>> because the faa protects airlines. >> o'brien: the faa's response to valujet exposed an inherent conflicte agency's original mandate. >> the federal aviation act of 1958 gave the faa two primary missions-- one, safety; two, promote aviation, in no particular order. >> o'brien: after the valujet crash, congress, under public pressure, removed promotion from the faa mandate. but a closer look at the legislation tells a different story. >> there's a footnote in that d?:#:m the footnote says, "although we're changing the terminology from 'promote' to 'encourage,' we do not intend to change the way we do business. this is a change for the public consumption, and we're not changing how we work at the faa." it was simply a sleight of hand. >> o'brien: nick sabatini worked inside the faa for 30 years, and was the head of aviation safety from 2001 through 2008. >> i never did see that there was a conflict. i could easily compartmentalize. if i'm encouraging you to do better, i'm not encouraging you to necessarily grow your business, in terms of promoting aviation. the promotion was promoting aviat

let me ask you to grade the faa.sitive things, some negative things come of challenges. what grade would you give the faa at this point on the call to action? >> on the call to action as her statement makes clear, we would give it with mixed success. if you were to press me for an actual grade and i resist that inherent in the past. i would have to tell you, sir, that i would read it incomplete. i certainly wouldn't grade it pass fail at this point because of mr. babbitt has the knowledge, very much needs to be done. i wouldn't grade in a comedy, or a thief. i do want to acknowledge that faa under mr. babbitt's leadership has signaled an intent to engage on two of the most important initiatives having to do with the teat and the rulemaking have to do is crew training. i'm petite, sir, were in a fix as pointed out in your speech based on medical science that is even older than not. san saba was issued, much medical research has been done by faa itself and by nasa at the request of the congress and funded accordingly.

bayfield one in the military into in front of the faa and to into in front of the faa and to warrantto be able to put light on. >> thank you. the focus strickland pilots? >> these bills, yes maam. it is focused on pilot hiring. >> because the other crewmembers >> because the other crewmembers should have some training well. mr. scovell, you made your statement that you cannot regulate professionalism and you regulate professionalism and you are exactly right, but action if any can faa and the industry take to address the key safety concerns? >> ms. johnson, thank you. i think my statement and my oral statement was we cannot mandate professionalism. mine reinstatements says regulate. to draw that distinction more finally i think that certain key aspects of professional behavior can be regulated and on occasion should be. mr. babbitt has outlined a voluntary approach and consensus building approach to enhance professionalism across the aviation industry theroux pilots and we certainly endorse that. we would urge the agency as well, when significant safety problems are identified, in th

let me ask you to grade the faa. positive things, some negative things come of challenges. what grade would you give the faa at this point on the call to action? >> on the call to action as her statement makes clear, we would give it with mixed success. if you were to press me for an actual grade and i resist that inherent in the past. i would have to tell you, sir, that i would read it incomplete. i certainly wouldn't grade it pass fail at this point because of mr. babbitt has the knowledge, very much needs to be done. i wouldn't grade in a comedy, or a thief. i do want to acknowledge that faa under mr. babbitt's leadership has signaled an intent to engage on two of the most important initiatives having to do with the teat and the rulemaking have to do is crew training. i'm petite, sir, were in a fix as pointed out in your speech based on medical science that is even older than not. san saba was issued, much medical research has been done by faa itself and by nasa at the request of the congress and funded accordingl

so, the faa has taken a bit of hands-off approach, and in deference to the faa, they only have 3,600ctors to cover the world. for example, in china alone there are over 100 repair stations. and so they have to cover the world with a very small workforce, so they allow the carriers to self-report. and if the carriers turn themselves in, then they don't get a work action. but what has happened is they have now farmed out so much of the maintenance that quality control has really suffered, and no one can really police it, because a lot of it is simply outside the united states. >> well, let's put on the screen here a response from the faa, and gary, i'm going to bring you back in after we read this statement here, but the faa says u.s. airlines regard safety as their highest responsibility. the maintenance programs reflect that commitment to safety. now, after your reporting, gary, do you have a problem with that statement? >> well, i believe airlines do want to have safe flights. no one wants to have flights that have problems. however, these problems just keep recurring. the inspector

