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One World with Zain Asher
Trump Delays Energy Strike Threats, Citing Talks with Iran; Five Israeli Settlers Arrested in West Bank Amid Escalating Attacks on Palestinians; Trump Postpones Military Strikes on Iranian Power Plants; UK Police Investigate Arson Attack as Anti-Semitic Hate Crime; Two Pilots Die in Collision at LaGuardia Airport in New York; Cuba Awaits Aid Supply Ship after Second Nationwide Blackout. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired March 23, 2026 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ZAIN ASHER, CNN HOST, ONE WORLD: President Trump is now backing off his threat to obliterate Iran's power plants.
BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN HOST, ONE WORLD: "One World" starts right now. Trump says the U.S. and Iran held productive conversations, but Iran says there
has been no dialog between Tehran and Washington.
ASHER: Plus, police in London are treating an arson attack on several Jewish owned ambulances as an anti-Semitic attack. We'll have a report for
you from the scene.
GOLODRYGA: And New York's LaGuardia Airport is closed after a passenger plane collided with a fire truck while landing. Hello, everyone. Live from
New York. I'm Bianna Golodryga.
ASHER: And I'm Zain Asher, you are watching "One World". We are getting conflicting narratives as war in the Middle East enters its fourth week.
President Trump claims the U.S. and Iran are discussing a possible end to the war. However, the Iranian foreign ministry denies any such dialog.
Trump says that he'll hold off on strikes against Iranian power and energy sites for this week's -- for this week. Rather, here's what he said earlier
to the press, before going to Memphis.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We want to see no nuclear bomb, no nuclear weapon, not even close to it, low key in the
missiles. We want to see peace in the Middle East. We want the nuclear dust. We're going to want that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: The mayor's suggestion of U.S. Iran talks caused oil prices to plunge. Brent Crude fell more than 7 percent to around $104 a barrel.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military says that it is striking what it calls the heart of Tehran. Iranian state media report several locations across the
capital have been targeted.
And in Lebanon, the IDF says two key bridges over the strategic Litani River have been destroyed. So far Lebanese officials say the fighting has
killed more than 1000 people and displaced over a million. And in Southern Israel, dozens of people injured from Iranian missile strikes over the
weekend.
ASHER: Let's go straight to Jeremy Diamond joining us live now from Tel Aviv. So, Jeremy, two questions for you. One is you've got Donald Trump
essentially saying that the U.S. and Iran are involved in talks. Tehran is saying we're not. We don't really have we don't really know what you're
talking about on that one.
What do we know for sure? But also, if the U.S. does end up finding some kind of off ramp at exiting this war, will the Israelis follow suit Jeremy?
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. Well, I think President Trump is certainly trying to give the impression both to the world, but
particularly it would seem to the markets and to the oil traders that there are real negotiations here and the potential to end this war in Iran.
It was a point that he emphasized over and over again as he touted what he claimed were negotiations with Iran led by his usual envoys on these types
of matters, Jared Kushner, his son-in-law, and Steve Witkoff, his Special Envoy.
The president is insisting that there were points of agreement, 15 different points of agreement, that Iran has agreed to not have a nuclear
weapon in the future, and that these negotiations were carried out with the top person in Iran, whose name he would not disclose.
The Iranians, for their part, reacted immediately by rejecting a lot of what the president said, saying that there have been no -- there has been
no dialog with Washington, although they did concede that there have been initiatives by regional players to try and de-escalate tensions.
We understand that Turkey and Egypt are among the countries that were passing messages between the United States and Iran, but Iran is denying
that there have been any direct negotiations thus far.
And I think we have to take a lot of what the president has said this morning with a massive grain of salt, because he is the only person right
now, who is giving this kind of rosy assessment of the current state of negotiations, the possibility of some kind of an off ramp here?
And I also think it's important to look at the timing of the president's comments, just as the markets were opening, giving another five days before
he would consider any strikes on Iran's energy facilities. That would put us to the end of the week, the end of the trading week, when markets close
as well. So that is all critical context to keep in mind.
Now, if what the president is saying here turns out to be true to your question Zain, about whether Israel would follow suit, that was a question
I tried to pose to the Israeli Prime Minister just last week at his news conference, and while the prime minister said, look, America is the leader,
we are the ally, he would not directly respond to my question of whether Israel would continue bombing Iran should the United States end its
campaign.
[11:05:00]
There are real questions about whether Israel has the capacity to do so, certainly at the scale they are now, given how much they are relying on
American refueling aircraft to be able to carry out these long-range strikes Iran. There is no question that Israel could continue at a certain
level, but certainly not of the scale that we are seeing now.
