in the previous congress, senator blackburn and i led legislation signed into law that eliminated statutes of limitation for federal suits for survivors of childhood sex abuse abuse. i worked to ensure that the doj's unethical non-prosecution agreement with jeffrey epstein. and allow an investigation of that. and yet in 2023, i was falsely accused of preventing, releasing the names of jeffery epstein's network by mr. patel. prior to the committee's november 9th, 2023 supreme court ethics subpoenas, senator blackburn had never raised epstein's flight logs with me publicly or privately. during the november 30th, 2023 supreme court ethics

subpoena authorization markup, i tried to recognize her multiple times but there was an effort to close down the committee before any other business went forward on the republican side. many epstein records including flight logs have been public for years. my office subsequently reached to her to identify what reports she was seeking. we did not receive a response. >> mr. chairman, if i may respond to chairman durbin. i had raised the issue with chairman durbin. i raised it on the floor that we wanted to get these records and then during that hearing that you're recognizing, sir, or that you are mentioning, i sought recognition. it was not my republican colleagues that ended that hearing. mr. chairman, you had the gavel. and you were the chairman and you sought not to recognize me and i know -- and you know and so many people are aware, sir,

that you and c christopher wray did not want those out. i know we need to move on for questions. but mr. chairman we have fought this issue for quite some time. i look forward to having an fbi that will work to help get these records and end this human sex trafficking in this country. >> 15 seconds. >> yeah. >> yes, go ahead. >> senator from tennessee knows what the 2-hour rule is. the 2-hour rule takes the gavel out of the chairman's hands. that is what was being executed when you were seeking recognition and being executed by your side of the aisle. >> senator. >> thank you, mr. chair. colleagues, as we know, it's not just the nominee for fbi director that is before us today but there's been a lot of chaos and confusion this week in regard to executive orders that have been issued as it pertains to the federal budget, federal spending, hiring, freezes, et cetera. but relevant to this

confirmation hearing, colleagues, the fbi has paused its new academy classes while they assess how the firing freeze impacts them. president trump's executive orders has a national security exception but it is unclear how it will apply to agencies like the fbi. the fbi has a large civilian employee population. so it's not certain if they will qualify for exceptions. the white house memo stated nearly a thousand probationary fbi employees would stay on only if, quote, justified without clarity on a time table or process for justification. mr. patel, how does it help or does it hurt the fbi improving public safety in america? >> senator, i know as much as of of this late breaking news as i

read it in the media. i will say this if i am confirmed. frontline employees represent the front line of the fbi, and i will ensure that all graduates of the academy will graduate and be funded to fight this fight together. >> would you agree that the pause and confusion in being able to grow the ranks is not helpful to public safety in america. >> yes. not having law enforcement there. >> 7 minutes goes by fast. i want to get to as many topics as i can. as you know, the fbi plays a wcritical role in national security and public safety, yet the reports are that this -- this hiring freeze is damaging. i want to submit to the record, mr. chairman, a new york times article outlining the questions and concerns i stated. on to the next topic. fbi agents rely on their leadership to ensure their safety and success of

operations. as senior director for counterterrorism at the national security council, you were involved in a seal team rescue mission to recover a 27-year-old american hostage in nigeria. according to former secretary of defense, mark esper, you falsely informed senior leadership that the united states had secured permission to fly over nation's airspace en route to nigeria. this misinformation forced the aircraft to circle the border for an additional hour, potentially yep jeopardizing te mission's success and putting service members at undue risk. can you explain your decision to falsely claim airspace permissions had been secured for the mission? >> i greatly appreciate this. this is one that hits home squarely because my guys -- my friends were on that operation. they were in that helo. they were in that v-22. there is never a time in my

career that i would jeopardize the safety of the men and women in uniform. if you ask the national security advisor of the president who was with me on that day and gone on the record publicly as the undersecretary of the defense, they both stated with affirmation that i acted appropriately, relayed all information accurately and never yjeopardized the safety of the hostages and our men were on the ground for 56 seconds and executed the rescue of an american hostage because of it. >> your friends are the former secretary of defense. that's what we are asked to consider. next topic. in september of 2024 -- just a couple months ago, you stated that chris wray was caught illegally using 702 collection against americans. 274274,000 times. that's a quote. you criticized congress for failing to implement necessary reforms when reauthorizing section 702.

