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IDF Carrying Out Fresh Wave Of Strikes On Regime Targets In Tehran; Iran Threatens To Close Strait Of Hormuz "Completely" If Trump Attacks Power Plants; Israel Expands Strikes On Bridges, Homes In Southern Lebanon; Trump To Send ICE Agents To Help Strained TSA At Airports; Oil Surges As Iran Threatens To Close Hormuz Indefinitely; Trump Issues Ultimatum to Iran to Reopen Strait of Hormuz; Jewish Volunteer Ambulances Set on Fire in London; Strait of Hormuz Attacks Evoke Fears of Another Tanker War; FAA Issues Ground Stop at LaGuardia Airport for Plane Collision; TSA Staffing Shortages Causing Long Lines at U.S. Airports; Guthrie Family Asks Arizona Community for Help; More Record-Breaking Heat on the Way for Parts of U.S. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired March 23, 2026 - 01:00   ET

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

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[01:00:35]

POLO SANDOVAL: Hello. And welcome to CNN Newsroom. I'm Polo Sandoval in New York, where it is 1am early morning in the Middle East, which is where we want to begin and the war in Iran and the sound of explosions that have been heard in several parts of the capital of Tehran.

The IDF said just a short time ago that it has already begun a wide- scale wave of strikes targeting the Iranian regime's infrastructure. And this comes as Iran's military says that it's ready close the Strait of Hormuz indefinitely if President Donald Trump carries out his ultimatum, which is to hit and obliterate Iran's power plants if the critical waterway is not fully open to navigation by Monday evening.

Meanwhile, just hours ago, at least one Iranian missile carrying a cluster warhead could be seen above Israel, Jerusalem and the West Bank.

Let's get a live Update now from CNN's Mike Valerio. Again, we have about 24 hours, a little under 24 hours now Any new word from Iran? What does situation.

MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. No new word from Iran because it's just daybreak there. So the start of business is just beginning as we're speaking. But there's no sign, Polo, to your point, that Iran is going to acquiesce to this key deadline that has been set on social media by the president of the United States.

But what we have heard from Iran over the past couple hours, by the end of the day on Sunday, the speaker of Iran's parliament saying that, essentially paraphrasing for our conversation here, Polo, if energy targets, if power plants are going to be targeted in Iran, Iran's speaker of the parliament says that legitimizes other civilian infrastructure targets that are owned by Israel and the United States, perhaps Gulf allies around the region.

So the question is really what does Iran do next and what is hit after this deadline passes around 7:44 a.m. our time in this time zone, East Asia, Beijing. So Tehran has also said, Polo, that it's going to irreversibly destroy these civilian infrastructure targets again, if its power plants are targeted.

So what that means is essential infrastructure like water, energy, desalination plants, those have all been now deemed legitimate targets. And this is just, I mean, such a contrast to when the president is telling reporters and also posting on social media that from his point of view, the war is winding down.

Well, it may not be winding down if we have civilian targets in the mix that Amnesty International has warned over the past couple weeks could amount to war crimes. If these targets that are essential to how we live every single day are put into the crosshairs by military forces on either side of this conflict, that could lead, according to Amnesty's statements, to vast, predictable and devastating civilian harm.

So Iran is further saying that if its power plants are targeted, that the Strait of Hormuz is not going to open fully until those targets are rebuilt. For what it's worth, Polo, you know, Mike Waltz, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said on the Sunday shows in the United States that America will likely be targeting power plants and energy infrastructure that are mainly used by Iran's military forces.

But that according to an, I mean, we had David Sanger on in the last hour, people who are talking to us on CNN.com, that's a real blurry, you know, vague line because if you have power plants that are used by the military, they're also helping to keep hospitals going, water, sewage.

So if those targets are hit, what level of misery, perhaps does that add to the populace of Iran? So very high stakes as we are waiting for this deadline. Polo.

SANDOVAL: Yes, more suffering for the, for civilians in Iran, potential suffering. CNN's Mike Valerio with that update. Thank you.

Joining us now is CNN political and national security analyst David Sanger. He's also the author of the book "New Cold Wars: China's Rise, Russia's Invasion and America's Struggle to Defend the West." David, it's always great to see you.

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Great to be with you, Polo.