Especially as we're seeing once again, that Israel is continuing to pummel the Iranian capital of Tehran today. And again, Iran continuing to firing
missiles at Israel, as we saw over the weekend, two successful ballistic missile strikes carried out by Iran, striking residential areas, injuring
dozens of people.
And today we're watching as once again, Hezbollah, the Iranian proxy based in Lebanon, continuing to fire towards Northern Israel, wounding two
individuals, including one in serious condition, Zain and Bianna.
ASHER: Jeremy Diamond, thank you so much.
GOLODRYGA: Our next guest is the Chief Political Commentator for Israel's Channel 12 News. Amit Segal is also the Author of a "Call at 04:00 a.m."
and the newsletter, "It's noon in Israel". And Amit joins us now from Jerusalem.
Amit, it's good to see you. So, the president also revealed during that pool spray this morning, just prior to speaking with reporters, he said
that he spoke with Israel, I'm assuming, the prime minister, and says that he thinks this is going to be a great deal for Israel with, quote, long
term guaranteed peace.
He also said that he is dealing with people in Iran that he quotes find reasonable and solid, and maybe one of them will be what we're looking for.
One particular individual, the Speaker of the Iranian Parliament. His name is being thrown around. Just give me the reaction from what you're hearing
from sources in Israel. Were they aware of these talks?
AMIT SEGAL, CHIEF POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, N12: So, first of all, yes, they do mean -- he did mean the Parliament Speaker. And yes, Israel knew about
negotiations, some from intelligence, some from updates from the American side, but I have to say that there is a lot of confusion.
And when our times are confusing, it's always I think going to back to basics is always helpful. So, President Trump has repeatedly said over the
last few years a very important sentence. He said Iran has never won a war, but has never lost a negotiation.
So, in order for President Trump to deliberately travel to what we call in football away game, President Trump needs to stand on a very solid soil in
terms of the agreements, for instance, getting all the enriched uranium, stop supporting the proxies, stop producing ballistic missiles.
Now, if there is someone in Iran that can actually deliver this commodity, so it's a great agreement, but if there isn't, either because they cannot
deliver or because they don't want to deliver. So, I am afraid that these negotiations are doomed to fail.
ASHER: And Amit if the U.S. was to sort of find an off ramp to exit this war with Iran without necessarily having seen through real regime change.
And President Trump sort of mints his words earlier, saying that, you know, we have sort of seen a little bit of regime change. We haven't right.
It's the son of the Ayatollah that is in power, whether he's injured or not injured. It's technically still the same regime. He also talked about this
idea of ensuring that Iran never has a nuclear weapon. One reporter asked him, well listen, how are you going to do that? How are you going to go in
and get the enriched uranium?
And President Trump didn't really have a concrete answer. He sort of said, well, listen, this is going to be part of the negotiation. If the U.S.
ended up leaving this war without those two objectives being fulfilled, what would that mean for Israel?
SEGAL: So, first of all, it depends, because President Trump said that he doesn't want to reveal the name of the figure to which he's talking because
he doesn't want him to get hurt by the IRGC. This is my interpretation, which means that the IRGC are not really interested in this deal. This is
one thing.
And the other thing is that President Trump is doubling down because an agreement, I suspect must include from the Iranian side, easing or ending
the sanctions. So, I mean, it's not only that the regime is not going to change. The regime is going to be based again in Iran with all the money
relief from the embargo and the sanctions and so forth.
That's why I am still pessimistic about the idea of reaching a deal, because I don't think that they can actually meet halfway. But who knows?
We will still have a way to go, and we have President Trump here.
[11:10:00]
GOLODRYGA: Amit, it's interesting that you view Trump not announcing who he's speaking with as concerns that he could be eliminated by the IRGC. I
think a lot of people, myself included, the first thought that came to our minds was that perhaps he didn't want the IDF or Israel to take out this
particular person.
SEGAL: Yeah.
GOLODRYGA: Though I would imagine perhaps these are, at least in theory, on paper, supposed to be coordinated. I do want to ask you about the mounting
question now into the fourth week of this war, about how much the United States and how much Israel, which has been focused on a potential war with
Iran for decades now, was prepared not only tactically but strategically for the day after?
And really understanding the hold that the IRGC and the Iran Ian leadership as a hold has on the country. Let's play sound from over the weekend, from
Danny Citrinowicz, who is the Head, or the Former Head, of the Iran Desk at the IDF, here's what he said to CNN.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DANNY CITRINOWICZ, FORMER HEAD OF THE IRAN BRANCH, ISRAELI MILITARY INTELLIGENCE: I think the IDF and Central Command, working amazing
together, have operation achievement that we shouldn't underestimate them. But the problem was strategically.
