Reuters World News - TSA delays, LaGuardia and Iran talks contradictions

Episode Date: March 24, 2026

Investigators say they want to interview a LaGuardia air traffic controller who was juggling another emergency in the leadup to a deadly Air Canada jet-firetruck crash. Iran dismisses U.S. President Donald Trump’s claims of talks between Washington and Tehran as "fake news."  ICE agents are deployed to more than a dozen U.S. airports to fill staffing gaps. And the polls open in Denmark to elect a new parliament in an election clouded by President Trump’s Greenland ambitions. Listen to the Morning Bid podcast ⁠⁠here⁠⁠. Sign up for the Reuters Econ World newsletter ⁠⁠here⁠⁠. Listen to the Reuters Econ World podcast ⁠⁠here⁠⁠. Visit the Thomson Reuters Privacy Statement for information on our privacy and data protection practices. You may also visit megaphone.fm/adchoices to opt out of targeted advertising. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hi, I'm Kim Vinal in Wanganui, New Zealand. It's Tuesday, March 24th, today. Investigators turned to the air traffic controller on shift during a fatal plane fire truck crash at LaGuardia. Trump and Iranian officials contradict each other over where the talks to reach an end to the war are happening at all. Ice gets deployed to help TSA agents and Danes head to the polls. in an election clouded by Trump's Greenland ambitions. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes, seven days a week. In New York, an Air Canada plane, its crushed cockpit pointing to the sky, remains on the tarmac at LaGuardia. CCTV shows the moment the Air Canada regional jet collided with a fire truck on the tarmac,

sending both skidding across the runway in a cloud of smoke. Investigators say they want to speak to an air traffic controller who is juggling another emergency in the run-up to the crash. Audio of air traffic control from that night records the fire truck being cleared to cross the runway. And just moments later, this. Both pilots were killed. Now, here's an exchange between an air traffic controller and a pilot. waiting on a nearby runway.

It's unclear which exact incident this controller and pilot are talking about. But just minutes before the Air Canada crash, the air traffic controller who had cleared the flight for landing had been trying to find a gate for a United Airlines flight, which was about to declare an emergency over an onboard smell, which was making flight attendants sick. That's according to a recording of air traffic communications on a public website.

The crash comes at a time when U.S. airports face chronic shortages of air traffic controllers, although officials say that wasn't the case at LaGuardia. Here's aviation industry reporter David Shepidson. Air traffic control across the country is overstressed. There are a lot of places where it's mandatory overtime, six-day work weeks. We don't know yet whether this controller is working overtime, had had a six-day work week. What we know from the Transportation Secretary is that LaGuardia Tower is one of the places where ATC staffing is relatively robust.

They have 33 trained certified controllers. They have six more in training. And they have a target staffing of 37. We'll have more on the airport chaos elsewhere in the US a little later on the podcast. Now, though, to the war in Iran. And literal opposite statements from Tehran and Washington about whether negotiations to end the conflict

are in fact underway. Trump, speaking at an event in Memphis on Monday, said major points of agreement have been reached. We've had very good discussions, very, very good discussions. While Iran says no such talks are taking place. President Trump even went so far as to announce his postponed planned strikes against Iranian energy and electricity targets for five days to give the talks a chance to continue. So who exactly is Trump's team? Steve Whitkoff and Jared Kushner speaking to on the Iranian side. Well, Royce's Deputy Foreign Policy editor, Humera Pamuk, says that is also not entirely clear. He was asked repeatedly about who his aides were talking to.

He did not say it. He did say that it wasn't Ali Faminai's son, Moshtaba. He said that there were still some leaders left in Iran that were not killed. He even said when he was pushed about it, he said he didn't want this person. that Washington was talking to get killed. That's why I didn't say his name. But a few hours later from sources, it appeared that it was the Iranian parliament speaker. However, he came out with a post on X and said that there was an approach made by the United States,

but that the conversations had not materialized. So we're actually left in this confused situation at the moment where the president of the United States is saying there are talks with Iran, but at the same time, we're getting a denial from the Iran side. A European official says while there have been no direct negotiations between Iran and the US, Egypt, Pakistan and Gulf states are relaying messages between the two. And a Pakistani official told Reuters that direct talks on ending the war could be held in Islamabad as soon as this week. The Iranian parliament speaker, Hamera mentioned there, is said on X. that Trump's account of talks is, quote, fake news used to manipulate the financial and oil markets.