SANDOVAL: President Trump's threatening Iran now, specifically the power infrastructure, if they do not fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Do you expect that he'll actually enforce this deadline that's up in a little under 24 hours? [01:05:05]

SANGER: It's a really interesting question because he set this up as his own red line. Not clear at all to me that the Iranians are going to relent on this issue because this is their one remaining true source of power. The president's right when he says that the U.S. has and Israel have depleted their missile capability, have wiped out their navy, have wiped out many of their launchers.

But the one thing that the U.S. has not cracked is Iran's ability to close the strait. And the Iranians recognize that this is their one great point of leverage. So unless there's a negotiated solution through one of the Gulf countries intervening, I don't see a way that deadline doesn't pass. Then the question is, Polo, does the president begin to destroy energy facilities that just last week he was telling the Israelis not touch.

SANDOVAL: And then there's also, you know, just on that point, too, David, if Iran -- because there's no clear indication that Iran will crack. So if Iran ignores this deadline, do you see it potentially backfiring now on President Trump?

SANGER: Well, first, striking energy facilities is prohibited by the Geneva Convention. President might try to find a loophole out of that, but it would put the United States in a bad spot. Second, he kept referring to striking the largest energy facility that they have, and by output that is clearly the Bushehr nuclear plant. They've had this plant for a long time, nuclear reactor. It's fed by Russian fuel. The fuel goes back to Russia. So we're not worried about it for their weapons program.

But the fact of the matter is striking nuclear facilities is something I don't think President Trump is going to order. He might well go after some lesser facilities, but even that is pretty problematic. And there's no evidence that he could control the Iranian reaction if they did the same to Saudi Arabia or the UAE or Bahrain or Qatar.

SANDOVAL: I wonder if we could also revisit one of your latest pieces of analysis here, specifically, when it comes to other factors in this war and what President Trump has not really addressed or at least touched on. Again, different factors, like certainly the movement of protests that we witnessed play out has the president revisited, of course, defending some of these protesters that he claimed to be defending earlier this year or even the regime itself, that though -- it may be debilitated, it is still very much in power and still in control of a nuclear stockpile.

SANGER: Well, the story you're referring to, which I had in the Times on Saturday afternoon, and it ran through today, basically made the case that if you go back to the president's objectives as he laid them out on February 28, when the first attack on Iran began, it included not only protecting the protesters but telling them, stay in your homes and once the fighting is over, come out and overthrow your government.

We have not heard him make that invitation again. And in fact, he acknowledged about a week ago that would be really difficult to do since the protesters don't have any guns and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the militias that have killed people on the streets still do. He has not discussed in any way whether or not he could leave Iran while still won by the IRGC and a replacement for the supreme leader, the supreme leader son.

And finally, what I thought was really interesting about this was the precipitating cause of this, if you believe the president's own words, was the fact that near bomb grade nuclear material remains on their property buried at largely at Isfahan.

But in this most recent post on Friday, he seemed to suggest that as long as the U.S. was certain that it could step in time and stop Iran from getting the bomb, he was satisfied with that. Well, he could have had that even before the attack started.

SANDOVAL: Yes. As you lay out in that analysis, many of his original war goals, as you're right, they remain unaccomplished. We will continue to track this. As always with your coverage, with your reporting and your analysis. CNN political and national security analyst David Sanger really appreciate you.

SANGER: Thanks, Polo.

[01:10:00]

SANDOVAL: Let's check in on global markets and how they're being potentially impacted and reacting to this widening conflict in the Middle East. Some of the early indicators right now across the board showing Asia and Pacific markets right now taking quite the tumble you see there, at least in one instance with Cosby about a 6 percent drop.

Early indicators do show again that some of these markets are at least traders, I should say, are weighing some of the potential conflicts that we continue to see there. And the Trump administration issuing that very direct threat to Iran and of course the counter threat from the Iranians as well.

And that threat to close the Strait of Hormuz, it certainly also impacting the price of Brent crude futures as well. At this point, we've seen a significant increase at currently about $112 a barrel. But you heard in the last hour with one analyst expecting that These prices above $100 a barrel are likely to last for months, possibly even into next year, even if free navigation is restored on that critical Strait of Hormuz. So we'll continue to watch those numbers.

While Israel is accelerating the demolition of homes and bridges along the Litani River in southern Lebanon. Look at this.

The IDF now says that two key bridges over the strategic waterway have already been destroyed. Israel says that it aims to sever Hezbollah's weapon and supply lines near Israel's northern border. But Lebanon's president is accusing Israel of preparing for a ground invasion and of pursuing Israeli expansion into Lebanese territory.