I think Netanyahu and Trump really thought that if you decapitate Khamenei, the regime will collapse. They didn't think -- they didn't think what will
happen next. So, this is why we don't have off ramp. We don't have a strategic way out of this escalation. So, I think it goes back to the
flawed understanding regarding Iran.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: A flawed understanding regarding Iran, is what he says. Amit, you just couple that with the reporting from "The New York Times" that
Netanyahu was frustrated that Mossad's promise of some sort of internal revolt hasn't materialized yet. Give us your response and what the prime
minister's office would say in response to these claims.
SEGAL: So, first of all, I suspect that most of the leaks come from the IDF. There isn't a huge love story between the IDF and the Mossad. The IDF
believes that it did 120 percent of what promised while Mossad did 50 percent or less.
However, I think that anyone who thinks that toppling this regime was a goal and not outcome of the war is misinterpreting the situation. And
that's exactly the main thing. The main problem I have with the explanation provided by Danny, which you've just shown the idea of this war, is that
when a fundamentalist keeps chanting, death to Israel, death to America, it definitely, it definitely means it.
And the entire idea, romantic orientalist idea about some a fatwa banning nuclear weapon or nuclear weapons, or it's only for deterrence. It's
illusion. And the same applies for the idea that there is some sort of a moderate fundamentalist leader.
I mean, the Khamenei was the moderate one. It's like the Lincoln project trying to miss you know, the old Republican leadership there isn't the old
Republican establishment of the fundamentalist regime of Iran. They wanted Israel to be eliminated.
They walked on ballistic missiles for two or 3000 miles, as we saw in Diego Garcia, not because they wanted to deter the West, but because they wanted
to attack the West, and that's why this war was necessary. The entire idea is what comes next.
And I fully agree that if this war ends with easing the sanctions and pretending that there is a new Iran from within the IRGC or within this
leadership, I'm quite pessimistic about this, but as if I can quote someone, we'll see what happens.
ASHER: And also, just want to ask you quickly about the uptick that we've seen in settler violence, particularly in the West Bank. We know that
Netanyahu's government is pressing ahead with new settlements being built.
There has been so much concern, especially among the international community, about this. Is the prime minister turning a blind eye to this in
order to keep his coalition, his right-wing coalition, intact? What's been the reaction from Netanyahu's government?
SEGAL: It's not a blind eye. I think Netanyahu has many things on his plate, and I think he woke up a bit late. He has held two emergency
meetings in the last week, which was quite hectic one. So, I think he's taking it quite seriously. I have to say, yes, there is an increase in an
extreme settlers' violence.
However, still statistically, it's way more dangerous to be a Jew in Jordan, Samaria, the West Bank, rather than a Palestinian. It doesn't mean
that the IDF and the Shin Bet and the entire Israeli government shouldn't put way more effort in order to stop this ugly, immoral and dangerous
phenomenon.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, as Zain said, it's not just getting international pick up. It's getting a lot of condemnation internally with Israelis as well, who
are quite alarmed at the spike in violence.
SEGAL: Of course.
[11:15:00]
GOLODRYGA: Amit Segal, thank you appreciate the time.
SEGAL: Thank you so much.
ASHER: Thank you. All right, UK counter terrorism police are leading an investigation into an arson attack on ambulances used by a Jewish rescue
group. Four emergency vehicles were set on fire in the early hours of Monday. Security footage showed three mask suspects starting the fire.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, it happened in the Golders Green area of London that's home to the city's largest Jewish community. Police say they have not yet
made any arrests and that the incident is being investigated as an anti- Semitic hate crime. In the past hour, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer addressed the attack during a committee hearing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEIR STARMER, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: The idea that we live in a society where people should feel they need to hide their identity or their religion
is frankly, abhorrent. Anti-Semitism is an old hatred, but it requires constant vigilance to overcome it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: CNN's Clare Sebastian is in Golders Green and has more on the investigation.
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: People here in North London, in the heart of London's Jewish community, say they are frightened this morning,
some of them were woken up in the early hours of the morning by loud bangs. The London fire brigade saying that when these ambulances were set alight,
gas cylinders also exploded.
Multiple gas cylinders and some of the flocks of flats behind me were also damaged. Glass was blown out. It sounded, according to one resident, like a
bomb going off. People are also angry that ambulances would be targeted. This was an organization, a volunteer rescue organization, that provides
medical assistance, not only to the Jewish community here, but anyone who needs it.
