Morning Joe - Two pilots killed in crash at LGA

Episode Date: March 23, 2026

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At approximately 1140 last night, Air Canada Flight 8646 operated by Jazz, collided with the Port Authority aircraft rescue and firefighting vehicle on runway 4. The plane carried 72 passengers and four crew. Sadly, the two pilots are confirmed deceased, and notifications are being made by Air Canada's care team at this time. The executive director of New York City Port Authority with that update just about an hour ago, that at least two are dead after a passenger plane collided with a fire truck on a runway at New York's LaGuardia Airport. Police say the aircraft, a jazz aviation flight operating on behalf of Air Canada, departed from Montreal Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport with 72 passengers and four crew members on board. The plane struck a Port Authority. fire truck around 1145 p.m. last night while finishing its landing sequence. Both pilots were killed

when the aircraft's nose was crushed on impact. Multiple passengers and crew were taken to hospitals, some with serious injuries. The airport remains closed with no flights in or out of LaGuardia until at least 2 p.m. this afternoon as the NTSB leads the investigation. Officials say the truck had been cleared by air traffic control to cross the runway while responding to a separate issue involving a United Airlines flight. Guardi Tower requesting to cross four at Delta. Truck one and company cross four at Delta. Truck one and company crossing four at Delta.

Frontier 4195 to stop there, please. Stop, stop, stop, truck on, stop, stop, stop. Stop, truck one, stop. Stop, truck one, stop. No, 2,603, go around. Runway heading 2000. Shot 646. Just 646.

If you, I have a vehicle agent's pole position. I know he can't move. The vehicle is responding to you now. The Board Authority of New York and New Jersey says the sequence of events remains under investigation. With us, we have the co-host of our 9 a.m. hour. Staff writer at the Atlantic, Jonathan Lemire. Columnist and Associate Editor at the Washington Post, David Ignatius, and Managing Editor at the Bullwork, Sam Stott.

will be getting a full wrap of what's going on with Iran in just a moment. And our reporters on this, MS Now Senior Transportation Reporter, Josh Einerger, and MS Now, investigative reporter Mark Santina, live at LaGuardia Airport. Mark, we'll start with you. What's happening on the ground there? So we're inside Terminal B right now, and as you said, on a typical Monday morning at LaGuardia,

this terminal would be bustling. But right now, there's a ground. I'm going to step out. Take a live look right now at the board. This is some of the flights that were scheduled for today. You can see every single flight at this point canceled right now. Passengers inside Terminal B here, some are taking advantage of some of the benches sleeping on the floor. At this point, no flights are coming in or out of LaGuardia. Again, this is all because there's an active investigation happening. The Air Canada a jet was carrying 72 passengers and four crew members. Officials say the Port Authority fire

truck had two officers inside. They say two of the pilots of the plane, the two pilots of the plane were killed. 41 passengers and crew were taken to area hospitals here in New York City. 32 people have been released of those of the nine people who are still hospitalized. Officials say some of the injuries are very serious. Again, this is an active event. investigation, the NTSB is taking the lead. You can see the heavy damage on video. You can see the heavy damage to the nose of that Air Canada jet. Officials say it was just before midnight. The Port Authority fire truck was actually responding to a call for help from another plane. It was a United Airlines plane that requested help. The fire truck was crossing runway 4,

and that's when it collided with the Air Canada jet that was making its landing at that time. It jet took off from Montreal and it was landing here in New York City at LaGuardia Airport. Again, behind me, you can see it is very quiet at LaGuardia right now. That's because there's a ground stop. There are no flights going in or out of LaGuardia. It is expected to be like this. They're expected to have no flights whatsoever. They're hoping to get the airport opened by at least 2 o'clock this afternoon.

But Kathy Garcia, who leads Port Authority, said that's the hope right now. earliest would be 2 o'clock this afternoon. It could be later as NTSB investigators look for just what caused this deadly collision. Back to you. All right, Mark Santia, thank you. Josh Einerger, that's the big question that you're looking into. What do you know so far? Well, Mika, when you talk about the sequence of events that Port Authority started to refer to, but backed off because, of course, the NTSB has to really do months of work to figure out. out really all the things that led to this. But let's start with this other aircraft incident that Mark was talking about. It's a united flight that aborted its takeoff and reported that it had

either an odor or some kind of fume situation going on on board the flight. So the controller, importantly, the same controller dealing with that flight starts the process of getting them help. On the other runway, they're doing landings, and there is a flight cleared for landing. It's Air Canada Flight 8-6-4-6 from Montreal, and it is clear to land on runway 4 at LaGuardia. It's coming in. It's the runway that takes planes right over the Grand Central Parkway, if you know that part of New York City. At that moment, the fire truck, which is stationed on the other side of that runway that's being used for arrivals, is dispatched to go to the United Plain. And air traffic control recordings show that the fire truck operator called for clearance to cross the runway and was given clearance to cross the runway by the controller who had cleared the Canada flight to land.