So far the fighting has already killed more than 1,000 people and displaced over a million others, according to Lebanese officials, many of them children.

CNN chief international security correspondent Nick Paton Walsh has the latest from the Lebanese capital.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, a significant development in Israel's assault against the Iranian backed militant group Hezbollah here and in southern Lebanon. It's a separate chapter really to the war with Iran, but ultimately deeply connected, a longer standing conflict here in the region.

And today it took for many Lebanese an ugly turn. Israel, after two warnings detonated the key bridge that marks a vital artery from the south of the country, the southern Lebanon area that is a Hezbollah stronghold. That Israel has declared a mandatory evacuation zone for a number of weeks now.

But where there are still, we've seen thousands of civilians deeply fearing for their safety. That bridge was detonated in a precise strike that left now only one much smaller bridge connecting the north from the south.

Now that has led the Lebanese President Joseph Aoun to say that this is the precursor to an Israeli ground invasion. He's talked about collective punishment and the degradation of infrastructure. And critics of Israel will point to the disproportionality of force used here to part of infrastructure that was deeply useful to civilians granted, that artery to use by Hezbollah and their logistics as well.

But this marks for many Lebanese a deeply worrying chapter, potentially where they have long been concerned about some of the rhetoric they've heard from Israel's defense minister, who harks back to the tactics used to demolish parts of Gaza and as something they might seek to replicate in the southern suburbs of Beirut and elsewhere.

And Israel Katz, the defense minister, said that they would be seeking to demolish some of the housing and residential parts of southern Lebanon near the Israeli border. And two, he gave a warning they will be destroying the bridges across the Latani River. That basically marks the first border of the lower evacuation area that Israel has declared civilians have to forcibly leave their homes from.

So today's strike on the bridge, startling as the vigil indeed is there many Lebanese, I think, is raising concerns of a new chapter here where Israel will seek to push all civilians out of that southern area now.

But this separate part of the conflict, ultimately one where Israel said it will achieve its aims over a longer period of time, the military figures talking about advanced targeted ground operations, perhaps stopping short of declaring a full invasion potential in the background, maybe for some diplomacy to slow this down.

But there are many Lebanese deeply worried that the conflict between Israel and Iran and the United States, which forced or pushed Hezbollah into the retaliation that sparked this part of the conflict they sought to avenge the death of their sponsor, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, is now leading to essentially much longer and uglier war again for many Lebanese civilians caught in the middle. Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Beirut, Lebanon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: Right now we're following breaking news. London police now say that they're investigating an apparent arson attack in the city's Golders Green neighborhood as antisemitic hate crime. The security camera footage shared with CNN. You see three masked people approach an ambulance belonging to a Jewish volunteer rescue group. And just moments later, you see it there. They set it on fire.

[01:15:05]

This neighborhood, it is home to a large Jewish population. We're going to continue to follow developments here as this investigation is just getting started again out of London.

And just in to CNN, the Federal Aviation Administration has issued a ground stop at LaGuardia Airport here in New York City due to what they're calling an aircraft emergency. The New York City Fire Department says that it is currently responding to a reported incident involving a plane and a vehicle on a Runway.

CNN has reached out to the Port Authority in New York, also New Jersey, and also the FAA for more information to get a ground stop at one of the busiest airports in the Northeast. We're going to bring you more details as we get them.

And still to come here on CNN Newsroom, the White House plans to deploy ICE agents to help the TSA amid massive callouts. We'll have the latest on how the partial government shutdown is affecting airports throughout the country.

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SANDOVAL: Now to the latest at airports throughout the country. TSA callouts. They are rising as the country enters the sixth week of the partial government shutdown and now some of the busiest airports in the country. They're beginning to feel the pinch as lines get longer and you can imagine travelers' patience runs short.

[01:20:06]

The Department of Homeland Security now says that more than one-third of agents called out from multiple airports on Saturday. It's one of the highest numbers we've seen since the start of this partial shutdown.

President Trump says that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents that they will be deployed in, they'll be sent out to assist the understaffed TSA starting on Monday. Borders are Tom Holman, he has put in, he's actually been put in charge of this operation. Here's what he told CNN's Dana Bash about how agents will approach this assignment. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM HOMAN, U.S. BORDER CZAR: This is about helping TSA do their mission and get the American public through that airport as quick as they can while adhering to all the security guidelines and the protocols. We're simply there to help TSA do their job in areas that don't need their specialized expertise, such as screening through the X ray machine, not training that we won't do that.