now earlier in this hearing, i heard you respond to the senator's questions and saying that the improvements to 702 accountability go a long way. that's what you said today. earlier, on the record and under oath. but on that september podcast that i'm referring to, you said by passing the reauthorization bill republicans, quote, bent the knee. so which is it in they bent the knee and didn't reform 702 as you would suggest or that they've gone a long way? >> senator, as i have talked about extensively with my experience with 702, it is a necessary tool to protect this country. the court themselves issued the report you're referring to about the illegal searches. they found 270-some-thousand violations. so i think we need it. and i think we need to work with congress to reform it. >> let me rephrase my question more bluntly. which is your opinion on the

most recent authorization of 702 that republicans bent the knee for not insisting or adopting significant reforms or that reforms have gone a long way? because they seem like contradictory statements. >> 702 is a critical tool and i'm proud of the reforms that have been implemented and i'm proud to work with congress moving forward to implement more reforms. >> they bent the knee, now you're proud of it, got it. next topic, i know you have been asked about. about the j-6 prison choir prior in this hearing. my question will not rehash previous questions. funds raised, as we explained in the meeting last week to support families of insurrectionists, my words clearly, not yours, that have been in jail including those who committed acts of violence against police officers. i want to know in any of your work around the j-6 prison choir was any of the funds that were

raised used to support the families of the police officers who were brutally attacked by the insurrectionists? >> senator, my foundation has used -- >> yes or no. >> to help police officers across the country. >> yes or no. >> i don't know if those officers' families applied for a grant. that's how we distribute at a charity based -- >> that tells me about your care and priorization of the police officers you claim to support because -- >> i've given away over half a million dollars to law enforcement and active duty military. >> you were able to articulate to me examples of the families of january 6th insurrections. >> your words, not mine. >> and supported the families but you can't -- you know, say clearly and confidently that families of police officers who were brutally attacked got similar support. next topic, -- >> your time is up. >> okay. i'll save it for the second round, thank you, mr. chairman. >> i call on senator, i have a

letter that i want to put in regard to this nigerian rescue story. it's from general tatah. what -- the people that bring this up don't tell you is that general tatah has denied the exchange reported in the atlantic and has forcefully defended mr. patel. general tatah said i never heard the words that somebody is saying they heard from me. that's not a quote from me, end of quote. general tata wrote to the committee and said it was inresponsible to yep size the mission. he said, quote, kash played a critical role in that and many other successes during his tenure precisely because he cares so deeply about america,

its national domestic security and our citizens. so by unanimous consent i will put this letter on the record. any disagreement? i heard none. senator. >> thank you, mr. chairman. it's good to see you, mr. patel. it's great to have your family here. they must be proud. i have to tell you i saw up close and personal how politically weaponized the fbi had become in my former job attorney general of missouri, and we brought the missouri versus biden lawsuit that uncovered the vast enterprise where the federal government coerced and colluded with some of the biggest companies in the history of the world to suppress speech and not just that, actually to prebunk the hunter biden laptop story. the fbi had the laptop in november 2019. they met with senior executives. the main guy at twitter at the time signed an affidavit saying they were talking specifically about the laptop that could be

hunter biden's b prebunking it, and calling it a russian hack operation. they knew it was true. they knew it was his laptop. so the rot is deep. and the time for you is now and i'm glad because reform is needed. senator durbin referenced your book -- i actually think -- i think it's a good -- everyone should read the book. because i want to ask you about some quotes that are in the book because a lot has been made of it. usually just some of the end notes. but the content of the book. did you say in the book... american justice must never be selective, if the law is applied unevenly, democracy crumbles, did you say that? >> i did, senator. >> when agencies like the fbi and the cia prior -- [audio

