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. >> quoting because of

significant fisa reforms have been. enacted since you left congress. miss gabbard, what are the reforms that have led you to now support 702. in the short time that i have? senator, i will just note that my actions in legislation in congress were done to draw attention to the egregious civil liberties violations that were occurring at that time. >> miss gabbard. >> you some. >> of the. >> gabbard. >> i ask you a question. >> please give me the courtesy of responding. you said the reforms now make you support it. what can you cite? which reforms? >> there are a number of reforms. >> to include getting. >> rid in the new law. >> that all. >> of you and your wisdom. >> my. >> time is getting short, but i. >> got to just tell. >> you, after the reforms were passed into law in april of 24, you went on joe rogan's podcast in may. the bill is now law. >> and you said. >> quote, this bill took.

>> an already bad. >> problem and made it many, many times worse. again, in my mind, this is. >> a question. >> of judgment. 702 is critical. i appreciate this. late conversion, but i'm not sure i. buy it because. >> you've. had such. >> a consistent position. again, i know my colleagues. >> are going. >> to raise these, but rather than standing up to. >> dictators like putin and assad. >> you sometimes. >> amplified his talking points. i mean, i just do not understand how you can. >> blame nato. >> for putin's brutal invasion of ukraine. and when assad used chemical weapons against his own people. you didn't condemn him. and i can. >> go through all. >> the quotes you actually questioned. america's intelligence. now, you mentioned. >> a lot. >> about trust, you know, and one of the things that i'm so proud on this committee is, senator, my friend senator burr said we always follow truth.

>> i say. >> on this committee, the. >> most valuable work. >> i do in the senate, we have a bipartisan approach to intelligence. i think we have worked to try to keep the intelligence community and earn their trust and, frankly, earn the trust of the american people. but i respectfully, ma'am, i just don't believe on your judgment and credibility issues that this is the appropriate role. >> that you. >> should take going forward. >> thank you, mr. chairman. >> senator collins. >> thank you, mr. chairman. >> good morning. 11:02 a.m. eastern, 8 a.m. pacific. i'm jose diaz-balart. >> we're following. >> two major stories for. >> you this hour on capitol hill. >> two of. >> president trump's white house picks. facing questions from. lawmakers as part of their confirmation hearings. >> please keep an eye on the bottom of the. >> screen for a qr code. you can. >> follow through. that qr. >> qr code. >> the latest from these. >> two hearings on the web. >> but first, any moment now, president trump. is going to be. addressing the nation on a deadly plane collision after a military. helicopter crashed.

>> with a passenger. >> jet, plunging. >> both aircrafts. >> into the frigid. >> potomac river last night. the horrifying. >> moments of this terrible. >> crash caught on camera. >> let's go to the videotape. you'll see the chopper colliding. >> into the civilian jet. which was carrying. >> 60 passengers. here you see the video and four crew members. >> that blackhawk. >> helicopter was carrying three u.s. army soldiers. officials believe there are no survivors. >> from this tragic incident. >> and what marks the first commercial. >> airplane crash. >> on. u.s. soil in 16 years? joining us now is nbc's aaron gilchrist. aaron, what's the very. >> latest at this hour? >> well, jose, as we understand it, search and recovery crews are still in the water at this hour. we learned from the dc fire chief earlier this morning that 27 bodies had been recovered from the airplane that went down in the water here, and one body had been recovered from the helicopter that went down.

all of those remains have been turned over to the d.c. medical examiner. the fire chief did say that he expects that they will be able to find all of the people who were involved in this accident. that number likely has grown since we got that update. the number of people whose remains have been found has likely grown since we got that update around 730 this morning. the dc fire chief said, though, that they are getting their their numbers from the dc medical examiner, who we know in the hours after this incident happened, set up effectively a temporary morgue on the banks of the potomac river here. that's according to our local station here, wrc. and so that they could quickly receive those remains that were being brought to shore by boat, transferred to ambulances, and then taken to this facility with the dc medical examiner in order for them to do their work to identify these remains. we understand that families are being notified. we know the one military service member who's been recovered at this point. his family was in the process of being notified as well. the

department of defense has a standing protocol for when it releases information about service members who have been killed. and so there will be some time before we learn that information. at the same time, as i said, the recovery effort is ongoing here. jose, the there were divers from the dc, ems and dc fire and ems, dc police as well as some of the state agencies around this area. they all work together. there were divers in the water late last night, all night long, and as we understand it still this morning, trying to recover the remains of the people who were on those aircraft. >> jose i mean, aaron, this is such an infinite tragedy. i'm just wondering, do we know anything else? because it was a clear night. it was, you know, not in it was right as that american airlines flight was about to land at dca. >> it is so hard to comprehend that this happened, jose, because of things like that, the conditions were favorable for

flight. this was an area that we understand both aircraft had been in before. these were standard movements that they were making in this area. the plane that came in from wichita carrying those 60 passengers and four crew members, was doing what planes have to do when they fly into reagan national airport. they have to they can't fly over the district of columbia. that's restricted airspace, usually. and so they fly along the potomac river, and they often have to make a turn to get to the runways at reagan national airport. this airplane would have been seconds from making that touchdown from landing at the airport here, when it seems this helicopter came up. if you look at the video, it looks like it came up from behind and hit the airplane. it broke into three pieces. and so there still is effort to sort of figure out how that all came to be, given that this were these were two aircraft that were moving in ways that were standard. we did hear from the secretary of defense earlier today that the army unit involved here, the

