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The Situation Room

Canada's $20B Worth of Retaliatory Tariffs on U.S. Goods in Effect; Investigators Search for Cause of Deadly Amazon Cargo Plane Crash; Update on Americans Missing in the Bahamas. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired September 08, 2026 - 11:30   ET

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

[11:30:00]

JEAN CHAREST, FORMER QUEBEC PREMIER: -- for the last 20 years, which is to build a competitive economy that is going to allow us to face the rest of the world. I mean, the issue isn't between Canada and the United States. It's between other countries, not to name China, with whom the toughest competition is.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: But how do you climb down from this tree when you have both countries exchanging threats? You have Ontario Premier Doug Ford saying recently that Canada should be prepared to cut off electricity exports to the United States. I mean, is Canada actually prepared to use its energy supply as a geopolitical weapon in response to these tariffs?

CHAREST: Well, in this environment in which it's been tariffs and counter tariffs, and we did not, by the way, we did not start this conflict, we did not start this. We're not -- we've left everything on the table, Pamela. We're not taking anything off the table, but we don't want to go there.

You know, we are the biggest supplier of oil, foreign imports of oil into the United States, 4 to 5 million barrels a day. 100 percent of what you import in natural gas comes from Canada. 80 percent of what you import in hydro comes from Canada. Potash, we supply 80 percent of it, whether it's uranium, critical minerals, it goes on and on and on. It speaks to how we work together to build our economies. So, the sooner we're able to move on to working together and having a trade relationship.

And by the way, everything that comes from the tariffs on the American side are contrary to an agreement that the American and the Trump administration had signed in 2018. I mean, it's not legally what they should be doing. I mean, they committed the government of the day to this trade agreement, and now it's just being set aside. So, sooner we get back to negotiating, the better we will all be on both sides.

BROWN: What would it take to get back to where we were and for Canada to pull back on these tariffs? And as you look ahead to the next two and a half years of Trump being in office, what does that relationship look like between the two countries?

CHAREST: I think we have to have a very hard look with fresh eyes of what the economic relationship is between both countries. Take the automotive industry as an example of that. President Trump has said he would like to see cars built only in the United States. Well, there is no complex product made in the world today, Pamela, that is made in a single country. It does not exist. That world is gone. And whether it's a bicycle or a car.

And in the case of Canada and the United States, imposing tariffs on -- as the president is doing, is going to hurt the American industry. And it is -- and even if, let's say, he wanted to do that, it would take years and cost hundreds of billions of dollars to redo that, when, in fact, we are very competitive together.

So, what we need to do on -- and do it on both sides, is look at what our real economic relationship is, maybe go beyond that or defense relationship or how we deal with the Artic. You know, Canada -- President Trump was right to say Canada and other countries are not living up to their responsibilities on defense. We are doing that now. I mean, the government of Canada, Mr. Carney's government, has -- is now investing billions of dollars in defense.

Here are areas in which we should have broad cooperation. And if we have that fresh look, take a moment to look at where we are, I think we're going to come to better answers and solutions than the ones that are on the table now.

BROWN: All right. Jean Charest, thank you so much for your time. We appreciate it.

CHAREST: Thank you, Pamela.

BROWN: And still ahead, one-on-one with the NTSB chair, Jennifer Homendy. She will join us live on the investigation into the deadly Amazon plane crash. Stay with us. We'll be right back.

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BROWN: Happening now, investigators say all five people who died when an Amazon cargo plane skidded off a runway in Miami were in vehicles on the ground, including an aircraft cleaning crew driving in a van. A short time ago, the Miami-Dade Sheriff said three people injured in the crash remain at the hospital. Two of them are in critical condition. And the Sheriff also announced the names of those who were killed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF ROSLE CORDERO-STUTZ, MIAMI-DADE COUNTY: Orlando Aleman Leon, 55 years of age. Yoel Rodriguez Naranjo, 53 years of age. Julio C. Pineda, 75 years of age. Carlos Acosta Fajardo, 53 years of age. Javierkys Reyes Quevedo, 47 years of age.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: With us now is the chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, Jennifer Homendy. Thank you so much for being here with us. First of all, what is the status of the investigation into the probable cause of this fatal crash?