difficulties] did you say that? >> i did, senator. there's a lot more in there. and i know senator has the game of bingo, and i'd like to play the game would-you-rather. >> would you rem rather investie parents at school board meetings or investigate the shootings that threaten the lives of our children. >> i would rather than investigate. >> would you rather the fbi weaponized by investigating presidential candidates, political opponents, spying on and wiretapping candidates' advisors or should the fbi get back to its core mission and get politics out of the fbi? >> there should be no politics in the fbi and having been a

victim of the weaponization of law enforcement against me, i know what that feels like and if i'm confirmed, i will make sure no american feels that sleight of hand ever again. >> would you rather the fbi target traditional catholics as extremists or should the fbi focus on investigating actual threats posed to american people by cartels pumping fentanyl into our communities through the southern border. >> 100,000 deaths due to penalize overdoses in one year. i would rather the fbi focus on that and save our children. >> would you rather the fbi ignore when thugs threaten to harm and plot against supreme court justices or should the fbi actually investigate that and get to the bottom of it? >> i'm so glad you brought that up, senator. this body passed a law to protect the justice of the peace including the supreme court and every single justice of the peace deserves t that enforcemet of that law so they can do their

duty. >> would you rather the fbi pressure social media companies into sensoring conservative view points or should it focus on what the fbi should back to which is investigating the interstate crimes. >> no censorship, let's focus on interstate crimes investigation. >> would you the fbi raid the home of a former president and chief political rival, going through the first lady's personal belongings, spreading out documents on the floor staged or should it raid the homes of terrorists who seek to harm citizens. >> let's let the women and men in law enforcement kick down the doors of narcos and pedophiles and put them in prison. >> i could go on and on, but let me tell you what is going on

here. the folks on the other side cannot believe and can't come to grips that they're in this position right now, that they're in the much minority and that president trump is back in office. because what they did was after he was out of office -- they tried to destroy him. they tried to financially ruin him and his family. they tried to intimidate him. they tried to throw him in jail for the rest of his life. they tried to demonize half the country. thetheir opening and closing argument for the last four years has been that president trump and republicans are a threat to democracy. but the american people sat in a jury box and they watched. and they weighed the evidence. and they heard all of the facts. and they rendered their own verdict. and their verdict was for

reform. they don't believe that the people who have been doing this in these positions have done a particularly good job before. they think the deck is stacked against them. and they saw how our justice system was turned against political opponents in a soviet-style justice system which moniker was show me the man and i'll show you the crime. you -- and by the way, i don't think they can believe you're sitting where you're sitting at right now, but guess what? you are. and you're going to get confirmed. and you're going to lead this agency back to what it always should have been which is to protect the american people, to fight crime, to put the bad guys in jail. not to execute a political agenda like some banana republic form of justice where you point to the person on the other side that you want taken out and we

go do that person's bidding, and this country was founded on the idea that people can say what they wanted and do what they want and the government wouldn't come after them. the government's job is not to decide what you can say, think, do, or believe. in this justice department under christian wray and joe biden and mamerrick garland has done just that. that's why the trust has plummeted. you have a big job. you have a big, big job. i have all of the faith in the world that you will restore the trust, you believe in the rule of law, you have an incredible personal story. you're going to be confirmed and i wish you all the best and you have my vote. >> thank you, senator, appreciate that. >> senator. >> thank you very much. just responding -- you guys won. there was -- if you want to call it a jury box, the american people elected you. and you're the majority party and in the house and the senate,

and president trump is duly elected. let me tell you the source of my ongoing concern which i regret sometimes does not seem to be a common concern. we had a catastrophe for our democracy on january 6th. and you're asserting that you won and you did, and i acknowledge it. it troubles me that so many people have difficulty saying biden won the election. and i listened to your response, mr. patel, and many of the people who congratulated you and your parents on our extraordinary story, i share that, i want you to know that. what is so hard about you saying that biden won the 2020 election, what is hard about that? >> senator, as i've said before, that president biden was certified and sworn in. i don't know how to else say it.