aircraft, the army aircraft that was involved here was from fort belvoir, virginia, just a little ways down the potomac river, south of here. it was on an annual proficiency flight, and that this was a fairly experienced crew doing a night evaluation. they were using night vision goggles, as we understand it as well, from the secretary of defense. and still, there are questions that remain about how these two aircraft came to collide. jose, we know that the ntsb has now taken charge of the investigation here. it will work with the faa. it will also work with the army's investigative arm that looks into these sorts of incidents, incidents, and they will work together to try to figure out exactly what happened here. and perhaps more importantly, jose, try to make sure it doesn't happen again. >> yeah. and i want to bring in yamiche alcindor at the white house. yamiche, what have we heard from the white house so far? >> well, we know. >> any moment now. >> that president trump is going to come out to the briefing room and talk to reporters. this will be the first time he's in the briefing room. and it really is, in some ways, marking the first

tragedy and crisis of his short presidency, his second term here. but the president has put out a number of statements. i want to read a couple of them to you. the first was the official white house statement, which said in part, i have been fully briefed on the terrible accident which took place at reagan national airport. may god bless their souls. thank you for the incredible work being done by our first responders. i am monitoring the situation and will provide more details as they arise. so that was the president's first statement. he also later on followed up with a truth social post where he was questioning sort of how this happened and also starting to place blame on the helicopter pilot, though of course, we don't have any details on exactly how this accident, this tragedy happened. but here's what president trump posted online. he said the airplane was on a perfect and routine line of approach to the airport. the helicopter was going straight at the airplane for an extended period of time. it is a clear night. the lights on the plane were blazing. why didn't the helicopter go up or down or turn? why didn't the control tower tell the helicopter what to do instead of asking if they

saw the plane? this is a bad situation that looks like it should have been prevented. not good. so that's the president of the united states saying that this looks like, to him, a preventable tragedy. we're probably going to hear more of that as he comes out to the podium and talks to reporters. but we do know that the full muscles of the federal government have been turning since last night. and there are a number of federal officials, including the secretary of transportation as well as the secretary of defense, working on this. a lot of them are just coming into their roles, but this is really going to be a time for an all hands on deck approach for the federal government. jose. >> if i could bring in retired lieutenant colonel darren gough, former battalion commander. >> of. >> blackhawk, helicopter pilot and senior geopolitical strategist. thank you for being with us this morning. just. >> you. >> know. >> when we're just. >> still trying. >> to. >> get the details of how this happened. last night. you know, blackhawk helicopters are one of the most utilized aircraft, you know, in the military arsenal.

they're also one of just the most consistently effective and maintenance wise, just one of the sturdiest. >> yeah. >> those are. >> all very true statements. >> i mean, you're looking. >> at a. >> nation that has about. 1200 or so blackhawks. who sold many across the. >> world because. >> of how reliable they are. >> i can speak. >> from personal. >> experience. >> what they're. capable of surviving when it comes to absorbing. rpg fire and things like that. so we're talking about an aircraft that can. >> take a lot. >> so i think you're very unlikely to hear about mechanical issues discovered with the aircraft, or maintenance problems that could have been identified beforehand. >> i'm focused right now based. >> purely on what i've seen. >> hypothetically. >> on procedures. how do how. >> do you fly through the. >> airspace altitudes. >> things like that, and. >> also communications. >> what did atc say? >> who did they say it to. and was action. >> taken based on those

statements? and part of the reason why those are important is because commercial airplanes do have the black. box that record everything. >> this model of a blackhawk. >> does not have. >> the black box. >> record either instruments. >> or record. >> voice transmissions. you're going to have to get that from air. traffic control and other eyewitnesses from. around the area. >> and. >> colonel, you know, and aaron was speaking just a little bit about how, you know, from the video that we've seen so far, it does seem as though the skies were. >> clear and. >> the american airlines jet was already, i guess i would say, about under 500ft altitude. >> and. >> yet that helicopter seemed to, you know, there was nothing there was no. obstacles between the helicopter. >> and that and. >> that plane that we're seeing now, these planes that all kinds of commercial planes have all kinds of devices to, you know. >> show that they're. >> out there, right? not just lights, but there's also all

kinds of devices which presumably wouldn't. >> have. >> been active at 400ft. >> of elevation. >> but but how do you how does something. like this possibly occur when it's i mean, everything was lit. >> yeah. there are a number of hypothetical scenarios i can. work through as well. with regards to this. i will. >> say that those systems that that. have certain degraded function. >> on a commercial airline. >> below 1500 feet above the ground. >> are not things that are installed on the. lima model black. hawk that was. >> from the army here. so collision. avoidance systems, those. >> are. >> not installed in that helicopter. so that. >> would. >> not have helped. yes. >> it was a. >> clear night. yes. >> it should. >> have been visible. >> however, one scenario that. >> i've looked. >> at from. >> purely from what i'm seeing on on the from the angle on the video. >> is if. >> this aircraft. >> was high. >> enough in. >> altitude. >> the blackhawk. >> was high. >> enough in altitude outside of