And, you know, a split second after that, you heard on the recording that you opened with, Mika, the controller almost frantically shouting at the fire truck to stop, but it was obviously too late. So there are a lot of questions that come from this, of course. The first thing, of course, has to do with the victims. So many people whose lives have been changed forever because of this. But a lot of questions are going to be raised about workload, which are questions that came up a little more than a year ago after the DCA mid-air collision, where the NTSB said one of the issues there was that the controller at the time had too much on his plate and too much to do. And it certainly sounds tonight, like one of the issues that they're going to be looking at is the question of how staffing is accomplished in towers, which is something they've been talking about for years and came up just about a month and a half ago when they unveiled their final report on that disaster at DCA.

So here we have another disaster at LaGuardia, one of the busiest airports in the country, the busiest airspace perhaps on the planet now in the middle of another horrible situation. on an American airport. All right, Josh Eindiger, thank you very much. And John Lemire, that is going to be one of the questions, obviously that investigators and others are going to be looking at is workload. This country had gone how many years without an accident, a fatal accident of a commercial aircraft. Now, we have two in about 13 months, 14 months.

and two of the busiest airports that also are unusual and how close they are to major metropolitan cities. LaGuardia and DCA are both sort of jammed in very close. The cities, and they're extraordinarily busy. But again, the question is, and by the way, this has nothing to do. I don't think. This has anything to do with the government shutdown. This is an ongoing problem that we've had and that we've talked about on this show now for years, especially post-COVID.

Just the number of air traffic controllers that we have, and especially at night, how overstaffed they have been. That led almost, you could say, directly. The understaffing at DCA helped lead to that tragedy, and it'll be interesting to see if we have the same thing here. Yeah, important point just now that airports have been in the headlines the last two days because of these extraordinary backups. We're seeing at the TSA security lines. That's because of the government shutdown. That's because people have called out, TSA agents have called out from work or quit or called in sick because they're not being paid. That does not seem related to this.

This is something else. But Joe's point is right on that the under-staffing of air traffic control, these booths. That was an issue last January. That's been in the headlines since a lot of the Dogey. purges last year, people leaving their jobs. And this seems like, you know, it's obviously very early in the investigation, but as Josh just said, there may have been a miscommunication because of exactly that. We actually have an image of what the fire truck would look like. Of course, this is not the fire truck that was hit, but it looks like this. This is a sizable vehicle. This one, at least,

brightly colored. So not, it would be something you would think you would be able to see on the runway, but we, you know, we don't know there are conditions. There's been some rain overnight in the New York city area. Perhaps that played a role as well. But what we know now is at least two dead on this crash in LaGuardia Airport in a ground stop for the foreseeable future. Well, and of course, remaining at airports, we also have in the news, the fact that Donald Trump says that ICE is going to deploy U.S. airports starting today to assist TSA. That, of course, happened after Republicans again killed a Democratic plan to fund the paychecks of not. only TSA employees who've been working without pay, but also the Coast Guard and FEMA employees.

And it's about the 10th time Democrats have tried to pass that legislation and about the 10th time that Republicans have killed those efforts on the Senate floor. And why are they doing it? They're doing it specifically, Mika, because they don't want for there to be any type of ICE reforms. and so they want to fund the entire DHS bill. So they're not going to allow TSA agents to get paid. They're not going to allow the Coast Guard to get paid. They're not going to allow FEMA employees to get paid until they get their ice bill through with no significant reforms.

And of course, if you'll excuse me for saying, though, saying it this bluntly, David Ignatius, this is yet another stupid, stupid move by the White House to take something hugely unpopular, try to use it as leverage, and end up only hurting themselves at the end, and then backing down because this is not going to work. ISIS approval ratings are extraordinarily low and jamming them into the airports after Republicans have killed 10 efforts to make sure that, yeah, to make sure TSA agents get paid, it's going to end up being a loser and they're going to back. down, but this, first of all, feel free to talk about the understaffing and the possibility

of that here regarding air traffic controllers. We'll see exactly what happens there, but also the idea of this and how it'll go over fall like a lead balloon. So, Joe, the understaffing issue is one that is acute in the air traffic industry, but it's increasingly the case throughout our government. Just as I talk to people working at Treasury, NIH, at other agencies, the departure of people either forced or voluntary is leading to such short staffing. The ultimatum, if you will, from President Trump, I won't bargain over funding our TSA workers.