Global markets rallied in relief overnight after Trump added a five-day extension to his Saturday ultimatum for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. For more on that market reaction, tune into our sister podcast, Morningbid, available wherever you get your podcasts. Sticking with Iran, a Reuters exclusive on how the war began. President Donald Trump approved the U.S. operation against Iran after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu argued there was a closing window to kill the country's supreme leader. Netanyahu pressed the case in a phone call with Trump just 48 hours before the joint strikes began.

That's according to people briefed on that call. They say Trump had already signed off on the idea of an operation, but had not yet decided when or how the United States would take part. Soldiers stand amongst the twisted wreckage of a plane, still on fire, after a Colombian Air Force plane crashed deep in the Amazon. More than 60 people were killed, according to sources, when the plane went down just after takeoff near the border with Peru. The plane was carrying more than 125 people. It's one of the deadliest accidents in recent history for Columbia's Air Force. Ladies and gentlemen in the rivals area, please be frank from sitting on the carousels.

Please be frank from sitting on the carousels. Now to Atlanta International Airport, where travelers stand or sometimes sit in huge lines as TSA absences lead to hours-long delays. Oh my God, this is insane. I mean, I've never experienced anything like this. TSA agents have now been without pay for weeks, and employees are calling in sick at record rates. as a partial government shutdown that's stopped their pay stretches past a month. And now the Department of Homeland Security is sending ICE agents to airports to help those TSA agents, although their role so far has been limited.

Here's reporter David Shepardson again. So right now, it's not clear how much they're assisting. There's certainly a very public presence to send a message to try to, with these crowds, but they're not really yet performing the duties of a typical TSA officer. And it is worth noting there's a lot of frustration on the part of TSA employees. They're not getting paid. Sworn officers, people at ICE, TSA air marshals are continuing to get paid during the shutdown. But the 50,000 transportation security officers are not getting paid.

Meanwhile, the man who will head to the Department of Homeland Security, responsible for both TSA agents and ICE, has been confirmed in the Senate. Mark Wayne Mullen takes over from Christy Noem and says he plans to create more of a low profile. My goal in six months is that we're not in the lead story every single day. The Trump nominee is a businessman and a former MMA fighter. He's also a member of the Cherokee Nation,

making him only the second ever Native American to serve as a cabinet minister. Conservative justices on the Supreme Court are signaling they might ban states from counting mail-in ballots that arrive after Election Day. At issue is Mississippi's law allowing a five-day grace period for ballots postmark by Election Day. About 30 states have similar policies. The Trump administration is backing the Republican challenge as part of a broader push to restrict mail-in voting ahead of November's midterms. The ruling is expected in June. Danish voters are heading to the polls in an election in part shaped by US President Trump's desire to take Greenland. Prime Minister Metsy Fredrickson called the vote after her tough pushback against Trump's rhetoric

boosted her standing at home. But while that standoff helped frame the campaign, opinion polls suggest her social Democrats are still headed for their weakest result in decades with other issues now top of voters' minds. Here's Reuters' minds. Here's Reuters' correspondent Steina Jacobsen in Copenhagen. Even if this is an election that Prime Minister Medafrederickson called to capitalize on her defined stance against Trump, I would say that by election day, voters are more concerned with the bread and butter topics like the cost of living, but also there's a lot of talk about pesticides in drinking water, the welfare of the many million pigs living in Denmark.

And then there's also a big debate. about whether a wealth tax on the richest people in Denmark would be a good idea or not. For more on any of the stories from today, check out Reuters.com or the Reuters app. Don't forget to follow us on your favorite podcast player. If you're listening on a smart speaker, just ask for the latest news from Reuters seven days a week. We'll be back tomorrow with our daily headline show.