the flight corridor. >> whether they knew it or not. there is. >> a potential that an aircraft. >> that was. >> that close. >> to landing the commercial aircraft. >> that the. >> lights from. that aircraft. >> would have easily been mistaken and blended into the sheer. >> number of lights that. >> surround washington, dc. >> it has happened to me, so i know it can happen in a dense and urban environment. like that. i'm not saying it is what happened, i'm just trying to give a. >> plausible explanation for how. >> something like that is. >> even remotely possible. that's an issue of adhering to proper procedures in how things are flown there again, and potentially the adhering to the. radio traffic from air traffic control or other agencies there. >> lieutenant colonel. >> if you. >> would. >> stay with us, aaron and, yamiche, please stay with us. we're going to take a short break. we're going to be right back. >> we are. >> of. >> course. >> monitoring all these. different breaking news stories this morning. we'll be right

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lieutenant colonel. darren cobb, former battalion commander, black hawk, helicopter pilot and senior geopolitical strategist aaron dca is one of the busiest airports. and yet it's an airport. that has a lot of congestion. >> yeah, you're right, because there is so much air traffic in this in this region. not not in the sense that it's such a huge airport that there are massive planes that are constantly coming and going, but there is a lot of commuter traffic here coming out of dca. you've got obviously aircraft that are going almost every hour on the hour from so many different airlines up to new york, up to boston, down to atlanta, points to the west as well. it's a very busy airport in that sense. at the same time, you have so many military facilities around here that could be using, for example, helicopters with joint base anacostia-bolling right across the river from the airport, fort belvoir, quantico,

fort mcnair, where presidents often will. they'll often use that facility for takeoffs if for some reason they can't lift off on a helicopter from the white house. you also have the pentagon right over the highway from the airport here. and so there's a lot of movement in this area. and there's typically well choreographed motions that happen as a result. because there is so much air traffic here. jose, it's worth pointing out, though, that the airport has reopened today. the terminals reopened earlier. the first aircraft were scheduled to be moving at 11:00 this morning. we understand from one of our teams outside that they did see an aircraft take off a little after 11:00 this morning, so it seems as though things are starting to move here. it's also worth noting, though, that according to flightaware, more than 500 flights into and out of reagan national airport have been canceled. today, jose. >> and yamiche, the president almost immediately put out a statement. and then he did go on social media to talk more. we're

waiting to see him in person in just a couple of minutes. what did he have to say overnight? >> that's right. jose, overnight, the president took to truth social and posted online a message questioning why this could have happened and also trying to place early blame, possibly on one of the pilots here. we're not quite sure, of course, what happened here. but here's what the president said overnight. he said the airplane was on a perfect and routine line of approach to the airport. the helicopter was going straight at the airplane for an extended period of time. it is a clear night. the lights on the plane were blazing. why didn't the helicopter go up or down or turn? why didn't the control tower tell the helicopter what to do instead of asking if they saw the plane? this is a bad situation that looks like it should have been prevented. not good. so that was president trump overnight saying that this looks like a preventable tragedy. so we're of course going to be waiting to see exactly what the president says. he said that he's been fully

briefed and he's been talking to federal officials and of course, his cabinet members who are handling this. but i think this also is a moment of pause, because president trump now is being called, of course, not just to be the commander in chief, but a consoler in chief. so many people are now looking at this situation with hearts broken. families have lost children. mothers were on that plane. from what i understand in the local reporting that i'm reading here, it really just shows that this is going to be one of the biggest tragedies and crises and the first real crises of the president trump's presidency. when it comes to the second term, he's never been in the briefing room this term. and it's going to be, i think, a moment to really reckon the fact that he has to come to the briefing room for this tragedy here. so definitely a moment where the nation is looking to him for information. but also as for consoling, because so many of us are watching this and just really moved by how sad the situation is, especially because this is happening in a city where he lives. this is d.c, of

course, d.c. is in virginia, but this is a community where so many people fly in and out of reagan national airport that there are going to be a lot of people wondering how this could have happened, and definitely going to be looking to see what president trump has to say about that as well. jose. >> yeah. >> i mean, it's important. >> to underline what you just said, yamiche. i mean, officials say they believe no survivors expected 67 people have lost their lives, 67 people. and, erin, the this flight was coming in. i mean, it's a commuter flight. it's a flight that's regularly scheduled. it's there's so many questions. >> yeah, you're absolutely right. this was a flight from wichita, kansas that has only been operating for about a year. >> excuse my interruption, erin, but let's go to the white house with president trump. >> a moment of silence for the victims and their families, please.

