assembled and serviced right here in the usa. try litter robot today. >> right now on. ana cabrera reports. >> we are following several breaking news. >> stories this morning. >> including a. >> tragic air disaster. >> in our. >> nation's capital. >> no survivors. after a mid-air collision between an american airlines flight. >> and an. >> army blackhawk. >> over the potomac. >> river in washington, d.c. >> president trump set to address this crash. >> in the next.

>> hour, we'll break down what. >> we know as this mission moves from rescue to recovery. we are also following. >> news on. >> the hill where senators are holding. confirmation hearings this morning for. >> president trump's picks for fbi director. >> and the director of national intelligence. you see there, kash patel on your left. >> tulsi gabbard's hearing. >> will get underway here shortly, and both will face intense lines of questioning. hello. i'm ana cabrera. thanks for joining us. we begin with the recovery mission unfolding in washington, d.c. following that air disaster. >> over the. >> potomac river. >> at this hour. >> there are believed. >> to be no survivors. >> after a. midair collision. >> between an american airlines jet and a. >> u.s. army helicopter. 60 passengers and four crew on board that. >> commercial flight. >> another three on board the blackhawk. >> officials have. >> now recovered nearly. >> 30 bodies so far. >> after hours of overnight. >> searching in dark and. frigid waters. >> president trump. >> is expected to. >> speak about the crash from the white. >> house briefing.

>> room. >> at 11 a.m. eastern. we will be. >> monitoring that closely. >> of course, we'll take you there live. now, the moment of impact. >> caught on. >> camera there. >> happening as that flight was coming in to land on one of the busiest runways in the country. >> inside the air. >> traffic control tower. >> terror in those seconds. >> just. >> before and at impact. >> crash. >> crash, crash, this is alert three. crash, crash, crash, this is alert three. we're looking for a aircraft versus a helicopter into the potomac. >> in. >> the. >> area of. >> reagan national. >> at this point. >> we know both aircraft have been. >> located in the river. the plane's fuselage. >> inverted. >> broken into three parts and waist deep water. here was the new transportation secretary. >> who. was just. >> sworn in on tuesday. briefing the press this morning. >> we will not rest until we have answers for the families and for the flying public. you should be assured that when you fly, you're safe.

>> let's get right. >> to nbc's aaron gilchrist. >> who is at reagan national airport. >> also with us. retired captain john cox and msnbc aviation analyst edward kelly, general president of the international association of firefighters and faa licensed commercial pilot anthony roman. >> aaron, search and rescue. >> efforts now switching to. >> a recovery operation. >> what more are you learning? >> well, ana, we unfortunately expected that this would be the case when this this accident happened a little before 9:00 eastern last night. those aircraft went down into frigid waters. and we know that conditions were such that it would be hard for anyone to have survived in that water at this point. we've learned from the d.c. fire chief that 27 bodies have been recovered from the airplane, and one body has been recovered from the helicopter involved in this collision. those bodies have been turned over to the d.c. medical examiner, who our local station here in washington, wrc, has reported, set up a sort of a

makeshift morgue on the banks of the potomac river over the over the overnight hours as the d.c. fire and ems teams, along with teams from around the region, have been in the water, with divers trying to recover. they wanted to recover survivors, obviously, but in this case they've been able to recover 28 bodies. we expect that number obviously would continue to grow as the daylight is now on the side of the divers here, and they're able to sort of go through that water with, with the light of day, as opposed to just using the helicopter lights that they had to use all night long. and there were teams in the water all night long searching as we understand it. it was again a little before six. with 60 passengers on board, four crew members before that helicopter collided with the jetliner, with the three soldiers that were on board that aircraft. there's still obviously a lot of questions as

to why this accident happened. that is going to be the main thrust of the ntsb investigation. now, that entity is in charge of figuring out exactly what happened here. ana. >> so many questions. what more. >> are. >> we learning about who was on board? again. >> a total of 67 people between these two aircrafts believed to have been killed in this crash. >> yeah, i'll start with the helicopter. actually, we know that there were three soldiers on board. we know that one of them obviously has been recovered and has been identified. the army now working to notify next of kin before they share any information about that soldier. that is standard procedure for the army. as far as. i've learned from usa figure skating, that there were several people involved with the figure skating community in this country who were leaving wichita, kansas, returning here to the d.c. area after a training. and so we anticipate that there were athletes, potentially coaches, potentially family members who were on board that plane when this accident happened last night. we also have been hearing reports from

russia that there were some russian nationals who were on board the aircraft as well, potentially involved with figure skating. and so we're learning just those little details about the people on board. we hope to learn a lot more in the hours to come. obviously, just a horrible tragedy for all the families involved with this incident overnight. >> truly heartbreaking. aaron gilchrist, thank you. >> please let. >> us know as you get new information. anthony, when you look at this video, it shows the. moment of the collision. i want to play it again. you can see that plane flying at what appears. >> to be a low altitude. >> and then the explosion that happens mid-air. this happened again just before 9 p.m. eastern last night. given what we see in this video, do you have any idea, any clue as to what may have caused this? >> yes, i'm afraid i do. i've had a similar experience, a very close call going into dca approximately 2025 years ago. not a pleasant experience. we were traveling in bad weather