>> reporter: well, here is the faa logic from the spokesman from the faa. but do not mandate the use of child safety devices on airplanes because of the increased safety risk to families who, if forced to purchase an extra airline ticket, might choose to drive. the risk, they say, is significantly greater in automobiles than airplanes and, jon, the faa falls under the purview of the secretary of transportation, ray lahood, who just this week at the toyota hearing said safety is his number one issue. there is a lot of talk these days at the dot about distracted driver. jon: thanks, brian. jane: what will happen to the efforts to overhaul your health care? will the democrats go it alone and try to get their reforms passed without the republicans? so many arthritis pain relievers -- i just want fewer pills and relief that lasts all day. take 2 extra strength tylenol every 4 to 6 hours?!? taking 8 pills a day... and if i take it for 10 days -- that's 80 pills. just 2 aleve can last all day. perfect. choose aleve and you can be taking four times... fewer pills t

and most people in the industry seem to forget that the faa rules are a minimum standard.hey're not the highest standard. the airlines have promised us that fly to the highest standards possible, but often times we fly they just fly to the minimum faa rules. jon: not exactly reassuring words there. a former ntsb board member. john, thank you. jane: we're watching today as support is growing on capitol hill to cut funding for the 9/11 terror trials in civilian court. is it possible that these suspects could be tried ultimately back at guantanamo bay? >> try them as common criminals giving them the constitutional rights of american citizens in our courts is justice according to alice in wonderland. settlemt or annuity over 10 or even 20 years? call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today. one pack. 6 days. that's elations. new elations. clinically proven to improve joint comfort... in as little as six days. drinking it every day keeps it working. elations has clinically proven levels... of gluco

faa proposals would come out but could take years to implement those rules. it is slow, diane. >> let me ask you this. are they saying commuter airlines are a lot less safe than other airlines? >> reporter: under the regulations there is truly one level of safety. but i think this accident showed when it comes to commuters in certain weather conditions, there are concerns and that's what the board addressed today. >> in certain weather condition, you mean ice, storms? >> i mean conditions that are challenging for the pilots and they may not be well enough trained to handle. >> thanks to you, lisa stark. >>> "on the money" tonight one u.s. auto maker celebrating a big day. ford sales soared 25% over one year ago and in port, ford's triumph is toyota's pain. toyota was down nearly 16% and here's chris bury. for forward dealers. recession may be in the year. woo have a lot of customers intent on prping it now in the future. >> reporter: in january, customers so scarce last year, came roaring back, led by a surge in smaller cars. >> that really shows people of sw

the faa is pushing for a new law in that regard. >> besides that, what else is the faa doing in light of all of this? >> reporter: well, they have had a committee looking into the issue of pilot fatigue. remember the pilot had been seen, the captain had been seen napping in the crew lounge at newark airport before the takeoff. that was against protocol. and the co-pilot had actually flown overnight from seattle, had a cold, so this issue of pilot fatigue is very much at the top of the agenda and the faa says it will be coming out with new recommendations come this spring on that very critical issue as well. >> good information today. allan, as always, we appreciate it. thank you. >>> so flying through heathrow today. smile, you could be on a very candid camera. yep, europe's busiest airport is using those body scanners that you've heard so much about and they can see through clothes, making it easier to spot anything hidden. this is a security guard testing the system. now, not everyone will be scanned. only those who raise suspicion. and they will be able to see everything. >>> some