Instead, I'm going to send arguably the least popular group of law enforcement. enforcement people in the country into our airports to try to maintain order and easy transport. It's an escalation of that struggle that's going to leave a lot of people more unhappy. So just this, we're in this period, Joe, brinkmanship on everything from the president, and it just has the country's nerves on edge. And I think it's pretty much the opposite of what the country needs right now. Yeah, I mean, Brinkmanship, of course, we're going to get to it after this breaking news. But brinkmanship on Iran with the president giving Iran 48 hours to open the straits or else he's going to start blowing up energy infrastructure there.

And you talk about accelerating a conflict that would most certainly do it. and then brinkmanship here, sending eyes. Come on, man. Come on. I mean, he thinks this is brinkmanship. This is a lose-lose situation, not only for travelers, but it's also a lose-lose situation for Republicans. They can't be that stupid.

I know them. They're not that stupid. It's happening right now, and the TSA part of this is a backdrop to the major breaking news that we're looking at this morning. Another backdrop is the Indian. increased concern about terrorism at major hubs for tourism due to the war in Iran. So we've got a lot of layers to the breaking news this morning. Again, an update for you if you're just joining us.

At least two people are dead after a passenger plane collided with a fire truck on a runway at New York's LaGuardia Airport. Police say the aircraft, a jazz aviation flight operating on behalf of Air Canada, departed from Montreal, Pierre-Eliate Trudeau International Airport with 72 passengers and four crew on board. The plane struck a Port Authority fire truck around 11.45 p.m. while finishing its landing sequence. Both pilots were killed when the aircraft's nose was crushed on impact. Multiple passengers and crews were taken to local hospitals, some with serious injuries. The airport is closed right now and remains closed. with no flights in or out of LaGuardia until at least 2 p.m. this afternoon.

So here, as we go to break, as the air traffic control audio of officials saying the truck had been cleared by air traffic controlled to cross the runway while responding to a separate issue involving a United Airlines flight and then pulling back. Guardi Tower requesting to cross four at Delta. Truck one company is cross for at Delta. Truck one and company crossing four at Delta. Frontier 41.95. Just stop there, please. Stop, stop, stop, truck on, stop, stop, stop, truck one.

Stop. Truck one. Stop. Truck one. Stop. No, 2,603. Go around. Romway heading, 2000. Chats 646. Just 646. If you car have a vehicle engine pole position, I know you can't move. The vehicle is to respond to you now. Welcome back and update on the breaking news that we're following this morning, at least two are dead after a passenger plane collided with a fire truck on the runway at New York's LaGuardia Airport. The plane struck a Port Authority fire truck around 11.45 p.m. last night. It was in the middle of finishing its landing sequence. Both pilots were killed when the aircraft's nose was crushed on impact. We're going to be getting updates on further injuries and potentially more casualties as the morning draws on. The airport, LaGuardia, airport remains closed at this hour with no flights in or out of LaGuardia until at least 2 p.m. this afternoon as the NTSB leads the investigation. We'll be following the plans for LaGuardia Airport throughout

the morning as well as we get more information on this breaking story. Now to Iran. President Trump says the United States will, quote, obliterate Iran's power plan, starting with the, quote, biggest one first. If the Strait of Hormuz is not fully reopened, by tonight. The president issued that ultimatum on social media Saturday night, setting a 48-hour deadline for the threat that expires just hours from now. Iran, however, appears so far to be dismissing Trump's demand and digging in. The country's military over the weekend said the crucial waterway will be, quote, completely closed if its energy infrastructure is attacked. And just hours ago, Iran's Revolutionary Guard warned it would retaliate by hitting electrical plans,

powering America's military bases in the region. Tehran, meanwhile, continues to launch strikes toward Israel, hitting two towns over the weekend near the country's main nuclear facility. The attacks left buildings decimated and dozens injured, and as Iranian missiles evaded Israel's air defense systems. Those strikes coming shortly after Iran says, its main nuclear enrichment site was hit in an attack, Israel denies responsibility for. As the fighting continues, the International Energy Agency Chief issuing a stark warning this morning saying the energy crisis is very serious, more so than the massive oil shocks in the 1970s. So, David, we have, as you said, brinkmanship, domestically brinkmanship, of course, internationally

with Iran, we had over the weekend the threat of President Trump escalating this to a degree that is almost unimaginable. And of course, the Iranians responding by launching an even greater barrage of missiles. One attack close to Israel's main power plant. You also, and this is an example thus far, and maybe the Iranians will back down over the next 12 hours. I don't think many people suspect that will happen, but you have that threat and that plan that probably is going to only escalate the war further. You have on the front page of the New York Times, Israel's plan to cause a mass uprising among the Iranians that never, ever occurred. And then you have this talk about Karg Island. And to be fair, this...