and cleared the overcast at minimum altitude to the runway, and a military helicopter passed just below us. a very close miss. so it is a complex, busy airspace, one of the busiest airspaces in the country in a very small and condensed area. and then you have this small military helicopter base across the river that has a transition zone that's perpendicular to runway one and three three, and they are permitted with direction from air traffic control to pass through the landing zone while it is still active. now the pilot of the helicopter reported that he had the crash in sight. so it really is a tad confusing as to how that collision occurred. likely

the lights on the ground, the approach lighting system, which is highly intense and blinking, and the background lights at washington, dc could have lost the visual on the aircraft, believed he was behind it, but then struck. from what we know at this time, the rear of the aircraft. >> and of. >> course we see another plane. >> in this video. >> as well that was. >> taking off. it appears at the time of this collision, we did hear from the defense secretary just before we came on air, who posted a video on social. media and said that the military blackhawk was doing. >> an annual proficiency training flight. >> what he called was it was an annual night evaluation, he said. it was a fairly. experienced crew. they had night vision goggles, and we. >> heard from. >> the transportation secretary. >> that the. >> helicopter was in a standard pattern, as well as the airplane coming in for landing in a standard, standard flying pattern. captain cox. your

thoughts on what the video reveals? >> well, i think it's early, so we have to be very careful right now. we want to be in a data collecting mode, get all the evidence that we can. i've flown in and out of washington, reagan national countless times. i've landed on that runway countless times i've seen military helicopters that are that pass beneath and behind us many times. so these procedures are very well tried and proven over decades of safe operation. what happened last night where the breakdown was? that's when ntsb is going to focus on the fact that there was a the height, the altitude of the helicopter, the jet appears based on the information that has come out so far to be conducting an absolutely routine approach, exactly where the track of the helicopter was and its altitude.

those are questions ntsb is going to ask. it appears that the crews were all very experienced, and one of the things about the washington reagan airport is the controllers are some of the best in the world. additionally, the pilots that fly in and out of there are professional pilots, and almost all of us have been in and out of there a lot. so you're very familiar with the processes, with the procedures to operate in and out of there safely. so what broke down last night? i think ntsb has some questions. the recorder from the jet will certainly help the cockpit voice recorder and any other information that we can can gather at this stage that will all help. >> so many agencies involved in this continuing investigation this morning from the ntsb at the lead to the faa, a senior level aviation. investigative team, also coming from the pentagon to participate. >> in this. >> and, of course, the hundreds of first responders remaining on

scene doing the recovery mission. edward, when i just want you to listen. to the conditions these first responders are dealing with in the river, we're dealing with. >> the water that we're operating in is about eight feet deep. there is wind. there is pieces of ice out there. so it's just dangerous and hard to work in. and because there's not a lot of lights, you're out there searching every square inch of space to see if you can find anybody. the divers are doing the same thing in the water. the water is dark, it is murky, and that is a very tough condition for them to dive in. >> more than 12. >> hours. >> have passed since they responded. the water again about eight feet deep. in some locations you see. >> those big. >> chunks of ice. >> he's referencing. >> floating there in the water. edward, how does that. >> complicate. >> recovery efforts? >> yeah, you have all the elements that are negative towards us all night they had they had zero visibility. the sediment of the riverbed was

disturbed. you had the river current that was pulling and pushing them. you had jagged edges of the fuselage of the aircraft as well as the helicopter. it was a very difficult extrication. the only benefit, if you could call it that, is that it's in a relatively shallow body of water where it is in the river. it would be more complicated if it was a deeper body of water, but it was an extremely difficult search and rescue operation. >> again. >> this. >> airport is in the heart of. >> washington, d.c, so an. incredibly dense. >> urban area for those search. >> and rescue. >> and. >> recovery efforts. does that make things more challenging? >> well, the fire. >> departments in this region train together. so we had the d.c. fire department. prince george's county in maryland, fairfax county in virginia. it's been augmented by other fire departments. of course, the metro d.c. aviation fire department responded as well to supplement them. so those teams work together often. we had, you know, probably about 50 divers

in the water at one point. so it was an the debris field was extensive with the current of the river. so there's still a lot of work left to do. but we have transitioned into a recovery versus a rescue, which from our end, the only thing that really changes is the level of risk that you're willing to take to make that recovery. >> well. >> thank you so much for joining us, edward kelly. appreciate your expertise. of course, our hearts are with those first responders who are doing. heroic work right now. >> anthony. modern aircraft. >> we. >> know. >> they have a. traffic collision avoidance system. >> how would that come into play. >> in. >> this type of situation? >> well over 1000ft altitude. that will give you the position of the aircraft, the distance of the opposing aircraft and provide you with an evasive maneuver. it will provide both aircraft with their evasive maneuvers to avoid one another below 1000ft. it's not that effective. it may or may not

alert you to traffic, depending on your altitude under 1000ft, it will not tell you orally where that aircraft is. it would require the copilot or the captain to look at the screen, determine where it is now when approaching runway one, and then instructed to land at runway three three at very low altitude. it requires complete crew attention to the changes of a turn to the right at the last moment, and then lining up with runway three three with a turn to the left. and there's not a lot of time. we're talking seconds before they touch down. they don't have time to look around. >> so what about the communication piece then? >> i mean. would they be. >> talking between. the helicopter and airplane pilots during this landing that was taking place? >> or are they on completely separate. >> communication channels?