first officer rebecca shaw was texting from the cockpit just before take-off, a violation of faa rules. during much of the hour-long flight from newark, shaw and captain renslow were talking about personal matters, not the flight. >> it was if the flight was just a means for the captain to conduct a conversation with this young first officer. >> reporter: as the plane approached buffalo, the crew failed to notice their air speed had dropped. when cockpit warnings went off, captain renslow who failed multiple faa tests and check rides did exactly the wrong thing, and pulled the nose up causing the plane to stall and crash. at headquarters today, family and friends were read in remembrance of the 50 people who died. among them, kevin johnston's family. >> there is a lot of anger and frustration that this has gone on, that they were so incompetent up there. >> reporter: among the ntsb's findings, crew fatigue, a lack of training, lack of professionalism and maturity, a lack of experience and basic skills all contributed to the crash. >> unfortunately, it's taken 50 more lives for us to fo

i met with the faa, they come and do their walk throughs. don't think -- i think it's going to have to be at the hands of the xwean themselvess to tighten up the reigns. i don't think there's enough eyes on what's going on. >> let me ask you a different way, would you put your family on a plane? >> i would not. >> really? >> i would like to go to hawaii, but unless i can do it by canoe, it ain't happening. >> i'm going to say thank you. i'm a little nervous. i know you are unemployed. hope you find a job. >> thank you. >> thanks, robert. let me show you facebook comments. >> oh, dear. monica says -- >> i guess she means one that's not safe. michael said -- >> all right. do you feel safe when you fly? we want to keep this conversation going on facebook. go to hln and leave your comment. respond to one of the pilots of what robert the mechanic had to say. oh, dear. police say it was a borderline ri riot. that happened. you can see the basketball court, if you can make that out. a high school rivalry got out of hand. >>> wow. police were actual

the faa's under pressure to do that. congress may be able to do it quicker.more training, more in-depth training for these regional pilots, more monitoring. meanwhile, ed, the ntsb will hold another hearing, this one looking into the relationship between these big carriers and the small regional ca aa aal cat fly these kosher flights. >>> tonight in our telephone survey, i asked you do you believe we should spend $30 billion in leftover t.a.r.p. money to create jobs. 93% of you watching tonight responded, said yes. 7% said no. why doesn't congress get the message that it's about fairness? >>> a reminder that the national association of free clinics will be in hartford, connecticut tomorrow. health care will be provided to anyone who is uninsured. we'll be broadcasting live from that clinic. >>> and to volunteer, you can make an appointment or contribution. go to ed.msnbc.com. of course, we'll be broadcasting, i'll be doing cut-ins all day long tomorrow here on msnbc and i'll do "the ed show" from that facility tomorrow night at 6:00 eastern time. >>> it will

. >> cnn obtained radar images from the faa.nver's affiliate, kmgh. on that busy day, a line of planes approaching denver's airport was over a fixed position on the ground, and then funnelled to something like a highway in the sky. that fixed position and that highway route are both named sage. an airline's flight, code named brickyard, was heading in that line. after he questioned the controller's guidance, the pilot proceeded, making something close to a u-turn right toward the oncoming traffic and narrowly flew behind one of the planes in line. as he veered, the controller caught the error and scrambled. >>. >> faa officials tell us the republic airlines plane missed one of the planes in line by less than two miles and had descended 250 feet below it. i asked commercial pilot mark weiss just how close that was. >> the plane in orange is the one that is directed to fly to the fixed point. he crosses paths with the other two planes, essentially, flying behind one and just ahead of another. almost the same altitude, a little les

it could take a series for the faa and maryland state police to determine the cause -- it could take days for them to determine the cause. >> also, a deadly car crash where one man was killed, a second rest to the hospital in anne arundel. an amtrak train should down for nearly three hours. it was just after 6:00 p.m. on saturday morning. the driver lost control, hit the guard rail, and fell 40 feet off the overpass. the passenger was pronounced dead the scene and the driver went to shock trauma with life- threatening injuries. >> the vehicle was on its route. we had to extricate the patient from the vehicle. >> state police say that this was one of several accidents in anne arundel and howard counties, believing that icy conditions played a role. >> to get ready for a possible third outbreak of the h1n1 county health officials held their second super saturday clinic. the mobile clinic hit 16 committees offering free flu shots to residents. the also free rides to the clinic locations. for more information on the next super saturday, check out wbaltv.com and click on medical alert. >>