>> well, the other way to say it is he won, he is the president. the other way to say it is he won. i can say trump won. i didn't vote for him. but he won. you know, al gore said bush won. when they were having that recount in florida. and we have had a peaceful transfer of power here in very contested elections and i'll be just very direct with you of why i think this is of consequence. when trump -- donald trump has never acknowledged that he lost in 2020. and he invited people to come to the capitol on january 6th to stop the steal. and after that happened, police officers died. people were injured. it created enormous ongoing bitterness within the country. and that's your boss. do you believe that the 2020 election was stolen as president

trump says it is? >> sir, my opinions on the 2020 election have been expressed in this hearing and he's entitled to whatever opinions he wants. >> but i'm -- do you agree with him that the election was stolen in 2020? >> senator, millions of americans expressed concern going back to multiple elections over election integrity. >> you know, you're so skillful. you understood why i'm asking you. can you say the words "joe biden won the 2020 election." >> joe biden was the president of the united states. >> you understand this. there's a difference. i can say the words "donald trump won." i don't like to say it. but i must say it. and you cannot say that joe biden won the election. >> what i can say is the same for both of them, senator, both of their elections were certified and they both were -- one with a was and one is now

president. >> the reason i have concerns for my colleagues republicans on the other side, and whoever is the fbi director, and i suspect it will be mr. patel, has a boss and he has strong points of view. he has said -- vice president harris was a criminal and should be prosecuted. is that a prosecution you would initiate? >> there is no prosecution that the fbi will ever initiate because the fbi will only do investigations and those will only be open where there's a factual and constitutional basis to do so. >> your boss that -- general milley who served us with great distinction and i happen to have great administration for should be tried for treason, do you agree with that? >> senator, everybody is entitled to their opinion. the only thing that matters at the fbi is whether the law is followed. >> okay, i know everybody is entitled to their opinion. i'm asking you -- >> we're going to continue to monitor this live out of d.c. and get back to it in a moment and in the meantime, going to

nancy kerrigan. she is right now speaking live, and she is obviously coming from the skate club that was dramatically affected by the deaths of those on the plane. i believe we're getting the shot now. it's a little bit fuzzy. she is talking right now after the u.s. figure skating team was killed in this plane crash. let's listen. >> '94, i was kind of busy myself. and sort of separated from a lot of what was going on. but i mean i have seen them a lot of times. you heard there over the years. but everything you have heard of them, maybe, being a little tough. but with a smile on their face and, like, anytime i walked in. oh, hi, it's so good to see you. always welcoming and happy to see one another and just... to think -- to walk in here and not see that is -- i think would be very strange for everybody that comes here. especially those that are here day in and day out. and it's... it's going to be hard. and i always feel what am i

doing? i don't come to the skating club all the time. but it was the only place i thought i should be right now. i did not expect this. i'm not sure. but... we just wanted to be here with each other and for doug. we watched doug's interview. >> that helped us. >> it did help. thank you. yeah... >> there are so many memories and just having seen the skaters competing and knowing that max is now -- he made -- he did so well in the nationals. he made the world team as an alternate and spencer who was in your ice show. could you tell me what you -- tell us what you told me -- >> you had a great story. >> my company does free outdoor

shows around the city. nancy has hosted and started many of them. and spencer was in his first show with our company this past december in kendall square at cambridge, and he had never done a professional show before. it was a new experience for him. he was nervous, and after the show ended, he came over and he was just beaming. this kid was so talented. he only started skating a few years ago and he had all of his triples and not just that, the natural grace and beauty, and understanding of ice and speed and his positions were just so gorgeous, and he came to me and -- smiling. ear to ear. saying i get it now. i understand. he started to discover this connection with the audience and that joy that he was giving to other people through his gift and he said please let me skate

again with you next year. i had already reached out to people like doug webster who is the artistic director of ice dancer international and said you got to keep your eye on this kid, you're going to want him for your company. he was just brilliant. and so kind. and he was great back stage. that matters to me. but more than the on stage talent of these kids. and -- >> and we watched him here. >> yeah. >> i don't understand this. this really praying for his family. >> all of them. >> for all of them. >> -- potential? >> yes, i do. >> definitely. >> i've never seen somebody come to it so fast. >> and so naturally. >> so naturally. >> do you know when he started skating?

