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Reuters World News

LaGuardia controller, Iran talks contradictions and Danish election

24 Mar 2026

Transcription

Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.

Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?

0.031 - 27.143 Kim Vinnell

Hi, I'm Kim Vinnell in Whanganui, New Zealand. It's Tuesday, March 24th, today. Investigators turned to the air traffic controller on shift during a fatal plane-firetruck crash at LaGuardia. Trump and Iranian officials contradict each other over whether talks to reach an end to the war are happening at all. ICE gets deployed to help TSA agents.

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28.204 - 50.406 Kim Vinnell

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.

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Chapter 2: What happened during the LaGuardia air traffic controller incident?

52.09 - 80.528 Kim Vinnell

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 was juggling another emergency in the run-up to the crash.

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80.812 - 86.518 Kim Vinnell

Audio of air traffic control from that night records the fire truck being cleared to cross the runway.

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87.118 - 93.045 Unknown

And just moments later, this.

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97.789 - 108.22 Kim Vinnell

Both pilots were killed. Now, here's an exchange between an air traffic controller and a pilot waiting on a nearby runway.

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108.841 - 111.249 Unknown

Yeah, I know I was here. I tried to reach out to my stuff.

Chapter 3: How are Trump and Iran contradicting each other regarding talks?

111.269 - 116.286 Unknown

We were dealing with an emergency earlier. I messed up. No, man. You did the best you could.

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116.671 - 138.223 Kim Vinnell

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.

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138.784 - 157.225 Kim Vinnell

That's according to a recording of air traffic communications on a public website. The crash comes at a time when US airports face chronic shortages of air traffic controllers, although officials say that wasn't the case at LaGuardia. Here's aviation industry reporter David Shepardson.

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Chapter 4: What role is ICE playing in U.S. airports during staffing shortages?

157.306 - 177.155 David Shepardson

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 staff is relatively robust.

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Chapter 5: What are the implications of Denmark's election in light of Trump's Greenland ambitions?

177.215 - 184.866 David Shepardson

They have 33 trained certified controllers. They have six more in training and they have a target staffing of 37.

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185.032 - 209.621 Kim Vinnell

We'll have more on the airport chaos elsewhere in the US a little later in 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.

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209.782 - 213.486 Trump

We've had very good discussions, very, very good discussions.

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213.466 - 235.556 Kim Vinnell

while Iran says no such talks are taking place. President Trump even went so far as to announce he's 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 Witkoff and Jared Kushner, speaking to on the Iranian side?

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236.178 - 241.892 Kim Vinnell

Well, Reuters Deputy Foreign Policy Editor Humira Pamuk says that is also not entirely clear.

242.533 - 265.591 Humira Pamuk

He was asked repeatedly about who His aides were talking to, he did not say it. He did say that it wasn't Ali Khamenei'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 he didn't say his name.

266.052 - 281.574 Humira Pamuk

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.

282.035 - 296.275 Humira Pamuk

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.

296.255 - 314.736 Kim Vinnell

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.

Chapter 6: What are the latest updates on the Air Canada crash investigation?

351.352 - 376.363 Kim Vinnell

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.

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376.924 - 407.554 Kim Vinnell

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.

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408.215 - 416.745 Kim Vinnell

The plane was carrying more than 125 people. It's one of the deadliest accidents in recent history for Colombia's Air Force.

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418.868 - 426.782 Unknown

Ladies and gentlemen in the arrivals area, please refrain from sitting on the carousels. Please refrain from sitting on the carousels.

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426.802 - 437.402 Kim Vinnell

Now to Atlanta International Airport, where travelers stand or sometimes sit in huge lines as TSA absences lead to hours-long delays.

437.983 - 441.99 Unknown

Oh my God, this is insane. I mean, I've never experienced anything like this.

441.97 - 465.43 Kim Vinnell

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.

465.41 - 486.676 David Shepardson

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 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.

487.117 - 497.172 David Shepardson

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.

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