thank you very much. i speak to you this morning in an hour of anguish for a nation. just before 9 p.m. last night, an american airlines regional jet carrying 60 passengers and four crew collided with an army blackhawk helicopter carrying three military service members over the potomac river in washington, dc. while on final approach to reagan national airport. both aircraft crashed instantly and were immediately submerged into the icy waters of the potomac. real tragedy. the massive search and rescue mission was underway throughout

the night, leveraging every asset at our disposal. and i have to say, the local, state and federal military, including the united states coast guard in particular, they've done a phenomenal job so quick, so fast. it was it was mobilized immediately. the work has now shifted to a recovery mission. sadly, there are no survivors. this was a dark and excruciating night in our nation's capital and in our nation's history, and a tragedy of terrible proportions. as one nation, we grieve for every precious soul that has been taken from us so suddenly. and we are a country of really, we are in mourning. this is really shaken. a lot of people, including people very sadly, from other nations who were on the flight for the family members back in wichita,

kansas, here in washington, dc, and throughout the united states and in russia, where we have a russia contingent. some very talented people, unfortunately, were on that plane very, very, very sorry about that. whose loved ones were aboard the passenger jet? we can only begin to imagine the agony that you are all feeling. nothing worse. on behalf of the first lady, myself and 340 million americans, our hearts are shattered alongside yours. and our prayers are with you now and in the days to come. we'll be working very, very diligently in the days to come. we're here for you to wipe away the tears and to offer you our devotion, our love and our support. his great support. in moments like this, the differences between americans fade to nothing compared to the bonds of affection and loyalty that unite us all, both as americans and even as nations. we are one family and today we are all

heartbroken. we're all searching for answers. that icy, icy potomac was a cold, cold night. cold water. we're all overcome with the grief for many who have so tragically perished will no longer be with us. together, we take solace in the knowledge that their journey ended not in the cold waters of the potomac, but in the warm embrace of a loving god. we do not know what led to this crash, but we have some very strong opinions and ideas, and i think we'll probably state those opinions now, because over the years i've watched as things like this happen and they say, well, we're always investigating. and then the investigation three years later, they announce it. we think we have some pretty good ideas, but we'll find out how this disaster occurred and we'll ensure that nothing like this ever happens again. the faa and the ntsb and the us military will be carrying out a

systematic and comprehensive investigation. our new secretary of transportation, sean duffy, his second day on the job when that happened. it's a rough one. we'll be working tirelessly. he's a great gentleman, a whole group. these are great people. and they are working tirelessly to figure out exactly what happened. we will state certain opinions. however, i'm also immediately appointing an acting commissioner to the faa. christopher rocheleau, a 22 year veteran of the agency, highly respected. christopher, thank you very much. appreciate it. we must have only the highest standards for those who work in our aviation system. i changed the obama standards from very mediocre at best to extraordinary. you remember that only the highest aptitude you have to be the highest intellect. and psychologically

superior people were allowed to qualify for air traffic controllers. that was not so prior to getting there. when i arrived in 2016, i made that change very early on because i always felt this was a job. that and other jobs too. but this was a job that had to be superior intelligence, and we didn't really have that. and we had it. and then when i left office and biden took over, he changed them back to lower than ever before. i put safety first. obama, biden and the democrats put policy first, and they put politics at a level that nobody's ever seen, because this was the lowest level. their policy was horrible and their politics was even worse. so, as you know, last week, long before the crash, i signed an executive order

restoring our highest standards for air traffic controllers and other important jobs throughout the country. so it was very interesting. about a week ago, almost upon entering office, i signed something last week that was an executive order, very powerful on restoring the highest standards of air traffic controllers and others. by the way, then my administration will set the highest possible bar for aviation safety. we have to have our smartest people. it doesn't matter what they look like, how they speak, who they are. it matters. intellect, talent, the word talent. you have to be talented, naturally talented geniuses. you can't have regular people doing that job. they won't be able to do it. but we'll restore faith in american air travel. i'll have more to say about that. i do want to point out that various articles that appeared prior to my entering office, and here's one.

the faa's diversity push includes focus on hiring people with severe intellectual and psychiatric disabilities. that is amazing. and then it says, faa says people with severe disabilities are most underrepresented segment of the workforce, and they want them in and they want them. they can be air traffic controllers. i don't think so. this was a in january 14th. so that was a week before i entered office. they put a big push to put diversity into the faa's program. then another article, the federal aviation administration. this was before i got to office recently. second term. the faa is actively recruiting workers who suffer severe intellectual disabilities, psychiatric problems, and other mental and

physical conditions under a diversity and inclusion hiring initiative spelled out on the agency's website. can you imagine? these are people that are. i mean, actually their lives are shortened because of the stress that they have. brilliant. people have to be in those positions and their lives are actually shortened, very substantially shortened because of the stress where you have many, many planes coming into one target and you need a very special talent and a very special genius to be able to do it. targeted disabilities are those disabilities that the federal government, as a matter of policy, has identified for special emphasis in recruitment and hiring, the faa's website states. they include hearing, vision, missing extremities, partial paralysis, complete paralysis, epilepsy, severe intellectual disability, psychiatric disability, and dwarfism. all qualify for the

position of a controller of airplanes pouring into our country, pouring into a little spot, a little dot on the map, little runway. the. the initiative is part of the faa's diversity and inclusion hiring plan. think of that. the initiative is part of the faa's diversity and inclusion hiring plan, which says diversity is integral to achieving faa's mission of ensuring safe and efficient travel. i don't think so. i don't think so. i think it's just the opposite. the faa website shows that the agency's guidance on diversity hiring were last updated on march 23rd of 22. they wanted to make it even more so. and then i came in and i assumed maybe this is the reason the faa, which is overseen by secretary pete buttigieg, a real winner. that's the guy who's a real winner. do you know how badly everything's run since he's run the

