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Isa Soares Tonight
Iranian Source: There Has Been Outreach From The U.S., And That Tehran Is "Willing To Listen To Proposals To End The War"; Russia Unleashes A Rare Day-Time Attack On Targets Right Across Ukraine; President Trump Swears In New Homeland Security Secretary; NTSB Gives Update On Deadly Collision At LaGuardia Airport; Israel: Attacks On Iran Continuing With "Full Force". Aired 2-3p ET
Aired March 24, 2026 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:00:00]
ISA SOARES, HOST, ISA SOARES TONIGHT: A very warm welcome to the show, everyone, I'm Isa Soares. Tonight, an Iranian source tells CNN, there has
been outreach from the U.S., and that Tehran is, quote, "willing to listen to proposals to end the war".
We'll have the very latest for you from the Middle East. Then with all eyes on Iran, Russia unleashes a rare day-time attack on targets right across
Ukraine. I'll be speaking to the chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee in Ukraine's parliament this hour.
Plus, is Congress edging closer to a deal to end the partial U.S. government shutdown after days, of course, as we've shown you of misery at
various airports. We'll have that and much more ahead for you this hour.
We do begin, though, with signs the U.S. and Iran are communicating, at least, on some level. An Iranian source tells CNN, the two countries have
exchanged messages in recent days through intermediaries, and Tehran is, quote, "as I told you at the top of the show, willing to listen."
That reporting is from our Fred Pleitgen, who will join us from -- with more details in just a moment. The war is now in its 25th day, with Israel
launching another wave of strikes on Iran's defense industrial base.
The IDF says the attacks are continuing with full force. And Israeli authorities say a barrage of Iranian missiles pounded sites in Tel Aviv,
wounding several people. Two infants were among those injured in a separate strike in southern Israel.
Let's get more on all these strands, our senior politics reporter, Stephen Collinson is in Washington, Jim Sciutto, as you can see there joins us this
evening from Tel Aviv. Stephen, let me start with you. So, as per Fred's reporting, there has been outreach, it seems, between the U.S. and Iran,
which to me at this point sounds pretty preliminary, right?
What are we hearing from President Trump about this? Because yesterday, you know, he was talking about 15 major points of agreement.
STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: Yes, this is certainly preliminary. Donald Trump deals in hyperbole, and he's in quite a lot of
political duress. So, it's in his interests, I think. And for reasons of trying to play the markets a little bit, that he's making this sound
perhaps more significant than it really is.
It does look just the start of a very long road, even to get towards any kind of ceasefire. There's been talk in Washington. Several sources have
told CNN that Vice President J.D. Vance could be part of any U.S. delegation to go to Islamabad and Pakistan for these talks if they take
place.
The President said yesterday that Steven Witkoff, his envoy, and his son- in-law, Jared Kushner, were involved already. That could be problematic just because they were the negotiators at the start of all this.
SOARES: Yes --
COLLINSON: That failed to get a deal with Iran on its nuclear program. They were also at the table when Donald Trump blew up the previous round of
talks and decided to launch this war. So, their credibility, I think is negotiators with Iran has to be in great question.
So, I think there's a lot of uncertainty. There was a little bit of hope when the President started talking about this. As is often the case,
reality is somewhat different often than what President Donald Trump describes it to be.
SOARES: Yes, and that has been reflected at least today so far in the equity markets and the oil markets, which I'll get to a bit later. But let
me just go to Jim in Tel Aviv. So, Jim, where did the -- then -- where does Israel stand in these talks?
Are they part of them at all? Because we are seeing as we just set that up, continue to see Israel going after strikes in Iran, set to expand ground
and air attacks in southern Lebanon, while also intercepting, of course, Iranian missiles in Israel.
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF U.S. SECURITY ANALYST: Well, I think you could describe the Israeli reaction to this, both public and private as
skeptical. The Israeli Defense Minister, Israel Katz, he said that Iran -- that Israel was continuing its strikes on Iran today with full force.
A senior Israeli official told our colleague, Tal Shalev, that they do not see the Iranians as being in, quote, unquote, "concession mode".
[14:05:00]
And therefore, even if there were to be talks, they don't believe that Iranian officials would be prepared to make concessions necessary to get
any sort of ceasefire or agreement over the finish line. And then in the midst of that, of course, you have the facts on the ground.
Today, you had, as you mentioned, multiple strikes here inside Israel that managed to get through Israel's air defenses. And you have Iran getting
struck as well, and you have Israel, I think quite arguably, expanding the northern front to this war as they attempt to destroy all the bridges
across the Litani River.
Perhaps preparation for a larger ground operation inside southern Lebanon. So, skepticism, although, I will say this, Isa, that from the beginning of
this latest war, Israeli officials have said to me that effectively, the end of the war is in President Trump's hands, that he will, at least, for
Israel and the U.S. decide when to declare victory, if that's what he attempts to do.