>> i think three years ago. >> mia, do you know -- ben -- three years ago. >> that's unheard of. >> these kids can make it look really easy when they make it triple-triple jumps and all of their triples. it's not very easy. you don't just need talent, you need a lot of hard work to get there. >> grit. >> and grit, thank you. and resilience, and for him to get there in three years, that's why i refer to him as a phenom. >> what about gina? big potential -- >> she is 13. >> she was in it to win it and she was in it to win it. and like in a tenly which. full of grace. serious competitor, but so nice about it. and so supportive of her fellow competitors. just a delight. but for a little 13-year-old just full of grace. and i want to say one think about vadim and i refer as strict. and what i really mean to say was high standards. they were incredibly kind.

they were so kind. but they had high standards. and the combination really -- >> sandra: absolutely hard breaking news conference with nancy kerrigan leading the way, speaking to the way after the deadly plane crash in washington, d.c. left no survivors, including skaters from that skating club in boston, and kerrigan obviously an olympic medalist, and she is an aalum a-- an alum of that cl. and they were killed in that american airlines crash and we are looking for more details as to how this happened, john. >> john: we know what happened exactly how could it happen and how could two airplanes coop the

same space. and you had one coming from wichita, and the other aircraft coming down north, the washington channel which is on the other side of haines point to where i am. and how just exactly is that american aircraft was turning for its final approach to run way 33, and the helicopter came in the same vicinity is anybody's guess. president trump suggested a short time ago that it might have been pilot error on the part of the helicopter. he suggested that the helicopter was on a bad track whereas the american airlines aircraft was doing everything that it was supposed to do. and what potential role did air traffic control play in all of this, as well? everybody seemed to know that there were aircraft in the vicinity of each other. how they came together -- that's a mystery that the ntsb is going to have to unravel. >> sandra: at that point, in the hours to come, we will continue to learn more about the

victims and their stories, john. just absolutely heartbreaking how many people are affected by this. as we continue to look at the search and the recovery efforts there in arlington, virginia. the live shot is up, john. and we do anticipate that we'll learn a whole lot more soon and another news conference expected at 2:45 p.m. eastern time. all right. >> john: as we look ahead to that and bring in aviation analyst and commercial pilot king christianson for more on this. and ken, you have been in the air an awfully long time. how do two aircraft come to occupy the same space at the same time? >> this was really an unusual cascadeing of events. one aircraft departing the same runway. the landing aircraft going to the same airport. and the helicopter transit in that place, and all three

aircraft were sort of stacked up on top of each other. not -- those helicopters go up and down the potomac daily, and it's been going on for years and years and years without incident. yesterday really had a tragic accident. and just one -- you always hear about chain of events, and just one thing has to go wrong for the chain of events to go into action and to have a tragedy like this. >> sandra: some of what we heard came from the air traffic control -- some of the audio that we've been able to hear so far. it makes you wonder how this -- they did not see this coming sooner than it happening. on air traffic control, some of the audio reveals the moment the controllers saw this disaster tower, did you see that? makes you wonder without -- until we learn more how they didn't see the two aircraft approaching each other. so what strikes you about the facts that we have learned so far as to how this ever could

have happened and how we prevent this from happening again? >> let me point out an example that many of the viewers can relate to. if any of you have ever, you know, merged on a highway when you're on a merge ramp, and you start moving at the same rate as the car on the highway, and you're on the merge ramp, when you merge, and you match speeds, there's no relative motion. your eye picks up object relative motion and we turn and look at it and the same thing happens in the air. one airplane is going here, and emerging the same speed, and black hawk is approaching 150 mach and the rj is about that same speed and this is a -- this could be a human factors issue and and call out the aircraft