department of transportation? he's a disaster. he was a disaster as a mayor. he ran his city into the ground, and he's a disaster now. he's just got a good line of. the department of transportation, his government agency charged with regulating civil aviation while he runs it, 45,000 people. and he's run it right into the ground with his diversity. so i had to say that it's terrible. then it's a group within the faa. another story determined that the workforce was too white, that they had concerted efforts to get the administration to change that and to change it immediately. this was in the obama administration, just prior to my getting there, and we took care of african americans, hispanic americans. we took care of everybody at levels that nobody's ever seen before. it's

one of the reasons i won, but they actually came out with a directive to white, and we want the people that are competent. but now we mourn and we pray, and we'd like to ask all americans to join me in a moment of silence as we ask god to watch over those who have lost their lives and bring comfort to the loved ones. and i just want to say, god bless everyone in this room. this has been a terrible, very short period of time. we'll get to the bottom of it. so we all saw the same thing. we've seen it many times. i've had the honor of hearing tapes. tapes are scary, very scary tapes. you had a airliner coming in american airlines. he was doing everything right. he was on track. he was the same track as everybody else. they came in and it's probably the same track as they've had for 25 years or more. he's coming in

the path, and for some reason he had a helicopter that was at the same height, obviously when they hit, but pretty much the same height and going at an angle that was unbelievably bad. when the air traffic controller said, do you see, you know, he's talking about do you see him? but there was very little time left when that was stated. and then also he said, follow him in. and then almost immediately after that, you know, seconds after that, there was the crash that took place. well, you follow him in that means like, everything's fine, follow him in. you had a pilot problem from the standpoint of the helicopter. i mean, because it was visual, it was very clear night. it was cold, but clear and clear as you could be. the

american airlines plane had lights blazing. they had all their landing lights on. i could see it from the kennedy center tape. we had a tape up on the kennedy center. that seems to be the primary thus far. i'm sure we'll see other tapes because it's such a an area where there are a lot of cameras, a lot of cameras looking up into the air, into space. so we'll probably see many other shots of it before too much time goes by. but we had a situation where you had a helicopter that had the ability to stop. i have helicopters, you can stop a helicopter very quickly. it had the ability to go up or down. it had the ability to turn, and the turn it made was not the correct turn, obviously. and it did somewhat the opposite of what it was told. we don't know that that would have been the difference because the timing was so tight. it was so it was so little. there was so little

time to think. but what you did have is you had vision. the helicopter had vision of the plane because you had vision of it all the way. perfect vision of it all the way from at kennedy center, where the tape was taken. and for some reason, there weren't adjustments made. again, you could have slowed down the helicopter substantially. you could have stopped the helicopter, you could have gone up, you could have gone down. you could have gone straight up, straight down. you could have turned. you could have done a million different maneuvers. for some reason, it just kept going and then made a slight turn at the very end. and it was by that time it was too late. they shouldn't have been at the same height, because if it wasn't the same height, you could have gone under it or over it, and nobody realized or they didn't say that it's at the same height, at the same height, it would still wouldn't have been great, but you would have missed it by quite a bit. it could have

been 1000ft higher. it could have been 200ft lower, but it was exactly at the same height. and somebody should have been able to point that out. so all of this is going to be studied, but it just seems to me from a couple of words that i like to use the words common sense. some really bad things happened and some things happened that shouldn't have happened. so you had a helicopter going in identical direction. you had a helicopter that was at the exact same height as somebody going in essentially the opposite direction. you had a plane that was following a track, which is a track that every other plane followed. and i don't imagine i know i've heard today that they might have been following the preceding plane, which was pretty close, but not that close the preceding plane. but you wouldn't have even been able to see that because of the direction that the helicopter was coming in at. so you had a confluence of bad decisions that

were made, and you have people that lost their lives, violently lost their lives. we're going to take a few questions i'd like to ask our new secretary of transportation to say a few words. sean duffy, a great gentleman, just started. it's not your fault, and i know you agree with me very strongly on intellect and even psychological well-being of the air traffic controllers. such an important position, and i think i can't emphasize stronger. i changed it when i first ran in 2016, i changed it. we had the highest standard that you could have, and then they changed it back. that was biden to a standard. you just i read it to you. that was from one of your papers. one of the people in this room actually wrote that. and then i changed it back a few days ago.

and unfortunately, that was we'll see. we don't know that necessarily. it's even the controller's fault. but one thing we do know, there was a lot of vision, and people should have been able to see that, you know, at what point do you stop? at what point do you say, wow, that plane is getting a little bit close? so this is a tragedy that should not have happened. please. >> thank you, mr. president. and i would just note the president's leadership has been remarkable during this crisis. we have had a whole of government response local, state, federal. and when you see that kind of cooperation, it begins with the leadership in this body. so thank you for that, mr. president. you make our jobs a lot easier. you made an important point that when we deal with safety, we can only accept the best and the brightest in positions of safety that impact the lives of our

loved ones, our family members. and i think you make a really important point on that, mr. president. that is the motto of your presidency. the best and the brightest, the most intelligent coming into these spaces. i want to take a moment and extend my condolences to the families of the loved ones. we commit to them that we are going to get to the bottom of this investigation. not in three years, not in four years, but as quickly as possible with the ntsb, who is here today as well as the faa. what happened yesterday shouldn't have happened. it should not have happened. and when americans take off in airplanes, they should expect to land at their destination. that didn't happen yesterday. that's unacceptable. and so we will not accept excuses. we will not accept passing the buck. we are going to take responsibility. responsibility at the department of transportation and the faa to make sure we have the reforms that have been dictated by president trump in place to make

