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Early Start with Rahel Solomon

Israel: Iran Launched Seven Waves Of Missiles Within 10 Hours; Trump Postpones Strike Threats, Says U.S. in Talks with Iran; Iran's Parliament Speaker Denies Negotiating With U.S.; Investigation Underway After Deadly Runway Collision; ICE Deploys To 14 U.S. Airports To Aid Understaffed TSA. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired March 24, 2026 - 05:00   ET

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

[05:00:19]

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome to our viewers in the U.S. and all around the world. I'm Rahel Solomon live this morning in New York.

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Becky Anderson, live from our Middle East programming headquarters here in Abu Dhabi, where the time is 1:00 in the afternoon.

And we are following the very latest developments out of the Middle East this Tuesday, where Israeli authorities say Iran has launched seven waves of missiles at Israel within a matter of hours. You're looking at live footage of the aftermath of a strike on Tel Aviv earlier today. Police say search and rescue teams there are on the ground, as well as bomb disposal experts.

The IDF says it is responding to, quote, several sites of impact in central Israel. The Israeli military had warned earlier this morning of missile launches from Iran. Meanwhile, Israel also striking Iran. The Israeli air force says it has struck more than 50 targets overnight into today, including launch sites and other military targets.

Let's get you to Tel Aviv. CNN's Oren Liebermann is standing by.

Iran then launching seven waves of missiles at Israel in less than ten hours. Oren, what's been the impact there and the response?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: And those waves targeted all across the country. Soon after midnight, we got sirens where I was in Jerusalem. And then we have seen sirens in Beersheva warning of incoming missiles and multiple impact sites there, as well as multiple impact sites in Tel Aviv from a missile just a couple of hours ago, which strongly suggests were once again seeing Iran use cluster warheads on top of their -- on top of their ballistic missiles that are able to create multiple smaller impact sites.

But in video, you see from the streets of Tel Aviv here, you can see the damage they do destroying cars, hitting buildings, and tearing off walls. You can see the impact of these in Iran has used these in approximately half of the missiles they have launched, according to the Israeli military. So even though you have seen Israel and the U.S., for that matter, try to go after Iran's ballistic missile array, its ballistic missile production facilities, Iran has been able to keep up a steady wave of strikes.

Yes, it's certainly down from what it was at the beginning of the war. But you see the continued impact and their ability to still launch even at lower numbers and the impact it can have if even one of these missiles gets through. We certainly saw that over the weekend with missiles in southern Israel, in Arad and Dimona, and now we continue to see it here in Tel Aviv, as it seems every few hours there are more waves of incoming.

Meanwhile, Israel continuing to strike Iran. They've made clear that they have hundreds, if not thousands of more targets to go and plans for weeks of war. So, Israel continuing to carry out waves of strikes in Iran even as the war in Lebanon continues against Iranian proxy Hezbollah.

ANDERSON: And that is as Donald Trump, of course, signals that talks are underway to try and end this war. Is Israel on board with efforts to end this conflict?

LIEBERMANN: To a large extent, Israel has no choice but to be on board. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu put out a statement last night, a prerecorded video statement in which he said a diplomatic agreement could bring about all of the main points that Israel and the U.S. are looking for. And yet, in the meantime, Netanyahu also made clear that the war continues.

I think there is tremendous skepticism about any diplomatic effort to end the war. Don't forget, it was the Israeli defense minister who said over the weekend that Israel and the U.S. have a significant escalation in strikes planned for this week.

So that's very much how Israel views this. The war is still on. No diplomacy is about to end it. And if that's the case, then Israel will continue attacking. I don't think Israel -- Israeli officials believe that there is an agreement that could satisfy everyone's needs. Netanyahu, of course, has no choice but to at least play along with President Donald Trump for now. And effectively to believe what he believed before all of this started, that any diplomatic effort is bound to fall apart and it's back to war.

ANDERSON: Oren Liebermann is in Tel Aviv. Oren, thank you. Back to you later. As the hours go on.

President Donald Trump then declaring a five-day pause on striking Iran's power plants, at least on Monday. He claimed talks between the two nations this weekend led to a 15-point agreement. But state media reporting that Iran's foreign ministry at least says there is -- there is or has been no dialogue.

Now, a senior advisor to the supreme leader says the war will continue until Iran receives full compensation for damages. Amongst other things.