JENNIFER HOMENDY, NTSB CHAIR: Well, today is really our first full day on scene. I stated yesterday that we needed to make sure that the scene was safe for our investigators and for all those involved in the investigation as the debris field is pretty large. Also, they were removing -- there's fuel on the ground and removing fuel from the aircraft. And there were still recovery operations continuing through the evening last night. That has now been completed. And so, this is really our first full day on scene for the investigation.

Our focus will be documenting the scene for most of the day, including the runway, to make sure that we can do that as expeditiously as possible so that we can turn that property back over to the airport so that they can resume operations.

BROWN: Have investigators been able to speak with the plane's pilots and crew?

HOMENDY: We are in the process of scheduling interviews. We have a number of interviews that we're going to work through, everything from dispatchers to the pilots to the air traffic controllers and more. Those are being scheduled. We do not -- we have not completed interviews with the pilots yet, but that will be in the process.

BROWN: What about the air traffic controllers or anyone else who may have witnessed this or was part of this? Have you done any interviews with them yet?

HOMENDY: Yes. Again, this is our first full day on scene. So, our team is working through scheduling the interviews and making sure that they get to those, that will probably continue throughout the week.

BROWN: So, when the plane finally came to a halt, it was almost 1,300 feet past the end of the runway. As you know, Miami International Airport doesn't have this, it's what's called EMAS runway buffer system that's installed in dozens of other airports across the country. It's basically meant to make sure a plane doesn't go out the runway.

Is there a plan in place to get more airports to use this system? Do you think if it had been in place, lives would have been saved?

BROWN: Yes. Well, certainly that's something we're going to look at in our investigation. We have had recommendations in the past for EMAS, but that has to be something that we look at in the investigation to see if that's something we will recommend. It's too early to tell.

[11:40:00]

Today, our team will look at the runway safety program at Miami Airport. So, we will have more information, but too early to tell.

BROWN: Just to be clear, when you say you have made recommendations for EMAS in the past, does that mean you've made recommendations specifically to this airport or other airports across the country?

HOMENDY: Airports across the country, and really those recommendations were to the Federal Aviation Administration. So -- and they're pretty dated. They are from years ago. So, we have to look at what the current program is, and we'll have to look at this accident with a renewed focus before we get to that, any sort of conclusions on EMAS.

Again, we're going to have to look at the runway safety programs. It's much too early to draw any conclusions, including on EMAS, on whether that would have made sense or made a difference or not. But that is -- that will be something that we look at as part of this investigation.

BROWN: Given that all five fatalities occurred in people who were on the ground, does this crash raise broader questions about protecting workers and motorists near airports?

HOMENDY: Well, our aviation system is incredibly safe. This was a significant tragedy. Clearly, we had ground injuries and fatalities here. We had that in the UPS crash that we're currently investigating out of Louisville, Kentucky. It's a significant concern and something we'll look at on this investigation and that investigation.

It's -- you know, our hearts go out to all the families and friends that lost loved ones in this terrible tragedy. I said last night, we can't imagine what they're going through. We have an excellent team on scene, the Transportation Disaster Assistance team that works for the NTSB that works with the families after tragedies like this, but it's certainly something that gives everyone pause. But at the same time, we are going to work diligently to make sure we understand how this happened to prevent it from happening again.

BROWN: As you know, the aviation analysts we've spoken to, and I know you're very early on in the investigation, but they point out that the plane was going faster than it should have been going at certain points on the runway. Do you have any better understanding of why that was, whether wind could have played a role in that?

HOMENDY: Well, you know, aviation analysts, I would ask everyone to pause and give it a moment. We -- the real data that we need is on the flight data recorder, which is being analyzed right now. The -- both the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder were transferred to the NTSB headquarters to our labs last night in D.C. They're being analyzed this morning and we hope to have all that information today, including speed.

You know, flight control inputs, engine parameters. We should have all that data, hopefully, to provide later today. But I would caution everybody to hang on until we have the actual data in hand before drawing any conclusions.