Now, that doesn't solve the problem from the Iranian side, because Iran maintains an enormous amount of leverage, particularly over the Strait of
Hormuz. But here in Israel, at least, you're not hearing a great deal of excitement for President Trump's words of progress towards peace.
SOARES: Let's see, we've got until Friday, I believe, was the deadline he kind of boxed himself into. Jim, thank you very much, Stephen, as always,
great to see you both. Appreciate it. We're going to stick with this story, our Fred Pleitgen, who has reported extensively from Iran, is back with us.
And Fred, this is your reporting on the fact that there's been communication. There's been outreach from the U.S., and I think Iran said
it's willing to listen to sustainable proposals. What more are you hearing from the Iran side?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I was in touch with a senior source earlier today, and they told me that, yes,
indeed, there had been a back-and-forth between the United States and the Iranians, not directly, but --
SOARES: By --
PLEITGEN: By intermediary --
SOARES: Intermediaries --
PLEITGEN: Several intermediaries. So, you know, some of the names or some of the countries that we've been hearing --
SOARES: Pakistan, I think is one of those --
PLEITGEN: Pakistan was definitely one of the more prominent ones. You have Egypt, Turkey also, because we know that the United States obviously has
very good relations with Turkey. But the Iranians also, especially Abbas Araghchi; the Foreign Minister, very good relations with Hakan Fidan; the
Foreign Minister of Turkey.
And Qatar actually, also one of those countries that could be passing messages back-and-forth. The Iranians are saying that they are willing to
listen to proposals that would end the conflict between the United States and Iran for good. And of course, there are several sorts of wild cards in
that or --
SOARES: Yes, exactly --
PLEITGEN: Several unknowns in all of that. First of all, the Iranians are saying they believe that they have the inalienable right for peaceful
nuclear technology. One of the interesting things that this Iranian source sent me was, saying that, but not saying what exactly would that mean for
enrichment.
Because we know that the Iranians are insisting or have been insisting --
SOARES: Yes --
PLEITGEN: That they'd be allowed to continue enrichment. The United States said they don't want enrichment at all from --
SOARES: Yes --
PLEITGEN: The Iranian side. So, it was quite interesting that, that wasn't really qualified in the messages that I got. So, I don't know if that's
something where there could be discussions as to how exactly something like that could look.
But the other thing that I think is also a really interesting point is if there is a treaty to end the conflict between the United States and Iran --
SOARES: For a ceasefire --
PLEITGEN: What does that --
SOARES: Yes --
PLEITGEN: Mean for Israel? Does that --
SOARES: Yes, exactly as we just heard --
PLEITGEN: Mean that the Iranians would lay off Israel? Because, of course, I mean, one of the things that we have to keep in mind is that, for the
United States, Iran having a nuclear program is really not the main issue. It's Iran --
SOARES: Right --
PLEITGEN: Having a nuclear program and vowing to destroy Israel. That is the main issue.
SOARES: So, let's go into that because I think that's really interesting. We -- they're not sitting down yet.
PLEITGEN: Yes --
SOARES: The diplomacy is not there. But what is clear, and I think you showed that to us is that, Iran has taken many people by surprise, not
least the United --
PLEITGEN: Yes, absolutely --
SOARES: States President. It's really got a chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz. It's taken, as the President said, the world economy hostage. Does
Iran, you think, feel that it has an upper hand, that it has a stronger position in these negotiations? And then it can ask for more than prior to
when the war started, when the negotiations then fell apart --
PLEITGEN: I think they believe that they are not in a comfortable position, but certainly in a position that they can sustain for an extended period of
time. And I think that they believe that they can do damage, especially in the Strait of Hormuz.
But in general, in the GCC region, in the gulf region, also for an extended period of time. And that gives them a good degree of leverage. It's one of
those this war, in many cases, in many ways, is --
SOARES: Yes --
PLEITGEN: Unprecedented, because, of course, the United States and Israel have air superiority de facto over Iran. They're bombing targets at will.
And still Iran has massive leverage, especially when you look at what's going on in the Strait of Hormuz.
SOARES: Apology to interrupt. President Trump is speaking. Do stay with us. Let's have a listen.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Let me also thank Secretary Mullin's beautiful family, including his wife, Christie, thank you. His
sons, Jim and Jayce and Andrew, and daughters, Larra, Ivy, Lynette and other members of the Mullin family. It's a beautiful family.
We know this guy, he's a big wrestling, top wrestling guy, I won't wrestle him for anything. All American wrestler. Good genetics in that family.
Proud of you.
