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Safety Incidents at DC, Chicago, San Francisco Airports; Bloomberg: Elon Musk has Lost $52 Billion in Net Worth So Far This Year; Bezos Announces Changes to Washington Post's Opinion Page; Hamas Expected to Release Bodies of 4 Israeli Hostages. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired February 26, 2025 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: A scary near miss at Reagan National Airport one month after the deadly midair collision that killed 67 people at that same airport. The FAA is saying an American Airlines flight from Boston aborted its landing to avoid hitting another plane that was about to take off. This is one of three close calls involving planes in the last few days.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Yes, there was one at Chicago Midway Airport and it was caught on camera showing just how close this Southwest Airlines jet came to a business plane that the FAA said mistakenly had entered the runway. CNN Aviation correspondent Pete Muntean is here. Pete, three incidents, one in D.C., one in Chicago, and you're learning about a near miss in San Francisco as well.

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Yes, there was this Asiana flight, and you may remember Asiana Airlines from the July 2013 incident also at San Francisco International Airport also lined up for the same runway when that airplane hit the seawall. In this case, Asiana flight 212 got a low altitude alert from air traffic control as it was coming into land on Sunday. And I want you to listen now to the exchange with that plane and air traffic control essentially warning them they were getting too low.

A lot of echoes and reverb here to that crash back in 2013. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL: Low altitude alert. Asiana 212 heavy, check your altitude immediately, altimeter is 3026

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL: Asiana 212 heavy, are you correcting?

ASIANA 212: Asiana going around.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL: Asiana 212 heavy, roger going around. Prior runway heading.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MUNTEAN: So, this is significant not only because of the similarity to the previous incidents, but also that these close calls continue to happen.

This is something that happened in a Southwest flight not too long ago, about a year ago where they were coming too low. It seems like the pilots may have been fatigued late at night. They forgot where they were and essentially got too low and were woken up essentially by the flight crew -- the flight crew was essentially woken up or alerted to the fact that they were getting too low by those in the air traffic control tower.

So, we have seen these incidents over and over again where there are close calls. Thankfully, the layers of safety are there and keep things from happening badly, although we have seen things that can go so wrong so quickly like the Potomac midair collision as that plane was coming into land at Reagan National Airport with an army helicopter back on January 29th.

Sixty-seven lives lost and clearly so much could have gone right there and could have been so preventable.

DEAN: I know. And then there was this other incident at D.C. back at Reagan. What do you know about that?

MUNTEAN: Well, this is a little bit different. And so, this was a go- around. Essentially, a plane lined up to land, an American Airlines flight lined up to land as another airplane was taking off.

The air traffic controllers in the tower said, little too close for comfort, might as well go around. This is something that does essentially get people jumpy, though, and if you're on a plane, it seems very significant.

[15:35:00]

Thankfully, nobody hurt of this incident. The plane came around and made a successful landing. Although it's notable given the fact that there was this near collision and a very, very close call at Chicago's Midway Airport around the same time yesterday.

And when you look at the video, it is really startling. The Southwest flight was only about three feet from touching down when a business jet essentially pulled out onto the taxiway, onto the runway in front of it. Clearly some confusion there by the crew of the business jet.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said last night that the pilots should have their licenses taken away. It doesn't really fit in lockstep with the FAA policy. Usually they preach compliance and try and remand pilots that are involved in something like this to remedial training.

But it's important to put the context in here. These go-arounds, not like this. This is notable. This is definitely something that is very newsworthy. But go-arounds happen at a rate of about one to three per thousand approaches.

DEAN: I've been on one of those, yes MUNTEAN: So it's pretty common. Yes, you've probably been on one before. And so, you know, coming from the small airplane world like I do, we do that all the time, especially when you're training and learning how to fly. It's much less common in commercial flying.

And it's really a pilot's ace to play. They always have that last out. In the Southwest incident at Midway yesterday, that was something they did unprompted.

In the DCA incident, that's something the tower told them to do. So a little bit different, although they all fit in the same theme here. And people are understandably very anxious about flying right now.

SANCHEZ: They are. Pete Muntean, thanks so much.

So he is the richest man in the world. But Elon Musk has lost more than $50 billion in just the past two months. Are politics to blame? We'll discuss, next.

[15:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Elon Musk is not as valuable since he took on leadership at DOGE, at least according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The head of DOGE, or alleged head of DOGE, has lost $52 billion in his net worth since the start of this year. He lost over $5 billion just this past week, though he still remains the world's wealthiest person. The stock of Tesla, his electric car company, is taking a major hit.

DEAN: It has been down sharply this week, with its market value dipping below $1 trillion for the first time since last November. Lance Ulanoff is editor-at-large for TechRadar. Lance, thanks so much for being here with us. Walk us through this slump at Tesla.