>> only the air traffic controllers would be speaking to both of them, and they could have been on completely different frequencies. they could have been on a military frequency. and the civilian aircraft on the civilian frequency. or they may have been on the same frequency. but my understanding is to this time that the military pilot reported that he had the crew in sight, and that would pass behind him, and why they collided at that point with the last third, according to the reports, with the last third of the crash is a big question mark to be solved by the ntsb. >> i mean, there is. >> that audio where you hear. >> i believe it's. >> the air. >> traffic controller, say to the. >> helicopter pilot. >> do you have the crew in sight, referring to the plane? and that pilot said, yes, something along those lines. and yet this still happened. so i'm.

>> just wondering. >> would we know there was that communication. with the helicopter about a plane in the vicinity? would that plane have also received some. kind of communication to definitely know there was a helicopter in the vicinity? >> well, there would be very little that that plane could do in that portion of the landing phase. they're concentrating within the next 20 or 30s to be on the runway, and they have to focus on that. generally, the pilots are not particularly concerned that there's opposing traffic there. they are looking on the runway to see if there's any traffic on the runway that does not belong there, but likely they just were busy concentrating on making a safe landing, and it was the responsibility, i believe, of that military helicopter pilot to perform correctly in this case. >> anthony, stay with me. i want to bring in nbc news senior

correspondent. tom costello, who's tracking the latest from reagan national. tom, what can. >> you tell us. >> in terms of where the investigation stands and just what's happening in this moment? >> well, i think anthony is right. i mean, the question is going to be immediately, of course, how how in the world did this happen? right? because both planes are operating in the airspace. they have been told about each other, the regional jet, the american eagle flight was coming in for a runway landing on three three. it's the military helicopter that had been told. do you see the rj, the regional jet? do you see the rj? now? i got to say, i'm not 100% sure if the military chopper pilot acknowledged that. yes, he did see the rj, but i you know, i think the question is going to be if he thought he did, did he see a different plane instead? i mean, i think this is going to be all part of the conversation because at that same moment, as you know, we've run this video of the midair collision and you'll see another

plane taking off at that same time, right? taking off from runway one. we simply don't know what was happening in the cockpit of that military chopper. and did those pilots perhaps think that they were being warned about that plane taking off from runway one instead of the plane that was right in front of them and maybe above them? regardless, this is as you would expect right now. it is a recovery mission, as we have said, no longer considered to be a rescue mission. everybody on board, both aircraft died. unfortunately, in this horrific crash, the worst in 15 years. and now the ntsb, in addition to the top priority, is removing the victims top priority. but the ntsb has a priority, and that is to preserve potentially perishable evidence. and what we mean by that is evidence that could be affected by the elements. so clearly they want to get the black boxes out of the water as fast as possible. right. they've got them on the rj, the regional jet, as well as the helicopter flight data recorder, cockpit voice recorder. and then separate fro they're

going to want to interview air traffic controllers as soon as possible while it's still fresh in their head, before anything starts creeping into their head. that might contaminate the actual events as they recollect them. so that's going to be a priority, and they'll do that as quickly as they can. they'll work with the union, they'll work with the faa to arrange that, and then they will go through the laundry list of talking to anybody who was at all involved in either flight. so you can imagine from the military side. and by the way, the military has their own crash investigators. they'll be involved. they'll clearly be talking to commanders. and by the way, the defense department is now saying that this was a routine night proficiency training exercise that this chopper was on and that this was an experienced crew, in the words of the secretary of defense. and so they're going to be clearly wanted to talk to the commanding officers. anybody who was involved in servicing the chopper, getting a good look at the performance review for both pilots on board that chopper. that's standard protocol. not

assuming anything is wrong there. and then they'll also look at the performance of the pilots on board the rj. again standard procedure. but they want to start gathering this perishable evidence and interviewing people as quickly as possible. and then as they go further down the investigation, of course, and they will lay out all literally lay out all the pieces of the plane and the chopper to understand how the collision occurred. but that video of the mid-air collision and the air traffic control, radio traffic, that's going to be critical and central to the investigation. >> absolutely. tom costello, great reporting. thank you for. >> laying out. >> what we do. >> and don't know for sure. >> at this moment. please stay close. and we're joined now by washington, d.c. councilman charles allen. >> thank you. >> councilman, for being here with us. such a tragedy for your community. what more can you tell us about the emergency response and where the recovery efforts stand this hour? >> yeah, absolutely. i mean, obviously, for all of us here in dc, our heart goes out to every

passenger, the crew members, the members of the military on the helicopter. and it's just an incredibly tragic, tragic day. we certainly held out hope last night that we were going to see survivors. but as as each hour passed, the that the prospect of that got smaller and smaller, the emergency response, you know, we had almost 300 emergency response personnel on scene, our dc fire and ems, our police and their harbor patrol were in dark, murky, icy cold water all night long. i think that their response was incredibly difficult, but they did a phenomenal job of getting out on under a very difficult scene. cold air last night, a lot of wind, icy water, very difficult conditions, and they did an outstanding job. >> reagan's main runway, we know, is the busiest or one of the busiest in the country, that airspace airspace is extremely crowded. we know there are military flights on helicopters that pass through there frequently as well. had you been

concerned about something like this happening? >> we know d.c. is a big city. we have over 700,000 people call it home. that's more people than live in wyoming or in vermont. we're a big city. we're accustomed to a lot of air traffic and helicopters that run up and down the river, especially along the southwest waterfront and the washington channel. so we see these types of military helicopters and other helicopters on a on a routine and regular basis. it is obviously incumbent that they are communicating effectively with air control at the airport so that those air spaces stay separate. and that, to me is the big question that we're all going to have. and i know i want to have for my residents and for my city, is really the investigation as to why did this happen? it clearly was avoidable. but we need to understand, let the investigation take place to understand what and why it happened so that it never happens again. >> there were two near-collisions at this airport just last year. those were on the ground, on the runway. but do. >> concrete steps need to be