[14:10:00]
Thanks as well to Attorney General Pam Bondi, Chairman Jason Smith, Congressman Josh Gottheimer, former speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy
and many other friends that are gathered with us. It's great group of people.
For 13 years, Markwayne has represented the incredible state of Oklahoma, a state that I won 77 out of 77 counties three times in a row, so, they like
me there. Second was Ronald Reagan at 56. Did you know that?
Fifty-six, it's not bad. But 77, it's 77 out of 77, I think, that's not bad. But he was there in Congress as a member of the House and then as an
outstanding United States senator. And he really has been outstanding. He's been a close and vital partner in helping us secure the border, stop
migrant crime and the scourge of illegal drugs, and make America safe again and make America great again.
And he is a tremendous player. He worked with Tom Homan, worked with all of our people on the right, and many more. And everything he's done has been
good. I say everything he touched; he's turned to gold now.
You know, but even in business, he was successful in all fairness, and he was successful. And he said, I want to go into politics, I hope you're
happy.
(LAUGHTER)
But as the only native American, I didn't know that. Let me look at you, I think that's all right. He's got -- he's got great quality; I can tell you.
He's the only native American in the Senate. How many have been there before you? Do you know native American?
MARKWAYNE MULLIN, SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY, UNITED STATES: I think three.
TRUMP: Three. Well, you're a fantastic representative. Markwayne has also been a fantastic advocate for our cherished tribal communities. He's now
the first member of the Cherokee nation ever to serve as a member of the cabinet. I didn't know all these things.
I would have picked him faster if I had known. I would have made a quicker decision. Prior to his career in public service, Markwayne had a very
successful career in business, leaving school at age 20 after his father got sick, taking over his family business and turning it into a multi-
million-dollar success story.
He's a very successful guy. Markwayne has also a career as an MMA fighter, that's why I looked at his ears, and I said I'm not going to fight with
him. You can tell a lot about a person by their ears, right? During which he went totally undefeated.
He was undefeated during his career, and he's been inducted into the Oklahoma Wrestling Hall of Fame. And the family is made of fantastic
wrestlers, especially that guy right there, that's my favorite guy.
And suffered bad injury and come back stronger than ever, I think. So, good to have you, man, right? I have no doubt that as he takes the helm of DHS,
Markwayne will fight for Homeland Security, the United States and securing the country and making it really strong and the way it should be.
And our country has come a long way in the last year, and we set it up so beautifully. And then, we had four years of horror. We had four years of
disgusting horror, open borders and things that nobody would even think of.
You wouldn't even think of, 25 million people poured into our country. And we've gotten a lot of them out, but we have a lot more to go with 11,888
murderers came into our country. People came in from all over the world, from prisons and gangs, gang members, drug dealers, people from mental
institutions, insane asylums.
That's the mental institution times two. And what they allowed to happen to our country can never be allowed to happen again.
And it won't with Markwayne, we have somebody that's a strong, professional and fair, as you know, the department that Markwayne takes over today is
currently shut down by radical left Democrat thugs in Congress who have blocked all funding for DHS because they're trying to shield illegal alien
criminals, gang members.
They want to protect them from being taken out of the country. Drug dealers, murderers, they're protecting them all. I don't know how people
can vote for these people. You know, I see -- I see the Midterms are close.
I don't know what close means, but I don't know how people can vote for them. You take a look. Men, they want men to be able to play in women's
sports. They want transgender for everybody. Terrible. But that's the way it is. They don't want to give voter ID.
They don't want voter ID for elections. They don't want proof of citizenship for elections. And then they get to vote. They do cheat. But I
don't know, it's hard to believe they can cheat that much. Just in the past few days, we've seen the horrifying consequences of Democrats' deadly open
border extremism.
[14:15:00]
They want open borders, and they want to open the borders again if they have their chance, because they think they're going to get votes by doing
that. On Thursday, a precious 18-year-old college student named Sheridan Gorman was shot and killed while she was walking in a park.
She was just walking in the park, didn't do anything. The illegal alien monster charged with Sheridan's brutal murder had come illegally from
Venezuela and had been released into our country by sleepy Joe Biden.
SOARES: We're going to continue to monitor President Trump, but I do want to take you -- leave the White House, take you to New York City where the
U.S. National Transportation Safety Board is giving an update on the deadly LaGuardia Airport collision. Let's listen in.
DOUG BRAZY, U.S. AVIATION ACCIDENT INVESTIGATOR: FA2100 flight data recorder. The cockpit voice recorder contained more than 25 hours of good
quality audio across four separate channels. The flight data recorder contained approximately 80 hours of data and recorded more than 400
parameters.
The NTSB will convene a cockpit voice recorder group scheduled for tomorrow at the NTSB headquarters in Washington D.C., to review the accident, flight
recording and produce a written transcript.