This isn't the first time American leaders have suggested this. There is a certain national security advisor, 1979, who recommended the same thing to Jimmy Carter, take Garg Island. Jimmy Carter did not listen to Dr. Prisinski. But the Iranians have been wargaming this out since 1979, knowing this was going to be a target. And, you know, you've got senators going on. You know, making everything sound easy. We must attack Carrag Island. I mean, there is, it's a shoot first and ask questions later sort of approach.

Talk about all of these threats and all of these plans and the blowback that we continue to get from Iran. So, Joe, what worries me is that we're moving rapidly up the ladder of escalation as people sometimes. times say in military conflicts. And with each step up, you have the sense that President Trump expects that Iran will capitulate rather than raise to the level of threat that the United States has proposed in his most recent 48-hour ultimatum, which expires this afternoon. He said he would obliterate their power plants, a frightening threat that would cripple the ability of Iran to serve civilian population. And rather than moving towards capitulation, as Trump must have expected, the leading Iranian military figure now, Muhammad Bukkah Kali Baf, issued a statement saying that

Iran would respond by attacking the water desalimization plants across the Gulf, crippling the Gulf country's ability to serve their civilian populations. It's precisely the kind of situation that strategists hope to avoid, where you just move up that ladder step by step toward outcomes that nobody would have wanted when they started, but they can't escape. And the problem here is that there's no sign right now, early in the morning, that by tonight, there will be some diplomatic process that can de-escalate this. Trump wants understandably, appropriately, to reopen the straight of hormones that cannot remain closed and it's needed for orderly international commerce you're just

looking at the financial markets energy markets it's got to be reopened but the question is is how and at what what cost and still Joe you and I had a chance over the weekend to talk to people very thoughtful about this it's hard to hear precise plans for how to move forward from where we are now at this impasse to some kind of resolution of this so you have the straits open you begin to move back toward an Iran that's better contained, that doesn't threaten the West, but that survives as a country. So it's just it's a moment where we really have to just watch hour by hour to see what's ahead,

because it could be quite catastrophic. Well, David, as you were saying, we spoke with many people who spent most of their adult life studying Iran, working in agencies that they were tasked with studying Iran, the top reporters in the area, top leaders in the area. And nobody, nobody can answer the question, just as Israel even can't answer the question. Their expectations that this regime was going to collapse hasn't worked. The expectations of the administration this regime was going to collapse,

after killing, you know, the top group of leaders, nobody can answer that question about how deep Iran's bench goes. It is, again, the one thing we heard over and over again, it is not Iraq. Kill Saddam Hussein, everything collapses around you. This is a regime that you and I talked a decade ago about having three to four different centers of power that were constantly competing against each other. And so, you know, it could be like the so, as we said the other night, it could be like the Soviet Union. It could collapse overnight.

But right now, no suggestion that that's going to happen. So I'm drawn back to something you said about the Iranian nuclear deal. You called it an existential gamble. And you, you at the time supported that gamble. But here we are again. This attacking the energy infrastructure seems like a more immediate, existential gamble. Perhaps doing it will cause the regime to collapse overnight, but there is absolutely no intel or any evidence that that would happen. So you're right. That would

only escalate this war and would it not move us even further down the road into a military quagmire much like Iraq. You know, Joe, I think the thing that's concerning is that we really can't answer what the next steps would produce. Trump's threat to obliterate all power facilities, all civilian power facilities inside Iran is an extreme threat. Even look back to World War II, attacks like that were made eventually, but they were they were long time in coming. And the consistent mistake that we seem to be making in our intelligence estimates is to assume that Iran will fold. The assumption that President Trump had going into this was sort of like President Putin's when he invaded Ukraine, that this will be over in a week. This little country can't withstand our force.

It's one of the reasons that President Trump thought they wouldn't be able to close the strait of Hormuz. was they would capitulate before before they do that. Those turned out to be wrong. So we're now left with, as I say, this quite dangerous ultimatum. And, you know, forgive the metaphor. It's like the dog catching the car. So what happens if we have to go through with that? And Iran then retaliates.