the faa and following 9/11 the tsa have sponsored numerous nrc studies on various aspects of aviationer on the earlier reports in particular the discussions related to implementation issues associated with new technologies. the 1996nrc report on airline passenger security screening described not only the technical advances in security screening but also more practical side of that screening. it is important to understand that no technology no matter how promising will work unless it can be successfully implemented within the aviation security infrastructure. to this end the committee addressed both the legal issues associated with passenger screening and the more difficult to quantify public acceptance. and although the report was written prior to 9/11 it is my opinion that the committee's message that it is important to assess the public's reaction to and acceptance of screening technologies remains relevant. the committee reached its conclusions and developed its recommendations based on briefings from the faa and other government entities on their security screening approaches and

in 1980 he retired from the faa and received the service award.of the tuskegee airmen, inc. east coast chapter. he was the national president from 1976 to 1977. mr. broadwater. [applause] >> dr. alan gropman is on the national security policy at the industrial college of the armed forces. previously, he was chairman on the department of grand strategy and globalization of icaf, which is the international -- and assure college of the armed forces. dr. gropman was an analyst and program manager for the sicon corp. and an adjunct professor at the national war college. in 1986, he retired from the u.s. air force after 27 years of service. he served as deputy director of air force plans for planning integration at the u.s. air force headquarters where he supervised air force long-range planning and air force basic doctrine and input into national military strategy documents. from 1981 to 1983, he taught at the national war college and served as part of the faculty. dr. gropman is the author of many books including "the air force integrates, 1945-1964."

the head of the faa has put out a call to action.g, they have had a committee looking into this issue of fatigue because it is a problem for every airline and pilots tell us they're all fighting fatigue. but so far at least in regards to fatigue, nothing has actually been put into place, concrete steps, to require that people get more rest, but there are a lot of ideas on the table and everybody is very much aware of this very issue. >> all right, we'll be following it with you, thanks so much. >>> no scan, no fly. that's the rule at london's heathrow airport. new body scannes are in place at gates, the one that say can see through your clothes. it's the response the christmas day attack in detroit. not everyone will have to go through scanners but if you're picked and you say no, well, you don't get to fly. >>> new marching orders for the u.s. military. today on capitol hill defense secretary robert gates discussing lifting the began on gays serving in the armed forces. it's the first major step in that direction since the don't ask

our job at the faa is to work with airports and airlines.fe. i can tell you right now, there are thousands of people in the air all over this country and all over the world. flying is safe. are there things we do? there are things we need to do. we will look at the ntsb regulations, but we will also continue to stay on top of these things, because as we know safety is most important. thousands of people aboard airplanes every day and get to their destinations safely. that is something i want people to know. çóit is thanks to the fact that there are people looking out to their safety, whether it is through the airlines themselves. >> we appreciate hearing you say that. the other part is a high-speed rail corridor. the $8 billion just recently, and nowçó)i6 the 1i!illion in e bill. how does that fair today as we the apple? >> now that we have announced the $8 billion, thanks to your committee, we have $2.5 billion in our appropriation bill. we hope to continue to work throughout the next several months to get that money out the door, particul

the faa and airline industry ensure the highest possible safety standards. >>> today we expect to hear on enforcing its don't ask, don't tell policy. as a first step robert gates will announce he doesn't want to discharge anyone who has been outed by other. he's launching a year-long study to look at how to possibly get rid of don't ask don't tell completely. >>> as promised here is the new "we are the world." it's a remake for haiti. ♪ there's a choice we're making ♪ ♪ we're saving our own lives, it's true we'll make a better day just you and me ♪ >> more than 75 singers, rappers and actors gathered last night to remake the 1985 classic. so we just got the tape this morning. they hope to raise money for haiti relief. this time around celine did ion did cyndi lauper's part. lil' wayne was asked to do bob dillon's part. >> lil' wayne was -- i'm not a singer. i can't sing. but, you know, do you remember the old one? it's true we make a righter day. >> that was bob dillon. >> he'd been the bane of my existence my entire life. bob dillen. >> just you and me. okay. good morning. too close.