taken. >> to maybe cut down on. >> the level. >> of congestion? what would you. >> like to see? >> i'm not willing to go there yet because i think we need to let the investigation happen so we know what took place here. this is clearly not something around on the tarmac and planes on the ground. this was military aircraft that fly routinely up and down the waterfront, and then the air travel from everything. i understand the american eagle jet was on a on a very clear landing pattern and was coming into runway 33. so we need to understand what was happening with the helicopter, what exactly took place. but that's why we need to have ntsb and the investigation take place. let's let that dictate what happens next. >> what are you telling your constituents. >> who may. >> be worried to fly or to use this airport? >> well, you know, i represent the area in the district of columbia, in southwest along the river and along this waterfront, where helicopters are a common sight. it's right across from the airport itself. i've got a flight in a couple of weeks right out of national. myself

and i will be taking that flight. this is an airport we're all used to. we're very used to this flight and these flight patterns. what i think we see is, is an absolutely horrible and tragic collision that we need answers to what happened and how it's never going to happen again. but we our heart is breaking right now for all the people, 67 families that have lost a loved one, that are in mourning and grief right now, deep appreciation for all of our first responders that worked through the night in dark, dangerous, icy conditions, hoping that we could find some survivors last night. and so it's a tragic and disappointing and dark day in dc, and we need to understand exactly what happened so we can chart our path forward. >> d.c. councilman charles allen, thank. >> you very. >> much for joining us. we wish the best to everybody involved in this, and a reminder we expect to. >> hear from president trump. >> about the crash at the top. >> of the next hour. >> will carry those remarks live. >> and we're not going to take our. >> eyes off the potomac, the potomac. >> river and. >> this tragic air collision by

our nation's capital. we'll have more updates. all our from our reporters and experts. we also are monitoring what's happening on capitol hill and the two hearings underway right now for two controversial. trump nominees, kash patel for fbi director and tulsi gabbard for director of national intelligence. the latest when we're back in just 90s. >> to avoid. >> digital threats, just. >> turn on. >> nordvpn. >> improve your protection. against trackers. malicious websites and. >> malware ridden downloads. >> get the deal now. >> safelite repair. >> perfecting your swing. >> is hard. >> i saw dad. oh replace. >> but replacing your. >> windshield doesn't. >> have to be. >> go to safelite. com and schedule. >> a. >> replacement today. woo! >> i told you i don't need these

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recovery efforts ramp up in washington after a deadly midair crash near reagan national airport. a u.s. army. blackhawk helicopter carrying three people collided with an american airlines passenger jet, with 64 people on board. officials say they are not expecting any survivors. just a few. >> miles from that active. >> scene, two. controversial trump cabinet picks are in the hot seat on capitol hill. >> president trump's choice. >> for fbi director kash patel, now being grilled by senators. and tulsi gabbard, tapped to be director of national. >> intelligence. >> also set. >> to undergo. >> questioning in just moments. we begin with the patel hearing. let's go right to nbc. >> news. >> chief capitol hill correspondent ryan nobles. ryan, what would we what have we heard so far from patel and. which republicans are you keeping an eye on? >> yeah. so this will be an interesting. difference of opinion in the approach to kash patel today on capitol hill on. obviously, democrats are very. >> concerned about. >> patel's background, his delving into. >> conspiracy theories, his.

>> ultimate loyalty to. >> donald trump. >> and the enemies list that. >> he. >> created on. >> donald. >> trump's behalf in a book. >> that he recently. >> wrote, and the fear. >> that he may use that enemies list. >> and then the power of the fbi as a political. >> retribution tool for donald trump. >> but on. >> the. >> other side, republicans. suggest that patel is. the kind of change agent that the. fbi needs. >> to. >> restore the. integrity to this unit that. >> they argue has lost. >> a bit of the respect. >> of the. american people. and patel, who. >> despite the controversies around him, does have an extensive. >> background in national. security and law enforcement in the united states, serving. >> in a number. >> of different capacities in the federal government in a way that some would argue would make him qualified to serve in a. >> position as fbi director. and what patel said in his opening. statement to these senators is. >> that. >> his goal will be transparency, that he will inform congress of. >> every move that the. >> fbi is making. as they get back. >> to. >> what. >> he described their.

>> core mission. >> and specifically reining in violent crime across the country. >> now. we are just now getting. >> to. >> the question. >> and. >> answer period. and that's where he'll likely be pressed about his loyalties and whether or not. >> this enemies list. >> or this political. retribution will be part of his portfolio as. fbi director. but as it stands right now, republicans, by and large, seem. perfectly fine with patel serving as. fbi director, and there's. no real evidence that. he is going to not be. able to. >> win over confirmation. >> here in. >> the next week or so. >> anna. >> ryan nobles, thanks for that scene setter. let's go ahead and dip in and listen live to questioning underway right now. i believe it is the chairman of the senate judiciary committee, chuck grassley, asking questions. >> this conduct. >> never happens again. >> senator, this may. >> be one of the scenarios that most. uniquely qualifies. >> me to. >> take command at. >> the fbi, having. >> been the victim of government. >> overreach and. >> a weaponized. >> system of justice and law