But there are roles we can play to release TSA officers from the non- significant role, such as guarding an exit so they can get back to the scanning machines and move people quicker.

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SANDOVAL: CNN's Gloria Pazmino has more from Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey.

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GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, wait times here at Newark Liberty International Airport peaked at around 35 minutes wait time, which is actually a lot better than what we saw at many of the other airports around the country which were reporting more than an hour's wait.

Now this is all happening as result of this partial government shutdown which is leading TSA officers to call out of work as they continue to go unpaid. Now, President Trump announcing a plan to deploy ICE officers to help with the staffing shortage. That plan getting mixed reaction from travelers here in Newark.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because they've been shown to be a little brutal and their training doesn't seem like it's even in line with being an official of any form.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If it's -- if it helps the wait times diminish. I'm not worried about ICE. Actually, if it's just a manpower gap stoppage to make things run smoother, that's great.

PAZMINO: Now the Department of Homeland Security has not yet said which airports are going to be seeing this ICE officer deployment. We do not know yet how many officers will be assigned to this latest plan.

But we do know that in the meantime, TSA officers are caught in the middle. Many of them have been forced to quit their job. That number is at around 400 and the absentee rate has been hovering around 9 percent. Gloria Pazmino, CNN, New Jersey.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: The U.S. Senate has voted to advance Senator Markwayne Mullin's nomination to lead the Department of Homeland Security. Democrats John Fetterman and Martin Heinrich voted with Republicans on Sunday to approve the key procedural step. Mullin would replace outgoing DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. A final

confirmation vote that could come as early as Monday.

And still to come, President Trump issuing a new ultimatum to Iran as he tries to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Will it be enough though? And how will Iran respond? Stay with us.

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[01:26:33]

SANDOVAL: You're watching CNN Newsroom. I'm Polo Sandoval in New York. And we are now less than 24 hours away from President Trump's new deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

On Saturday, he threatened to, quote, obliterate Iran's power plants if the waterway is not fully reopened within 48 hours. But that ultimatum is now drawing mixed political reactions here in the United States and questions about what, in fact, many in Congress, they are skeptical of the administration's strategy, with some saying that this latest move is indicative of larger gaps in the White House's reasoning for the war.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY) HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: Donald Trump and Republicans haven't even made the case for why we are in this reckless war of choice right now to the American people. They've got no vision, no plan, no exit strategy. They clearly didn't anticipate some of the things that have happened, including the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

What you're seeing right now are gas prices are through the roof and that's adding to an environment in America right now where life has already become too expensive for the American people because of failed policies by Donald Trump.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: And as that war with Iran rages on, fuel prices there continuing to surge while global markets plunge. And this is all causing President Trump to issue a new ultimatum to Iran, which we just discussed. Reopen the Strait of Hormuz or the US Will target Iranian power plants. CNN's Julia Benbrook has the very latest from West Palm Beach, Florida.

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JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This social media post came from President Donald Trump on Saturday evening at exactly 7:44 p.m. Eastern. And that time stamp is important because it also came with a fast approaching deadline.

Trump said that the United States would, quote, obliterate Iran's power plants if it did not reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours. I want to pull up that post to read it for you exactly. He said, quote, if Iran doesn't fully open without threat the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours from this exact point in time, the United States of America will hit and obliterate their various power plants, starting with the biggest one first.

Now, Iran's military responded on Sunday saying that if the United States followed through with that threat, it would completely close the Strait of Hormuz and it would remain closed until the destroyed power plants had been rebuilt.

It also said that it could target Israeli energy and communications infrastructure as well as similar companies with U.S. shareholders in the region. Now, this marks a significant escalation in rhetoric from Trump that is also a significant acknowledgment of this important waterway.

We know that 20 percent of the world's oil travels through the Strait of Hormuz and there's been a surge in gas prices here in the United States.

Now, Trump said that his team did predict that there would be a rise in prices, but he also has said that he's confident that those prices will eventually come down and that it is a small price to pay for long term safety.