Meanwhile, a Pakistani official tells CNN Islamabad is ready to host talks involving Iran, the U.S. and Israel.

Gregg Carlstrom is the Middle East correspondent for "The Economist". He is with us live from the Saudi capital of Riyadh.

And, Gregg, I just want your assessment of whether or not we are any closer to seeing an end to this war.

GREGG CARLSTROM, MIDDLE EAST CORRESPONDENT: I'm still very skeptical that this diplomatic initiative is going to lead to a deal. My understanding is that, yes, there have been messages passed between the Americans and the Iranians. They're not speaking directly. They're working through several intermediaries that have been trying to broker a dialogue here.

And so there has been an offer, an American offer for direct talks. There hasn't been an Iranian response to that yet, but that's as far as it's gone. So, when Donald Trump talks about, you know, a 15-point plan and agreement on many of the outstanding issues between the United States and Iran, my understanding is that nothing of the sort has happened. There haven't been any substantive negotiations yet.

And even if we get to talks, even if there is a face to face meeting in Islamabad or elsewhere, there is just an enormous gulf between the two parties. The Americans will come in once again demanding that Iran suspend uranium enrichment altogether, except very strict limits on its missile program. Various other things.

And the Iranians are asking for reparations for the war. New arrangements in the Strait of Hormuz, the closure of American military bases, all of these things likely to be nonstarters with the other party.

ANDERSON: I understand, and that's your analysis, I think is extremely important there.

Let's talk about Saudi Arabia, where you are right now. I want to get the perspective from there.

For the viewers, the kingdom's defense ministry has said it intercepted and destroyed several drones overnight. "The Wall Street Journal" reports from its sources that, quote, "|Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is now eager to reestablish deterrence and is close to a decision to join the attacks. It is only a matter of time before the kingdom enters the war."

What's your reading of the current Saudi thinking?

CARLSTROM: Listen, I think the Saudis certainly are angry about these ongoing missile and drone attacks. It's not just the nightly attacks on oil fields in the east, which have been going on for a while now. There was also last week a ballistic missile attack on Riyadh, right in the middle of a diplomatic summit that the Saudis were hosting. They convened foreign ministers from Arab countries, Muslim majority countries. And about an hour before that started, Iran launched a ballistic missile attack on Riyadh.

So, the Saudis are furious about all of this. They do feel like they need to reestablish deterrence somehow. They have lifted some of the strictures that they imposed on America using military bases in the kingdom. And so, you see more American aerial refueling jets, for example, taking off from Saudi military bases, refueling American planes in Saudi airspace.

Whether they're going to join the fighting, though, I don't think we're there yet. I think that still depends on, first, the outcome of this diplomatic effort this week. Second, what it is Donald Trump is trying to achieve? Do the Saudis expect that he's going to stay in this war for a few more weeks? Or do they think there's a chance that he might declare victory in the near future and go home? If it's the latter, I don't think the Saudis want to get involved, right before the war ends. That's a bad outcome for them because it will make them a target, perhaps for future Iranian attack, and it won't materially change the balance of the conflict.

ANDERSON: I think you and I will agree that were certainly seeing a hardening of position, though, from the Saudis. Listen to what the UAE minister of industry and advanced technology and head of Abu Dhabi national oil company, Sultan Al-Jaber, said to a major energy conference yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SULTAN AHMED AL-JABER, UAE MINISTER OF INDUSTRY AND ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY: Energy security is not just a slogan, it's the difference between lights on and lights off. Weaponizing the Strait of Hormuz is not an act of aggression against one nation. It is economic terrorism against every nation, and no country should be allowed to hold Hormuz hostage. Not now, not ever.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: And we've also heard similar language from the UAE's Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, the UAE's deputy prime minister and foreign minister, who posted on X, quote, "We will never be blackmailed by terrorists."

I just wonder what you believe the use of this language tells us about how the UAE and frankly, other Gulf states certainly the Saudis, how they now view Iran and how their official statements are hardening as this conflict escalates.

[05:10:09]

CARLSTROM: I would say almost everyone in the gulf is united in that view. At this point, the Omanis are still an outlier, but the rest of the Gulf states all feel as if Iran has been holding them hostage for the better part of a month, despite efforts to have better relations with Iran in recent years. Despite efforts to prevent this conflict in the first place, urging the Americans not to start it.