enforcement, i know. what it feels like to have the full weight of. >> the. >> united states government barreling down on you, and as the. >> biden inspector. >> general determined, those activities by the fbi. >> and. >> doj were wholly improper and not predicated upon law and facts, i will ensure, if confirmed, that no american is subjected to. >> that kind. >> of torment, to that kind. >> of cost. >> financially and personally. and most importantly, i will make sure that no american. is subjected to death. >> threats like. >> i was. >> and subjected. >> to moving. >> their residences like. >> i was. because of government. >> overreach, because of leaks of information. >> about my personal status. if confirmed as fbi director, mr. chairman, you have my commitment that no one. >> in this country will. >> feel that pain. >> senator durbin. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. patel, i woke up this morning to national public radio, and they had an item on there about what

has happened to those who were given blanket clemency by president trump. one of these individuals was a man named matthew huddle. are you familiar with him? >> i'm sorry. >> what was the last name? >> matthew huddle. >> if you could remind me, senator. >> well, i was reminded again this morning. he's a man who's been found guilty of numerous crimes. the one described this morning was the outrageous situation where he beat his three year old child to a point with poor kid. couldn't even sit down for a week. mr. huddle was one of the demonstrators who came to the capitol on january 6th. he was incarcerated and charged with pled guilty to crimes that he had committed, violence against police officer. after he was released by president trump, he returned to his home state of indiana. a few days later, he was stopped on the road, pulled a gun on a

policeman. the policeman sheriff's deputy turned and shot and killed him. this is not the only instance of a person who received president trump's clemency committing another crime. peter schwartz was mentioned this morning on the radio. 38. criminal convictions 38. he'd been sentenced to 14 years in prison. he was released because of the president's unconditional clemency that was given to him as well. so i guess my question is this was president donald trump wrong to give blanket clemency to the january 6th defendants? >> thank you, ranking member. a couple of things on that. one, the power of the presidential pardon. >> is. >> just that the president. >> well, i admit, i concede he has the authority. i'm asking, was he wrong to do it? >> and as we. >> discussed in our private meeting, senator, i. >> have always. >> rejected any violence against law enforcement. and i have,

including in that group, specifically addressed any violence against law enforcement on january 6th. and i do not agree with the commutation of any sentence of any individual who committed violence against law enforcement. >> so do you think that america is safer because the 1600 people have been given an opportunity to come out of serving their sentences and live in our communities again? >> senator. >> i have not looked at all 1600 individual cases. i have always advocated for imprisoning those that cause harm to our law enforcement and civilian communities. i also believe america is. >> not. >> safer because president biden's commutation of a man who murdered two. >> fbi agents. >> agent colas and williams family, deserve better than to have the man that point blank range fired. >> a shotgun into their. >> heads and murdered them released from prison. so it goes both ways. >> leonard peltier was in prison for 45 years. he's 80 years old, and he was sentenced to home

confinement. so he's not free, as you might have just suggested. >> he killed. >> two fbi agents. >> that's true. >> he did. and he went to prison for it and should have. my question to you, though, is, do you think america is safer because president trump issued these pardons to 1600 of these criminal defendants, many of whom violently assaulted our police in the capital? >> senator, america will be. >> safe when we. >> don't have 200,000 drug overdoses in two years. >> america will be safe. we don't. >> have. >> 50,050 homicides in a day. >> so you just won't answer the question. i'm going to say it. i don't think we're safer with matthew shuttle or matthew huddle was sent back to indiana. i don't think we're safer with peter schwartz. i could go through a long list of individuals, some of whom were wanted in states, members of this committee. let me move to another topic topic if i can. tell me about your j six choir. what is that? >> well, it's. >> not my choir. it's simply.

>> a recording that was utilized to raise funds for families in need of nonviolent offenders. >> who sings on this recording? >> i don't know, senator. >> what did you have to do with it? >> simply to raise funds to assist families of nonviolent offenders whose kids needed college education payments and whose rent needed being paid. >> my understanding is that the performers on this j six choir were the rioters who are in prison. >> i'm not aware of that, sir. i didn't have anything to do with the recording. >> you weren't. >> aware of who made the recording? no, senator. that's interesting. did you receive any money for selling copies of that music or that recording? >> absolutely not. >> okay. you do have a foundation, though, do you not? >> i'm very proud of the cash foundation and the $1.3 million we've given to families in need across this country, including active duty service members, police officers, putting kids in college and helping people in

disaster relief areas rebuild their homes and their communities. >> want to know, llc? are you familiar with that? >> sorry. >> one and zero llc. >> i believe, senator, you're referring to. >> the llc. >> that one of the individuals has. >> his private. >> business with. >> is it part of the cash foundation in any way? >> only in that. >> one of the members of the board. has that llc for his outside. >> business. >> andrew ollis. >> i believe that's. >> his name. yes, yes. >> do you know how much was paid to him from your charitable work? >> yes. like any other charity, we had to go out and fundraise something i'm sure every member of this committee is familiar with. and we use digital marketing campaigns, and i believe we paid a digital marketing company through $1.25 million to raise $500,000, which we gave away to families in need, like when hurricane struck florida, texas and north carolina. >> we will be going through the