sure that these mistakes do not happen again and again. i want to thank you for your leadership, mr. president, and i appreciate the confidence you placed in me. thank you, thank you. >> pete, would you like to say. >> something, please? well, thank you, mr. president. >> again. >> i want. >> to echo. >> what the transportation secretary said about about your leadership. from the moment we found out about this, we were in contact with the white house trying to determine exactly what happened. i would echo as well. no excuses. we're going to get to the bottom of this. we first and foremost from the defense department, want to pass our condolences to the 64 souls and their families that were affected by this never should happen. and certainly the three service members, the three soldiers, a young captain, staff sergeant and the. cw two chief warrant officer on a routine. >> annual retraining. >> of night flights on a standard corridor for a

continuity of government mission. the military does dangerous things. it does routine things on a regular basis. tragically, last night a mistake was made and i think the president is right. there was some some sort of an elevation issue that we have immediately begun investigating at the dod and army level. army cid is on the ground investigating top tier aviation assets inside the dod are investigating, sir, to get to the bottom of it so that it does not happen again because it's absolutely unacceptable. but i want. >> to echo. >> what the transportation secretary and you, mr. president, said, because it pertains to the dod as well, we will have the best and brightest in every position possible. as you said in your inaugural, it is color blind and merit based, the best leaders possible, whether it's flying blackhawks and flying airplanes, leading platoons or in government. the era of die is gone at the defense department and we need

the best and brightest, whether it's in our air traffic control or whether it's in our generals. >> or whether. >> it's throughout government. so thank you for your leadership and courage on that, sir, and we'll stand by you. >> on it. >> thank you. >> very much. >> jd, please. >> well, thank you, mr. president, for your leadership. >> i just want. >> to reemphasize something the president. >> said, and you've heard from the secretary of transportation. >> and of defense, there really was a. >> whole of government response. we were all on the phone. we were all communicating. >> yesterday trying to. >> get to the bottom of this. >> immediately. >> but also. >> try to. >> communicate with the american. >> people about. >> what happened. something the president. >> said that i. >> think bears. >> re-emphasizing. >> which is that. >> when you don't have. >> the. best standards. in who you're hiring. >> it means on the one. >> hand, you're not getting the best people. >> in. >> government. >> but on. >> the other. >> hand, it. puts stresses on. >> the people who are already there. and i think that is a core part of what. >> president trump is. >> going to bring. >> and has already brought. to washington, dc, is we. >> want to hire. >> the best. >> people because. >> we. >> want the best people at air traffic control. and we want to

make sure we have enough people. >> at. >> air traffic control who are. >> actually competent. >> to do the job. if you. >> go back to just. >> some of the. >> headlines over the past ten years, you have many hundreds of people suing the government. >> because they would like to. >> be air traffic controllers, but they were turned away because of the color. of their skin. >> that policy ends under donald trump's. >> leadership, because safety is the first priority of our aviation industry. >> thank you, mr. president. thank you mr. >> mr. president mr. president on the on die and the claims that you've. made are. >> you saying this crash was somehow caused. >> and the result. >> of diversity. >> hiring? and what. >> evidence have you seen. >> to support these claims? >> it just could have been we have a high standard. we've had a higher, much higher standard than anybody else. and there are things where you have to go by brainpower. you have to go by psychological quality. and psychological quality is a very important element of it. these are various very powerful tests that we put to use. and they were terminated by biden. and biden went by a standard that's the exact opposite. so we don't

know. but we do know that you had two planes at the same level. you had a helicopter and a plane that shouldn't have happened. and we'll see. we're going to look into that and we're going to see. but certainly for an air traffic controller, we want the brightest, the smartest, the sharpest. we want somebody that's psychologically superior. and that's what we're going to have here. >> president. >> yeah. please go ahead. >> you mentioned at the top of the briefing that there were several. >> russian nationals. >> on the flight. >> yes. >> will the us government be. >> willing to. >> to facilitate the. >> transfer of their remains. >> considering the. >> fact that there is no. >> direct air. >> travel between the two countries? >> we've already been in contact with russia. and the answer is yes. we will facilitate. yes. >> please go ahead. >> thank you, mr. president. the situation in the democratic republic. >> of the congo. >> is getting worse. >> even though president john lorenzo has been mediating the

conflict. >> between rwanda. and the. >> democratic republic of the congo because he wants to bring peace and stability, the situation is really bad right now. i want to hear from mr. president, if you have any plan in the future to bring. >> peace in the democratic. >> republic about rwanda, and it is a very serious problem. i agree, but i don't think it's appropriate right now to talk about it. but it is a very serious problem. >> mr. president. >> yet know. >> the names of the 67 people who were killed. and you are blaming democrats and die policies and air traffic control, and seemingly the member of the u.s. military who was flying that black hawk helicopter, don't you think you're getting ahead of the investigation right now? >> no. >> i don't think so at all. i don't think where the names of the people. you mean the names of the people that are on the plane. you think that's going to make a difference? >> they come for. >> their families. they are a group of people that have lost their lives. if you want a list of the names we can give you that we'll be giving that very soon. we're in coordination with american airlines. we're in coordination very strongly, obviously with the military. but