And so, they are angry that this hit at this heart of their community. And I spoke to one local councilor member of local government who came down
here within an hour of the fires breaking out, this is what he had to tell me.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEAN COHEN, LOCAL COUNCILLOR: Saving lives. This is a direct attack on this, on the Jewish community, on, you cannot get lower than destroying
ambulances that are there to save lives.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SEBASTIAN: Well, police say they are treating this as an anti-Semitic hate crime. No arrests have been made, but CCTV footage has emerged showing what
looks like three masked men approaching and setting light to one of the ambulances.
We've heard as well from the Prime Minister Keir Starmer this morning, who has called it this an anti-Semitic arson attack, saying his thoughts go out
to the Jewish community. But people here are saying that while they appreciate those thoughts, they want to see more from their leaders to
tackle what they're saying is a growing climate of anti-Semitism. Clare Sebastian, CNN, London.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: All right. Still to come, LaGuardia Airport is closed after collision between a plane and a ground vehicle, shuttering a critical
regional hub that's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:20:00]
ASHER: All right, busy times are ahead for Saudi Arabia's largest port.
GOLODRYGA: While Iran keeps a choke hold over the Strait of Hormuz Jeddah Port is kicking into high gear. CNN's Nic Robertson reports on the lifeline
to the Middle East.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): Saudi Arabia's biggest port, Jeddah, is gearing up for its busiest times yet. On
Saudi's West Coast, the Red Sea. It is about to pick up much of the trade Iran has choked off blockading the Strait of Hormuz. More than 700 miles
from the beleaguered gulf it will be helping keep them alive.
ROBERTSON: Saudi officials are saying that already, since the war began, cargo traffic through their Red Sea ports is up by 1/3 and they're
predicting that here in Jeddah, the traffic is going to go up by 50 percent next month.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): While most of that 1/3 uptick is Saudi oil exports, millions of extra barrels pumped hundreds of miles across the Arabian
Desert. It is ports like Jeddah that will carry the bulk of imports.
ROBERTSON: So, all this comes off here, gets stacked up over here, and then it's going to get on trucks and head eastwards across Saudi Arabia to the
Gulf.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): Officials here say they are ready with enough docks workers cranes and trucks lined up. But even so, analysts say they won't be
able to make up all the import shortfall. Food and medicine the priority.
CHARLES VAN DER STEENE, REGIONAL MANAGING DIRECTOR, MARERSK: Food and medicine are the priority, whether it is for the UAE, whether it's for
Saudi, whether it's for Nahrain or Kuwait and any other country within the globe, these are the prime priority to make sure that the population can
receive what they need as part of their daily life.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): Major haulage contractors like Maersk say they and regional governments have been planning land bridge trucking goods from the
Red Sea to the Gulf for years, and with good reason. The World Economic Forum says about 85 percent of adult's food is imported.
STEENE: It's safe to say that the Saudi government has been extremely involved in making sure that whatever road blocks that might exist, road
blocks in terms of the actual capacity in the terminal in Jeddah, road blocks in terms of potential capacity of available trucks, but also road
blocks in terms of potential customs challenges that you might have so that the flow is optimized.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): But for all the planning, there are no guarantees. Last week following an attack on its own energy infrastructure, Iran
targeted Yanbu oil terminal and a drone hit a nearby refinery.
And then there's Iran's partial proxy, the Houthis, further down the Red Sea, and Yemen, until a few months ago, they were attacking international
shipping and could restart.
ROBERTSON: So far, the Red Sea has mostly been outside of the bounds of this war. But if the war escalates, all this vital lifeline to the rest of
the Gulf, all that could become vulnerable. Nic Robinson, CNN Jeddah Port, Saudi Arabia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: All right, still to come, President Trump touts talks between the U.S. and Iran. We're going to take a closer look at that.
GOLODRYGA: Plus, security footage captures the moment Jewish volunteer ambulances were set on fire in London. We have more on the horrifying
attack being investigated as an anti-Semitic crime.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:25:00]
ASHER: Welcome back to "One World". I'm Zain Asher.
GOLODRYGA: And I'm Bianna Golodryga. Here are some headlines we're watching today. Two pilots were killed after the plane they were landing collided
with a fire truck at LaGuardia Airport in New York. 41 passengers and crew were hospitalized. LaGuardia Airport, one of the busiest airports in the
U.S., remains closed while the incident is investigated.
ASHER: Cameras caught three people setting ambulances alight outside a London synagogue overnight. The metropolitan police are treating the
incident as a hate crime. Neighbors in the Golders Green area tell CNN they had multiple explosions. The suburb is home to a large Orthodox Jewish
community.
GOLODRYGA: New images coming out of Lebanon today, as Israel's military says two key bridges over the strategic Litani River have been destroyed.
So far Lebanese officials say the fighting has killed more than 1000 people and displaced more than a million.