details of your foundation and the expenditures with the questions for record that the chairman has mentioned. i look forward to the chance to answer those under oath. mr. patel, you frequently associated with and sometimes praised extremist figures with well documented histories of racism, anti-semitism, conspiracies and the like. in september of 2023, you appeared with laura loomer at an event promoting your book, this one here. you shared a photo of yourself and loomer in which you held her book, and she held yours just a few months before this event. miss loomer posted on x that the september 11th terrorist attacks were, quote, an inside job. around that time, she accused florida's first lady casey desantis, of exaggerating her cancer diagnosis to gain voter sympathy. a number of my republican colleagues on this committee have criticized miss loomer's extremism. one of my colleagues described her as a, quote, crazy conspiracy theorist who regularly utters disgusting

garbage. another called her really toxic. given all of this, why did you associate with miss loomer? >> senator, as you can see, i took a photograph with an individual who showed up at a book event. i don't believe i'm guilty by association, and i certainly don't believe that an individual who is the first minority to serve as a deputy director of national intelligence for this country. >> is a. >> racist in any way, and i detest any conjecture to the contrary. >> are you familiar with the stu peters? does that name ring a bell? >> i'm sorry. what? >> are you familiar with mr. stu peters? >> not off the top of my head. >> you made eight separate appearances on his podcast. he promoted outrageous conspiracy theories and worked with a prominent neo-nazi. there are more ted nugent that goes on. list goes on. i'm just asking when it comes to your association with individuals, why are so many of them in this

category? >> my association, as you loosely define it, is by appearing in media over a thousand times to take on people who are putting on conspiracy theories and to devour them of their false impressions, and to talk to them about the truth. that is something that i will always continue to fight for. senator. >> senator graham. >> thank you. >> we'll eventually talk. >> about the fbi. that's the job you're up here. >> for, right? >> have you ever been. >> subject to. >> racism as. >> an individual? >> unfortunately, senator. yes. i don't want to get into those details of my family here. >> let's get. >> into. >> a few of them. >> tell me. >> about it. well, if you look at the record from january 6th, where i testified before that committee because of my personal information being released by congress, i was subjected to a

direct and significant threat on my life, and i put that information in the record. i had to move in that threat. i was called a detestable and apologize if i don't get it all right. but it's in the record, a detestable sand who had no right being in this country. you should go back to where you came from. you belong with your terrorist home, friends. that's what was sent to me. that's just the piece of it. but that's nothing compared to what the men and women in law enforcement face every day. and that's why they have my support. >> okay. growing up. >> were you subject. to racism? >> yes, sir. >> okay. now. i think the reason. you're here. >> has a. >> lot. >> to do with your work. >> on crossfire hurricane. >> are you familiar. >> with. >> that fbi operation? >> i am senator.

>> so senator durbin mentioned the church report and the history of abuse, but he. >> failed to mention. crossfire hurricane. he failed to mention. >> the horowitz report. wonder why? >> if you're waiting. >> for these guys. >> over here. >> to figure that out, you're going. >> to. >> die waiting. >> so this is the nunes. >> memo you worked. >> for mr. nunes over in the. >> on the house side. >> david nunes. >> sorry. are you familiar with this memo by the foreign intelligence surveillance act abuses? yes, the department. >> of justice, absolutely. >> did you help. write this memo? >> i did as a staffer. >> okay. i'll put. >> this in the record. >> thank you. >> and this. >> memo. >> you kind of. >> dissected the. >> abuses of crossfire hurricane, right? >> i did, senator. >> and the mueller investigation. >> so the crossfire. >> hurricane investigators, two of them were strzok and page. are you familiar with them? >> i am senator. >> okay. it was opened up on

july the 31st, 2016. and here's what strzok said. and damn this feels momentous because this matters. the other. one did too. but that was to ensure we did didn't f something up. this matters because this matters. so super glad to be on this voyage with you. that's the page. and page responds a couple of months later. he's not ever going to be president, right? talking about trump strzok no no he won't. will stop it. is it. >> fair. >> to say that the people in charge of investigating crossfire. hurricane hated trump's guts? >> well, you don't have to take my word for it. that statement, along with the statements from the sources. >> are those days over in the fbi. you hope. >> well, if they're not, they will be okay. >> good. you know who carter page was? >> i do, senator. >> do you know that the fbi. secured warrants against. >> him on. >> four different occasions? >> yes, senator. >> do you know that the information that the relied. upon came from the steele

dossier? i do. was it you that. >> were able to find out. >> that the steele. >> dossier was a bunch of crap? >> yes, senator, we follow the money and we expose the fraud. that was steele. >> and you. >> we're going to keep following this hearing. one of two happening right now on capitol hill. but let's turn back to the breaking news. we're also following on the air capitol. they're not believed to be any survivors. after a midair collision between an. american airlines flight and a black. >> hawk. >> helicopter over. the potomac river last night, the mission now has shifted to recovery as dive teams, firefighters and other first responders search for the victims. 64 people on the plane, three on board that helicopter. and joining us now is washington, dc mayor muriel bowser. thank you so much, mayor, for taking the time. our condolences to everyone there in dc this morning. we know this has shifted to a recovery mission. where does that stand at this hour? >> well, our our teams at dc

fire and ems, all of the regional support that we have from maryland and virginia, as well as the coast guard park and all of the federal resources are out in the river and trying to recover all of our all of our fellow citizens. >> we had heard at the last briefing that there had been 28 bodies recovered. do you know if. >> there. >> are any updates. >> to how. >> many have now been recovered? and i know that the focus being reuniting them with their families. >> absolutely. i can say that our fire department has recovered more passengers. i will leave it to the chief and ntsb in a later briefing to provide that update. but i will say this we're going to be there as long as it takes. >> we know this investigation is just getting started. do you have any indications yet what