BROWN: You know, that's fair. You want to wait for all the facts to get in. Just one more other question. Was there any indication from the pilots before this crash that there was something wrong? Did they radio in to say anything? Our indication yesterday was that there was no evidence of that, but I wonder if you have learned any more information.

HOMENDY: Well, that is exactly the type of conversation we want to see if we can see if there were -- was anything on the cockpit voice recorder or anything that might come from an ATC transcript or air traffic control transcript. We're also looking to interview or get information from pilots, flight crews that may have landed just before this plane landed to see what they experienced. And, you know, we hope to interview those.

We have gotten some witness statements and some additional photos, additional videos at witness.ntsb.gov that has been helpful. If anyone watching this believes that they have information that could be relevant for this investigation, please, I would encourage you to send that to witness.ntsb.gov.

BROWN: In what way has that been helpful?

HOMENDY: It's helpful, for example, I saw some emails coming in from other flight crews that had landed at the airport just prior to that and said that they would be willing to be contacted by an investigator if they wanted to talk to them about anything they could have seen or heard or experienced.

[11:45:00]

I thought that was extremely helpful. Certainly, videos are always helpful. They are a little more challenging because when you're watching a video, it really depends on the angle you're looking at. So, you know -- but footage can be very helpful, which is why we're looking for surveillance videos today on buildings that might have been in the area to help us in our investigation.

BROWN: I just want to ask you, when you look at the ownership of the operator of this aircraft, it's had foreign ownership, including Russian ownership in its corporate history, does that raise any concerns for you?

HOMENDY: Well, we'll always look at the organization itself. We will look at the relationship, certainly, between Amazon and 21Air and we'll look at 21Air's policies, procedures, how they are set up, you know, any sort of training that pilots would get. That is in the normal course of any investigation that we conduct. So, we will look at operations and see if there's information that we want to dig in on that.

BROWN: All right. Final question to you. You had mentioned earlier that UPS crashed in Louisville, Kentucky, and I'm wondering if you can give us any update on that and what investigators have found into the cause.

HOMENDY: Yes. So, on the investigation, that UPS investigation, it is ongoing. We had a public hearing not too long ago where we were able to question Boeing, UPS, and others about some of the safety deficiencies over time, about the MD-11 in particular, and about certain components on the aircraft and how those are flagged when problems are reported to Boeing. And so, we're analyzing some additional documentation that we received after that public hearing. And that -- so that investigation continues.

BROWN: All right. NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy, thank you very much.

Breaking news. We are learning now that a body has been discovered in the search for four missing Americans who vanished in a plane right off the coast of the Bahamas. We have a live update, next.

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[11:50:00]

BROWN: All right. We're following some breaking news in the search for an American family whose plane went missing off the coast of the Bahamas Monday, one of their relatives telling CNN that a body has been recovered. Let's go live now to CNN's Ryan Young. What more are you learning, Ryan?

RYAN YOUNG, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Pamela, some breaking news here. And obviously it's upsetting for this family who's dealt with so much over the last few hours. A statement that was just released to CNN says at this time, one of our family members has been found deceased out of respect for our loved one and our family's privacy. We are not releasing the individual's name at this time. What is especially devastating is that the civilian, one of our own family members, was the person who located our loved one and had to bring their deceased relative onto the boat.

You can only imagine what the pain this family is dealing with seeing that discovery just alone, this plane dropping from the sky yesterday just after 11:00. But listen to one of the family members talk about this desperate search that is still ongoing.

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SILVI LARRIEU, FAMILY MISSING NEAR BAHAMAS: This morning, as of 10:00, 12:00 a.m., my uncle's flight took off from Great Harbor Cay in the Bahamas. And moments later, it lost complete signal and complete connection from all towers and authorities.

We're asking for everyone out there to please help, whether it's by plane, by boat, any signs that you've noticed to help us find them and bring them back alive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG: Yes, the pilot was Mario Lamar. He was known as an expert flyer. He's 80 years old. His wife was on the plane with him as well and two grandchildren. From what we're told, that plane dropped like she talked about there. Now, there's an all-out search with the U.S. Coast Guard and other naval officials from the Bahamas.