U.S. officials have been speaking behind the scenes about how to avert a month's long closure of the strait and have privately acknowledged that this is a problem that does not have a clear resolution at this point. Traveling with the president in Florida, Julia Benbrook, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[01:30:00]

SANDOVAL: And global oil prices, they remain sky high as Iran threatens to shut down the Strait of Hormuz indefinitely. Brent crude, the global benchmark, peaking over $114 a barrel on Sunday before dropping back down slightly. Right now, you see it there closing in on $113.

And we do continue to stay on top of breaking news out of London, where police say that they're investigating an apparent arson attack in the city's Golders Green neighborhood as an anti-Semitic hate crime.

CNN's Clare Sebastian headed to the scene now, been speaking to authorities. Clare, go ahead, what are you hearing now about this?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Good morning, Polo. I've just arrived on the scene here in north London. The police have closed off the road, but I can see there's still a fire engine outside where we believe that these ambulances were set on fire.

We've seen CCTV footage, by the way, which shows three masked men approaching one of the ambulances and set it on fire. That shows a timestamp of about 1:30 in the morning. So it seems that this happened in the early hours of the morning. I've

spoken to some local residents here who said they had a couple of loud explosions, which police are suggesting could have been because of gas canisters on board these ambulances. These ambulances, by the way, belonging to a volunteer Jewish rescue service. They owned -- the chairman of that service told us six ambulances and four of them have now been attacked.

So this local resident that I spoke to said, this will have essentially crippled that service. And obviously, this is a community here in the north London suburb of Golders Green, with a very high concentration of synagogues and Jewish schools.

It's got a large Jewish population, and they are already on high alert, of course, after the Yom Kippur attack on that synagogue in Manchester last year.

So obviously this is a community now that is very shaken by this incident, that police are still investigating. No arrests have been made as of yet.

And the scene here relatively calm, save, of course, for that police cordon. And obviously we can see a fire engine just down the street. But local residents, they say in some of the nearby blocks of flats were evacuated as a precaution given the scale of the fire and what we believe to have been those explosions in the early hours of this morning, Polo.

SANDOVAL: Yes, I know this is just early and the investigation is just getting started.

Clare Sebastian, thank you so much for being there and reporting on this.

Again, another Jewish community, as she described, shaken by what authorities are calling an anti-Semitic attack in London.

More on this as soon as we get it.

For now, though, were going to take a quick break and join you in just a few more moments.

[01:32:34]

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SANDOVAL: As President Donald Trump makes plans for U.S. Navy ships to escort oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, naval experts are warning that history is repeating itself. You see, U.S. vessels are facing some of the same threats that they did during the so-called Tanker War in the late 1980s.

Here's CNN's Ivan Watson.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Commercial shipping under attack. Iran suspected of targeting at least 20 ships in the Gulf and nearby Strait of Hormuz in the last two and a half weeks, creating a dangerous bottleneck that's driving up global energy prices.

Tanker ships like this are longer than a football field. They are big, easy targets for Iranian missiles, drones and sea mines in a narrow channel like the Strait of Hormuz. So protecting them from these threats won't be easy.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When the time comes, the U.S. Navy and its partners will escort tankers through the strait if needed.

WATSON: Iran has a long history of targeting shipping in this oil-rich region.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When Iranian speedboats began attacking shipping in the Persian Gulf Monday --

WATSON: During the Tanker War of the 1980s, the U.S. and other allies escorted ships through the Gulf to protect them from Iranian and Iraqi attacks.

Veteran merchant mariner, Frank Cole, vividly remembers how a British warship protected his cargo ship during one confrontation.

FRANK COLE, VETERAN MERCHANT MARINER: We were challenged by the Iranians and it was dark. It was night. It was scary. We all got down on the deck actually before Broadsword. You just heard Broadsword accelerate and come between us and the Iranians, and tell the Iranians that they were a British warship. And the Iranians backed down.

WATSON: The escort mission was dangerous. On April 14th, 1988, the USS Samuel B. Roberts hit an Iranian sea mine in the Gulf.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When the blast hit, we had four people inside here, all received burns, cuts, bruises.

WATSON: The mine severely wounded 10 sailors.

More recently, commercial shipping came under attack in the nearby Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. Iranian-backed Houthi fighters in Yemen staged several spectacular attacks, sinking at least four cargo ships.

JENNIFER PARKER, FORMER AUSTRALIAN NAVY OFFICER: I think Iran's targeting right now and the ships they've managed to hit is a lot more accurate than the Houthis.