ASHER: Iran's foreign ministry denies any dialog with the U.S. about ending the war that's according to Iranian state affiliated media. That
contradicts President Trump's claims that Washington held productive conversations with Tehran and was postponing strikes on Iranian power
plants. Iran accuses Trump of trying to lower energy prices and buy time for military plans.
GOLODRYGA: CNN's Kevin Liptak joins us from the White House with more. And Kevin a lot to get to here with the president making quite a few eyes
raising, eyebrow raising headlines. One is that there are some 15 points that perhaps they've agreed to. He didn't name who he was speaking to.
But we were speaking earlier with Amit Segal, who is top political analyst in Israel, who said that Israeli reporting suggests it may be the
Parliament Speaker, the Head, the Speaker of the Parliament in Iran. Just tell us more about these negotiations and how far along they actually are?
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, the president seems to suggest that they're relatively advanced, if they've gotten to a 15-point
list of the points that they're talking about, and the president saying that they have gone so far, at least perfectly now, he does say that
they'll have another phone call today.
He says that they're aiming to have some kind of in person meeting later this week. But I think it's all sort of wrapped up in a degree of
uncertainty that leads you to believe that this may not immediately produce a negotiated settlement to this conflict.
For the first part, the president is describing conditions that Iran would have to agree to, that it has, up until now, steadfastly refused, including
not enriching uranium, never being able to obtain a nuclear weapon, and providing the U.S. with the highly enriched uranium the president calls it
nuclear dust. That it does have, presumably, that material that's buried underneath the Isfahan Nuclear site.
[11:30:00]
And so, the president describing progress, but just in listening to him and reading between the lines, it's pretty evident that they're not across the
finish line yet. He was very vague about who exactly the U.S. is talking to. He suggested that naming that person in public could potentially be
dangerous.
And I thought it was interesting in your conversation earlier, his interpretation was that it meant that he might be assassinated by the IRGC.
The way I interpreted it was that perhaps Israel would go after this individual, the way they've gone after numerous Iranian leaders until now,
over the course of this conflict.
And so, you know, I think it was clear that the president had sort of boxed himself into a corner with that threat to take out Iranian power plants if
they did not reopen the Strait of Hormuz. He had heard through intermediaries from multiple officials in the Gulf that that would cause
many, many, many steps up the escalation ladder.
And you heard Iran warn of high degree of retaliation on Gulf energy sites and including desalination facilities, which the Gulf relies on for almost
all of their fresh water. I think the president was also pretty highly attuned to the markets. And we saw, as soon as he made that announcement
that these discussions were underway and that he was postponing this strike, the markets kind of surged.
And you saw him call in to two business networks to sort of explain further what he was thinking, which I think gives you a sense of where the
president's head may have been at. But it is notable, it was just on Friday when he was leaving the White House that he said he was not interested in
ceasefire negotiations.
He has said at multiple points that he didn't think Iran was serious about coming to the negotiating table, and saying that, in fact, he had no idea
who they were even talking with, because so many Iranian leaders had been killed. This is almost a complete reversal. And I think it gives you the
sense that the president is looking for a way to end this war diplomatically, and according to his own words, ending it relatively
quickly.
All, I think, pointing to the fact that this war is grinding on and on, that the costs are rising and rising, and that the president at this point,
is looking for a way to end it.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, also notable that this extension five days will come to an end when markets close on Friday as well. But you were right to pick up
what Zain and I picked up on as well with Amit Segal, his interpretation being the IRGC could take him out. Our interpretation was, like yours, that
it could be the Israelis that the United States were afraid of taking him out.
Also, the fact that Israeli intelligence first intercepted these talks before perhaps even U.S. negotiators or the president himself made his
counterparts aware of that. All very interesting. Kevin Liptak, thank you so much.
ASHER: All right. Turning now to Lebanon, Israeli Defense Forces say two key bridges there over the strategic Litani River have now been destroyed.
Israel says it is aiming to sever Hezbollah's weapon and supply lines that lie near Israel's Northern border. However, Lebanon's President believes
Israel is preparing for a ground invasion.
GOLODRYGA: And caught in the middle Lebanon's men, women and children. Lebanese officials say the fighting has killed more than 1000 people and
forced more than a million others to flee their homes.
ASHER: We are monitoring a developing situation in London right now, where counter terrorism police are looking for three suspects in an arson attack
on a Jewish volunteer group.