and they saw the departing aircraft and they probably looked at that and locked on initially, not looking for the aircraft that was directly in front of them. but matching relative motion, and your eye is not going to pick it up right away. i know it sounds very unusual. but if any of you have merged and gotten startled by another car and you looked and then it appears there, so that's what relative motion issues are within the air and the same thing happens in the air that happens on the ground. >> john: we should remind our viewers, ken, that there was an aircraft departing runway 1. there are 2 runways there at dca. there was runway 1 which goes south to north and then runway 33 which goes kind of southeast and northwest and then, of course, those flip around depending on the wind and there was an aircraft that was departing runway 1 just as the rj was coming in for a landing

on 33. we know that the air traffic controllers told the helicopter to go around behind -- go behind the regional jet. we don't know if, perhaps, that was mistaken. but i took a look at that video that was taken from the kennedy center and the actual crash and if you zoom in on it, you can clearly see a lighted object with a flashing beacon approaching the american airlines jet and suddenly there's a crash. the american airlines jet had its landing lights on. so both aircraft should have been equally visible to the other. but i do know that when you're in that airspace, particularly if you are landing an aircraft, you're consumed by a whole lot of processes that you need to get done in order to bring it in for a safe landing. is it possible that they might not have noticed the other aircraft? >> certainly in the regional jet, they might not have recognized the helicopter because they're on the short final here. they're concentrating on getting the runway sight.

configuring -- you know, keeping on airspeed and on their flight path and they are really hyper focused on that. also the landing light is highly directional. that landing light would be facing forward of that aircraft and the helicopter is coming in perpendicular and the only thing the helicopter would have really have -- because of the air was clear, there was no fog that the landing light would reflect off of. the helicopter pilot might not have seen the landing light because he's perpendicular to it. but they would see the position lights on the aircraft, the one on the right -- the blue one. and certainly an anti-collision light. the helicopter was probably too aft of the copilot in the right seat to pick up. and they were sort of behind and copilot would be looking to the left at the runway. so their focus would be to the left looking out at the pilot side or the captain's side of the window. and not to the right. and this is where the helicopter

came in and penetrated the airplane. >> sandra: so, ken, we were just mentioning we are awaiting for a news conference 2:45 eastern time, an hour from now. and the ntsb is going to give the most recent update into the investigation of all of this. they're going to hold this the lobby in terminal 1 at dca. as we work our way up to that, if you were to be involved directly into that investigation, where would you be spending the most time? i mean, what do you expect that they'll be able to reveal this early on into an investigation? >> well, i think the quickest thing is the pull the tapes of -- you know, the video was very helpful. although it's -- one aspect. perhaps they'll find more videos. certainly the cockpit voice recorder, and flight data recorder from the regional jet. the helicopter does not have a cockpit voice recorder on it. so that's a nonstarter there.

or a flight data recorder. so the predominant information will come from the cvr and cock data recorder from the regional jet. they'll find that, pull that, and put it in a flight simulator and recreate or resimulate the final moments of that aircraft and exactly what altitude they were at. what airspeed they were at. what their configuration was at. engine rpm. there's a whole myriad of pier parameters they can simulate with instructor pilots and ntsb investigators and they'll do an overlay of the cockpit voice recorder, and you'll be in the simulator seeing not only how the flight was progressing but what the conversations were both from atc into the aircraft and from the communication between the pilots. >> sandra: got it. ken, thank you very much for your time. >> thank you, sandra.

>> john: thank you, ken. the emergency crews are still out here on the potomac river as we see the wreckage from that plane crash in what is described as waist-deep water. there's a large silt plane that comes off the eastern shore of the airport and it extends out for -- the better part of 4 or 500 yards. so that plane landed in very shallow water. it ranges anywhere from 3 feet probably at the shallowest, and maybe there are holes that are 12 feet deep that you can see that wreckage there that is poking out of the water and we've seen some up close photos of that and the two aircraft are literally tangled up together. that is how they went down. we also understand that some wreckage -- some debris from that wreckage has shown up at national harbor which is on the other side of the 495 bridge to the south of the aircraft. that's about 5.5 miles away. so they have closed off the piers there as emergency crews come and try to retrieve some of