WATSON: Jennifer Parker is a former Royal Australian Navy officer. In 2020, she worked with the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet in Bahrain as part of an international mission to protect shipping from Iranian threats during a previous crisis.

But in this war, she says the U.S. and Israel will first have to completely destroy Iran's drone and attack boat capability before launching a policing operation in the Strait of Hormuz.

PARKER: You certainly need to have a fighter aircraft above the strait that can respond, that are your eyes and ears. You certainly need to have a maritime patrol aircraft or airborne early warning aircraft, providing you a greater picture of what's happening. Then you need warships displaying presence to reassure ships to go through.

WATSON: But experts predict it could be weeks or months before navies will be in any position to reopen this vital shipping lane.

COLE: Anybody who realizes that history repeats itself, and we never seem to learn, will be not surprised. It's just disappointing it wasn't a part of the thought process when it went down.

WATSON: Ivan Watson, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: Cuba is working to restore electricity after its latest nationwide blackout. The country's electrical grid suffered a total disconnection on Saturday, even as it recovered from a collapse less than a week before power has begun to be restored.

The latest blackout comes as an international convoy begins to arrive in Cuba, with humanitarian aid.

Earlier, I had a chance to speak to Bob Schwartz. He's the executive director of Global Health Partners, an organization that has contributed funds worth of medical supplies to the convoy in Cuba.

[01:39:52]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOB SCHWARTZ, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, GLOBAL HEALTH PARTNERS: We've been working with Cuba for more than 30 years. We're probably the largest or one of the largest global donors of humanitarian medical assistance to Cuba. We've shipped more than $275 million over the past three decades.

Why is it so important today? In large part because our government is punishing Cuba and it's strangling the Cuban economy. And that's creating, all sorts of problems for Cuba's public health system.

Cubas health system today, I would say, is pretty much on life support. Things that we take for granted -- analgesics, antibiotics, insulin, asthma inhalers -- are scarce, if available at all.

So that's something that we do.

SANDOVAL: Yes. I mean, you mentioned the system on life support. You're also talking about patients literally on life support. What are some of those treatments? Some of those can -- some of the medicine, the medication that is -- that is badly needed right now in Cuba that has been virtually cut off for the last few months.

SCHWARTZ: Well, I've named several of them just a couple minutes ago.

SANDOVAL: Yes.

SCHWARTZ: We did a campaign for pacemakers last year. If you can imagine, Cuba has a three-year waiting list for pacemakers for cardiac patients. And truth is, you don't last three years on a pacemaker waiting list. So we're able to send, I think, 960 pacemakers to Cuba. That's 960 lives that we've saved.

There's all sorts of assistance that we provide. Analgesics, for example, are in very short supply, meaning aspirins, ibuprofen.

So we're accelerating our shipments. We're trying to this year ship more than $4 million worth of meds and medical supplies. You're seeing some of those in the video today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: I'm Polo Sandoval. CNN NEWSROOM will be right back.

[01:41:45]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANDOVAL: Let's get you to a developing breaking news story that's here out of New York.

We do have an update now on an earlier report that the Federal Aviation Administration has issued a ground stop at LaGuardia Airport here in New York City, due to what they're calling an aircraft emergency. The New York City Fire Department says it is currently responding to a reported incident involving a plane and a vehicle on the runway.

You can see some of the footage there with the -- with the runway off in the distance, with emergency personnel on the ground right now.

On social media, there are some images that also show emergency vehicles surrounding an aircraft, with its cockpit appearing to be damaged.

CNN has reached out to the port authority of New York, overseeing operations there at that facility, as well as the FAA and authorities elsewhere.

We certainly will bring you any information as soon as it becomes available. But again, one of the key headlines there, traffic at LaGuardia, one of the busiest airports in the northeast, currently at a standstill with that ground stop.