GOLODRYGA: This is a horrible story. Four ambulances were set on fire close to a synagogue in North London. A member of the synagogue leadership team
expressed the anguish currently being felt by the community.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JACK TAUB, SYNAGOGUE LEADERSHIP TEAM MEMBER: I think, sadness, I don't think a lot of shock, unfortunately, I think, you know, given the current
anti-Semitic sentiment you know, in the country in general, it's probably not come as much of a shock, but it's obviously something very sad to see
today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: All right, let's get more on this. Dov Foreman is a Campaigner against Anti-Semitism and the Co-Author of "Lily's Promise: How I survived
Auschwitz and found the strength to live". Written with his great grandmother. He joins us live now from the scene.
Dov, as I'm sure you know, you know, the use of fire against Jewish community infrastructure does, of course, have historical trauma. There is
historical trauma to that. And when it's done in a place like Golder Green, home to a huge population, Jewish population in London, home to a very
prominent Jewish population that adds a layer to the uniqueness of the brutality of this.
What is your message to Jews around the country, who have already for several years now, especially since October 7th, felt extremely unsafe? I
mean, the fact that now, even in a place that is home to a lot of Jews that that layer of safety essentially has been ripped from them, what is your
message?
[11:35:00]
DOV FOREMAN, CONTENT CREATOR & AUTHOR, "LILY'S PROMISE": Well, Golders Green is one of, if not the, most Jewish area, not just in London, but
across the UK. And many Jews will have woken up this morning again, questioning after as they did after the Manchester terrorist attack, where
two Jews were called were killed on Yom Kippur, our holiest of holy days.
They will have found themselves questioning whether they can continue to live in the UK, whether it's a safe place for them to live, to raise their
families. And stood here, you can see people, not just Jewish people, who have come to share their solidarity with our community, but many will feel,
and will have felt over the past two and a half years, when we've seen anti-Semitism and Jewish hatred running rife across society.
Many will have felt left down that this silent majority that we hear about so often, aren't standing up for us. Aren't standing up, aren't challenging
this hatred and allowing it to go unchecked and unchallenged throughout society.
And that's what inevitably needs to events like these, where a Jewish communal ambulance service, which serves not just Jewish people, but anyone
who calls them, was fire bombs simply because they're connected to the Jewish community. And ultimately, many Jews today will be feeling
completely unsafe on their own doorsteps.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, we see a lot of ambulances coming as first responders to scenes of trauma around the world, here in New York as well, and for that
to be targeted is just yet another devastating narrative here in the rise of anti-Semitism around the world. It comes just months after Dov the
deadly attacks on Yom Kippur in Manchester.
Are you concerned? I think you've alluded to it in your previous answer that this could lead to a flight of young, particularly young Jewish,
members of the community there in the United Kingdom. And do you feel that the government is responding adequately enough?
FOREMAN: Well, I think many Jewish people will feel completely betrayed by the government. They said to their manifesto that they would prescribe the
IRGC. They would ban the IRGC. They would ban the Muslim Brotherhood. They haven't done so.
And we've seen that the Muslim Brotherhood, the IRGC, are radicalizing, are spreading extremism across the United Kingdom, especially on university
campuses. And that is what leads to events like these when we have chance, calling for the globalizing of the Intifada. This is what globalizing the
Intifada looks like, the terrorist stuck in Manchester.
That's what globalizing the Intifada looks like. The murder of innocent Jews, the targeting of Jewish centers like Hatzola or our shops, our
community centers. And that's what we're seeing day in day out. And so many of my friends, many of my young friends, I'm only 22-years-old, are
deciding that they don't want to raise their families in this country, and they are finding shop elsewhere.
ASHER: As I was mentioning Dov, we have seen, of course, a rise in anti- Semitism across the world. Yes, of course, in the UK, but really across the world. Bianna and I are based in the United States. You know,
unfortunately, a lot of Jewish people are used to now, this is so sad to say, used to now sort of questioning whether or not their synagogues have
enough security, and what type of security their synagogues have.
That is just part of the life for Jewish people across the world. And then on top of that, questioning whether or not they should have a mezuzah on
their door. Should they take it down? You know, especially at a time like this.
My question to you is the fact that this took place against ambulance workers, that even ambulance workers are not safe, people who are there to
offer help, to offer assistance, at a time like this, that that is now the next layer, just in terms of these sorts of anti-Semitic attacks. I mean
your thoughts on that?
FOREMAN: Well, I think you're completely right, and it shows actually the complete kind of difference between us and them. Those who attack us, those
who stand not just against the Jewish people. They're against everything that the West stands for. We value life. We value the sanctity of life, of
saving other lives. That's why Hatzola, the organization, exists.
They value death and destruction. And the Jewish community will continue to live, will continue to rebuild. And ultimately that has to be the message
today that, yes, we are community and fair. We're community perceived by security.