But as you can imagine, Pamela, there's so much grief right now in terms of trying to figure out where these loved ones are and trying to get this wreckage so they can figure out exactly what took place. But something that no family wants to deal with, this family apparently traveling there all the time, they were flying back toward Miami, and now they're having all this search going on.

At one point, the family was sort of upset. They wanted more resources in that area. Right now, obviously, a gruesome discovery that's already been made. Pamela.

BROWN: Heartbreaking for this family from what sounds like a routine flight for them to go back and forth. Ryan Young, thank you so much.

YOUNG: Thank you.

BROWN: And joining us now is Lieutenant Darius Adams with the Royal Bahamas Defense Force. Lieutenant, thanks for coming on. So, first off, where do search efforts for the remaining family members stand right now?

LT. DARIUS ADAMS, ROYAL BAHAMAS DEFENCE FORCE PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICER: So, what I can tell you is I just came off the phone and it was confirmed that four bodies are recovered. Right now, we can't get the status of whether they're deceased or are they alive. But search efforts are continuing for the actual aircraft that was overdue.

BROWN: So, that's new information. Four bodies have been recovered. And is it clear that this is from these bodies or from the plane that went down?

[11:55:00]

ADAMS: Yes. It would have been recovered from the same said family member that would have put out the statement of them recovering that first family member that was deceased in that initial press briefing.

BROWN: Very sad. Do you have any more information about what happened to that plane when air traffic control lost contact?

ADAMS: So, our initial investigation that came into our search and rescue operations team is that they left that area of the Berry Islands and they wanted to divert from inclement weather. And due to that factor, they would have ended up on that side of Andros as opposed to going a different direction heading to Florida.

BROWN: So, tell us a little bit more about this area and the island where the plane vanished.

ADAMS: Well, Andros is one of our largest islands and the water surrounding it, especially on that west side of it, is extremely shallow. So, you have to use good boating skills to make sure you get on that side of the water. One thing we did is we sent our vessels out last night. And I know that also the family member would have sent some stuff out, vessels out this morning.

We sent the aircraft out first thing this morning. They spent hours canvassing the area to see if they could see any sort of debris or any sort of life. And then we also coordinated with the U.S. Coast Guard and they sent their vessel, they sent their aircraft up an hour after us to ensure that we have our continuity going ahead.

BROWN: So, what happens now? You say that the four bodies were recovered. Can you just walk us through what goes on now?

ADAMS: So, the next step is to rendezvous with the captain of the vessel. And right now, we're looking to rendezvous with them at Bimini. That's another island that's not too far from Honduras. And we like to rendezvous with them and then we love to bring in our authorities as the Royal Bahamas Police Force. They would love to get in on the investigative side when we're dealing with bodies that are recovered.

BROWN: Is there anything else you would like to add before we let you go?

ADAMS: You know, at this time we're still sending our divers to canvass the area to ensure that we bring some sort of closure and some sort of relief to the family to bring in a full investigation to ensure that they know that everything that we needed to do was completed.

BROWN: Lieutenant Darius Adams, thank you.

ADAMS: You're welcome. Thank you.

BROWN: Well, happening now, at least three people are dead after Russia attacked Kyiv overnight. This was the scene right here in the Ukrainian capital just one day after U.S. Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner left the city. Russia said it attacked Ukraine with ground and air-based precision guided weapons and attack drones. Witkoff and Kushner met with both Russian President Putin and Ukrainian President Zelenskyy over the weekend. And Witkoff lauded, quote, "substantive progress," though no major breakthroughs were announced.

At least 11 people were killed in an avalanche in western Russia. The avalanche hit a group of climbers and emergency officials are now working to rescue six people who remain missing.

And we're getting some shocking video of a race car driver saving his competitor during a race. After the fiery crash, a Dutch racer rushed over to save the British racer whose car had crashed and then helped rescue him from the crash. The video shows the driver before emergency officials arrived. The British racer was injured, but is expected to fully recover. And he credits his Dutch competitor with saving his life.

Well, thank you all so much for joining us this morning. You can keep up with us on social media, @wolfblitzer and @pamelabrowncnn. We'll see you back here tomorrow morning. Inside Politics with our friend and colleague, Dana Bash starts right now. Have a great rest of your day.

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