Senate Republican Leader John Thune says that some headway has actually been made in Washington on talks to reopen the Department of Homeland Security. The Senate stayed in session over the weekend to hammer out those details, but talks are paused for now until Democrats respond to the latest offer from the White House. Thune questioned whether Democrats actually want to approve any funding for the Department of Homeland Security. Notably, the latest offer from the White House still does not address demands from Democrats to outlaw face masks for ICE agents and also to mandate the use of judicial warrants.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries maintains that it's Republicans -- that it's actually Republicans who are holding up a deal. And important issues still need to be addressed, he says.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY), HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: We believe that taxpayer dollars should be used to make life more affordable for the American people, not brutalize or kill them, or violently target law- abiding immigrant families, which is what we know ICE agents have been doing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: CNN's Camila DeChalus has an update on negotiations from Capitol Hill.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAMILA DECHALUS, CNN WHITE HOUSE reporter: Well, here on Capitol Hill we're hearing that senators, both Democratic and Republican senators, have been talking amongst themselves, trying to work out some sort of a deal in order to move forward passing funding for the Department of Homeland Security.

Now, just in these past few days, we're hearing that some Democratic and Republican senators have been meeting with Trump's appointed border czar Tom Homan, and they're really saying that that has been the real big sign of progress here.

That they're really in these discussions, trying to pinpoint what reforms they want to be seen to be made around several federal agencies under the Department of Homeland Security.

And even in the midst while the Senate is moving forward with trying to progress the nomination for Republican Senator Mullin to helm the top position at the Department of Homeland Security, Democrats have really remained adamant that that has not changed their position, that they want to see reforms to be made in writing, in legislation, to these federal agencies under the Department of Homeland Security before they would even consider supporting legislation to fund the Department of Homeland Security.

So we're hearing that these conversations, even though they took place over the weekend, they're still going to be ongoing and go into next week. But there really is urgency for lawmakers to get something done.

This partial government shutdown has now lasted for more than 30 days, and it really has taken an emotional and also financial toll on hundreds and thousands of federal employees that are now going fully without pay, receiving paychecks, because this partial government shutdown has continued.

And so we're hearing both sides saying, you know what, we're making progress, but we're still a long way to ending this partial government shutdown.

Camila DeChalus, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: And as we reported earlier this hour, understaffed airports, they are a direct result of this partial shutdown.

CNN's Jenn Sullivan reports on how staff at the Transportation Security Administration have been affected

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JENN SULLIVAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Airport security lines wrapping around the terminal at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport Sunday. It's the busiest airport in the country.

Some passengers say wait times were more than two hours.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's just insane.

[01:49:50]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've never seen anything like this.

SULLIVAN: In Atlanta, only four of the 18 TSA screening lanes were open Sunday morning. TSA agents are not being paid right now due to the partial government shutdown. It's leading to sick calls and agent shortages at airports across the country.

SHAMARA FIELDER, FORMER TRANSPORTATION SECURITY OFFICER: You have to choose between putting gas in your car to get to work versus feeding your family.

SULLIVAN: The Department of Homeland Security says more than 400 TSA agents have quit so far. White House border czar Tom Homan says Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will help with security at airport entrances and exits, but it's unclear whether that will help with the lines.

TOM HOMAN, WHITE HOUSE BORDER CZAR: I don't see an ICE agent looking at an x-ray machine because they're not trained in that. There are certain parts of security that TSA is doing that we can move them off those jobs and put them into specialized jobs, help move those lines.

SULLIVAN: Democrats are calling for more oversight and reform to immigration enforcement. But until lawmakers can agree on a plan, ICE is funded while TSA is not.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why should we be put under a policy dispute amongst the people in Washington?

SULLIVAN: Lawmakers are eager to reach a deal this week before Congress leaves town for a lengthy spring recess.

I'm Jenn Sullivan, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: Now to a new plea from the family of Nancy Guthrie asking for renewed attention in the search for their missing mother. In a statement shared on social media, they're urging people in her Arizona community go back through camera footage, journal notes, text messages, conversations, really any memory, writing quote, "no detail is too small, it may be the key," wrote the family.

The 84-year-old was last seen on January the 31st when she disappeared from her home outside of Tucson without her phone or critical medications.

CNN's Ed Lavandera with the latest on the search and the growing pressure to find answers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Seven weeks after Nancy Guthrie was taken from her Tucson home, the sheriff in charge says it's still an active investigation.

CHRIS NANOS, SHERIFF, PIMA COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT: We have so many images from ring cameras and videos, traffic videos, intersection videos. Someone out there knows something. Someone out there saw something, heard something. We need that person to call us.

LAVANDERA: Investigators say they're still chasing leads and analyzing DNA evidence, but won't say much beyond that. Progress seems frozen, leaving residents fearful.