The following is a summary of events captured on the cockpit voice recorder during the final three minutes of the recording. All times are referenced
to the end of the CVR recording, 3 minutes and 7 seconds prior to the end of the recording.
The approach controller instructed the airplane to contact LaGuardia tower, at 2 minutes and 45 seconds, the flight crew lowered the landing gear. At
two minutes and 22 seconds, the flight crew checked in with the LaGuardia tower.
At 2 minutes and 17 seconds, the LaGuardia tower cleared the airplane to land on runway four and advised that they were number two for landing. At
time 1 minute and 52 seconds, the flight crew set the flaps to 30 degrees, at 1 minute and 33 seconds, the flight crew set the flaps to 45 degrees.
At 1 minute and 26 seconds, an electronic 1,000 call-out occurred from the enhanced ground proximity warning system, indicating that the airplane was
1,000 feet above the ground. At 1 minute and 12 seconds, the flight crew confirmed that the landing checklist was complete.
At 1 minute and 3 seconds, an airport vehicle made a radio transmission to the tower, but that transmission was stepped on by another radio
transmission, and the source of that -- of the -- of who made that transmission has yet to be identified.
At 54 seconds, the flight crew acknowledged the airplane was 500 feet above the ground and on a stable approach. At 40 seconds, the LaGuardia tower
asked which vehicle needed to cross a runway. At 28 seconds, truck one made a radio transmission to the tower.
At 26 seconds, the tower acknowledged that radio transmission, at 25 seconds, truck one requested to cross runway four at Taxiway Delta. At 20
seconds, the tower cleared truck one and company to cross runway four at Taxiway Delta.
At 19 seconds, an electronic 100 enhanced ground proximity warning system call-out occurred, at 17 seconds, truck one read back the runway crossing
clearance, at 14 seconds, an electronic 50 call out. At 12 seconds, an electronic 30 call out.
And at that same time, the tower instructed a frontier airlines flight to hold position, at 11 seconds, an electronic 20 call out occurred, and at 10
seconds, an electronic 10 call out occurred. At 9 seconds, tower one instructed -- excuse me, the tower instructed truck one to stop.
At 8 seconds, there was a sound consistent with the airplane's landing gear, touching down on the runway. At 6 seconds, there was a pilot transfer
of controls from one pilot to the other, and at 4 seconds, the tower again instructed truck one to stop.
[14:20:00]
At zero seconds, the recording ended. Thank you, madam chairwoman.
JENNIFER HOMENDY, CHAIR, U.S. NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD: Mr. Brazy had mentioned that 6 seconds before the end of the recording, the
pilot transferred controls. We do know that the first officer was flying and transferred control to the captain.
With respect to aircraft rescue and firefighting operations, we will be developing a timeline of events. We do know that they were responding to a
United Airlines flight 2384 at the gate, which had two aborted takeoffs and the ARF, or the Aircraft Rescue and Firefighters had received information
that there were fumes or smoke or some sort of smell in the cabin.
So, they were en route to address that. Truck one which, Mr. Brazy had mentioned had collided with the aircraft. We do know that there were other
vehicles behind truck one, which did not begin to cross the runway.
We have seen varying information about how many vehicles, so, we don't -- we need to verify that information and we'll provide it at a later time.
Truck one, however, did not have a transponder.
With respect to air traffic control, we have seen different information about how many certified professional controllers were in the facility and
we need to verify that in starting with interviews this afternoon, we'll begin to interview the local controller at 4 O'clock this afternoon.
We do have logs, but there's also conflicting information, including dates and times on the logs. So, now, we have to go through that and rectify some
of those inconsistencies. We do, however, know that there were two people in the cab, two people in the tower cab at the time of collision.
The local controller and the controller in charge. Again, local controller and controller in charge. For those who may be watching and aren't familiar
with aviation, the local controller manages active runways and the immediate airspace surrounding airport.
That local controller had signed on at 10:45, and the shift would have ended at 6:45 a.m. That doesn't mean that he was in position at 10:45, but
that he had just signed in at 10:45 p.m. The controller in charge is responsible for safety of operations, all safety of operations.
He had clocked in or signed in at 10:30 p.m., and that shift would have ended at 6:30 p.m. -- I mean, sorry, 6:30 a.m. Again, that was signing in
at 10:30 p.m. The controller in charge was also doing the duties of the clearance delivery position.
That -- the clearance delivery controller provides pilots with their departure clearance. It is not clear who was doing the -- who was
conducting the duties of the ground controller. We have conflicting information. We have some information saying it was the controller in
charge.
We have some information saying it was the local controller. The ground controller duties are that they manage all aircraft and vehicle movements
on the taxiways, and that generally excludes active runways.
So, these two positions were combined into two positions. And what we do know is that, that is in the standard operating procedures for LaGuardia.