And so, when the Emiratis use that language in public, they have been using that in private, as well as have other Gulf countries. When they speak to the Americans. And the message has very much been, you cannot end this war with Iran maintaining a stranglehold on the strait of Hormuz. You hear Iranian officials of late, some of them starting to talk about essentially setting up a toll booth on the street, charging fees for commercial ships that go in and out of the Persian Gulf. That's completely unacceptable for gulf countries, because that strait is their lifeline, not just for oil and gas exports, but for many other goods that move in and out of these countries as well.

And so, the message they have been sending to America is you can't simply declare victory and go home. You can't wrap this war up now until you have reopened the straits and prevented Iran from closing it in the future.

ANDERSON: Gregg, it's good to have you good perspective from there in Riyadh, in Saudi Arabia. Thank you.

Let's get you back to Rahel Solomon, who has some other news for you out of New York today.

SOLOMON: Okay, Becky, we'll see you soon. Thank you.

Federal investigators are on the ground at New York's LaGuardia airport after that deadly runway collision on Sunday night. National Transportation Safety Board says that multiple teams are sifting through the wreckage and examining every angle of this accident as part of the investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENNIFER HOMENDY, CHAIR, NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD: I just want to express how much there is a lot of debris. We need to go through all of that and to figure out what we need to take back to the NTSB, to our labs, what we might want to collect.

First and foremost, what we need to take pictures of to document that evidence, that's all evidence. And we need to document that first. Then we need to collect some of that evidence. Then we get to that. It's going to be days.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: Authorities say that the pilot and copilot were both killed when the landing air Canada jet struck a Port Authority fire and rescue truck. The truck had been attempting to cross the runway while responding to a separate incident. One of those pilots has been identified as Antoine Forest. His family members have expressed his love of flying, and FAA officials described both pilots as, quote, young men at the start of their careers.

CNN's Shimon Prokupecz has more on the collision.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): New video shows a moment of a deadly collision between an Air Canada plane and a fire truck at LaGuardia airport. Ten seconds after giving the truck permission to cross the runway, the air traffic controller frantically warns it to wait.

TOWER: Stop, stop, stop, stop, truck one, stop, stop, stop! Stop truck one! Stop!

PROKUPECZ (voice-over): But it was too late to stop the collision that killed two pilots and injured dozens.

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.

PROKUPECZ (voice-over): The Air Canada plane was going 104 miles an hour when it hit the truck.

Passenger Rebecca Liquori described the moments just before the crash.

REBECCA LIQUORI, AIR CANADA PASSENGER: 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.

PROKUPECZ (voice-over): Forty-one passengers and two crew members went to the hospital. The port authority said 32 people have already been released. Many ended up sliding off the plane's wing to exit safely.

One of the flight attendants was found alive outside the plane, still strapped to her seat, according to a law enforcement official.

LIQUORI: It was a very harrowing scene. We were all emotional and it was just very scary.

PROKUPECZ (voice-over): Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy tried to reassure travelers at a news conference at LaGuardia on Monday.

SEAN DUFFY, U.S. TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: It's incredibly sad. It's troubling. And I just want to let America know that we are working our hearts out to make sure that when people travel, whether by rail or car or by air, that they travel safely.

PROKUPECZ (voice-over): The collision shut down New York City's second largest airport for more than 14 hours, leading to hundreds of canceled flights. This comes as there's already been significant travel disruptions and delays resulting from the government's partial shutdown.

[05:15:00]

GOV. KATHY HOCHUL (D), NEW YORK: Let's acknowledge the tremendous stress, particularly in recent days, that our airline workers are under. And as we come through here, know that this is an ecosystem which is not self-sustaining.

PROKUPECZ: It's really tough times here, and certainly for many of the victims here and the people who were aboard the plane, who really just took action to try and save each other to get off that plane.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOLOMON: Our thanks to Shimon there.

At least 66 people were killed when a Colombian air force plane crashed shortly after takeoff, with 125 people on board. A video geolocated by CNN shows the moments just before the C-130 Hercules aircraft went down. A first responder says that the plane likely suffered an impact near the end of the runway.

The plane went down in a rural field just two miles from the airport in Colombia's southern Amazon region. Almost everyone on the plane was army personnel, apart from two national police officers and 11 air force members. Dozens of people were hurt. Several of them had to be transferred to nearby hospitals. Authorities say they are investigating.