And then you race up the ladder of escalation toward an outcome that you don't want to have to think about it. It's one final thing, Joe, in our conversations over the weekend with people who were very thoughtful about this, we kept hearing from Gulf leaders, we didn't ask you to do this, but now that you've started it, you've got to finish it. You've got to, don't leave us here with this angry, wounded Iran across the Gulf from us. Finish it. And this is compelling. You understand why people across the Gulf, Saudis, Kuwaitis, Emirates, want us to finish what we started. But again, an American president has to think about the cost to our country, has to move carefully, has to move toward a resolution that's going to be stable for everybody.

And I think that's what we're all puzzling about right now as the minutes tick away on this ultimate end tonight. And as David and I were talking to this group, it's very interesting. You had leaders from the region saying, you must finish this job. And you had members, again, of the United States national security apparatus, people had spent their entire life studying this at the highest levels going, what does that even mean? What does finish the job mean?

It kind of sounds like, to American ears, that sounds like we must disarm Hamas. okay, a noble goal, you're not going to do it, are you? It hasn't happened. It's easier to say than to do. So what does finish the job mean? Right now, that's the question, because we may, over the next three weeks or so, achieve all of our military goals, hit the targets that we wanted to hit going in. and it's a military success. But you have the military success of Iraq, and then the political failure of Iraq. You have the military success of Iran right now. And the question is, what will that be followed by politically? If the straits aren't open and if this angry, embittered regime still has the ability,

and they will have the ability with drones, to strike out against our regional friends, whether you talk about the Saudis, Emirates, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, all of our, I mean, that's going to be a serious problem. Yeah, even with the health of the new Supreme Leader are very much in question, it doesn't seem to really matter. The regime is resilient. They're still in place, and they are angry, and they will have the ability to strike out in the region, and the fear is potentially sponsor terrorist attacks in the West or here

in the United States. And Sam Stein, this is about escalation. Can I just have you for one second? because everybody's talking about, oh, we killed the Supreme Leader. And I just think, again, there's always been this, oh, it's like Iraq. Take Saddam Hussein out, you're done. Well, I'm not comparing Iran to the United States, but again, they were multi-layered. That's what we learned this weekend since 1979.

They have been building layer after layer after layer of bureaucracy, layer after layer after layer of, you know, you can wipe out the Joint Chiefs. They could wipe out the next group of generals underneath the joint. We have so many great military leaders in this country. It would be an absolute tragedy, and we would mourn it, but the United States wouldn't go, oh, okay, you got us. We quit. And I fear that's what we're beginning to learn. We may, again, we may be dealing with with Iran.

It's certainly not Saddam Hussein. And again, one caveat. Nobody thought at the beginning of 19. that the Soviet Union's empire is going to collapse as quickly as it did. So let us pray. That happens here. There is no evidence of that right now. And again, the smartest guys in the room are saying, and the smartest women of the room are saying, that's just not going to happen here. Yeah, not only there's no evidence of a collapse, but in contrary, there's evidence that Iran has been preparing for this very moment, and they are ready, and they have set up redundant.

And just like the Atlantic wrote this weekend, and, you know, Lindsay Graham should probably read that piece and do a lot more research on Karg Island and what comes after. The whole idea is, oh, we can take Korg Island. All right, great. Then what? Because guess what? Lindsay was one of those saying, hey, we can take Baghdad. Okay, great. We took Baghdad. And then what for eight years? Yeah, there's a piece in the Atlantic over the weekend about that outlines very effectively how difficult it would be to not only seize Carg Island, but then to keep it, you know, because it is well defended, because U.S. soldiers who would be there, I'm just summarizing briefly, would be, you know, sitting ducks for drone strikes, that the Iranians perhaps could light the oil fields

on fire, the soldiers were breathing in the fumes, you know, and Senator Lindsay Graham, a hawk on Iran, to say the least, was very dismissive of this piece saying, well, we've done hard things before. Look at Iwojima. Well, that's true, but thousands of American soldiers died on Uwezima. Well, I mean, but again, we could all bring up World War II battles. Why don't we bring up battles in our lifetime? Why don't we talk about, again, Iraq? Why don't we talk about Afghanistan? Lindsay was in power then. He was a senator then during Iraq, during Afghanistan, during Libya. They all ended badly. They all, in the Middle East, they all ended badly. Listen, there's a difference between going into Venezuela, you know, or maybe pressuring.

Cuba to fold in our hemisphere. But history has shown us this century has shown us the past 25 years. It's quite a different thing launching operations trying to change regimes in the Middle East. And again, I thought that was the entire lesson of the Bush administration that Donald Trump took on board and every MAGA Republican took on board. It's extraordinary that he has gone the other direction on that, that he has gone the other direction on that, He is embracing a war like this after spending decades denouncing it. And Sam Stein, you know, this is, you know, the president has some really tough political realities ahead of him. If he does authorize an invasion, let's say, of Carg Island, sending some ground troops to region, there will be American casualties.

