protocols, were simply there to help TSA do their job in areas that don't need their specialized expertise, such as, you know, screening through the X-ray machine, not training that, we won't do that, but there are roles we can play to release TSA officers from the non- significant role, such as guarding an exit so they can get back to the scanning machines and move people quicker.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, however, is against the idea. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY), MINORITY LEADER: It's unfortunate that Republicans have decided that they would rather force TSA agents to work without pay, inconvenience millions of Americans all across the country, and now potentially expose them to untrained ICE agents and create chaos at airports throughout the land rather than get ICE agents under control.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: U.S. Senate has voted to advance Senator Markwayne Mullin nomination to lead the Department of Homeland Security. Democrats John Fetterman and Martin Heinrich voted with Republicans on Sunday to approve the key procedural step. Mullin would replace outgoing DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. A final confirmation vote could come as early as today.

We're going to have much more on the war with Iran straight ahead, including President Trump's impending deadline for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)