i think that's not a very smart question. but are you surprised coming from you? >> are you blaming. >> please, please. >> thank you, president trump. >> thank you for being here. based on your analysis so far, do you have a sense of who is at fault? if it was the plane, the helicopter, air traffic control? and can you assure people that it is safe to fly. >> in and out of d.c? >> well, i've given you the analysis, and the analysis was it was based on vision. you had a lot of people that saw what was happening. you had some people that knew what was happening. there was some warnings, but the warnings were given very, very late. you know, those warnings were given very late. it was almost as they were given a few seconds later, there was a crash. it should have been brought up earlier. but the people in the helicopter should have seen whether we're going. i can't imagine people with 2020 vision not seeing, you know, what's happening up there.

again, they shouldn't have been at the same height. you're going in in reverse directions or sideway directions. obviously you want to be at different heights. i see it all the time when i'm flying, i you have planes going in the opposite. they're always lower, we're higher, or they're. so if somehow there's a screw up, there's not going to be a tragedy. it'll be close. but you know, there's never going to be a tragedy if you're at a different elevation. for whatever reason, they were at the same elevation. and also from the american airlines standard. he's along the track that every plane is along. you say, what was the helicopter doing in that track? it's very sad, but visually, somebody should have been able to see and taken that helicopter out of play, and they should have been at a different height. >> thank you. >> thank you sir. >> you mentioned. >> the russians that were. >> on. >> board that plane. >> what other nationalities. >> were on board. >> that passenger? >> there were a couple of others. we're going to be announcing it in about an hour.

we have some very specific information. we're calling the countries. we've spoken to most of them, but there were some other countries represented. >> i've spoken to president putin. >> i have not. >> no. >> mr. president. >> not about this. >> executive order. you've already issued an. >> executive order. you say. >> we'll restore. >> aviation safety, right? >> this crash happened after that. was the executive order successful? and what more needs to change? >> if people. >> say. >> well, you know, we issued it three days ago and we were we're in the process of making those changes. this is this is something that should have been done a long time ago. actually, my original order should have never been changed. and i think maybe you wouldn't have had this problem. maybe. yeah. >> please go ahead. thank you. we see, like, everyday. >> life, that's. >> very often the. >> those diversity hires. >> because sometimes. >> issues as you just mentioned. >> so what's the plan do you have. are we going. >> to see. >> some fire. are you going to fire. some of those diversity hire in the. >> federal government. what's

what's the plan do. >> you have? >> i would say the answer is yes. if we find that people aren't mentally competent. you you see the language, the language is put out by them. and if you see that i'm not going to bore you by reading it again. but these are not people that should be doing this particular job. they'd be very good for certain jobs, but not people that should be doing this particular job. >> thank you. >> mr. president. >> you have. >> today blamed. >> the diversity. >> elements. >> but then told us. >> that you weren't sure that the controllers. >> made any mistake. he then. said perhaps the helicopter. >> pilots were the ones. >> who made the mistake. >> it's all under investigation. >> i understand that. that's why i'm trying to figure out how. >> you can come to the conclusion right now that. diversity had something to do with this. >> crash. >> because i have common sense, okay. and unfortunately, a lot of people don't. we want brilliant people doing this. this is a major chess game at the highest level. when you have

60 planes coming in during a short period of time, and they're all coming in different directions, and you're dealing with very high level computer, computer work and very complex computers. and one of the other things i will tell you is that the systems that were built, i was going to rebuild the entire system, and then we had an election that didn't turn out the way it should have, but they didn't build the systems properly. they spent a lot of money renovating a system, spending much more money than they would have spent if they bought a new system for air traffic controllers, meaning the computerized systems. there are certain companies that do a very good job. they didn't use those companies. they used companies that should not have been doing it. no, i think i think this i think it's very important to understand that for some jobs and not only this, but air traffic controllers, they have to be at the highest level of genius. okay. >> i want to. >> i want to ask you about the

ice skaters in a moment because the us ice skating community was affected. but first, if i can, the cited faa text that you read is real. but the implication that this policy is new, or that it stems from efforts that began under president biden or the transportation secretary, pete buttigieg, is demonstrably false. it's been on the faa website. you know, it's on the website, the faa's website. it was there in 2013. it was there for the entirety. >> what i. >> read. >> it was there for the entirety of your administration, too. so my question is, why didn't you change the policy during your first administration? >> they did change it. i changed the obama policy, and we had a very good policy. and then biden came in and he changed it. and then when i came in two days, three days ago, i signed a new order, bringing it to the highest level of intelligence. okay, it's. >> on the. >> website, please. >> thank you. >> welcome back. >> to the. >> i'm sorry. >> you mentioned that a vision was the probably the problem that was at issue in this crash. there's been some reports that one of the pilots and the helicopter may have been using night vision equipment. >> was there any. >> we don't know. we're going to