>> we hope that we can move to the faa bill, not for an extension, but to complete that.hing i met with represents of the travel business, both service transportation and air transportation. we're desperately in need of this. it will create thousands and thousands of jobs. and it will make our air travel and our service transportation travel safer. it's something that we need to do. it's long, long overdue. and then when we finish that, we have a small business jobs package that we're working on. senator bachus has spend some time on that. >> that's senator reed talking about the jobs bill just passed in the senate on the left-hand side of your screen. on the right-hand side of your screen, also in washington, those toyota hearings today. we're expecting to hear from akio toyoda today pipt will be some riveting testimony we expect. we believe he's already put out his opening statement. we will begin with hearing some apologies from the toyota group. and then we'll see what they have to say in response to the questions, certain to be a tough grilling on capitol hill today.

. >>> tomorrow we're going to be packing up the rachel maddow show set, sxwezing into an faa approvedag. kent jones is already there. the last time we sent him on the road he was in ft. worth, texas, in the rain for george w. bush's motivational speaking gig. this time he's in new orleans in the rain and hopefully warming up a bar stool for me. hi, kent. >> reporter: hi, rachel. i'm on bourbon street in new orleans three days before the super bowl, so of course it's pouring. but that's okay because this afternoon i had a remarkable conversation with 87-year-old lea chase, the proprietior of duky chase, the landmark new orleans restaurant. we talked about the mood of this city right now. this is an exciting time with the saints coming to the super bowl. now, what does this mean to this city? you've been here your whole life? >> it's so beautiful. yes, this is one of the most beautiful things we've ever had to happen to us where the whole nation, even international people are looking at us and just admiring how we live, which is a sim life, but a good life. we feel that we make people h

our job at the faa is to work with airports and airlines. country and all over the world. flying is safe. are there things we do? there are things we need to do. we will look at the ntsb regulations, but we will also continue to stay on top of these things, because as we know safety is most important. thousands of people aboard airplanes every day and get to their destinations safely. that is something i want people to know. çóit is thanks to the fact that there are people looking out to their safety, whether it is through the airlines themselves. >> we appreciate hearing you say that. the other part is a high-speed rail corridor. the $8 billion just recently, and nowçó)i6 the 1i!illion in e bill. how does that fair today as we the apple? >> now that we have announced the $8 billion, thanks to your committee, we have $2.5 billion in our appropriation bill. we hope to continue to work throughout the next several months to get that money out the door, particularly for those communities who felt that they were disadvantage because they did not

the faa is investigating what happened. >>> it was a welcome fit for two rock stars.the beloved panda tai shan and m ei lan arrived in china today to be part of a breeding program in that country. the american-born pandas were flown on a specially decorated fedex plane that took off from dulles yesterday. their flight took 14 hours and their arrival was broadcast on chinese tv. >> the snow is starting to accumulate on roads in many parts of the area. topper is coming back with the latest super storm forecast. >>> it is snowing in washington for what could be an historic winter storm. i'm joel brown. the story is coming up. >>> we are looking at our super ruler. you can get to this on our web camby going to our website at wusa9.com. it is a little skewed now because the winds piled up to one side. as we get going it will be a fairly accurate reading because it is sheltered from the wind. if you want top measure snow that's the best way to do it. you can find something that is sheltered from the wind and measure it, six hours later, scrape it. six hours later scrape it