It's for the mid-night shift. It's also common practice across the national airspace, where you would have two controllers in the tower cab during the
midnight shift.
The midnight shift, as a reminder, is one that we have many times at the NTSB, raised concerns about with respect to fatigue, again, I do not know,
we do have no indication that was a factor here, but it is a shift that we have been focused on in past investigations.
Now, we also know, as I had mentioned yesterday, that LaGuardia has as DX. As DX is a runway safety system which allows air traffic controllers to
track surface movement of aircraft and vehicles.
[14:25:00]
Yesterday, I mentioned that we requested from FAA, the ASDE, replay of the event. That is a replay of the display of information that would have been
available in the tower cab. We also asked the tech center for the analysis of ASDE.
Their analysis shows that the ASDE-X system did not alert. The analysis -- and I'm going to quote the analysis here, I will repeat it a second time.
ASDE-X did not generate an alert due to the close proximity of vehicles merging and unmerging near the runway, resulting in the inability to create
a track of high confidence.
Again, the analysis is, quote, ASDE-X did not generate an alert due to the close proximity of vehicles merging and unmerging near the runway,
resulting in the inability to create a track of high confidence.
Now, I saw the replay, and there were two targets. So, radar, because there's no transponder, you have radar. So, two targets with radar returns
on Taxiway Delta. What it looks like on a replay are two blobs on track -- on Taxiway Delta.
We also don't see any of them go in front of the plane on the runway. We do also know from the replay that the runway status lights were functioning
according to the replay, and -- but we still have to verify that with tech ops from the FAA.
Now, I do want to address one thing, which is reports of distraction. I have seen a number of reports from press about distraction, whether there
was distraction among controllers. Look, this is -- I would caution pointing fingers at controllers and saying distraction was involved.
This is a heavy workload environment. You had a United Airlines flight, we still have to determine what happened at shift change, which was around
10:30. We have to determine who else was in the tower and the facility and available at the time.
We know that, that controller was still on duty for several minutes afterwards. Normally, they would be relieved. We have questions about that.
Was anybody available to relieve that controller? We don't know that yet.
We also have questions about what else was occurring, what other traffic they were dealing with at the time. So, one thing I will close with before
I take questions is, we rarely, if ever, investigate a major accident where it was one failure.
Our aviation system is incredibly safe, because there are multiple layers of defense built in to prevent an accident. So, when something goes wrong,
that means many things went wrong. And so, here, that's why we're here.
We're here to prevent this from reoccurring, prevent this from happening again. And that's going to take some time. So, with that, I will take
questions. I ask that you raise your hand, state your name and your affiliation.
PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Pete Muntean, CNN. Given the fact that combining controller positions has been a factor in previous incidents
that you've investigated, including the DCA mid-air collision.
What would you say now that you know positions were combined in the control tower cab on Sunday night? Is that a safe practice? And does it make you
upset that the positions were combined?
HOMENDY: So, there's a little bit of a difference in -- the question is on combining positions, because we saw the combining of positions in the mid-
air collision, and that occurred near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport about a year ago.
This -- our understanding right now, and again, this is preliminary and subject to change. Our understanding is that in the DCA mid-air, there were
procedures followed. A list like traffic volume, staffing available, training, workload, that was considered in order to combine positions like
the helicopter position, the local control position in DCA.
In this situation, for the midnight shift, it is standard operating procedure that they only have two on duty. And those two perform the duties
of other controllers. That is our understanding right now. However, we're going to further dig into that as part of our investigation.
Certainly, I can tell you that our air traffic control team has stated this is a problem, that this is a concern for them for years, that they have had
this concern for quite a long time. I can understand it's a concern, especially if there's a heavy workload.
[14:30:19]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ASDX did not work and during the near collisions of 2023, you repeatedly said that ASDX should be at more airports and it could
prevent collisions. How upset does it make you that it's clear that it did not work in this scenario?
HOMENDY: Well, the question is, how upset does it make me that ASDX didn't work because we've repeatedly recommended that ASDX work? Well, in order
for ASDX to work well, you have to know where ground vehicles and aircraft are. So, in this case, that ground, that vehicle did not have a
transponder. And it would have been helpful when you have a radar target, it does not provide you with the information that you need like it would
for an aircraft as a controller. Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE). Is there any indication from the voice recorder that the pilots saw the firetruck (INAUDIBLE) on the runway?
HOMENDY: Is there any indication from the CVR that the pilots saw the firetruck on the runway? I don't have information at this time on that.