And of course, we appreciate the support from the government who attack, who are giving more and more money every single year for security. But
ultimately, we need to tackle the root cause. We need to tackle the ideology of hatred. And that's, as you say, the difference between us and
them. And ultimately, walk --
GOLODRYGA: I believe we lost him. Did we get a shot back up?
ASHER: Dov, do we still have you? Dov, can you hear us? OK, we lost him.
GOLODRYGA: I mean, look, this is one of the reasons why Yonit Levi and I wrote this book on anti-Semitism to teach younger generations about how to
recognize it? How to address it, both Jews and non-Jews?
The Jewish Federation last week reported that the Jewish community here in the United States alone spends three quarters of a billion dollars every
year just on security for institutions like places of worship. So, this is yet another tragedy, but it is, I hate to say wake up call for the world,
because the world should be awake and alarmed.
[11:40:00]
ASHER: And he brought up a lot of important points about the Jewish community in the UK really feeling that, you know, maybe the UK, maybe
London, isn't a safe place for them anymore, and whether or not they should or should not move back to Israel.
Hopefully, I'm not sure if Dov can still hear us, he can't. I think we lost his shot. But Dov, thank you for your time. If you can still hear us, we
right back with more after the short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GOLODRYGA: LaGuardia Airport remains closed after a plane collided with a fire truck while landing, killing the pilot and co-pilot.
ASHER: Yeah, live pictures here, the nose of the plane with mangled wreckage hanging down to the ground. 41 people in total were taken to the
hospital. The fire truck involved had been dealing with a separate incident at the airport. This is the audio from air traffic control in the moments
just before the collision.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Front there, 4195 just stop there. Please. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Drop one stop. Drop one stop. Efficient. I know you can't move
vehicle 19 now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: The airport will remain closed until later today, while authorities investigate the crash shuttering one of the United States
busiest airports. CNN's Senior Crime & Justice Correspondent Shimon Prokupecz is at LaGuardia Airport. He joins me now live with more.
Such a tragic incident Shimon both pilots killed, and yet it could have been much worse. Just talk to us about what you're hearing now from the
airport officials there? And what we know about what led up to this terrible accident?
SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. Well, the one thing that's for certain that we're being told by sources, and
what's very apparent in that air traffic control audio, is that the fire truck, the crash truck, that is now on its side on the runway, was cleared,
was clear to move into the runway.
There's a process here that needs to be followed when a crash truck, which was requested actually by another airline, United Airline, the pilot there
requested emergency response last night, so that's what brought the crash truck out, and the air traffic controller has to clear that truck, and by
everything we've seen, and what I've been certainly told is that that those officers in that crash truck were clear.
[11:45:00]
Now, there's a lot of questions, obviously now as to what was going on up in the tower at the time? How did all of this transpire? I mean, we're
talking about seconds here, because you could hear the air traffic controller after clearing the truck to move in, you start hearing this
chilling audio where the air traffic control is saying, stop, stop, stop.
But it was too late. The plane was coming in at anywhere from 130 miles an hour to 100 miles an hour when the crash occurred. So, you can just imagine
what that must have been like these two forces colliding. We spoke to a passenger this morning who was on the plane, and he talked about what it
was like as the plane was making that landing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JACK CABOT, PASSENGER ON AIR CANADA FLIGHT: We went down for a regular landing. We came in pretty hard. We immediately hit something, and it was
just chaos from there, about five seconds later, we had come to a stop, but in that short period, I mean, everybody was hunkered down, and everybody
screaming pretty quickly.
We didn't have any directions because the pilots' cabin had been kind of destroyed. So, somebody said, let's get the emergency exit and get the door
and let's all jump out. And that's exactly what we did.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PROKUPECZ: So, the passengers are really all left to themselves to figure out what to do. Can you imagine me with no pilots? Because sadly, by this
point, the entire cockpit had been destroyed. So, the path -- the pilots sadly were killed. The air -- the flight attendant. There was only one
flight attendant.
There was only one flight attendant at that point that remained on the plane, because what we learned was that a flight attendant, a female flight
attendant, who was in her seat in the front of the plane. This is a small jet, so she's in the front of the plane. She was actually thrown from the
plane.
And when rescuers arrived, they found her, she's OK. They found her in her seat on the runway. So, there was really one flight attendant to deal with
the 74 or so passengers that were on this plane and to try to get them off. So many of them took action on their own, and they were able to get off
safely.
The plane itself landed on its nose. It went down onto the nose, but because of the weight of the passenger coming off the plane, that's why
we're seeing the plane tilted like that in the air. So, one main question here is going to be communications.
Obviously, that seems to be the focus here, and exactly what was transpiring in the tower when that air traffic controller was communicating
with the fire truck when he was communicating with the pilots. And also, what so significant was, you know, there was still air traffic in the air
during this time.