And there's certainly even some on the right really pushing back against that idea. Of course, there's also right now the economic pain. We are seeing gas prices soaring, oil prices soaring. and this is going to be, we're going to see into other areas like food as well. The president has put himself in a corner and his aides had been telling him from day one, avoid deadlines. Don't box yourself in. Yet, with this ultimatum to Iran, which expires this evening, he's done exactly the opposite.

Yeah, I want to focus on this deadline for this evening because I don't think we're properly appreciating the gravity of what would happen here. Let's say he does go through with it. Joe asks, and then what? Are we really going to knock out all the power plants in Iran? Do we realize what that would mean? It would mean, obviously, incredible death and destruction, disease, famine. We could potentially create a refugee crisis, the likes of which we would dwarf what happened with Syria.

How is that going to breed pro-Americanism in Tehran? I don't understand it. I don't feel like we're properly appreciating the consequences of creating a failed nation state in Iran, which goes to the point of what we're talking about here, which is have we actually gamed out the scenarios ahead? Does the Trump administration actually have a functioning plan for what to do or an off-ramp, frankly? Because it doesn't seem like it. While Donald Trump is creating or putting out these deadlines, these ultimatums, he also is simultaneously telling us that the war is basically won. While he's saying that we don't need to worry about the

straight-of-form moves, he's also threatening. to obliterate Iran's power plants unless the straits open. There is just complete contradictory statements happening every single day with respect to what's happening in Iran. And it leads you to the obvious conclusion, which is the administration is just kind of flailing. Now, I will say, we have these threats at the same time that there is contemporaneous reporting

that they are looking for some sort of diplomatic solution. So hopefully, hopefully these are in conjunction, right? you threaten them with an infatheavalable outcome, and it gets them to the table. But as David and Joe have noted, nothing to this point has indicated that Iran is willing to negotiate under these threats. Nothing.

And that is the scary part, is that we do not have that diplomatic off-ramp available right now because we basically bombed it away. Yeah, and we need to go to break. But David, it bears repeating here that we, in part, have underestimated Iran's ability to strike back because Iran has done what they've been doing since 1979, lying. They were only supposed, their missiles were only supposed to go about 2,000 kilometers.

We found out this past weekend, no, they actually go well beyond that range with some of their attempted hits. And let's just clarify, there's a lot of chaos out there. And Donald Trump operates very effectively often with. that chaos, but I'm just wondering whether you're thinking along the lines of myself, during our meeting this weekend, there was a general consensus that while we may not be able to, quote, finish the job, our allies in the region said, just give us three more weeks. If you guys can say this for three to four more weeks, we have U.S. military leaders and our leaders saying that will

take care of most of the long-term problems, at least for the next several years. So we have that option and that off-round. The U.S. can declare victory and the president can announce the troops are coming home victorious that we have broken a regime that's been the epicenter of terror since 1979. But if the president goes through on this thread and if energy infrastructure is hit. And if water treatment centers are hit, which are a literal lifeline, a lifeline to every country over there, does that not just obliterate the off-ramp? Does that not just put us in a, I mean, it seems to me the president over the next 12 hours, 12, 18 hours, is an extraordinarily important decision to make. Hit the targets over three.

weeks, declare victory, or follow through on the ultimatum, I'll ultimatum, and find yourself in a forever war with Iran. So, Joe, I share your concern that a spasm of violence that begins today, if Trump decides to deliver on his ultimatum, we'll leave everyone worse off. It's the classic situation of warfare where moves intended to resolve a conflict end up producing much worse outcome. I think people should take hope from the fact that the commanders of the United States military has in the region, led by Admiral Brad Cooper, who is the head of CENTCOM, are some of the best military officers we have. Admiral Cooper in different commands has been preparing for this moment for having to reopen the strait of hormones for years. There's nobody better versed in it.

He's not a person who, by personal inclination or training, would take quick, sudden destabilizing steps. If he thinks about using the Marines, it's not to permanently occupy space. Marines go in and out. They're expeditionary forces. You don't send them in to occupy territory. So the people that the United States military has on the scene, as I say, are outstanding. They need a commander-in-chief who doesn't respond to moments with inflammatory language that makes it harder for military people to do a careful job, as I think in this case they absolutely want to. And Admiral Cooper has said to allies in the region, We need three to four weeks to hit the targets we need to hit before we come out.