an aviation, i am pleased that the budget request continues the administration's commitment to the faa next generation transportation system. this program will accommodate growth in air traffic and reduce delays by increasing efficienciey and management of e airspace. the department must remain vigilant. the last time highway fatalities dropped below 40,000 was in 1992. that coincides with the last time the country faced a serious economic crisis. . . we face serious economic crisis. however, as the country's economy started to recover, americans saw significant growth in vehicle miles traveled, and we also saw steady growth in the number of highway fatalities. the latest figures show that i the latest figures show that i would fatalities in 2008 were slightly above 37,000, the lowest level since 1961. americans are driving less because of our current economic downturn. when people travel more, the dot will remain focused on continued safety and improvement across the network. and in particular, the recent transit tragedy's in washington and other parts of the country certainly undersc

they can talk to people in other modes, faa or some other mode, but they cannot come back and talk toks about issues that they -- >> well, the one thing i would suggest is that the appearance is one of the things that right now i think the public is very concerned about and a couple of people that worked at nhtsa go to work and they're in a public relations position, they can talk to people at nhtsa and the appearance may be that they're influencing some decision making that's going on. >> look, i agree with you on this, mr. burton, and i think this law probably should be tightened up. i really do. i agree with you. perception is reality. anybody that's been in politics knows that. and i take your point on this. >> well, thank you very much, and i still love you, ray. >> thank you. >> does the gentleman yield back? >> i yield back. >> i recognize the gentleman from maryland, representative cummings. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. commissioner lahood, it's good to have you here. one of the things that we find ourselves in quite a dilemma here. on the one hand as was said we want

the faa says the ice likely fell from an airplane landing at a nearby airport. that's kind of scary that even happened. >> it is. >>> the nation's capital and much of the east coast are bracing for another big storm today. there are blizzard warnings in delaware and maryland. >> by tomorrow morning, some areas will be buried under up to 2 feet of snow. accuweather's rachel harvey jones has the details. >> unfortunately, this is what we have to look forward to. good morning to you. a band of exceptionally heavy snow. now, washington, d.c. back in december 2009 saw 15 inches, in places 16 1/2. we could see even more in this region over the weekend, which would be record-breaking snowfall. a very heavy band across parts of i-80 and i-70 and the i-95 corridor for places like new york city as this system starts to move in around 5:00 p.m. friday evening. will not be great. now getting to work in new york city will be fine but unfortunately making your way home during the rush hour, especially later, will not be good. and it's this storm system that's moving towards t

both congress and the faa are working on new rules to try to improve safety. some of those regulations, such as rules to combat pilot fatigue, could take years to implement. lisa stark, abc news, reagan national airport. >> the chair of the ntsb yesterday was speaking, it was groundhog's day, she made the obvious comparison. she said she feels like the ntsb keeps making these recommendations again and again, yet again and again they're ignored. >> some people think pilots make all this money too. some senior pilot dozen make a lot of money but a lot of these pilots, commuter flights, poverty wages, commuting across the country to get to work. >> i think the story of that copilot opened a lot of people's eyes. >> yeah, it did. >>> still ahead, the hit tv series about plane crash survivors facing a constant struggle. >> that's the sci-fi sensation "lost." new secrets from behind the "lost." new secrets from behind the scenes up next yah! [horse whinny] [wood breaks] crack! help meeeee! somebody help her! c'mon deputy, let's go! hold on! yah! take my hand! what a

but to the ntsb, the faa is doing too little too late. >> it's the same thing over and over again.ime after time after time. they have not been heeded by the faa and they haven't pushed it across the finish line. >> in a statement, colgen air said we want to make clear again that our pilots are highly trained to handle all situations they may encounter. wolf? >> alan chernoff reporting for us. thank you. >>> it was a study on autism that frightened an entire generation of parents. now that study is being retract retracted. stand by. >>> americans are not necessarily drinking less but they are drinking differently. differences of the little known impact of the great recession. each year food executives come to grasse, france to work with roxane. here in this centuries old town cargill creates flavors. and food companies come to collaborate with cargill. creating unique tastes from thousands of rare flavors. helped by roxane... an ingredient mixing robot. and a team of flavor experts. food companies find the recipe for success. this is how cargill works with customers. . >>> lisa syl