And you can hear on the air traffic control, the pilot, while he's dealing with all of this, is telling another plane, a Delta flight that's about to
come in for a landing, to go around, go around, potentially saving a lot of lives there as well. We expect to hear from the NTSB at some point today
with their preliminary and first conference.
ASHER: I mean, what you just said there about the flight attendant who was in her jump seat and essentially ejected from the plane, and that they
found her. I mean, that gave me chills. I mean that just --
GOLODRYGA: She survived.
ASHER: And that she survived. Thank God she's OK, thank God that she's OK. Shimon Prokupecz, thank you so much for that report. All right, I.C.E.
agents are now working at some U.S. airports. The agents are said to be helping with security amid the partial government shutdown. TSA officers
are not getting paid during the shutdown, and officials say hundreds of them have quit or are calling out sick.
GOLODRYGA: Staffing problems have led to painfully long lines at security check points. A source tells CNN that I.C.E. agents are deploying to 13
U.S. airports. We'll have more on this developing story in our next hour. The Former Acting Director of I.C.E. will join us to discuss the airport
security mission.
ASHER: All right, still to come here on "One World", all of Cuba plunged into darkness for the second time in less than a week. What an aid supply
ship could mean for the people of Cuba?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:50:00]
GOLODRYGA: A much-needed aid ship carrying food, medical supplies and solar panels is set to arrive in Cuba's Port of Havana later today, following a
second nationwide blackout in less than a week. Officials say they're working to restore power to critical services like hospitals, water supply
and food distribution.
ASHER: It comes after the U.S. blocked fuel from Venezuela earlier -- Venezuela earlier this year. Cuba says its armed forces are also preparing
for possible American military aggression. On Friday, Mexico back to tiller, departed for Cuba with aid as the United Nations warns of a pending
humanitarian collapse.
GOLODRYGA: Let's go to Patrick Oppmann, live at the Port of Havana. Patrick, we heard from the Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister over the weekend
speaking with NBC about how the Cuban military is prepared for some potential standoff with the United States? Just how is that resonating
where you are, where people are desperate just to have essential needs like food, energy and money?
PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, of course, its causing great concern, as you would imagine, people who are already having such a
difficult time every day powers out for pretty much the entire weekend. It's come back on, but it never really comes back on, does it?
You might get a couple hours of power a day on a good day, and that allows you to survive, but it's certainly not any kind of life for most people
here that don't have generators, don't have solar panels, don't have fuel, which is an incredibly short supply at the moment.
You know, I'm down to kind of a quarter of a tank myself. So that is the issue at this point is people think it can't get much worse. But this
threat of a military intervention, which people take very seriously here, because Cubans have lived their entire lives under the threat of some form
or another of U.S. military intervention. Of course, it happened 60 plus years ago.
So, at this point, we're expecting a convoy to arrive behind us. Today, it's the first in a flotilla of activists who have put together aid for
Cuba. Of course, it's more symbolic than anything else, to be honest, because the needs of this island are so great at this point.
But the government is welcoming it as a sign that Cuba is not alone, that this boat will arrive with solar panels, with medical supplies and food
supplies, but again, a drop in the bucket compared to what Cuba needs. And so, while people are hearing with concern that Washington may be ratcheting
up pensions even further at this point, it really has just come down to the day to day.
You know, will I have power today? Will I have food today? Will the food in my fridge spoil today? And that is really the concern for many, many people
who can't get to work, can't get the kids to school because there is no fuel.
ASHER: So just in terms of what we're seeing with this aid arriving, Patrick? I mean, obviously you mentioned it is a drop in the bucket. But
how much worse could things get when the U.N. warns that Cuba is on the verge of a humanitarian collapse? How much worse could things get?
OPPMANN: You know, the last week, I was filming a neighborhood that I had been doing a few weeks.
[11:55:00]
And I was just shocked that the trash was up to my knees in one block, and that no one was picking up the trash in this neighborhood. And it is
humanitarian disaster when people have to live in those conditions. When you don't have power here, that means you don't have water.
So, for the entire weekend into the area where I live, there was no water. We're lucky that we have a supply of it, but most Cubans don't have that
kind of luck. So, you don't have power, you don't have water, your food spoils. It can go from bad to worse, so quickly.
It's essentially like living right now after a hurricane just hit when, of course, none has but that's what it feels like. And of course, after you
have a natural disaster, will things get better eventually, in the coming days here, things are getting worse as time goes by.
ASHER: Patrick Oppmann, live for us in Havana. Thank you so much.
GOLODRYGA: And do say with us, we'll have more "One World" after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