The Washington Post, David Ignatius, thank you very much. And obviously there's some looming threats and deadlines even for today that due to ultimatums being made in the war with Iran, we're also following breaking news here at home. LaGuardia Airport is closed at this hour. At least two people are dead after a passenger plane collided with a fire truck on a runway at, LaGuardia Airport. This was a jazz aviation flight operating on behalf of Air Canada. It departed from Montreal, had 72 passengers and four crew on board. The plane struck a Port Authority fire truck around 1145 last night while it was finishing its landing sequence. Both pilots were killed when the aircraft's

nose was crushed on impact. But there were also multiple injuries, and we'll be getting an update at any minute now, any time now, on further casualties, if any, and the extent of the injuries to the passengers on board. The airport, LaGuardia Airport, remains closed at this hour with no flights in or out of LaGuardia until at least 2 p.m. this afternoon as the NTSB leads the investigation. We'll be staying on top of this and bringing you the very latest as it comes into us. Also ahead on Morning Joe, a federal judge rules the Pentagon's press report. restrictions are unconstitutional after a major lawsuit by the New York Times. We'll run through that ruling and what it could mean for press access. And as we go to break, a look at the

travelers forecast this morning from Accuethers, Bernie Rayno. Bernie. It's colder today compared to yesterday. Your exclusive Aqueather forecast shows the rain leaving New York City, Philadelphia. Some rain and snow in Boston this morning, snow showers this afternoon. But all in all, it is a colder day. Watch out for some thunderstorms into Carolinas here this afternoon. Other than that, it's sunny. Pretty nice in Atlanta and Dallas today. If you're doing any in traveling, of course, LaGuardia is shut down to 2 o'clock,

so there will be major delays throughout the day today. Other than that, it's relatively quiet. To help you make the best decisions and be more in the know, download the Accuether app today. Welcome back 10 minutes before the top of the hour. Former FBI director, Robert Mueller died on Friday after a year's long fight with Parkinson's disease. He was 81 years old and is survived by his wife, Anne, and their two children. Mueller's decades-long career began with his service in the Marine Corps, where he was awarded both a

bronze star and a purple heart after being wounded in Vietnam. He later served as a federal prosecutor, a U.S. attorney, and eventually as the director of the FBI. He was the second longest serving director in the agency's history working under President's Bush and Obama. He was approved by a unanimous Senate vote and began his tenure just days before the September 11th terrorist attacks. Both Presidents Obama and Bush released statements praising his lifetime of service. Mueller, of course, also led the DOJ probe into potential Russian collusion during the 2016 election for two years, ultimately resulting in nearly 40 indictments and seven guilty pleas. He did not find evidence President Trump committed any crime,

but the probe also did not clear the president of obstruction of justice. President Trump celebrated the news of Mueller's death on social media, writing, Robert Mueller just died good. I can't even read this. I'm not doing it. There's a reason I was thinking about this weekend. There's, you know, there's reason why politicians and presidents don't usually speak this way because people don't think this way. There may be some people on the fringes that think this way. But I'm telling you, the overwhelming majority of Americans just don't think this way about anybody in their life. And so I'm not going to even respond to that. I would rather respond to a man who committed over eight decades. of his life to this country? I mean, the other two presidential statements were nice.

We could read one of those. No, I, well, we don't. You know, Robert Mueller's life speaks for itself. And history will judge both Robert Mueller and Donald J. Trump for what happened during the Russian investigation. And people can run around waving their arms on, on other networks, saying, Russia hoax, Russia hoax. I'm quite confident that history will.

judge both of those actors through that time period, and they will not find Robert Mueller lacking. I want to talk instead, though, about this man who's a prosecutor who spent his life working and defending the United States of America, especially after 9-11. And the first thing I'm going to talk about, Mike, is the fact that Robert Mueller was born. into a, he was a blue blood. Went to St. Paul's, one of the most elite prep schools. He went to Princeton. Unlike most people that went to Princeton and other Ivy League schools,

he could have very easily gotten out of service in Vietnam. In fact, so many did. They used their family connections to get out of service in Vietnam. But in 1968, after the death of a class mate in Vietnam, and post-Tet, why does this matter? When I meet vets, I always say, were you pre-Ted or post-Tet? When did you serve it? Because it made a difference.

Because after Tet, Walter Cronkite saying, we're not going to win this war. It became a much bleaker, deadlier war. But Robert Mueller left Princeton to serve this country because so easily avoided that service. And he immediately becomes a hero. His platoon gets caught in a firefight. and he runs across fields getting shot at and saves, saves Marines, fellow Marines, and he wins a bronze star. A few months later, he gets shot by an AK-47.