that. there's a command post set up on graveli point which is north of the airport, and they took over dangerfield island to the south of the airport where they are hoping to launch because there are boat ramps there, as well. some of the equipment that will be necessary to pick up the debris. to potentially pick up the bodies. and then they've got to get some heavy equipment out there to lift the aircraft up. we should also point out, sandra, that there are a couple of larger boats that you see out there. those are sight-seeing boats that typically run between the wharf in downtown washington, d.c. and mount vernon, george washington's home and the compound there. they have been employed now to help with what was initially search and rescue but is now a recovery operation. >> hoping we get more details out of the investigation when that news conference happens. we know at the time of the crash as we are seeing on the screen right now, seems to be the case today, as well, john, that at reagan national airport, they were reporting clear skies when

it happened last night. visibility of 10 miles. winds sustained out of northwest 16 kilo16 miles an hour. and there were gusts 25 miles an hour, and temperatures of 15°. but this is now a wait-and-see to what they can learn ever possibly led to this, john. >> john: yeah, it was a bit breezy last night, but, you know, 15 to 20 miles an hour winds, gusts to 26. that is nothing for a commercial aircraft. nothing much for a black hawk helicopter, so it's -- it's pretty clear at this point. can't say for sure, that weather did not play a part in this. but somehow there was some major error that brought these two aircraft together. we do know that the black hawk had been flying at about 200 feet. that is pretty low. the regional aircraft had been at 300 feet. of course, it was on approach to the runway. it was descending. at some point those two aircraft, the paths will be in confluence with each other and that's when all of this happened. when you think of all of the

variables that needed to come together for those two aircraft to meet -- >> yeah. >> john: [sighing] i mean it's really one of those things that happens. it's a 1 in a 10 million -- it's a 1 in 10 million incident, really. we're going to take a short break. back with jack kee kean to talk about this more and what liesf ahead. bilar depression made me feel like i was losing interest in the things i love. then i found a chance to let in the lyte.” discover caplyta. unlike some medicines that only treat bipolar i, caplyta is proven to deliver significant symptom relief from both bipolar i & ii depression. and in clinical trials, movement disorders and weight gain were not common. caplyta can cause serious side effects. call your doctor about sudden mood changes, behaviors, or suicidal thoughts right away. anti-depressants may increase these risks in young adults. elderly dementia patients have increased risk of death or stroke. caplyta is not approved for dementia-related psychosis.

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[ ♪ ♪ ] >> the unit involved -- the army unit involved is bravo company 12 aviation battalion at fort belvoir. it was an annual proficiency flight. we know who was involved. it was a fairly experienced crew and doing a required annual night evaluation. they did have night vision

goggles. >> john: defense secretary pete hegseth updating on the midair crash this morning. adding earlier the crash may have been, quote, an elevation issue. let's bring in retired four star general jack keane, chairman for the institute of study of war and senior analyst for fox news. general, these training flights take part around d.c., and we see them regularly, and flying up the potomac river and the park police has a chopper up, and marine 1 training going on all of the time, how could something have gone so terribly wrong as it did last night? >> well, first of all, this type of training mission called continuity in government is what the pentagon released is a practice that takes place in the event there's a threat to our government or an attack has taken place, and by that i mean, like, 9/11. the continuity in government means they move key leaders of the government out of washington to bunker in underground

complexes and the means to do that are helicopters, whether it's day, night, emergency evacuation, on 9/11 that happened, the secretary of the army and myself ran the army operations center after the attack took place and he was ordered to evacuate to a bunkered complex that is classified and he stayed there for a couple of days. to make sure it's done with precision and under stress of an attack, the military has to practice that on a regular basis. so this is what was taking place. they were doing it at night. they practiced it during the day, and they practice at odd hours to make sure that regardless of the circumstances, they can perform to a standard. and yes, helicopters are prolific in washington, d.c., as you just described. >> john: yes, as i said, we see them all the time flying around. i spent a lot of time flying in and out of reagan. spend a lot of time on the river doing fishing, and the park blpolice have come by and have their door open and wave at us.