LANCE ULANOFF, EDITOR AT LARGE, TECHRADAR: You know, there's a couple of things happening. So they really took a hit in Europe, where, you know, their competitors are actually seeing increased demand, but Tesla, not so much. And then in the U.S., you know, sentiment -- it's a very strange thing to watch over the last decade, how sentiment toward Tesla has changed. I mean, this was the go-to electric car in the U.S. They're everywhere. Model 3 was a number one seller, but now the business has been politicized and people feel differently about the brand because they feel differently about Elon Musk.

And it is not only causing people to potentially not buy Teslas, but some people who bought them are putting stickers to say they bought it before things changed, or they're trying to get out of leases, or they're trying to sell them.

So it's really -- the perception, the perspective on Elon Musk and Tesla has really changed.

SANCHEZ: I wonder, you sort of alluded to the politicization of Tesla having something to do with this. I wonder if you think Musk can do something to turn it around. ULANOFF: Not in the short term, because he is very deep into the business of DOGE, right? He is busy carving up the U.S. government with that department, and he's doing very much the same thing he did with Twitter. You know, they're firing people and then going, oops, and then bringing people back. So there's chaos there. And as long as that's going on, I don't think people are going to feel the same way they did about these cars.

And I have to say, I always loved Tesla cars. It had been on my -- it was the first electric car that I really wanted. And now, you know, it's hard to think about it the same way.

DEAN: Yes, you're right. It is. It's just that injection of politics. Everything means something one way or the other. What about investors in Tesla? What are they saying? Are they worried?

ULANOFF: You know, I mean, what I know about stocks, you could fit in a very small cup, but I will say that I understand you take the long view. This is a big company. This has a lot of customers. It is really responsible for almost single-handedly helping to build the electric infrastructure in the U.S. So I wouldn't pay too much attention to the short-term activity. But if we're not able to separate Musk and what he is doing with the government from this business, then the long-term outlook might change.

DEAN: Yes, it'll be interesting to see how this all plays out. Lance Ulanoff, thank you so much. We appreciate it.

A major shakeup at the Washington Post as the paper's owner, Jeff Bezos, announces that from now on, the Post will only publish opinion stories based on what he calls two editorial pillars, personal liberties and free markets, and, quote, viewpoints opposing those pillars will be left to be published by others.

SANCHEZ: Bezos also says this shift led to the resignation of the Post's opinion editor. CNN media correspondent Hadas Gold joins us now. Hadas, what is Bezos thinking behind this move?

HADAS GOLD, CNN MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Guys, the Jeff Bezos of today, under this Trump administration, is almost unrecognizable to the Jeff Bezos as "The Washington Post" owner from the first Trump administration, when he was seen as really standing behind and alongside "The Washington Post" as they were being attacked by the Trump administration. Now he is getting so much more deeply involved in the day-to-day workings, especially when it comes to the opinion side of his newspaper.

[15:45:02]

He is the owner, of course. It is his own right to do so. This change is being described as taking a more libertarian, Wall Street Journal- like approach to the opinions page versus the sort of broad view that "The Washington Post" opinions page was taking until now.

Why is he doing this? Jeff Bezos laid this out. He says that he believes these pillars of personal liberties and free markets are underserved in the current market of ideas and news opinions. And he says people who oppose these viewpoints, they can publish those viewpoints elsewhere.

Here's a little bit more of what he had to say. He said there was a time when a newspaper, especially one that was a local monopoly, might have seen it as a service to bring to the reader's doorstep every morning a broad-based opinion section that sought to cover all views. Today, the internet does that job.

This has, of course, as you know, led to the resignation of the editorial page editor, David Shipley. It's been a rocky period for "The Washington Post." The spiking of the Harris endorsement by Jeff Bezos before the election led to, of course, more than 250,000 subscribers canceling their subscriptions. Led to some high-profile resignations. A lot of high-profile reporters have also left "The Washington Post" in recent weeks. And we are now getting some pretty harsh reactions from "Washington Post" reporters.

Take a look at some of what some of them have posted very publicly. "Washington Post" columnist Philip Bump writing on Blue Sky, what the actual f***.

We are also hearing from Jeff Stein, who's one of their top reporters, writing, this is a massive encroachment by Jeff Bezos into "The Washington Post" opinion section. Makes clear dissenting views will not be published or tolerated there. I still have not felt encroachment on my journalism on the news side of the coverage, but if Bezos tries interfering with the news side, I will be quitting immediately and letting you know.

I will note that the leader of the news side of "The Washington Post," Matt Murray, sent out a memo to the news side saying this is definitely an opinion side changes there.