However, we are doing further analysis on our cockpit voice recorder. We have a group that we have formed that will analyze the CVR. And part of
when they analyze is they will talk in the group about what they're hearing, what they've heard, any sort of background noises, and we'll
provide a transcript. And then we'll release that publicly. So, we'll know more then.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chair Homendy, Andrew Seth (ph) from NBC 40 (INAUDIBLE). With regard to the midnight shift, is it literally a midnight shift that
you expressed concern about in the past, or is it sort of that later shift, when there's typically less traffic at an airport? The reason I ask it is
around this time, late at night, on a Sunday night in LaGuardia, there's still lots of (INAUDIBLE). To that degree, does that raise questions about
the quality of staffing here at the airport?
HOMENDY: Well, so the question is about the shift. And are we just concerned about that shift in the past, or would there be other shifts? And
does it make sense to have two controllers in the cab with such a busy airport and this be sort of standard operating procedures and common
practice across the national airspace? I think I restated it accurately and have now forgotten what you asked me.
But on your standard operating procedure, on the standard operating procedures, look, LaGuardia is 900 flights, I believe, per day. That's
pretty substantial. It's not the same as other airports across the national airspace. That's certainly something we will look at as part of this
investigation. How would that make sense? You know, why would that make sense at LaGuardia? We will -- that is part of our analysis in this
investigation. What was the other one?
Oh, on the mid-shift. We have identified the mid-shift generally as concern in other investigations, largely due to fatigue, because it spans that time
frame at your circadian low during the day when you're most fatigued. Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE).
HOMENDY: The question was, could there potentially be confusion among the two controllers of who's having what discussion, and could it be that they
were both having the same communications or different communications or conflicting communications since they're doing more than one job? I can't
answer that right now, because that's something we have to investigate as part of this accident scenario.
Those are the exact types of questions that we'll ask when we interview the controllers, both the two that were in the cab at the time and the other
controllers that may have been on duty either and include previously or after that.
[14:35:00]
One thing I want to do is come back to something that Pete asked about, which is controllers and the information they should have, and ASDE-X in
our past recommendations, controllers should have all the information and the tools to do their job. All the information they need.
We've recommended ASDE-X, but you have to have information on the ground movements, whether that's aircraft or vehicles moving on the airport, in
taxiways, on runways, they should have all the information. This is 2026. You know, the secretary talks about upgrading our air traffic control
system. We have an old air traffic control system. This is why he talks about that. We need to upgrade, but we also need to improve safety across
the air. It's not just air traffic control. It's safety all around. Yes?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)?
HOMENDY: OK. With respect to transponders, the question is, is it common for ground vehicles to have transponders? I don't have the latest figures
on that. I would suggest speaking with the Federal Aviation Administration on that, or you can contact Eric, and we'll get back to you on numbers.
Should they? That's something we'll determine as part of our investigation. I will tell you that not having a recommendation, yes, they should.
Even though we don't have a recommendation, air traffic controllers should know what's in, you know, before them, whether it's on airport surface or
in the airspace. They should have that information to ensure safety.
Now, that's not an NTSB recommendation, so I want to be clear. But it could be. We don't know. And your other question on stepped on, the communication
was stepped on. It means it may have been a mic key or some sort of interruption of the transmission.
Because somebody else on the other -- why would that be significant? He was asking the question on what does stepped on mean with respect to
communications. That would be significant because that would mean that somebody may not hear the other part of that communication. Yes, sir? Oh, I
went -- go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).
HOMENDY: And you're probably asking about the flight data recorder. We don't have information, the download from the flight data recorder yet.
That group, I believe, is getting together today to start going through the data. We do have good data, but they're going to start looking at it today
and we'll provide further information down the line. You and then you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Similar to that question, (INAUDIBLE). Was there evidence that the truck tried to swerve (INAUDIBLE)?
HOMENDY: I'm sorry, I didn't hear you're --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you confirm the names of the pilots who died?
HOMENDY: Can I confirm the names of the pilots who passed away? No, I would refer you to the New York City Chief Medical Examiner. We don't confirm any
fatalities, injuries, or names. And your other question?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE).
HOMENDY: With respect to the truck, did the truck turn or break? I've probably seen the same CCTV video that you have. We have to do some further
investigation on that, including interviews of both firefighters that were on board. And then right here.
SOARES: We're going to continue to listen to the chair of NTSB. You'll be listening there to officials from the U.S. National Transportation Safety
Board, NTSB, giving you an update on the deadly LaGuardia airport collision that happened, if you remember, on Sunday when an Air Canada express flight
collided with an airport firetruck.
I do want to bring in Richard Quest, who's an expert on this, and he can talk us through, because we did hear the chair talking. Give us an idea of
timeline, Richard. They had preliminary information. The final three minutes, seven seconds prior to the end of that recording have 25 hours to
analyze. So, a lot for them to comb through. But there was a lot of questions back and forth over the controllers in charge of the tower,
Richard. Clarify this for us.
RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS EDITOR-AT-LARGE AND CNN ANCHOR: Right. There were two controllers in the tower at the time of the accident. The first
was the main air traffic controller responsible for controlling whatever's happening with the runways and the airspace around immediate airspace
around LaGuardia. And the other was the controller in charge doing everything else.
What is not clear? And, you know, already it is becoming -- I think we're getting some clarity on the issues here.
[14:40:00]
Who was responsible for clearing the ground controllers? Who was responsible for saying -- now, in this case, we know it was the air traffic
controller who basically told the truck to cross over. But there's confusion over whose responsibility it was at that point.
During the busy day, there would be a third or fourth controller specifically doing the ground handling. But there wasn't in this case on
the midnight shift, as they describe it, that it is normal to just have to. So, already there is some mists clearing. The confusion over whose
responsibility it was to clear the truck. Never mind who actually did it. At the time, whose responsibility was it to clear the truck? And in
addition to which, having already cleared the plane to land.
Second thing, the technology that they had available to them on the night. There was technology that, if it had been implemented properly, would have
helped prevent this incident. If, for example, the truck had had a transponder, which sends out a signal telling you, you know, truck one,
truck one, truck one. Instead, there was just radar blips on a screen.
SOARES: Yes, still lots of questions being asked. And like you said, the ASDE-X system, I think you're referring to, do not alert.
QUEST: Yes, yes, yes.
SOARES: Is that right? Is that the one, Richard, that you're referring to, that she mentioned several times?
QUEST: It is. It basically looks at the ground and tells you where everybody is. But it uses radar. It uses transponders. What was
interesting, I think, what Jennifer Homendy said best. She says you want people to have the most information they possibly can. And in this case,
truck one did not have a transponder, which would have said truck one, truck one, truck one, truck one, truck one. Instead, it just had a little
blip on a radar.
So, the system that they would have used if he'd looked down would not have been quite as obvious. I think the real what's becoming absolutely pretty
obvious at this very early stage is that it is what was the confusion in the tower over who was doing what and then forgetting what they'd already
done. And as a result of which, the safety net didn't work properly. And you have this result.
Remember what she said. It's never one event. It is always a -- I'm trying to find exactly the phrase was very clear about that. It is a series,
multiple issues to what these are -- what causes these things.
SOARES: Richard, so grateful you're talking it through us, all these points, major points that we just heard from NTSB. I'm sure they'll play
plenty more questions in the days ahead. We'll try to get a sense of what exactly occurred. Richard Quest there for us.
QUEST: Thank you.
SOARES: Thank you, Richard. He'll be back with Quest Means Business in about an hour and a half or so. We are going to take a short break. Do stay
right here with CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:45:00]
SOARES: And just recapping our top story, if you're just joining us, Israel says its attacks on Iran are continuing with full force, and it says recent
targets include missile sites and one of the main headquarters of Iran's Revolutionary Guards in Tehran. Israel, meantime, says it was hit
repeatedly with missile strikes from Iran today. This drone footage you're looking at shows significant damage in Tel Aviv.
An Iranian source, meantime, tells CNN, tells our Fred Pleitgen, Iran is willing to listen to suitable U.S. proposals to end the war. The source
says there has been outreach between Iran and the Trump administration, but it doesn't reach the level of full-on negotiation.
Just a moment ago, as we listen, of course, to the U.S. president addressing this, speaking about Iran, I want you to listen to what he had
to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Iran, they have no navy left. They have no air force left. They have no anti-aircraft equipment left. No radar left.
No leaders left. The leaders are all gone. Nobody knows who to talk to. But we're actually talking to the right people, and they want to make a deal so
badly. You have no idea how badly they want to make a deal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: That was just moments ago. Let's get more on this. Carl Bildt is a former Swedish prime minister and co-chair of the European Council on
Foreign Relations. And now, Stephen Collinson is also with us, because we weren't, of course, started listening to President Trump. We had to move
away to listen to the NTSB press.
But, Stephen, give us a sense of what we heard from President Trump, and who exactly the U.S. administration is speaking to here.
COLLINSON: Yes, it was all rather vague, as President Trump has a tendency to be. But there were quite a few interesting comments. He said that Marco
Rubio and the vice president, J.D. Vance, would be involved in talking to the Iranians if these talks go ahead. He said that the Iranians had already
agreed that they would never have a nuclear program, which sounds like something that the Iranians wouldn't agree to. And it isn't consistent with
what we've heard from the Iranian side of this thing. So, the president could well be playing this up to be something more than it is.
He also gave some information, which I don't believe we've heard anymore. He said that there was an attack on the Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier
using 101 missiles, and they were all shot down by U.S. forces. The Lincoln was in the Arabian Sea, and it's part of Operation Epic Fury. So, the
president is talking a lot. And he also said, by the way, that the U.S. would have complete control of the state of Hormuz, apparently coming out
of any peace talks.