Instead of going home, he heals up and he goes back into service. He's an awarded of Purple Heart, an American hero through and through. when he served as FBI director. When everybody else was saying yes to George W. Bush on what George W. Bush was asking for after 9-11, and George W. Bush obviously very fearful of another attack. Robert Mueller said no to the NSA wiretapping program. He thought that it violated Americans' constitutional rights.

And he went to George W. Bush, again, doing what most people will never do to presidents and say you either change this program to protect the rights of American citizens or I quit. George W. Bush later wrote, and he knew he had a decision to make. And he did not want his team fracturing. And he backed down. And they changed that program to protect the rights of American citizens. That's a hero.

Any way you cut it, and you knew him pretty well, Mike. Talk about him. Bob Mueller was a classic American story. He led a life of honor, courage, character, competence. He was an unusual guy. He was a very quiet man. You're right about Princeton. He went into the Marine Corps after his friend, his classmate who had graduated the year before, Dave Hackett,

was killed in Vietnam, and Mala felt it was his duty to enlist in the Marine Corps and go to Vietnam. And he did arrive in Vietnam in 1968, which was the bloodiest, the most horrendous year of that long war. And he did transform the FBI during his career when he was appointed the FBI director. He was U.S. attorney in Boston in the mid-80s. That's when I got to know him. And he was his straightforward and his honest and his quiet. it, a person as you'd ever meet in your life. And I have to tell you a few things throw me in this age, this culture that we're a part of now, with all the noise and all everything coming from

the White House that does come from the White House. It's a different country because of it, because of the language I would submit. But I was stopped dead in my tracks when I saw the reaction of the President of the United States. Good. I'm glad he died. Good. I'm glad he died. A man of character,

courage, confidence, integrity, none of which the President of the United States has exhibited. Good. I'm glad he died. Bob Mueller. Bob Mueller versus Donald Trump. And I'm wondering now today, still 48, 72 hours after that statement was issued by the White House, where are people in the Republican Party?

Who has stood up and said, that was wrong, Mr. President. You're wrong. Who stood up against this hollow man who leads us, who leads this country? I can't find anybody who did in that party. I know many people who said something, but I can't find many who did in that party. You know, it is a moment that reminds many of Rob Reiner's death and blaming Rob Reiner's tragic death and his wife's tragic death on the president said Trump derangement syndrome. And it shocked Republicans as well as Democrats to the Corps. And James Wood came out and had very moving states.

about a huge supporter of Donald Trump, very moving statements, about Rob Reiner, and what an extraordinarily kind and generous man he was. In this case, John Bacon and maybe one or two other Republicans, not enough speaking out. This is a sort of thing that no one in the Senate or House would want their children, or most wouldn't want their children, to speak this way. I did see Rob Dreyer, who began a very, very, conservative guy expressing shock. But certainly not widespread. Not widespread, again, for a man who, you know,

is a Republican, I think, appointed by Republicans, and celebrated by Republicans and Democrats, confirmed FBI director, 100 votes. Yeah, it is, it was shocking. It was one of those few moments in an age where, We all think we can't be shocked where we actually were. Yeah, no, I was as well, and I wrote on it this weekend when I saw it. Ewa, there have been very few Republicans.

Congressman Bacon, you're right, did condemn this. Treasury Secretary Scott Besson was doing the Sunday shows yesterday. I was pressed on it repeatedly. Would not say, would not say he disagreed with President Trump's statement, instead focusing on the suffering that President Trump and his family had during the Russia investigation, repeatedly asked, given the opportunity to say something nice about FBI director Robert Mueller, would not do so. To Mike's point, I mean,

Rob Mueller, you know, he volunteered to go to Vietnam. He went back after he was wounded. He served there. We know, of course, President Trump did not serve, cited that he had bonespurs and did not go to Vietnam.

Mueller, you know, there were people who were frustrated with the way he conducted the Russian investigation and the conclusion he reached. Let's be clear, it was not, in the president's words, total exoneration.

And in fact, the Senate Intel Committee, led by Senator Marco, Rubio reached a lot of conclusions about there were links between the Trump campaign and Russia during 2016. That caused, in Marco Rubio and the Intel Committee's words, severe counterintelligence threats against the United States. Yes, the Secretary of State now, Marco Rubio.

And this is something, you know, President Trump resorts to personal attacks with frequency. The Rob Reiner post, one of them alike. But this is someone when Robert Ballard devoted his entire. life, Mika, to serving his, to his country and did so in a bipartisan way. He served Republican president, George Vosuch. He served a Democratic president, Barack Obama. And this was yet another moment how this president, Donald Trump, has never once tried to be a president of all Americans. He's simply president for those that voted for him. And thank you.