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Lawyer: No Charges Filed Against Tufts Student Days After Arrest; Aviation Safety Officials Grilled Over D.C. Midair Collision; Trump Says Congress Should Defund PBS and NPR "Immediately". Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired March 27, 2025 - 13:30   ET

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

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[13:33:33]

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN HOST: All right. Welcome back. A Tufts University graduate student is spending her second full day in ICE detention right now.

Although she is in the U.S. legally and it's still unclear what crime she's accused of committing. An attorney for Rumeysa Ozturk tells CNN no charges have been filed.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: But there is some disturbing video that shows the moment the 30-year-old Turkish national was arrested outside of Boston on Tuesday. You see plainclothes officers covering their faces while putting handcuffs on her and then taking her away.

Homeland Security claims she took part in activities, quote, "in support of Hamas," but they have not specified those alleged activities.

We have CNN's Priscilla Alvarez here with us.

Priscilla, walk us through what we know.

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, she, number one, is one of a list of foreign nationals that has been building over the last few days that are affiliated with these prestigious universities that are here on visas, student visas.

And are now having those visas revoked under this very obscure law that the administration is using that gives the authority to the secretary of state to decide if someone has adverse foreign policy consequences, that they are a national security threat.

Now, the part of the law is very vague. And we are seeing these arrests being done on the basis of that, without much more to go off of.

In fact, her attorney, as you said, does not -- says that she has no charges, that she was here legally. And so this came as a surprise. And seeing her as you see there in the video, as these six plainclothes officers approach.

[13:35:01]

And I've been talking to sources about this because typically with ICE, you will see them wear vests that say ICE. The face coverings we have seen before, sometimes to protect their own anonymity.

But this is an instance that has had a chilling effect because they sort of seem to come out of nowhere and tell her that they are the police, and that she has to come with them.

Now, the Department of Homeland Security did provide a statement, and they said that, "DHS and ICE investigations found Ozturk engaged in activities in support of Hamas."

Going on to say, "Glorifying and supporting terrorists who kill Americans is grounds for visa issuance to be terminated."

Now, what is it that they're basing it off of? Well, her family believes that it has to do with an op-ed that she published last year criticizing the response by the university on the pro-Palestinian protests.

Now, this is the question that has come up in every single one of these cases. Where is this a free-speech infringement and where is this an actual national security threat? And we just haven't had that answer.

Now, her attorney did go to the courts and a judge did want say that -- order that she needed to stay within Massachusetts. DHS says that she was already moved to Louisiana to a detention there before that order.

So now she is in Louisiana in ICE detention, the third of these foreign nationals to be there while these cases are ongoing.

But this raises so many questions because there is so little, little evidence in any of these cases, if any at all, that is being presented as grounds for these ICE arrests.

And it does create a lot of concerns for immigration advocates, for immigration attorneys, because there are people who are here legally who are studying in these universities, who, in this case, expressed criticism over pro-Palestinian protests at the university.

And now it appears that perhaps that op-ed is being used against her. In other cases, we've seen fliers that are being used as a basis for the detainment and other cases photos.

So this is just all part of a theme that we are seeing. And certainly, we're continuing to ask questions of the department in terms of, what exactly are they basing this off of, and where is the national security threat that this law is paving the way for these detentions?

SANCHEZ: Now, of course, this is the most important significant line here, where does it cross from free speech into, as they say, national security interests?

Priscilla Alvarez, really appreciate you being here. Thanks for the reporting.

All right. Investigators give an update into what potentially went wrong the night a military chopper and commercial jet collided over the Potomac. Ahead, we're going to tell you what federal officials say is being done to prevent this type of tragedy from happening again. Stay with us.

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[13:42:45]

KEILAR: Moments ago, the heads of the NTSB, the FAA and the Army's Aviation Division were grilled on Capitol Hill about what caused the deadliest commercial plane crash in more than two decades.