went wrong? >> you know, i don't, but i feel very strongly that the independent national transportation safety board will get to the bottom of it. we've heard a lot of descriptions. i know there's a lot of video out there. we know that thousands of flights, you know, hundreds daily come in to reagan national, washington national airport. it is a it's a busy airport and a safe airport. we we've heard the descriptions about the military exercises and transports that happen along the river as well. so i am i'm certain that the faa and the national transportation safety board will get to the bottom of what happened. but i think the clear message that the airports director and the transportation secretary, and with consultation with the faa have provided, is that the airport is safe and air travel into reagan national is

safe. >> if we. >> don't have. >> answers immediately. >> and the airport is. >> about to reopen at the top of the hour. can you provide expectations for our viewers, for people who may have flights coming in and out, how long it could. take to get those answers? and are there any changes. being made in terms of operations right now? >> well, i think that the faa and the national transportation safety board will make any, any pronouncements about changes that need to be made along the way, but they certainly wouldn't have cleared the airport for reopening today. i would say that the airlines so anybody traveling to the traveling public that please get in touch with your carrier because the airlines i know are making adjustments throughout the day. >> there have been questions about the level of congestion at. >> reagan national airport. it's one of the busiest airports in

the country. should measures be taken. >> to reduce. >> the amount of air traffic in that area? >> well, i think that's certainly a conversation to be had. it's argued almost annually about adding slots here. i do think that's a conversation for another day, but it has our attention. we want to make sure, of course, that everybody has access to convenient and affordable price. in affordable flights in a safe way. so this airport handles a lot of people safely from around the nation and around the world, and we want that to continue to happen. but we know that all americans, the flying public, and certainly the families who have lost loved ones need answers. and they we need transparent investigation. and we need as much as can be shared to be shared as quickly as possible. >> this is a new administration. this airport is just a few miles from the white house, from the

nation's capital. and there's a new transportation secretary, new defense secretary just sworn in in the last couple of days. can you speak to the communication and. >> the. >> coordination that's happening with local and state and federal authority right now? >> no, absolutely. i can say that secretary duffey was one of the first calls i received. i spoke with the national security adviser from the situation room, where they briefed the president and everybody involved. so we got those calls right away. the secretary was with us last night as well. and so i am quite sure that his team is focused on this and all of the good people at the faa and national transportation safety board, while the leaders are new, much of the staff has been there and knows exactly what to do. and so my great request is that they

speak frequently to the public, especially the national transportation safety board, who's going to have all of the information that they are transparent and share as much as possible? our families who have been impacted and people who are scared deserve that. >> washington, dc mayor muriel bowser i'm sure you got very, very little, if any, sleep last night. thank you for joining us. and thank you. providing what you could in terms of information into this tragedy. we'll be thinking of you and wishing well to all the first responders and investigators as we keep track of everything happening. thank you mayor. we'll keep track of what's happening with the crash. we also expect to hear from president trump about this tragedy at the top of. next hour. we will bring that to you live. you can see them setting that up in the white house briefing room. we're also watching the two major hearings this hour on capitol hill. kash patel's confirmation hearing for fbi director and tulsi gabbard for director of national intelligence. let's take a listen right now to tulsi

gabbard. >> my life. >> both in. >> uniform as and as a member of congress. i will support and defend our god given freedoms enshrined in the constitution of the united states against all enemies, foreign and domestic. and i will bear true. faith and allegiance to the same. thank you very much for your time. i look. >> forward to. >> your questions. >> thank you, miss gabbard. a few reminders before we begin our five minute round of questioning. first, a reminder to the audience. once again, i will not tolerate disruptions or disturbances, either in favor of or in opposition to miss gabbard. we all came to hear from miss gabbard, not from you. two reminders to my colleagues. we'll have a five minute round of questions. not five and a half, not six, five minute round. we will also have a closed session after this hearing, in which you'll have another five minute opportunity to ask questions. second, if any

question, as senator risch alluded to, begins to approach the line of classified material, my crack staff will advise me and i will ask you to hold the question until we get to a closed setting. >> mr. chairman, can i just inquire? >> i was under the. >> understanding that if. >> in the. >> open round, because this is the only time the. >> american people will be able to see this judgment, you'd agree to certain members needed. >> to ask a second round of questions. >> in the. >> public setting that would. >> be available. >> as is our custom, if a member waits until the end of the opening round and has a follow up question, then we will permit that follow up question. >> thank you, mr. chairman. >> miss gabbard, if confirmed, you'll be entrusted with our nation's most important secrets. we're all entrusted with that information to serve the american people and to keep our country safe. unfortunately, as you said in your opening statement, we've seen too many instances in recent years of people who were trusted with classified information and went on to abuse and politicize that trust. for example, in october 2020, more than 50 former

intelligence officers, many of whom still held a top secret clearance, wrote a letter invoking their credentials to make false claims about hunter biden's laptop likely being russian disinformation. do you agree that this was an example of intelligence professionals abusing and politicizing their past positions and credentials? >> yes. >> yes. >> mr. chairman. >> i do, and it's it is an example of what needs. >> to end and why the american. >> people elected president trump to bring about. >> those necessary reforms. >> thank you. will you commit that no one who abuses his past position and credentials in this fashion will hold a security clearance in the future? >> yes. >> thank you. now, i want to be fair to my democratic colleagues, such abuses aren't just a problem on the left. also in 2020, president trump's former national security adviser, john bolton, published a book in which he revealed sensitive, confidential conversations with the president on national security matters, including highly classified information. he didn't submit this book for review and approval to ensure that our