several representatives were concerned that the faa would impose new screening technology.ure the successful implementation. >> thank you for the opportunity to testify today. i want to ask the panel of the flesh hold question about whether our concern of public accept answer is real or have you actually determined that the traveling public, that is passengers at airports are actually concerned about the thing that's we think they are concerned about. the reason why i'm saying this is because i spent four hours knocking on doors in oregon this past saturday i think that the earful i got in that neighborhood is very different from the earful that i would get in another neighborhood in my congressional district. sample and what you ask is absolutely crucial. are we speculating about passenger concern? do we have direct evidence that these are actual concerns of the flying public? whoever wants to go first. >> that's a question that the 1996 panel struggled with. we had experts in how people make decisions to do things they know are risky like smoking jo in that case, we recom

our job at the faa is to work with airports and airlines.. i can tell you right now, there are thousands of people in the air all over this country and all over the world. flying is safe. are there things we do? there are things we need to do. we will look at the ntsb regulations, but we will also continue to stay on top of these things, because as we know safety is most important. thousands of people aboard airplanes every day and get to their destinations safely. that is something i want people to know. çóit is thanks to the fact that there are people looking out to their safety, whether it is through the airlines themselves. >> we appreciate hearing you say that. the other part is a high-speed rail corridor. the $8 billion just recently, and nowçó)i6 the 1i!illion in e bill. how does that fair today as we the apple? >> now that we have announced the $8 billion, thanks to your committee, we have $2.5 billion in our appropriation bill. we hope to continue to work throughout the next several months to get that money out the door, particular

for you hear from aviation weather, in 2011 noaa will work with the federal aviation administration faa to meet the rising demands of air transportation which is expected to double by 2025. the whether is a factor in over 70 percent of flight delays costing approximately $29 billion annually. noaa requests an increase of 15.1 million for a total of 26.7 million to modernize our aviation weather forecasts and warnings. the budget will fund much-needed improvements in processing systems models, and new products for pilots. improved while forecasts, water resources and precipitation monitoring and forecasting have become particular challenge with increases in population and drought and frequent changes and commercial shipping lanes. the majority of annually declared when federal disasters are due in large part to flooding. in 2011 who noaa requests an increase of 7.6 million for a total of 12.9 million to research, develop and deliver water forecasting services her river, estuary and coastal flood of forecast capabilities. turning to satellites, and this is in two parts. and for to talk fi

martha: talk to me about the faa response and the military response we saw yesterday because, of course, when it started happening, we all looked at the tvs and thought, this could be something terror-related. >> reporter: well, remember, a commercial united airlines jet was diverted because of a threatening note found in the galley of the plane. out of an abundance of caution, fighter jets were scrambled. now, that was probably the right thing to do. you scramble first, and then you figure out later if the austin thing and united airlines thing were related, but i think, martha, the real lesson for military officials is they've got to think again about how they should respond in such incidents. in a society that has a vibrant and free aviation system, is there really anything you can do to protect against a lone nut who makes a kamikaze run? there are solutions for private pilots that would be an onerous burden on private pilots, and there is really no easy answer to that particular problem. march that: you're absolutely right, nothing to stop a certified pilot to go for a fly. it rais

even -- an faa issue.t would be for others and not us to deal with. >> of west point study out says that al qaeda support and muslim countries has dropped coú:ñsubstantially that would - that would be heartening news to the u.s. and its allies. do you have an explanation or do you want to comment on that? >> i would defer to the study. they are the experts. there has been a number of studies, there is an anecdotal evidence to suggest this bankrupt ideology has certainly not ben winning over people -- not been winning over people in the past 10 years. it is then on this most recent offensive. -- has been on this most recent offensive. i'm speaking off the top of my head here. the fact is what they are preaching and promulgating is not consistent with the tenants of the koran and what this otherwise peaceful religion is about. i do not think resonates with the vast majority of muslims around the world. in addition to the fact that the proprietors of their attacks, it seems, are so indiscriminate in nature t