SANDY LONG, TUCSON RESIDENT: We just feel it can happen anywhere to anyone. And so, yes, it has caused us to be more cautious.

LAVANDERA: And frustration with the public face of the investigation is also simmering.

DANIEL BUTIEREZ, REPUBLICAN CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: Let's get the sheriff out of office and get someone in there that we can feel confident in.

LAVANDERA: A local Republican congressional candidate has started a petition to recall Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos, who is a Democrat.

The memorial of yellow flowers still grows outside Nancy Guthrie's home, signs filled with prayers.

You feel a connection to the Guthrie family --

TAMMY TACHO, SISTER OF MISSING BOY: Oh, yes.

LAVANDERA: -- because you know their pain.

TACHO: The pain, like, I wish I could go up there and just hug her and tell her, you know, I know exactly what you're going through.

LAVANDERA: In 1991, Tammy Tacho's brother, Jimmy, disappeared. He was 12 years old.

LAVANDERA: So, you and your mom are leaving town for a couple of days.

TACHO: Yes.

LAVANDERA: And you left Jimmy with a family friend.

TACHO: We did. As we're driving away, you look back, and he's waving to us.

June 11, 1991, that's the last moment that we touched -- that we did anything with Jimmy.

LAVANDERA: That was nearly 35 years ago. Tammy says the family's friend's cousin brought her brother to this house in their neighborhood to work on a fence. He was never seen again.

TACHO: It was all like a nightmare. It was a nightmare for him to be missing.

LAVANDERA: The headlines of his abduction have largely disappeared. No one was ever arrested. His body was never found.

TACHO: I'm so sorry.

LAVANDERA: That's all right.

TACHO: I'll try.

LAVANDERA: 35 years doesn't ease that pain.

TACHO: It doesn't. It doesn't. We need closure. My heart is so heavy all the time.

LAVANDERA: Tammy's family has never stopped searching for Jimmy, still passing out these flyers with her brother's picture reminding people of a modest $12,000 reward.

LAVANDERA: How did you raise that money?

TACHO: On car washes -- car washes and selling cakes.

LAVANDERA: Car washes and selling cakes?

TACHO: Yes.

LAVANDERA: The Nancy Guthrie reward sits at over a million dollars.

LAVANDERA: What would you tell the Guthrie family right now?

TACHO: To don't give up hope. So, hang in there and please don't lose hope because it led me up to 35 years, I didn't lose hope to find -- I'm so sorry. LAVANDERA: You don't have -- please, do not apologize.

TACHO: I still have hope, hope of being able to recover Jimmy's body to put our family at some peace.

[01:54:45]

LAVANDERA: Now, seven weeks into the search for Nancy Guthrie, investigators tell us that the number of phone tips being called in is dropping and that this case, which at one point had 400 investigators working on it, now is reduced to a task force of about 20 to 24 investigators, which includes FBI agents as well as Pima County Sheriff's deputies.

Ed Lavandera, CNN -- Dallas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: Now the latest on an ongoing heat wave. Temperatures not cooling off anytime soon for parts of the United States.

CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar with the forecast.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALLISON CHINCHAR, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Dozens of monthly record highs have been set over the last few days, but it's still not yet done. Every single one of these dots represent an area that had their March record-high set at least once. Some of these areas broke that record again the very next day, but the heat is not yet over.

Take Las Vegas, for example. Look at the next seven days. Now the March record was 93. We've already hit that, but we could hit it yet again every single one of the next three days before dropping back, at least a little bit as we head into the latter half of the week.

Although even then we're still looking at a lot of daily record temperatures that could be broken, certainly well above what the average is this time of year.

But it's not just in the southwest. You've got a lot of the southern tier of the U.S. that's really going to start to see their heating ramping up towards the back end of the week.

So we take, for example, Atlanta high on Monday of 77 degrees. They drop back a little bit Tuesday and Wednesday before rebounding once we get back into Thursday.

Cincinnati very similar, a little bit on the cool end for the front part of the week. But once we get to Thursday and Friday, those temperatures bounce right back up again.

Raleigh, Lexington, Washington, D.C. -- all going to go through a similar pattern where it's a little bit cool to start off the week as that cold front moves through, and then we start to see the temperatures jump right back up again Thursday and Friday. (END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: Appreciate you watching. I'm Polo Sandoval in New York.

The news continues with my colleague Ben Hunte with more of the breaking news happening right now out of New York City area.

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