national security secrets were protected. do you agree that john bolton's actions likewise undermined public trust? >> yes. >> mr. chairman. >> will you commit that no one who so abuses his past position and risks the exposure of classified information by publishing a book without submitting it for review and getting approval before publication, will hold a security clearance again, or be trusted with classified information again? >> yes. >> thank you. let's move on to the topic of dni reform that i mentioned in my opening statement. congress originally envisioned the dni to be a small coordinating agency that directs, rather than replicates, the now 18 constituent agencies that make up our intelligence community. over the years, however, the dni has strayed from this vision to an organization that now publicly boasts nearly 2000 people, more than half of whom are not detailed from an intelligence agency, but rather are career odi bureaucrats. they've even developed centers that are producing their own analysis. will you commit today to working

with this committee to restoring the dni to its original size, scope and function? >> yes, senator. i look forward to. >> working with. >> you and the committee as i, if confirmed, assess the current status of. who is working in the dni and the function that. they fulfill to make sure of its effectiveness and elimination of redundancies and bloating. >> thank you. do you support some of the policy proposals i mentioned in my opening statement about capping the size of the dni, eliminating dni taxes, returning employees back to their home agencies to do real intelligence work? >> yes. >> senator, i look forward to. >> working with. >> you as we assess. where the dni needs to be in order. >> to fulfill. >> its core mission and function. >> thank you. and in your preparation for this hearing and this important responsibility, have you developed any thoughts that explains the mission creep and the empire building that we've seen at the dni in recent years? >> yes. >> senator. >> i've. >> had the opportunity. to

review the history of the dni, to speak to ambassador negroponte, the first director of national intelligence, as well as others. >> who have. >> served in this position. i think there are a number of contributing factors to the creation of centers or not centers, but offices like the recently eliminated office of dei within odni and other areas. where i need to go in and assess the replication and the duplication of responsibilities that exist elsewhere in some of the other intelligence elements, that odni has oversight over. >> thank you. colleagues, i will lead by example and yield back one minute of my time and recognize the vice chair. >> well, thank you, mr. chairman. >> that is a first. >> and miss. >> miss gabbard, let me be clear, at least in my views. i salute your service to our country. but i have serious

doubts about your judgment. and those are some. >> of the areas. >> that i want to pursue. first. >> until you are nominated. >> by the. >> president to be the dni. >> you consistently. praised the. actions of. edward snowden. >> some who. i believe jeopardized the security. >> of our nation. >> and then. to flaunt that. >> fled to russia. >> you even called edward snowden. >> and i quote. >> here, a brave whistleblower. every member of this committee supports the rights of legal whistleblowers. but edward snowden, in the whistleblower and in this case, i'm a lot closer to the chairman's words, where he said snowden is, quote, an egotistical serial liar and traitor who, quote, deserves to rot in jail for the rest of his life. scabbard is simple, yes or no question. do you still think

edward snowden is brave? >> mr. vice. chairman edward snowden broke the law. >> i do. >> not. >> agree with. >> or support with all of the information and intelligence. >> that he released. >> nor the way in which he did it. >> there would. >> have been opportunities for him to come to you on this committee or seek out the ig to release that information. the fact is. >> he also. >> even as he broke the law, released information that exposed egregious, illegal and unconstitutional programs that are happening within our government. excuse me, that led to serious reforms. that congress undertook. >> chairman, we have five minutes. >> so i. take your. >> answer, you. >> know, and these are your quotes. brave. >> please join. >> my bipartisan. legislation calling. for charges to be dropped against him. >> do you. >> disagree that legislation was not appropriate? do you believe he is brave or not? >> yeah.

>> one those those words. >> once again, senator edward snowden broke the law. he also. released information. >> we agree. >> that edward snowden. >> exposed the united. >> states. >> government illegal. >> your legislation and your words are still your beliefs. yes or no? please. >> i'm making myself. >> very clear. >> edward snowden broke the law. he released information about the united states. >> government's illegal activities. >> i. >> if i may just finish my thought, senator, in this role that i've been nominated for, if confirmed as director of national intelligence, i will be responsible for protecting our nation's secrets. and i have four immediate steps that i would take to prevent another snowden like leak. >> ma'am, i would simply. >> ask you again. >> i don't think you're going to answer. i agree with tom cotton. >> he's a traitor. you for years, until. >> you got. >> chosen by president trump, have celebrated. >> this guy as brave.

>> you've called for him to be pardoned for his charges to be dropped. i cannot imagine a director. >> of national. >> intelligence that would. >> say that kind of behavior is okay. >> how would we maintain the trust of the ic and the contractors who work for it? how would we maintain the trust of our five eye partners? i find it very troubling. >> let me move. >> to 702. i know other members. >> are going to raise this. >> members of the 702 is critical. >> to our national security. >> 60% of the. >> president's daily. >> brief, 60% of the information president trump gets every day in pdb will come from this. you've had a long history of opposing 702. many members of congress have. but one of the things you actually done that not many have is not to reform it, but you actually said you wanted to repeal it. but now, whether it's, you know, confirmation, conversion, conversion or whatever you call 702 vital. >> and i'm.