And still to come for us, President Trump deploys immigration agents to help the understaffed TSA at airports across the U.S. Well tell you what officials are saying about that move and efforts to end the partial government shutdown after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SOLOMON: Welcome back.

In the coming hours, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are expected to return to at least 14 different airports across the U.S. They're supposed to help the understaffed TSA, which is experiencing massive numbers of callouts due to the partial government shutdown. The Department of Homeland Security declined to answer. How many agents in total were mobilized, but officials suggest that there are plans to expand the number of airports getting help.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM HOMAN, BORDER CZAR : We got 14 right now, and there will be more. Their number one mission there, as the president said, his help TSA with security helped move the flow of people through those lines.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: The plan has been met with mixed response. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer says that ICE agents who are unfamiliar with TSA responsibilities aren't going to make airports any safer.

Border Czar Tom Homan also confirmed that agents will also carry out immigration enforcement, but says that it is not their top priority. And the wheels are slowly moving in Washington towards reopening the Department of Homeland Security. Lawmakers have not agreed on a funding bill yet, but Republicans are making headway on a deal that could satisfy at least one of the Democrats' demands.

CNN's John Lawrence (ph) reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Some progress in Washington, D.C.

SEN. JAMES LANKFORD (R-OK): On this vote, the ayes are 54. The nays are 45. The nomination of Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma to be secretary of homeland security is confirmed.

LAWRENCE (voice-over): The 48-year-old is taking over a department that hasn't been funded since February 14th.

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY), MINORITY LEADER: Let's make it very clear Donald Trump is the one standing in the way of paychecks for TSA workers.

LAWRENCE (voice-over): But it appears some progress may be coming on that front as well. Top Republican senators met at the White House Monday night with a proposal aimed toward funding DHS. Aside from a small section of the immigration enforcement budget, which analysts say appears to be a concession to Democratic lawmakers.

TOM HOMAN, BORDER CZAR: I'm not getting ahead of the president on what he wants to see in the end or, you know, he's -- he's talking to members of Congress on both sides. So, I'll leave that final decision up to the president. But regardless of what happens in the next several days, I'm just going to keep doing the mission the president signed.

LAWRENCE (voice-over): But until the stalemate is broken, ICE agents will be at several airports lending assistance to unpaid TSA employees.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I do say that I think they should just fund the Department of Homeland Security, pay those workers. They're here for a reason. They protect us every day. And I don't think ICE agents should really be up there just filling in the hole.

LAWRENCE (voice-over): I'm John Lawrence reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOLOMON: New Iranian missile strikes hit Tel Aviv. We'll get back to Becky Anderson in Abu Dhabi with the latest on the war with Iran right after this break.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:27:57]

ANDERSON: Welcome back. I'm Becky Anderson, live from our Middle East headquarters. Just before 1:30 in the afternoon here in Abu Dhabi in the UAE.

Despite U.S. President Donald Trump's claim of talks with Iran, there is no letup in the barrage of projectiles Tehran is firing at Israel. The country's emergency response service says at least six people have been wounded at four different impact sites across Tel Aviv. Israeli authorities say Iran launched at least seven waves of missiles since midnight, including at Dimona, which is home to Israel's nuclear research center.

Earlier, Iranian state media showed video of missile launches, although it's not entirely clear when it was recorded.

Meantime, video from Tehran shows rescue teams searching damaged buildings. Israel says its air force struck more than 50 targets so far today, including launch sites and military facilities.

I want to get you live to London now. Faisal Abbas, editor in chief of Arab News, is there normally based, of course, in Riyadh.

Good to have you.

And Saudi has certainly experienced some attacks overnight. I have to say, across this gulf region, we have seen a significant reduction in the number of attacks, which I think is quite telling. Axios reporting that the U.S. is in communication with Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of Iran's parliament, and a name that we've been hearing a lot of over the past couple of weeks.

There are attempts to arrange a meeting this week in Pakistan with U.S. Officials. Ghalibaf has posted on x saying, and I quote here, "No negotiations have been held, though, with the U.S. and fake news is used to manipulate the financial and oil markets and escape the quagmire in which the U.S. and Israel are trapped."

Look, Faisal, what do you make of these conflicting signals? And is there any real diplomatic track underway? And if at all, how is Saudi involved?

FAISAL ABBAS, EDITOR IN CHIEF OF ARAB NEWS: Well, thanks again for having me, Becky. As we all very well know, the first casualty of war is always the truth. And I think all the parties involved.