. >> the faa has senz of thousates of employees.>>> we continue our look at broken government in a few minutes. this time around, national security. is it broken and as a result is america at risk? and what do you do when your coach tells to you change lanes? you give up a gold medal. wait until you see this. wait until you see this. 18 minutes after the hour. ♪ >>> welcome back to the most news in the morning. 20 minutes after the hour. it's time for "minding your business." the british government has granted protective status to the historic recording studios in london, made famous by the beatles. reports last week indicated the studio's owner was planning to sell the building. now with its protected status it will be more difficult for any owner to make changes to that facility. >>> with fewer people eating out, many upscale restaurants here are trying to lure you in with cheaper booze and discounted appetizers. placed like the cheat caesecake factory, had offering to try to fill tables. >> mid level restaurants like that hurting

faa regulations require pilots to be fit for flight.ilot is supposed to call in fatigue. >> a pilot has every right, he has a responsibility to remove himself from flight if he's fatigued. >> reporter: yet colgan air, operator of doomed flight 3407 that crashed a year ago, recently issued a memo to limit fatigue call-ins. aviation safety experts say that amounts to pilot pushing, pressuring crews to fly whether or not they're fit. the internal colgan memo states crews may not call in fatigued if they're coming off a break of at least 12 hours. the safety department will ultimately determine whether a fatigue call is acceptable or not. the memo threatens "blatant abuse of the fatigue option will be addressed as a disciplinary action." >> in light of this tragedy, that is certainly a disappointing action on behalf of colgan airlines and one that unfortunately is a very poor reflection, i believe, on their internal safety culture. >> reporter: colgan declined to appear on camera but told cnn it's been working with the pilots union on polic

personnel administration and has served as a technology consultant for general services administration, faa's, depar tment of labor. a graduate of virginia state university which he has say b.s. degree in business administration burt or about objections of false statements will be inserted into the record i now ask each witness to summarize your statement beginning with mr. mann. >> chairman carney, chairman tom said thank you for this opportunity to discuss recommendations to discuss spending practices and oversight. i will focus my remarks of five areas where improvements are needed. clear consistent planning guidance, reliable data, sufficient supporting documentation, compliance with applicable travel regulations and coordination of sponsored conferences. dhs conducts conferences for a variety of purposes for it training, information sharing common mission support. we review the conference spending practices and reporting of conference related expenditures and assess the total spent by the permanent producing and facilitating, birds is come retreats and other offside activities 2005/2006/

the faa moved out and airport authorities committed over 400 projects in a short period of time. they have a different contracting authority than highway departments. they can take bids and hold the contractor to that for up to the year many authorities have told me. it may be different with certain ones but most of them can do that is that correct? >> that is correct and i will tell you contractors were so desperate for work many of them held their bids even longer than they were required to and that is an illustration of the good value we've got and i previously mentioned we felt the federal aviation administration would be able to do 300 airport improvement projects. the bids came in so aggressively and low we did 360, and working within the statutory process the states had the teed themselves up and in some states word aggressive about for example putting projects out to bid even before the stimulus bill was signed subject to federal appropriation so that it was essentially a conditional a word so that those projects would start that much sooner. the reimbursement process ser

faa or other modes.back and talk to our folks issues -- >> the one thing i would suggest is that the appearance is one of the things that right now i think the public is concerned about. a couple of people that work at nh tsa in a public relations position they can talk to people at nh tsa and the appearance may be that they are influencing decision-making going on. >> i agree with you on this, mr. burton. i think this law probably should be tightened up. i really do. i really do. i agree with perception is reality. anybody that has been in politics knows that. i take your point on this. >> thank you very much and i still love you, ray. >> thank you. >> the gentlemen yields back? i now recognize the gentlemen from maryland. representative cummings. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman and mr. la hood. it's good to have you here. one of the things that we find ourselves in quite a deelementsa here. on the one hand we want to be careful about what we are doing here. we do have one of the main trading partn