But we are getting reaction from 12th World. They are welcoming this. Elon Musk tweeting back at Jeff Bezos, bravo.

SANCHEZ: Hadas Gold, thanks so much for the important update.

Any moment now, Hamas is expected to return the bodies of four hostages to Israel. And this time there will not be a handover ceremony after intense outcry that followed the last exchange. We have a live update next.

[15:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Minutes from now, the bodies of four Israeli hostages held in Gaza are expected to be exchanged for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. It's the final handover under phase one of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal. CNN's Jeremy Diamond is live for us in Tel Aviv.

Jeremy, where do things stand right now? JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, as soon as in the next 10 minutes, we could be seeing or getting confirmation that the bodies of four Israeli hostages have been handed over to the Red Cross inside of the Gaza Strip. That was when we were told to expect this handover of four remains of Israeli hostages to take place. Perhaps the last handover of hostage bodies during the first phase of this ceasefire agreement.

The remains that we are expecting are those of Israeli hostages Tsachi Idan, Itzhak Elgarat, Ohad Yahalomi and Shlomo Mantzur, the latter being the oldest hostage who was held in Gaza, who we learned last week had in fact been killed in the Gaza Strip, killed on October 7th and his body taken to the Gaza Strip.

There will not be any ceremony surrounding the release of these bodies as per an agreement between Israel and Hamas, and this comes following days of uncertainty since Saturday when Israel refused to release 620 Palestinian prisoners it was slated to release in exchange for those four living hostages who were released on Saturday. And that's because Israel claimed that there were humiliating ceremonies involving hostages inside the Gaza Strip and therefore refused to hand over those prisoners.

But once those bodies of the four hostages are identified this evening, something that's going to actually take place at the Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and Gaza, then Israel will begin releasing those prisoners in waves.

SANCHEZ: Jeremy Diamond, live for us in Tel Aviv, Israel. Thank you so much.

Stay with CNN NEWS CENTRAL. We're back in just moments.

[15:55:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: We have a quick check in with some other headlines we've been watching this afternoon.

Michelle Trachtenberg, the actress who rose to fame as a child star with films like "Harriet the Spy" has passed away. That's according to a source at the NYPD. That source telling CNN that Trachtenberg reportedly had recent medical issues. Her death appears to be of natural causes and not suspicious. The actress was 39 years old.

DEAN: Also, officials in Belize are investigating after the bodies of three American women were found at a resort. The Associated Press reporting the women were found at the Royal Kahal Beach Resort in San Pedro and that police are investigating the deaths as possible drug overdoses. They say the bodies were found by hotel staff. There were no signs of force entry or visible injuries.

And the Vatican says Pope Francis has had a, quote, peaceful night and is showing, quote, further slight improvement. A source telling CNN the pontiff is still receiving the same flow of oxygen he's been getting over the last few days. He has been diagnosed with pneumonia in both lungs.

SANCHEZ: We do want to leave you with a bit of lighter news this afternoon. It involves three men, a toilet and a $6 million heist. Look at that right there.

This is all part of a high profile criminal trial taking place in the United Kingdom right now. The stolen booty involves a golden toilet, 18 karat gold to be exact. This heist took place back in 2019.

You're watching -- you are watching a second ago, some surveillance video that shows thieves stealing pieces of the toilet after breaking into the Blenheim Palace, where the toilet, the golden throne was put on display as part of an art exhibit. Apparently, they swiped the whole thing in fewer than five minutes.

DEAN: It is so gold. That key evidence could help prosecutors flush out the details. But even if the three suspects are convicted, many fans of the toilet -- oh, man, I'm going to do it -- are going to be down in the dumps.

The toilet is nowhere to be found and will likely never be recovered. It is believed it was cut up and sold for pieces.

SANCHEZ: I thought the story had a better ending.

DEAN: I know, then it's just in pieces somewhere.

SANCHEZ: They couldn't get to the bottom of it. It left no paper trail. I have nothing else to offer.

DEAN: Wow, that was really good. I can't --

SANCHEZ: I tried.

[16:00:00]

DEAN: I can't match that. But yes, no, that's yes, it's very gold. They will serve their time. No justice for the toilet.

SANCHEZ: I do wonder what kind of cleaning solution is used for this sort of toilet, because you have to think that like Clorox wipes and the stuff you use to clean your toilet at home. It'll probably degrade the precious metal, right?

DEAN: You don't want to tarnish it. That'd be sad.

SANCHEZ: We got to polish it.

DEAN: Oh, man.

SANCHEZ: We did a good job filling up that minute of extra time.

DEAN: We did. We're here for you on the gold toilet.

SANCHEZ: Thanks for joining us this afternoon. Jessica, "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts right now. END