know that pretty soon. it may change your view plane if you do have the night vision. so it's very possible that could have happened. that would be that would be maybe a reason why you wouldn't actually see as well as on a clear night. you can see sometimes better without it. i had a couple of more. >> mr. president. >> newsmax. >> is it. >> helpful. >> to have your secretary of transportation confirmed, and does this intensify your interest in getting other nominees confirmed quickly? >> is it helpful. >> to have your secretary of transportation confirmed? and does this intensify your interest in getting other nominees confirmed quickly as well? >> well, sure. >> we want fast confirmations. and the democrats, as you know, are doing everything they can to delay them. they've taken too long. we're we're struggling to get very good people that everybody knows are going to be confirmed, but we're struggling to get them out faster. we want them out faster. it's a good question actually. we we've been pushing sean. everyone knows

sean for a long time. he got many, many democrat votes, but they want to take as long as they can. they ask questions like some of the questions that peter would ask that were totally irrelevant and not very good questions, but they want to just keep it going. they want to keep it going as long as possible. i was very honored, actually, that you got so many democrat votes. that was really good. that was really good. >> but now. >> you play. >> to win. i plan to meet. >> with the families. >> and the second question, is it your impression that military training was done during that time? >> is that. >> what the training that the helicopter was involved in? is it anything you can tell us about. >> you don't know? these are the things that will come up with the investigation. you don't know. but the helicopter obviously was in the wrong place at the wrong time and a tragedy occurred. please. >> i've got a. >> question about the. >> oh. >> go ahead please. thank you, mr. president. >> you've been critical. >> of the current regulations. >> and you've. >> called for big reforms.

>> at faa. >> i'm curious, sir, what. >> made the reforms? >> what is. >> your message? >> three days ago. >> i made it. yes, sir. what is your message, then to the american public in the weeks and months ahead, should they. feel hesitant. >> to fly? >> and if you could clarify, perhaps something that the defense. >> secretary said. >> when he said that this. >> helicopter was. >> on a continuity of government mission? >> i don't know what that what that refers to, but they were practicing. they were they do that. they call it practicing and they were. and that's something that should be done. it's only continuity in the sense that we want to have very good people, and that has to be in continuity, and that's what they refer to. but it was basically practice, and it was a practice that worked out very, very badly. >> okay. >> talking about flying. >> on his question, the first question, should people be hesitant to fly. >> right now? >> no, not at all. i'm not

hesitate to fly. i this is something that it's been many years that something like this has happened and the collision is just something that we don't expect ever to happen again. we are going to have the highest level people. we've already hired some of the people that you've already hired for that position long before we knew about this. i mean, long before, from the time i came in, we started going out and getting the best people because i said, it's not it's not appropriate what they're doing. i think it's a tremendous mistake. you know, they like to do things and they like to take them too far. and this is sometimes what ends up happening. now, with that, i'm not blaming the controller. i'm saying there are things that you could question, like the height of the helicopter and the height of the plane being at the same level and going in opposite directions. it's not a positive, but now we're already hiring. people know flying is very safe. we have the safest flying anywhere in the world and we'll keep it that way. thank you all very much. thank you very much.

>> appreciate. >> supplies. the air. >> traffic controller. >> under the i. >> i don't know where to start, but let's start with remembering that 67 people lost their lives last night. and you're seeing on your screen that image of the rescue operations that are still underway at the potomac. i want to go to aaron gilchrist, who is with us, as is nbc aviation analyst jeff guzzetti. aaron, after a moment of silence, a mountain of criticism. i mean. >> i think that's an absolutely fair way to put it, jose, you and i have covered many instances. i've been in

washington since since the first obama administration, through these different presidents that have been here. and this is the first time after a tragedy where 67 lives were presumed to have been lost, that we've had a president come to the podium, offer words of condolence, and then criticize. it. seemingly, the pilots and the helicopter, the air traffic controllers, just it is it is remarkable. it is absolutely unusual and remarkable to have the president say, as he did, that he believes this was a confluence of bad decisions, that he was critical of the helicopters movements. you heard the secretary of defense say that there was certainly an elevation issue, that with the helicopter, the president went on to say that to suggest that dei policies and programs from the previous administration somehow played a role in in this, to the extent

that perhaps the people who were operating these aircraft or people in the control tower weren't smart enough to be doing the job. he did say that this is a country in mourning, and certainly that is the case for so many of us as we know now, that 67 lives have likely been lost in this air collision. >> yeah. and i. would like to once again underline that our thoughts, our prayers are for the 67 people that lost their lives, for their families and what they are going through right now. jeff, meanwhile, there. >> is an. >> investigation just underway. what are the standards for investigations underway after something like this? >> well, jose, you know, i've been an investigator for 35 years investigating aircraft accidents. and when you talk about standards, what we just saw does not meet the published international standards of providing information in the

wake of an accident. i'm not trying to be political here, but the information that came out were, were, were it was not accurate. it undermined the honesty of the investigation. and i've never seen something like this where a government official circumvented the time honored tradition of aircraft accident investigation. and, you know, just personally, i think it's appalling that these comments, political comments were being made in the wake of a tragedy like this. >> aaron gilchrist and jeff guzzetti, thank you both so very much. that wraps up the hour for me. i'm jose diaz-balart. ana cabrera picks up more coverage right now. >> hello, i'm ana cabrera in for andrea mitchell, who is on assignment. and we begin with that breaking news, the massive recovery. mission underway after last night's horrific midair crash over the potomac river. it is believed there are no survivors after an army blackhawk