So, it does rather look like the president is making either too much of this, or he's basically laying down quite stringent conditions.
SOARES: Yes, Stephen, appreciate it. Thank you very much for staying with us. Let me go to Carl Bildt, who we're just listening in. So, Carl, just
really give us, if you're still with us, we still have Carl Bildt, wonderful. Carl, good to see you.
Give me your sense then of how you see this moment. Where do you -- how convinced are you, first of all, that this is the beginning of something
positive? We heard a source telling our Fred Pleitgen that, you know, there's been an outreach by the United States initiated by Washington, and
Iran saying they want sustainable proposals of what they said. What do you make of it?
CARL BILDT, FORMER SWEDISH PRIME MINISTER AND CO-CHAIR, EUROPEAN COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: Well, I think it is positive in the sense that there are
some tentative contacts. I think we are extremely early days because it's going to be very difficult to find a common ground after what has been
happening. I mean, there's a profound Iranian distrust of the Americans after two failed attempts to get an agreement. And there's, of course, the
different statements by President Trump that are difficult to interpret, some of them extremely maximalist.
But at the end of the day, you never know where he ends up. But from the European point of view, the earliest we get an end to this war, the better.
SOARES: Yes, and look, we -- you know, we've heard from President Trump. He's also very vague, as we heard from Stephen Collinson. But the demands,
it seems, Carl, from the U.S. president still there, no nuclear weapon, no enriched uranium. And they want, as they say, as President Trump has in the
last few days, you know, the nuclear dust, that's the enriched uranium.
What is your sense of if and when Iran goes into these negotiations? At the moment, they're speaking by intermediaries, I believe. How do you assess
Iran's negotiating position? Do you think it has leverage here?
[14:50:00]
BILDT: Well, it obviously has. It has a strange hold on the global energy markets. And that's beginning to hurt. We see it hurting very distinctly in
Asia. I think it's beginning to hurt quite, quite heavily in Europe as well. So, it's affecting the overall global economy, including the U.S.
economy, inflation, gas prices, and whatever. So, no question they have that.
As to what can be achieved, well, I mean, nuclear weapons program, the Iranians closed down their nuclear weapons program in 2003. That's nearly a
quarter of a century ago. And then it's been something that has been sort of talked up by primarily the Israelis.
But the Israelis -- the Iranians have been prepared to say no nuclear weapons and give guarantees for that for a very long time indeed. Then to
which extent you need to roll back every single aspect of that nuclear research program? That is, of course, a difficult question.
JCPOA went very far, very satisfactory agreement with Trump ditched. And I understand what the Iranians offered in the talks immediately prior to
Trump and Netanyahu decided for war went substantially beyond their commitment in JCPOA. So, that's something to build on. Then what we hear
coming out of Tehran, whatever that's worth, is that they would demand more guarantees this time than in the previous talks. But let's see.
SOARES: We shall see at least they are talking via intermediaries. That is a good sign indeed. Carl, good to see you. Appreciate for staying with us
as we as we navigate all the breaking news this hour. Thank you very much indeed.
And still to come tonight, we'll take a closer look at how all markets and the rest of Wall Street are reacting to talks of diplomacy in the Middle
East. That is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOARES: And before we go tonight, let me give you a sense of how oil and equity markets have been throughout pretty much of the day as they too try
to navigate both the words and the diplomatic tea leaves from the U.S. and from Iran.
Just remember the top of the show you heard from our Fred Pleitgen there. There's been an outreach from the U.S. but still early days. And we are
starting to see that reflected in the oil markets you can see there.
[14:55:00]
WTI current trading now at now $91.89 as you can see them 4 percent. The highest we have seen just to perspective is $119. That's for perspective.
Before the war with Iran WTI was trading around, what, $65 or so, between $65 to $70 a barrel, just for perspective. And remember, the Strait of
Hormuz, we're talking about this bit here, it's so important that represents about 20 percent of the world's oil and liquid natural gas. And
that is still mostly close.
So, until that bit there opens up we are going to continue to see the volatility here. And not just here but also across stocks across equity.
Markets, as we have seen, not convinced so far that the talks that have been happening -- are happening indeed with Iran, at least the preliminary.
And stocks very much mixed very different picture from what we had yesterday. If you remember there was green hours right across the board. It
seems a tech heavy NASDAQ is the one that's down the most today. One investor is telling CNN just for context saying that we're not out of the
woods yet.
This is being reflected with what you're seeing in Europe. Markets have closed here. A very mixed picture of course as we see them trying to make
sense of what is going on the diplomatic state.
That's it for us for tonight. Do stay right here, "What We Know" with Max Foster is up next. Thanks for your company.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:00:00]
END