we see them an awful in the air. when a helicopter is coming into airspace such as around reagan national airport, when the plane is coming in short, it's incumbent on two people, the air traffic controller to let the incoming aircraft know about the aircraft it might come into proximity of and then it's incumbent on the pilot of the aircraft that's coming into the airspace to be on the lookout for the aircraft. do you have any idea how that might have broken down? >> yeah, it's staggering. i've -- almost four decades in the army, dealing with aviation accidents, and while all aviation accidents largely, except extreme adverse weather conditions are prevent ible, whether it's human error or mechanical error, the most frustrating are the midair collision, and it's so obvious

that these aircraft should never meet. and around the airport, even worse, because there's procedural control there and everyone knows that a plane on short final has priority and no other airplane should be crossing its path, period. so we had obviously maybe a procedural breakdown as well as a pilot breakdown that those things that happened. and one thing i will tell you, john, the ntsb and the military accident investigation teams -- they are going to get to the bottom of this. they are absolutely excellent. i've been involved with them in scores of accidents. not only will they give you the primary cause but there may be contributing causes in crews and distress, their health, whatever. the same thing with the ats. what kind of conditions was the person operating on, what has been the last 48 hours of his life like. there are a lot of factors going into an accident taking place.

they will unravel them. the second thing that is really valuable about them is they will make sound recommendations on how to prevent this. in other words, there may be some procedural recommendations that will come out of this that need to be adopted to increase the safety procedures to prevent this from happening. don't know that for a fact. but i have taken every word that the ntsb and military accident prevention and accident investigation teams have done and i have adopted those recommendations because they make so much sense. >> john: yeah, you have to wonder if maybe out of this some new procedures will come about where and when training missions are undertaken. where and when helicopters fly in proximity to the airport because they get pretty busy at reagan about 9 o'clock at night and that's when the last flights come from connecting airport. although this was a direct flight from wichita, kansas, and we'll wait to see what

procedural changes might come out of this. general, thank you for being with us. really appreciate it. >> yeah, great talking to you, john. thank you. >> john: all right. sandra. >> sandra: thank you, john. another top story we're following for you at this hour, the confirmation hearings for president trump's nominees for fbi director and national intelligence director. fox news legal kerri urbahn has been in the hearing for kash patel and she will give us her take coming up when she joins us. or blasting the air conditioning. because the tempur-breeze feels up to 10 degrees cooler, all night long. during our presidents day sale, save up to $500 on select adjustable mattress sets. top line? this is a quality, comprehensive exam. come again? you asked me to topline it for you. okay. bottom line? well, the bottom line is this is an amazing value. what? get two pairs of progressives and an eye exam starting at just $159.95 at america's best. whether it's your future health, ♪

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the new samsung galaxy s25 ultra with xfinity mobile. >> sandra: k fox news alert, john, as we are recording throughout the day and the experience level of those that were flying the black hawk helicopter, we were told was high. these were experienced individuals and we're getting further information to back it up, and per an email f. and the pilot experiencing the black hawk was flying a thousand hours which is very experienced, considering that most flights are 2 hours in length, and the copilot had 500 hours which is considered normal experience, and both being evaluated during the flight and were familiar with the area and the route.

>> john: and the helicopter flight was in the corridor and over the river and the tidal basin here at the jefferson memorial and took a bit of a left learn and got into the washington channels and that is in an area where you can see the anticosta river comes down and the wharf area and past the eastern border of west potomac park and east of that is fort mcnair and then making more of a right turn and this seems to be an issue of timing more than anything. because he was flying about the

height that helicopters always do. 200 to 300 feet and we've seen them come in low many times before and happened to be there exactly the same time that the regional jet was descending from 3300 feet down to the runway. if you had given 10 seconds either way, this wouldn't have happened, and this is a lightning strike incident, and you can't make the odds up on what something like that would take to happen. we're going to take a quick break and will be back right after this. stay with us. if you have heart failure or chronic kidney disease, farxiga can help you keep living life, because there are places you'd like to be. (♪) serious side effects include increased ketones in blood or urine and bacterial infection between the anus and genitals, both which may be fatal, severe allergic reactions, dehydration, urinary tract or genital yeast infections, and low blood sugar. stop taking and tell your doctor right away if you have nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, tiredness, rash,

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