Sixty-seven people were killed back in January when an Army helicopter collided with an American Airlines passenger jet near Reagan National Airport.

SANCHEZ: Now, Senators stressed how the disaster was preventable, while noting that the NTSB found, in the three years leading up to the crash, there were more than 15,000 incidents near the D.C. airport where a chopper got within 400 feet of a commercial plane.

There were also 85 instances of helicopters coming in within 200 feet of commercial aircraft.

I want to bring in CNN aviation correspondent, Pete Muntean, who was at today's hearing.

Pete, so how did the FAA respond to the fact that there have been so many close calls around Reagan Airport specifically?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Well, the FAA has really been in the hot seat here, Omar, along with the head of the Army's Aviation Division.

After this hearing, I spoke with family members of those who died in the crash, and they say they really want to see substantive change come as a result of this.

So do the Senators who were involved here, who really pounded the FAA and Army representatives here, because this was the first time that they have appeared before lawmakers since that crash, only 57 nights ago.

The big thing here is that the NTSB essentially laid out that this was an accident waiting to happen. And 15,000, as you mentioned, what the NTSB calls close proximity events over a period of three years, 85 of those incidents were very close calls, according to the NTSB.

And I want you to listen now to Senator Maria Cantwell, who directed a lot of ire here at the FAA and it's oversight. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MARIA CANTWELL (D-WA): Why did the FAA not act on 15,000 reports of dangerous proximity? How were these helicopter routes allowed to remain when alarm bells were literally going off in the towers? This lack of oversight must change.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MUNTEAN: Remember, all of that data that was uncovered by the NTSB came from publicly available data compiled by the FAA. So there was a lot of pressure here on the FAA.

And I want you to listen now to the response from FAA acting administrator, Chris Rocheleau.

Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS ROCHELEAU, FAA ACTING ADMINISTRATOR: So I'm very concerned about what we've learned in the subsequent investigation, both from the NTSB as well as our own reviews that we immediately took. Clearly, something was missed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MUNTEAN: Clearly something was missed. That is the big sound bite takeaway from all of this. The NTSB says the warning signs were there.

And I want to show you this graphic that was held up by NTSB chair, Jennifer Homendy. And it shows the close proximity of the design of the airspace that really led to this disaster.

[13:44:59]

This is a side profile view of where the helicopter Route Four is. That is the route that the Blackhawk helicopter was on. And the approach path, the Runway 33 at DCA, that's the descending diagonal line, that is the path that American Eagle flight 5342 was coming in as it was coming into land.

This shows that there was only 75 feet of clearance at best. That is what is underscored by NTSB chair, Jennifer Homendy. She really says there was essentially no margin for error here when it comes to the altitude.

The FAA has announced some big changes at this hearing. They said they will mandate the use of ADS-B Out. That makes things a little bit more clearer for air traffic controllers and pilots to see where airplanes are with more clarity, refreshes once a second, as opposed to radar, which is six or seven seconds.

Also, the FAA said it has closed the helicopter route that was involved here.

But the family members I talked to say it's only a half measure on the path to making sure this doesn't happen again.

KEILAR: All right, Pete Muntean, thank you so much for that.

President Trump escalating his calls to defund PBS and NPR. But it's not the first time that these networks have faced this kind of pressure. More than half a century ago, Mister Rogers defended public broadcasting from a similar defunding push. His nephew will join us next.

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[13:50:47]

SANCHEZ: Today, a new demand in President Trump's fight against the nation's top public broadcasters. Trump posting, quote, "NPR and PBS, two horrible and completely biased platforms, should be defunded by Congress immediately."

Now, those words come hours after the heads of PBS and NPR faced a grilling on Capitol Hill. PBS, of course, is home to the beloved "Mister Rogers," who, back in the 1960s, had this message to Senators as he fought for funding.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRED ROGERS, PLAYED "MISTER ROGERS" ON PUBLIC BROADCASTING: I end the program by saying, you've made this day a special day, by just your being you. There's no person in the whole world like you. And I like you just the way you are.

And I feel that if we, in public television, can only make it clear that feelings are mentionable and manageable, we will have done a great service.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: With me now is the nephew of Mr. Rogers, Daniel Crozier. He is a music professor at Rollins College.

Listening to that message, I wonder, what does it mean to you now hearing that?

DANIEL CROZIER, NEPHEW OF "MISTER ROGERS" & MUSIC PROFESSOR, ROLLINS COLLEGE: Its all the same today as it was then. You know, we wish you we're here now. Because he was able to defend PBS and funding for PBS passionately and compellingly.

The Senator in charge of that hearing, who was very clearly a skeptic at the beginning, was nearly in tears by the end of Fred's address.

SANCHEZ: I mean, look, I don't have to tell you in the modern-day version of this hearing, there were a lot of congressional Republicans who we're attacking PBS and NPR over the course of the hearing.

Congressman James Comer, for example, calling public broadcasters obsolete in an age marked by a menu of media options. What do you see as the role of public broadcasting in today's environment?

CROZIER: Well, PBS has things of such value, but which are not necessarily going to guarantee commercial success. But that doesn't mean they aren't essential now, as they were then. Education, the arts, you know, children's programing.

And Fred saw this. He thought that, you know, PBS offered a space for the best we could possibly give children. And he was always of the belief that we have to give them the very best we have.

SANCHEZ: What is your -

(CROSSTALK)

CROZIER: -- with the commercial piece platform, it's possible, you know.

SANCHEZ: Yes, yes. It didn't mean to interrupt, but I was just going to ask, what is your biggest concern if networks like PBS or NPR don't exist anymore? What does that network mean to your family and even your uncles legacy?

CROZIER: His legacy is alive and well. And it's part of all of our mission to keep it alive and well. And we try to do it in our own spheres of influence.

But this was a national platform. You know, for him, it was a tool to develop the affective side of education for children, communicating with each individual child, dealing with feelings, emotions, trying to build empathy and emotional intelligence.

You know, above all, making every child feel valued, knowing they're loved and capable of loving. And we might lose that. And what would that do to our society?

SANCHEZ: President Trump says he wants to defund, but at the same time, the funding bill passed by Congress and signed into law by Trump earlier this month included $535 million for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which is the -- the entity that disburses the funds to 1,500 local radio and TV stations.

Where do you see this fight going next, even -- even though money clearly went out this time. Do you see this as over? Just where do you see this going?

CROZIER: It's my hope and my belief that people will see the value here. I think they're going to realize we can't live without it. And our children need it. And our society needs it.

SANCHEZ: You know --

CROZIER: Absolutely.

[13:55:01]

SANCHEZ: -- you work in education and music education. If I'm not mistaken, I was told that that's the original Mr. Rogers piano behind you. You correct me if I'm wrong.

But I think you're one of the people that sort of sees the value in education. And, of course, you have this part of your family legacy as well.

I just wonder, for you, as someone who teaches people and who has also benefited from what has been taught on television, how has that benefited your life today?

CROZIER: It shaped the way I -- I communicate with my own students. I'm so fortunate to sit in this room with my students at Rollins College every day and play this piano that was Uncle Fred's first grand piano growing up. It's - it's so fortunate.

And it's the way we interact. He said, we have the choice to act with love or without it. And this is part of that, I think, this whole discussion.

SANCHEZ: Well, Dan, I like you just the way you are. Thanks for being on the show tonight or today. I don't even know what time it is at this point.

You can play us out if you want. But I just like looking at that piano. It's really cool. And reminds me, I think, of the legacy.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: Yes, hey, I'm not going to stop you. If you're going to go for it, I'm not going to stop you.

CROZIER: Thank you for inviting me to your neighborhood.

(MUSIC)

SANCHEZ: We'll be right back.

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